Our first "official" training ride!

- Submitted by Stan
Well, it's time to get training in earnest!  We made a great start today.  A number of us met at 37th and Cypress at 7:30 AM for a ride out to Iona, then to Steveston.

We didn't exactly break records on our first ride. At 77 km, it was pretty leisurely, with the prime goal of making the Cannery Cafe for breakfast!   When we're on our tour in June we'll be easily doubling the daily distance covered, as we'll be averaging 130 km/day for nine days straight. It was great fun though, and an excellent chance to get to know each other.

Here's a map of our route, plotted by my bike-mounted Garmin GPS.  Other than a side trip out to Iona by the airport, we took a circular path through Richmond's farmland and the beautiful Fraser River, just off Steveston.  The terrain was mostly flat on this first ride, but be assured we'll be working on doing hills over the coming weeks.  By the time June rolls around, I'll want to be doing at least two and probably three mountains on the North Shore (Cypress, Grouse, Seymour) in a morning ride before I feel I'll be ready for the big ride.

In the meantime, our new GearUp4CF web site for 2010 is now ready. Check it out at www.gearup4cf.org . And fund raising plans are in full swing.  Susan, Tom and I are planning a wine tasting and silent auction on April 17th.  Lots of great donations for the auction are pouring in. It should be a terrific event.  In the meantime, Jacqueline and I will be visiting her children's elementary school, also in April to tell them about our ride.  Stay tuned. There's lots more is being planned.  And remember, all donations are tax deductible through the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.   

In future journal entries, we hope to tell you what great work this organization is doing to aid CF research and improve health outcomes for the beautiful children who we're riding for.






- Stan

Would you like to sponsor a favorite rider? Click on their name anywhere on this journal to open their "bio" on the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis GearUP4CF web site, click on the button "Sponsor this Rider", and you will join our team!