Ron Mitchell

COAST TO COAST — DAY 7 REPORT

Dawn breaks over southern Ontario as every June day should: warm, damp and still, with a big sky over head and gentle haze covering low-lying manicured farm fields. The final approach to Woodstock is eagerly anticipated by every member of the team. This is hometown for Jeff Rushton, and a 6 AM arrival ensures that the day will start with a warm greeting by friends and loved ones.

The Comforts of Home

As Jeff leads the team through Woodstock, even his bike seems to know the way. Around a corner and there in the dim morning coolness, stand little kids, brothers and parents with signs: "Go Coast to Coast". Hugs and tears for all… a sense of accomplishment that cannot be denied despite the fact that the team is just past the halfway mark. Being back in Canada has it’s other benefits: a new supply of Perrier is loaded on board the RV and no matter where you are, there’s a Tim Horton’s nearby. The comforts of home... Jeff is reminded of this as he embraces his family. He is also reminded of his reason for this Ride: to celebrate his father’s successful battle with cancer many years ago.

Anticipation

As the team heads out of Woodstock toward Hamilton, anticipation begins to build. Every member of the team suits up and climbs on their bikes. Each one knows that someone special is waiting for them down the road. Momentum builds with a few local riders joining the team in Hamilton. Friend and supporter Dave Robson joins the ride in Hamilton and gamely keeps pace to Oakville where others join in. A police escort leads the team through Oakville and into Mississauga. Over the last half-kilometer in Mississauga, the C2C riders link arms, high-five’ing hundreds of kids who have lined the street. With the RV trailing close behind, the team looks down the road as a crowd of supporters and friends and family and wives and kids surge onto the street. The last few hundred meters are done blind… each rider’s vision impaired by tears and an overwhelming flood of emotions. The crowd cheers their arrival and each team member collapses into the embrace of their loved ones. This short beak in the pace allows everyone on the team to see and feel the love and support of this community. Better still, everyone there knows why these riders are doing this. This Ride has profoundly touched everyone there in some way.

Celebration

As each member of the team is finally able to pull himself from loved ones, the riders re-mount their bikes and head east. To the deafening cheers from supporters, the "pull" of the Gears cycling team and the precision of a police escort, the C2C riders whip along Lakeshore Road toward downtown Toronto. It seems like only minutes later that the team is turning up onto Spadina Avenue, then onto Front Street. Police cars with flashing lights and chirping sirens race from intersection to intersection to block traffic. Guided by the cheers of a hundred supporters — many from Fujitsu Consulting — the peloton turns into the open grassy courtyard between two towering office buildings. Soon those cheers turn to rhythmic clapping and chanting as the Soul Drums troupe takes over. The riders jump from their bikes and form a circle, dancing arms-linked in celebration to Doug’s music. After some welcome speeches and thanks, the team soon sets three riders off eastward bound for a long night of riding through the rest of eastern Ontario.

In Memory of Karen

As the riders leave downtown Toronto, they are accompanied by a group of strong riders from the Gears Cycling Team in Mississauga. Powered by an equally strong and well-organized police escort, the team flies eastward. The Gears riders stay with the C2C team all the way along Kingston Road to the eastern boundary of Toronto. Their silent strength and practiced teamwork is invaluable in helping the team maintain its pace. At Pickering, the brothers Tobias — Kirk and Kris — join the ride. One is a champion cyclist, the other a novice. Each has the heart of a lion, powered by packages of oatmeal cookies and the memory of their courageous mother, Karen Tobias, who died of breast cancer in 2002. There is special significance to Kris and Kirk helping the C2C team: Their mother Karen was also the wife of Candlelighters CEO, Kal Tobias. The strength that these two Tobias boys find and deliver to the team is inspiring and uplifting and helps speed the team toward Trenton.

Port Hope

Julie MacNeil is the driver of the Coast to Coast 18-wheeler. She’s an invaluable member of the team and her big Kenworth from Concord Trucking holds the supplies and food for the C2C team. Julie left home on Saturday June 7^th leaving her young family, including sons James and Jonathan to drive the big rig out West. Alone. She has been with the C2C team every day since. As the team now moves through eastern Ontario, this is very close to family roots. The team stops in Port Hope to read a dedication for Jerry Marcuz, Julie’s brother-in-law. Jerry died of cancer in March 2003, just a few days short of his 50^th birthday. Family and riders and other team members gather at the road side for a moment to remember Jerry. Julie climbs back into her big rig, headed east toward Gananoque and more dedications for family.

It’s Friday Night

It’s a Friday night in late June. Surely these people have better things to do. Maybe not. Maybe this is the best thing that they could do. Yes, it surely is. From Trenton to Brockville, on Friday evening, two outstanding club cycling teams, one from Belleville and the second, Multi Laser Racing, from Kingston, envelope the C2C team and guide them eastward. This makes light work for a C2C team that is emotionally drained from a day of excitement from seeing family, doing media interviews and pausing for celebrations. The teamwork is extraordinary. But perhaps the most compelling help comes from a single cyclist. Trevor drove down to Highway 2 from Ottawa. He joined the C2C team near Brockville and rode with them for almost 90 minutes. He said hardly a word, just pulled courageously at nearly 40 Km/H for 90 minutes. No one knew where he found the strength, but his source was powerful… perhaps the memory of a loved one who had died, or the perhaps the inspiration for one who is battling now. Finally, at almost 3:00 AM, he turned away, waved, and headed back alone on Highway 2 for the 90-minute ride back to his car in Brockville. Thank you, Trevor.

Gananoque

Another meaningful stop for our team to honour our Mother Trucker, Julie MacNeil. This time in Gananoque, her family home. It’s about 1:00 AM and many more of Julie’s family members gather in the parking lot at a Tim Horton’s. It’s an important gathering of support for Julie and an opportunity for Jeff to read another dedication, this time for Julie’s father, Doug Barr, who passed away after a long battle with cancer.

A Sense of Duty

On the very farthest eastern fringes of this dark night sky, a faint light rises from the horizon. But many more miles will be covered in darkness before that light brightens the road ahead. In the meantime, Jamie and Kevin churn legs and maintain a steady pace. The road is perfect… flat, smooth and quiet… a ribbon of velvet. The RV casts it’s lights well ahead of the riders, protecting them from unseen threats. The RV is quiet as well. Everyone except the driver is asleep, recovering from an emotional day. The radio is the only link between riders and RV. It’s quiet at first, then a conversation emerges that has deep meaning for the driver. It’s about a "Sense of Duty". It’s a sense of duty that has motivated the driver to be part of this Ride. A "sense of duty" is also how he characterized his father’s life in the eulogy he delivered last November.

A Proud Canadian

On a quiet road in eastern Ontario, Ron reads a dedication to Andrew Mantycki that was submitted by his daughter Virginia. Andrew was Ron’s father-in-law. He was born in Poland, and came to Canada in 1951. He was a kind, humble and gentle man who loved this country and was so proud to be a Canadian. He died of bowel cancer in 1988 and is missed every day.

As the sun brightens, it warms and fills the sky, bringing Day 7 to a close. Appropriately, the transition to the new day will happen as the team crosses another important boundary, this time as it moves into La Belle Province, Quebec.