Fin

Yesterday, I woke to the hotel phone ringing. I was asked to come down to the lobby to pick up something that was dropped off for me. I was given a book and an envelope by the receptionist. As I walked away, I opened the envelope and found $700.00 worth of cheques to make a difference in the fight against cancer here in Newfoundland.

At 11:30 a.m., we packed up the RV and headed to City Hall, where the final ride-out was going to occur. I was met by Mayor O'Keefe, members of the Dr. H Murphy Cancer Care Foundation, and Senator Rod Zimmer. As promised back in Ottawa on the condition of an August 15 arrival into St. John's, Mr. Zimmer had a cheque for $1,000 for Chase the Cure.

The dedication and generosity this man has shown to Chase the Cure has been remarkable. He has been an inspiration to be around and someone that I will continue to keep in touch with after this trip, and I am excited to see our friendship to continue to flourish!

Also present was Michael, a young boy who has inspired me throughout this trip. He is currently fighting this disease and was when we got in contact back in November. I remember his pure determination, positivity, and courage he showed while dealing with his disease. Throughout my trip I relied on this to get me over difficult days. I was thrilled to have him and his family there. You know those cheques from the morning... well that was a direct initiative by Michael and his family and I thank them so much for being difference-makers. I told Michael when we got to Topsail Beach where the front tire of my bike would reach the Atlantic he would be dipping it!

We rode away from city hall escorted by members of the police here in St. John's. They were absolutely fantastic with their smiles and encouragement for us cyclists as we pedaled the remaining 20kms. I cannot thank everyone enough who came out and made this trip to Topsail with me. It was truly special and something I will always remember. It was not an easy pedal, as the majority of the ride involved a long uphill, but the decent down to Topsail was well worth it!

We got to Topsail and Michael and I traveled down to the beach and the front tire touched the Atlantic. I couldn't wait any longer and the next thing you knew I dove into the Atlantic in my biking shoes, jersey, and shorts and felt the cool Atlantic water all over my body!!! Next thing I knew, Michael dove in, followed by Kenton and Liam two of his close friends who made the 20km ride out with me to topsoil. Soon, there was a bunch of us in the water realizing that we had made a difference with Chase the Cure this summer! The day was absolutely perfect, with a beaming sun, wonderful people, and an end to a great journey.

I thank everyone who has followed the Chase this summer and made a difference in the fight against cancer. As Canadians, we need to continue to be relentless against this disease and keep working harder and harder to find a cure as it hurts the lives of too many. There is nothing saying that you cannot have a lot of fun while you make a difference as we have been to so many wonderful events with wonderful people throughout this summer that have made a tremendous difference. I thank everyone who encouraged me throughout the summer as without you I would never reached our final destination.

To end off, I will go back to one of my favorite quotes of this summer by Lily Tomlin: "I always wondered why somebody didn't do something about that, then I realized I am somebody". I encourage you to continue to be that somebody and make a difference in the fight against cancer and together we will find a cure!

Together We Ride,

Wes Bauer

Without You, it's Simply a Ride...

I am currently sitting at a cafe overlooking the harbor, where massive cargo ships are micro- navigating their way into the small entrance, which happens to be surrounded by cliffs. It is amazing to think back on all the support, encouragement and the dedication placed into this ride. Was it hard? Not at all. When you have the people we had supporting us throughout this ride, it's easy! Especially, when you are riding for those who are affected by this disease and considering what they are going through. Their struggles are not even comparable to a ride. We were motivated by events, words of encouragement, people's generous actions, horns of cars, hollering out windows, and warm smiles.

Without all of you, this would simply be a bike ride across Canada. That was not how it was ever planned, nor what occurred. We all need to be proud of our accomplishment. Together, we have made a difference in the fight against cancer coast to coast. I only hope that this ride has instilled the thought in all of us that we all can be difference-makers, and if we all work together we can accomplish anything; even finding a cure to this terrible disease.

Now, the thing is that the ride is never over. As a matter of fact we have arranged a "Ride Out" of St. John's to a beach where I will dip the tire into the Atlantic. Chase the Cure was about making a difference in the fight against cancer, and uniting Canadians coast to coast in the fight so we can end this disease once and for all. It was about inspiring Canadians that they can make a difference in the fight against cancer, and truly believing that as Canadians we can find a cure to this disease. For those in St. John's, I encourage you to come down to City Hall at 12 o'clock tomorrow where we will be welcomed by Mayor O'Keefe, and cancer survivors Councillor Debbie Hanlon and Senator Rod Zimmer. From there, we will ride out making a difference in the fight against cancer, and encouraging Canadians that this ride isn't over until we find a cure to this disease!

Deer Lake to Gander

We are currently in Gander, NL. We have traveled through rain, sun, and have only 300 km. left until we reach St. John's, NL. There has been one particular young man here in Newfoundland that I have found encouragement from, all the way across this great country. His name is Michael, his outlook, positivity and encouraging words he sent me before I began have stuck with me for the entire trip, and I would like to thank him for that. 

Yesterday, we traveled away from Gros Morne (where Brodie and I had spent half our day hiking the highest mountain in Newfoundland) to Grand Falls-Windsor which was a 220 km journey. The morning was fantastic, as I had a wonderful tailwind while traveling toward the northern Newfoundland. Yet, I knew that I would eventually have to turn south and fight the headwinds. Shortly after I reached South Brook, the road curved and went south. This meant this fantastic tailwind, that had been basically pushing me for about the first 50 km., was now against me. It grew stronger and stronger as a storm blew in. I was relieved to go down a hill until a rock sliced open my back tire and my tube popped like a gun shot. I quickly changed my tire, not realizing that there was a slice in the sidewall of my tire and got back onto my bike. Again, the tire popped like a gun shot. Frustrated, I pulled the whole tire off the rim and saw the slice in it. I pulled out my cell phone to find no service. So, I changed the tire once again and filled it with just enough pressure that the tire could roll without wrecking the rim. I traveled with the majority of my weight through the handle bars on the front tire. The going was slow but I eventually phoned the support crew and waited for them. Finally, this disaster was over and I placed a new tire on. 

Today, we stopped into the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Care Foundation's Gander Satellite Cancer Center, where we had a chance to talk to some the patients while they received Chemotherapy. There was one woman we met who had been fighting cancer since 1977, but she greeted us with a complete smile. We made sure to hand out Never Alone Bracelets to let those know fighting in Gander they are not alone in their battles and there are many Canadians supporting them coast to coast. It was a neat situation because even some of the patients receiving Chemotherapy reached into their pocket and pulled out donations. Special thanks to the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Care Foundation for allowing us to come and let patients who are fighting know they are not alone. 

Newfoundland!!!!

We woke up at 6:00 a.m. Friday morning for our early ferry out of Sydney, Nova Scotia to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. Estimated travel time was six hours. This boat was full of great times consisting of snoring in a chair, doing laps around the ferry, and playing a healthy dose of Buck Hunter.

We arrived in Port aux Basques around 2 o'clock, yet our In-Ride Coordinator needed to get to a doctor as her ear was in pain. Brodie and I went and grabbed groceries and picked up Ashley her prescription and were off at around 4:30 p.m. I wanted to get at least 60 km. outside of the city so there was less mileage to do toward Corner Brook. We stopped 100 km. down the road, surpassing our expectation. Immediately, while filling up with gas we were met by many people entering and exiting the gas station wanting to make donations. It was actually really neat to see these people in Newfoundland really wanting to make a difference and excited about Chase the Cure coming through!!!

This morning, we awoke to thunder and lightning and heavy rain. We waited out the lightning and thunder until around 10 o'clock but the rain still poured. I hopped on the bike and traveled down the road becoming wetter and wetter as we moved closer to Corner Brook. The weather was most definitely not on my side as headwinds caused the rain to be pushed directly in my face. Rumblings of thunder occurred off in the distance. Overall, it was a long wet day, but we arrived in Corner Brook and are currently sitting in a great coffee house called Brewed Awakening.

OH, NOVA SCOTIA... YOU'RE SO PRETTY!

We left Charlottetown Monday morning after a delicious breakfeast with the Scrimshaws and traveled toward the Wood Island Ferry. The entire ride reminded me of the western portion of Calgary with high rolling hills. It was really a lot of fun cruising up and down them. We arrived at the Ferry but were unable to get onto it for 4 hours.... waiting in line for a ferry isn't the most entertaining thing I have done this trip. It consisted of sleeping, reading, walking the muddy beach, and sleeping some more.
We arrived in Nova Scotia (above: Welcome to Nova Scotia) around 7 o'clock and traveled 30 km. to New Glasgow for the night.

The next day, we woke up to the beautiful view of a Wal-Mart and traveled 250 km. toward Sydney. Originally, this was supposed to take two days but we arrived in Port Hawkesbury, looked at some beautiful quilts and soon realized that it was still early in the afternoon and another 100 km was reasonable. So, we traveled onward, and let me tell you that Nova Scotia has some pretty good hills. The highest point we reached was Kelly's Mountain which was 20 km. outside of Sydney. It was a long, hot, slog up, with a glorious, long, downhill to follow. We arrived in Sydney realizing that we were a few days early and our ferry was not scheduled to leave until the morning of the seventh.

We looked at our maps and decided since we were in the area we would explore the gorgeous coast line by following the Cabot Trail and heading off for a hike!!!! It was stunning! We traveled along the rugged coast, swam in the Alantic Ocean and a fresh-water river!!!! After that day ended, we spent our night overlooking Pleasant Bay, which I might say was extremely pleasant.


(above: The chairs right by our RV at Pleasant Bay,  below: Our RV's parking spot for the night)
Check out some of the pictures we took of the Cabot Trail. It is definitely worth going to see if you are ever up here. Oh yeah, we stumbled upon around 100 scarecrows in a yard and a moose.... Enjoy!


(above: Me and my Scarecrow friends, below: Some odd-looking scarecrow we found that kinda resembled me)
Tomorrow, we will be on the ferry traveling to our very last province!!!

New Brunswick to PEI!!!

Before I even begin I have to send a huge thank you out to Bill Whalen from Moncton who generously donated $500.00 to fight back against this terrible disease in Moncton. I didn't even know that he had done this until yesterday. Bill is most definitely a character as he completely created our In-Ride Coordinator into a lobster eating machine through the teaching of his specific techniques (at dinner) on how to eat a lobster. We cannot thank him enough for the laughs and making a difference in the fight against cancer.

Yesterday, we rode from Moncton, NB to Charlottetown crossing into Prince Edward Island. It was a hot, hot, day and right after leaving Moncton I was given a pleasant surprise..... a nail in the tire. From there, we cruised on to blow three more tires (I think my front tire is extremely worn...). Yet, the people here kept me going.

There was one particular stretch that really stuck out to us. It only spanned around 8kms but we stopped at a small gas station in a town called Murray Corner. Initially, I thought since we were only 12kms away from Confederation Bridge that the donations for New Brunswick would be wrapping up.... little did I know that they were only just beginning.

The people here were absolutely tremendous! We were given donation after donation, and told inspiring story after inspiring story. The emotions were flying high (that was for sure!) at this gas station and it was definitely a very special part of this trip. People were also pulling off on the side of the road. The neatest part of this was that we decided to do this route to get away from traffic for a little while and cruise along the coastline. One particular gentleman who sought us out later on passed us at exactly the same place where his Nanna passed away from this disease.... the neat thing was the place where he passed me I did not feel like I was pedaling at all........ his Nanna was doing all the work. (Below are two lovely ladies one from Calgary and the other from Murray Corner who made a generous contribution, and the gentleman who lost his Nanna to this disease but stays true to making a difference in the fight.)

After this very, very, exciting stretch, we found the Confederation Bridge--the 13km long bridge that stretches from New Brunswick into our eighth province of this gorgeous country. Right away, we were greeted by an island dancer, who I must say had to be in better shape that I am as she danced all day long in humid weather in a dress!

Today, we were welcomed by the Charlottetown Driving Park. Here, ladies and gentlemen were working extremely hard to encourage those present at the track to by ice cream cones in support of the fight against cancer in PEI. I was so excited by the response everyone here, and their eagerness to make a difference. The two ladies selling the ice cream could not turn around without having another donation dropped into the bin. I would like to personally thank all who were involved in organizing this and the Charlottetown Driving Park for hosting this welcome and encouraging those on the Island to make a difference!!!! I have to admit though that nearly every horse I bet two dollars on came in dead last place.

Following this, we traveled both the downtown and the shores of PEI with Loraine and Brent Scrimshaw showing us this beautiful island and taking us under their wing for the last few days. It was absolutely incredible! I even transformed into Anne of Green Gables at a point. There were long stretching beaches (which had the most lady bugs I have ever seen in my entire life!) with jelly fish stuck on shore due to an ebbed tide.

Right outside of Shediac, NB, we met a man by the name of Roland. He had been traveling from Montreal to Confederation Bridge. He was a fiery man who had a heart of gold! I encourage you if you have a moment to click here and check out the pictures on his blog (which is in french :) )

Moncton you are Wonderful! "Be...in this Place"

There have been times while writing on this blog that I've worried. I've worried that I do not represent a place to the calibre that they welcomed us and made a difference in the fight against cancer. Moncton is exactly one of these places. If you are ever looking for some of the friendliest, warmest-hearted people in this country come straight to Moncton, New Brunswick. Today, we officially were welcomed by the city of Moncton.

Realistically, I am going to have an extremely tough time leaving Moncton, as this place is really something special. I arrived at the city limits to be welcomed by a police officer on a motorcycle. Right away, he moved into the opposing lane traffic, and completely created a break in the traffic allowing for me to cross over. Little did I know that I would be met by 15 other cyclists that would ride in with me to City Hall. All of these cyclists shared a passion in wanting to make a difference in the fight against cancer. We traveled through the city of Moncton to be welcomed by two particular familiar faces. Both my father and mother were flown into Moncton by Alantic Lottery and the City of Moncton to be present at the arrival into this great city. I had no clue this was happening and was extremely shocked when this occurred. The utter shock and confusion when I first saw them really took me back...... at this point it had been quite some time since I had seen both of them and it was fairly emotional.

From there, we were greeted by Moncton's Deputy Mayor Merrill Henderson, Ian Fowler, and Atlantic Lottery's Brent Scrimshaw. The City of Moncton generously donated $500.00 and the Atlantic Lottery worked together to raise $2,200 to make a difference in the fight against cancer in the New Brunswick jurisdiction. While this was happening, there was a BBQ, along with many spectacular speeches.

I have to send a huge thank you out to the Scrimshaw's, and Fowler's, and all the volunteers of Atlantic Lottery, and the City of Moncton. You each made this welcome a highlight of my trip and I cannot wait to come back and see you all again.

Later that night, we were given a full on guide of Moncton. We experienced Magnetic Hill (wow... you really do travel uphill!) and a giant lobster, with our wonderful tour guide Amy & Ian Fowler. They were fantastic people and definitely showed us how to eat lobster properly. All in all, this city holds an extremely dear part of my heart as they really know how to make a difference in the fight against cancer!!!!!
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