City TV ( Channel 213) April 1, at 7:40 am.

 

CysticFibrosisWest @CFCanadaWestern

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GearUp4CF 9-day Rider @BillMarkvoort  is @bt_vancouver 's Athlete of the Week! On @CitytvNews tmrw at 740am #cysticfibrosis #AOTW @CFCanada

 

 

This was posted by CF West. For those who are not tweeters, City TV approached me last week about a story on my 65for65Roses campaign and the results will be aired tomorrow at around 7:40 am. (Channel 13 or 213) . The segment is called AOTW of "Athlete of the Week". I have never been athlete of the day or hour or even minute so this was not a hard sell. Let me know what you think.

A Big Thank You

The last few days have been incredible. The 65for 65Roses campaign received a huge boost as it was covered extensively in both our community newspapers. We have now received over $11,000 in donations much of it this last week. Donations came from family, friends, neighbours, hockey and cycling buddies, Eva's friends both real and virtual and many, many donors who I simply don't know. I know that many donated in honour of Eva's 4th anniversary since her death, so for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart. It has been a roller coaster few days and yet your support both emotional and financial has been a balm to my soul. Thank you again!

I've added a photo from our 2008 trip.

A Tough Day

Most of my posts have been about training, rotten weather and the like but today is an especially tough day for different reasons. Four years ago today, on a Saturday morning my precious daughter died. Eva had the ability to take your breath away with her vivacity , her red hair and her enthusiasm but now she simply could not take another breath. We continue to breathe life into her legacy.

Missing you tons, especially today!

Love Dad

Wow. My amazing wife Janet sent out some emails in the community and next thing you know we have TWO articles in the local community papers. Thank you so much to the Royal City Record and the New Westminster Newsleader for sharing my story. Eva's legacy lives on.

New Westminster Leader: Eva Markvoort's father to cycle in her memory
Royal City Record: Riding for Eva: Parents fundraising for cystic fibrosis 

Riding for their rose: Janet Brine, left, and her husband Bill Markvoort are fundraising for the GearUp4CF ride from Vancouver to Banff in memory of their daughter Eva. This month is a significant one for the family. Eva’s birthday is March 31, and she passed away four years ago on March 27.   Photograph by: Larry Wright/THE RECORD 

10% Milestone!

Not much to report on the riding front other than a rainy day spin on the trainer downstairs but the good news is that donations are now over $6,500 which means we have achieved over 10% of our goal. Over 40 people have contributed which is quite amazing, including many people  that I do not know personally. To all of you who have made a contribution to the CF cause, thank you so very much. It makes the training worthwhile!

West Coast Rainy Weekend

The weatherman predicted it and although it arrived a few hours late the deluge started by mid day. It was back to the basement and the Keiser spin bike.

Accident!

Joan, our GearUp4CF2014 team captain  had a significant accident on Wednesday while cycling in California where she and a friend were on a training trip/holiday. "Stitches in my face and elbow. Torn ligaments in my hand and a broken finger. Cracked ribs. I am a mess but being well taken care off”.

She was attended to quickly  and had an MRI and CTscan,  did not get knocked out and did not suffer a concussion. The accident happened when she was going downhill (not that fast) and hit a small boulder on the road. She is on her way home to Whistler for some rest and recuperation

Not good news at all and a cautionary note to be very careful out there when you are on your bike.

Make rides while the sun shines

I know I should learn to like riding in the rain but I really don't. Particularly in March when it is sub 10 degrees. It's sunny our right now so I will head up for a training session on Burnaby Mountain after work and try to squeeze in an hour or so. Tomorrow and the 5 days beyond call for rain..rain..rain!

A Sunny Sunday!

Finally some reasonable weather after the pineapple deluge yesterday. A great day to ride out in Pitt Meadows with double digit temperatures and some good companions including Howie and Claude. It's always more fun and more of a workout to ride in the real world!

Vancouver wet weather blues

The past two weekends have been miserable for this aspiring trainee. Yes, I could have cycled last Saturday, several of my Velovet members and Joan Swain braved the 3 degree weather before the rain started, but cycling at below 5 Celsius is not one of my favourite activities. So I opted to train on skinny skis instead and on both Saturday and Sunday managed excellent workouts at the Hollyburn cross country trails at Cypress Mountain. Today was even more dismal. Too wet to cycle and too warm to ski. Nothing to do but head into the basement and put in an hour long pull on the Keiser spin bike. Maybe tomorrow the skies will part and the sun come out.