Why?

My beautiful daughter died from CF in March 2010 and I am riding in GearUp4CF this year in her memory.

Eva was a fighter and inspiration to all that knew her. In 2008 I rode in GearUp4CF to celebrate her successful recovery from a double lung transplant that allowed Eva to once again live her life to the fullest. Only months after the surgery, she joined the team in Invermere, painting our faces and cheering us on with her pom-poms in her self-appointed role as chief cheerleader.

This year I will be 65 years old on the ride. That is why I am calling this ride 65 for65Roses; partly because of my age, partly because 65 Roses is a malapropism of Cystic Fibrosis, partly because my daughter’s blog was called 65 RedRoses, and also because I hope to reach the very lofty goal of raising $65,000.

Training to ride for 1200 km over multiple mountain passes to Banff will be very difficult; raising these funds will be just as much of a challenge. Here is where I need your help. Please donate to my ride and help contribute to Eva’s legacy to raise critical funds for CF research and awareness.

Wednesday 21 May 2014

Wow! Thanks to all of your support I have reached 65% of my goal!


Please share my story with your family and friends and help me reach 100% of my goal!

Tuesday 20 May 2014

Victoria Weekend training

A weekend dedicated to Time in the Saddle.

Here is a Strava post of Monday's ride with fellow GearUp4Cf rider Kimberley Shaw and her husband Cliff






Tuesday 13 May 2014

A wonderful way to celebrate a milestone birthday

Last Friday I celebrated one of those milestone birthdays by turning 65. Turning 40 or 50 is tough enough but your 65th birthday is a  real quantum leap. At 65 you are eligible for the Canada Pension Plan.

But it turned into an amazing day. All day long my computer gave off little beeps and a message would come through that another GearUp4CF donation had come in. Many had 65 somewhere in the amount. Most were from Ontario. When my sisters Geri and Annette called I realized they had mounted a very united campaign to their friends and colleagues to encourage donations on my birthday. So thank you from the bottom of my heart to my Ontario family: Geri, Annette, Pat, John, Arlene, Deanie, their children and their multitudes of friends and colleagues for being so generous and for making this such a special day.  190 donors have now raised over $38,000 for the 65for65 Roses campaign.

Monday 5 May 2014

Our three CF riders- George Keulen, Paul Underhill and Mike Hamilton

Spin-a-Thon

Sharron Bates of Global TV organized and hosted a GearUp4CF Spin-a-Thon on Friday May 2 which was hugely successful. 15 riders were present and at 6 am. we started spinning. Every 40 minutes we were broadcast live on morning Global TV. Walter Brennen and I all had a chance to bring out what it is like to be involved in CF as parents, Paul Underhill tales about leading a much different life as as a lung transplant recipient and Mike Hamilton discussed his life as a young adult coping and living with CF. We had 3 volunteers leading us out  on our 4 hour spin class including Michel Pelletier from my Vancouver Velovet club who covered the last two hours. As the start to CF awareness month we also had a young CF child Luka on the show. We raised over 5,000 dollars that day through the CF office and my personal donations also climbed significantly. Good work to all the riders , the volunteers, and to Sharron for her hard work not only organizing the event but being behind the camera.

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