MS Bike Tour

I successfully completed my 15th (2011) MS Bike Tour to Kemptville and back the weekend of August 6 & 7 in spite of some injuries (thankfully minor: mostly loss of skin and bruises) resulting from a car-bicycle interaction early in the same week. I raised a total of $2,070 for the MS Society, just surpassing my target and bringing the total amount I've raised over 15 years to just over $15,000.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTED MY RIDE AND THIS IMPORTANT CAUSE!
Except for a bit of wind the weather was about as close to ideal for cycling on Saturday as it was all summer and I arrived at the Agricultural College in Kemptville @ 12:15 with no flats or mechanical incidents. After the normal activities including the corn roast, dinner and evening social, I spent a pleasantly dry night in my tent.
After a 7:35 start, I managed the roughly 65km route back to Carleton U. the following day by around 10:10 AM under mostly gray skies. My total distance for the weekend, including riding between home and Carleton University and a ride into downtown Kemptville on Saturday after my tent was up, was 204.8 Km.
My fundraising success meant even more than usual this year because about 3 weeks before the ride I learned that long time friend and former colleague, Denis Boisvert had finally succumbed to MS at his home in New Brunswick. Denis and I actually rode the second ever Ottawa MS Bike tour together back in 1990, just a few months before he was diagnosed with MS (he had lost an uncle to the disease a few years earlier).

The total amount I collected in pledges for 2011 was $.

But that was 2011, and I'm already planning (and raising money) for the next tour. Significant progress is being made in MS research in spite of the fact that government support has, in most cases, been dwindling, which makes private fund raising efforts even more important than ever.Click here for more information about how to join the ride or to add your pledge and support my ride and the MS Society.