Hatter cycling across Canada for the National Kids Cancer Ride
For most people, scheduling time off of work, taking to the road and traveling across the country would be considered a nice, peaceful vacation.
For Hatters Corrie and David Dale, there won’t be that much time for tourist activities during their 18day trek across the nation, with David biking and Corrie driving an RV behind him as part of the National Kids Cancer Ride.
“I’m definitely excited, but I am starting to get nervous, too,” David said. “I think I did feel a little more prepared in July. I did another ride, called the Tour For Kids, it was 450 kilometres over three days. I felt really good then, but it has tapered back a bit. I will say that I do feel very confident to make it through. Once you get through the first few days you find that rhythm, and I know I’ll find that.”
In just under a week, the Dales will leave for Calgary, before flying out to Vancouver and starting their journey on Sept. 6. On average, David will be biking 160-170 kilometres a day at roughly 26-28 kilometres an hour. He says he is looking forward to a lot of different stops along the way, but is especially excited for northern Ontario.
“I’m really excited for the Terry Fox Memorial,” he said. “Everyone talks about it and it is quite a spectacular scene, so I’ve heard. So I am for sure looking forward to seeing that along the way.”
As of Saturday, the couple has raised $41,000 for the ride, mainly through their annual Duel It fundraiser, with every penny of it going towards research programs or things like getting kids to camp.
Corrie says it has been amazing to see the support from the community. “Knowing that the community supported us that much is such an amazing feeling,” she said. “The first year we did Duel It we were hoping for $2,500. This year our goal was $25,000. To surpass it is just beyond words. We keep saying it, but our hearts are full. Having this much support of a community that is a lot of friends and family, but also a lot of strangers, and to have so much support is overwhelming honestly.”
For David, it is not as simple as hopping on a bike and riding across the country. Since February he has traveled nearly 4,000 kilometres on his bike, riding up to 230 kilometres in a day and eating countless bugs along the way.
“The training has been pretty hard, but I’ve actually been able to shed an hour off of my 100-kilometre time,” he said. “My longest trip was out to Swift Current, I think it took about six and a half hours. It’s been hard, but fun.”
As for Corrie, she will be taking on a supportive role to Dale and the 21 other riders in his team. She says she is most looking forward to traveling through the couple’s home town.
“I’ll be driving the RV, but also doing things like grocery shopping, laundry and just basically any help that’s needed along the way, that’s where I’ll come in,” she said. “For me, Medicine Hat definitely is up there in places I want to travel through. We’ve just been so fortunate to have so many people supporting us in so many aspects. I’m hoping we have a really good crowd of people out.”
The entire team will be traveling and stopping in the Hat on Sept. 9. The first stop will be midday at Premium Sausage, where a fundraising barbecue will be held. Then the team will travel to Goodlife to shower, then they will walk over to Rossco’s for a meal. Corrie and David say are hoping to see as many familiar faces as possible as they pass through the city.
To follow Corrie and David’s progress head to www.facebook.com/NationalKidsCa ncerRide