Ocean to ocean
Two friends cycle across Canada to draw attention to Huntington’s disease
Men cycle from B.C. to St. John’s, raise awareness about Huntington’s disease
Following an RNC escort to The Gut in Quidi Vidi Village by street patrol officer Const. Jamie Carroll, Windsor, Ont., residents and buddies Jim Stewart, 62, and Martin Denonville, 63, dipped their bicycle tires into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean on Monday afternoon after completing their 72-day trek across Canada to raise awareness about Huntington’s disease.
Pegged as their “2•4•1 Tour (two guys, four wheels, one cause) – a coast-to-coast ride in support of Huntington’s,” the duo left Stanley Park in Vancouver, B.C. on May 14.
Denonville, a retired teacher for the past seven years who taught for 28 with the Greater Essex County District School Board, has three nieces in the Windsor area (ages 45-50) who have been diagnosed with Huntington’s.
Stewart is a recently retired assistant funeral director from the family run Windsor Chapel Funeral Home.
“Huntington’s disease is an incurable, genetic brain disorder that causes cells in specific parts of the brain to die. As brain cells die, symptoms include emotional turmoil, mental loss and physical deterioration. Ultimately the body shuts down, leading to incapacitation and eventually death.”
They flew to Vancouver on May 10 as they prepared to set out on their 7,100 km/300+ hours of biking journey. They have raised more than $30,000 for Huntington’s to raise awareness.
Huntington’s disease is an incurable, genetic brain disorder that causes cells in specific parts of the brain to die. As brain cells die, symptoms include emotional turmoil, mental loss and physical deterioration. Ultimately the body shuts down, leading to incapacitation and eventually death.
More information on their journey can be seen online at twofourone.org or by viewing their Facebook page at Facebook. com/2guys4wheels1cause as compiled along the way by the two fitness gurus.
As a surprise for Denonville, his wife, Carrie Lee, was there to greet him at the finish, which caught him off guard.
They will spend a few days in St. John’s before they make their way back home to Windsor this weekend.