Firefighter cycling 600-km for wounded vets
Yvon Dionne definitely plans to spin his wheels when he makes a trip to Europe next month that culminates with a visit to Vimy Ridge.
As part of the Battlefield Bike Ride arranged by Wounded Warriors Canada, Dionne will tackle a 600-kilometre trek from London, England, to France’s Vimy Ridge on a bicycle.
This is the fourth Battlefield Bike Ride organized by Wounded Warriors, with the previous three raising $1.1 million for an organization that assists veterans and first responders suffering from PTSD or other issues.
This year’s ride commemorates the 100th anniversary of Canada’s historic victory in the battle at Vimy Ridge.
When Dionne decides to give back, he does more than just write a cheque.
A few years ago, he took part in the Drop Zone fundraiser for Easter Seals where participants raised pledges before rappelling 27-storeys down the side of Caesars Windsor.
“I’ve always been a canvasser for United Way and I was kind of looking around for something different when I happened to come across this,” the 58-year-old said of the Battlefield ride.
There’s a military branch in his family tree with his grandfather and several uncles having served in the First World War and his brother owning a 25-year career in the Canadian Armed Forces. Dionne is also a first responder with a 23-year history as a volunteer firefighter for Tecumseh.
“This ride seemed like a good way to give back,” he said.
Dionne got into cycling five years ago through a work friend at Ford Motor Co. Surgery for a shoulder replacement slowed him down in 2012 but he’s been gearing up, literally and figuratively, for the Battlefield ride, which departs from London June 9.
He tries to get in two or three 60-kilometre rides a week, although he’s hard-pressed to replicate the rolling countryside he’ll encounter in England and France.
“It’s like riding on a pool table here,” he said of Essex County’s flatness.
Todd McGowan, the ride’s operations manager, said Dionne will join 129 others from across Canada.
Each pledged to raise a minimum of $4,000 to participate.
Dionne just reached $6,000 in his personal campaign. His fellow firefighters at Tecumseh Fire Station 1 on Lesperance Road are holding a fundraising car wash May 27 to help him reach his target goal of $6,500.
Dionne will head over a week early to visit his son, Kyle, who teaches grade school in London, and to get his rental bike set up for the journey.
On the ride, he and the group will take in sites steeped in Canadian military history and sacrifice, including the battlefields at Flanders, the Somme and the Ypres Salient.
The group will take a ferry from England over to France.
“I can’t wait,” he said. “My (camera) is all ready to go.”