Why?

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.

Friday 18 July 2014

Last Post

This has been quite a journey, both in distance, in fundraising and in spirit. I was astounded by the response to the request for fundraising and still am pinching myself at the amounts raised by the team and myself personally. So to the 330 plus individuals who donated over $77,000  to the 65for65Roses campaign  for Cystic Fibrosis, thank you from the very bottom of my heart. You helped me climb over the biggest mountain by far!

The actual distance and climbs did not prove to be as difficult as anticipated. Chalk that up to great Cervelo RS bike and adequate training. I have ridden many miles with experienced people over the past decade and I have learned a lot. I'm better at climbing hills and somewhat more disciplined with my pace. Thank you to Mike and all the good people at the Peak Centre for Fitness in Burnaby for insights on zone training and also a big thank you to Lisa, my physiotherapist at Columbia 8 Rinks for keeping me healthy when I overexerted myself with a month to go.

Although I have a great bike it required the attention of Theo Van Tol, bike mechanic extraordinaire, to keep it properly tuned and roadworthy and Dave Howell of BC Bikefit to make sure that my body mechanics were correctly fitted to the bike.  By June 21, 2014, Day 1 at 8 am at Crescent Beach I was physically and mentally all tuned up to go. 1300 km. and 14,000+ metres of elevation later in Calgary (5 of us rode an extra day from Banff to Calgary for a media event at the Calgary Children's hospital) I was still just as keen and could have kept on going. Someday I will ride across Canada!

So that about does it.

Thanks for following this blog.

Signing off

Bill Markvoort
former GearUp4CF 2014 rider.
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