Hoofing it to Halifax

Post SNM Tour Day #3

We're back on the mainland and bound for Halifax today. It's starting to sink in that we are truly heading home.  The Fall colors are increasingly spectacular - unseasonably late, but great for us!

A quick "Letter to the Editor" of the St John's Telegram this a.m. (about the Mile 0 / Terry Fox monument issue) and then more driving, photos, waiting at construction sites and reworking the presentations to include some of the more recent pictures and to capture the fact that the road road has been completed etc.

Further thanks today...
 

Monique especially wants to thank all the "drivers of the tour" who gave her a break here and there and allowed her to do all the work that continuously needed to be done.  Gabrielle, Lin, Tom, Barb, Byrnes, Les, Leanne, Eric, Joe and Marc all deserve mention.

To all the cyclists who rode along for an hour or for days. I know we don't know the names of absolutely everyone involved but thanks to all  - especially

David, Les and Joe (multiple times), Warren, Tristan, Gabrielle, James (multiple times), Goeff, Justine (twice), Wayne, Franky/Francois, Bob, Sean and the various groups we met along the way.

To everyone who ran along with me, hey wait......that was only one person - the one and only Leslie Dort deserves special recognition here and rightly so!

To everyone who was there to witness the beginning of the tour at Mile 0 - Rob and Susan Derkitt and friends, Sandy Foss and her mom, Erika and Rhys, this was a very special time and it was great to have you there.

To all the corporate sponsors of the tour - all the support was critical to ensure that this tour would proceed and accomplish its mission with dignity and professionalism. So many people were very impressed and commented on how we presented ourselves - from the correspondence and website to the presentation hand-outs and banners, to the clothing and the bikes and support vehicle.  All this was possible only with significant financial backing and to all the companies involved, we are greatly appreciative.

To all the individuals who were Day Sponsors, you were the ones keeping "the tour on the road".  We have hopefully acknowledged every one of you and can't thank you enough.  To all the other individuals who supported in any way they could - absolutely everything helped and allowed us the freedom to pursue this tour in the manner that a National campaign should be managed.

To all the individuals and families who billeted us, we are eternally grateful.  Many were people who were friends of friends and really didn't know us at all.  I can say that Monique and I now have great friends in every province across this country.  WOW - this is one area that we really didn't know what we were getting into - but I can honestly say that the Canadians we have met, have lived up to our country's reputation of being kind, generous, open and friendly people.  It was a privilege to be a small part of people's lives and we didn't take it for granted.

As I still have quite a few presentations left, I will save my comments about the venues and event hosts until I am officially done.

Tour Day Sponsors are Evan, Camille, Charmaine and Sullivan Strong of Calgary - thanks again so much for the encouragement and very very generous support.

Random Quotes of the Day

Yesterday is history.  Tomorrow is a mystery.  And today?  Today is a gift. That's why we call it the "present"

Babatunde Olatunji