Day 12
Date: June 2, 2009 - National Hunger Awareness Day
Distance: St. Anne's Certigard to Winnipeg Harvest and on to Bikes and Beyond Time in Saddle: 45ish min Maximum Speed: ?kmh Average Speed: ? kmh Chase driver: Police Escort
Riders: Ken, Kirsty, Phil Roadley, Susan Riese, Brian Culligan, Dave Penner plus 4 runners.
Well, where to start? Today was a short day by cycling standards but a big one by any other standard. The good people at Winnipeg Harvest really out did themselves with a quality event.
The day started with a couple of quick interviews at 92 Citi FM and 102 Clear FM before meeting Phil from Bikes and Beyond. (A very generous contributor to Food Cycle and the city's premier bike peddler). He showed up with a three person bicycle! After loading it into the H.M.S. Harvest, we went to Dave Penner's Certigard location on St. Anne's to meet up with the other cyclists riding into Harvest. (Dave has been a great supporter of Harvest and has marshaled the other Certigard locations to participate in programs like Food Cycle 2009. He also fixes my car so, if you need a mechanic you can trust....)
Along with the aforementioned riders in the Food Cycle 2009 Preamble of Facts, we set out for Winnipeg Harvest. Along the way we were joined by 4 runners from Onashowewin Inc. We were drummed into Harvest with a throng of people and first nations drummers giving all they had.
After that, there were cheque presentations from Phil and Dave plus BMO and our principle sponsor, Manitoba Pork. BMO's gift was especially significant as almost half the funds raised came from the employees, a real team effort. All of the sponsors exceeded our greatest expectations by the level of support they provided, as did the individual contributions of so many others.
After the formal part of the event was over, we got to the meat of the event with a BBQ put on by Manitoba Pork. (Susan Riese and her team of positively perfect pork purveyors have been doing an awesome job of executing the BBQs and representing Manitoba Pork.) As I will discuss at a later date, their generosity has truly been off the charts.
After all the festivities, Phil and I rode back to Bikes and Beyond. Two of us, on a bicycle built for three. Believe it or not, the thing really moves, or perhaps it was just that Phil was being kind by dragging me around town behind him.
A great day for which I will save my detailed and quantifiable "thank yous" until the end of the ride. There are still 5 days left with some of the toughest terrain ahead and more stops for the benefit of The Manitoba Association of Food Banks.
As always, thank you for your ongoing support. Ken
