Today marked 1 month since we left Pier 21 in Halifax. We’ve had some
ups and downs, met some phenomenal people, had to deal with a major
injury to Mark, and have skated through 3 Provinces of this great
country of ours. So far, overall it’s been a great experience!
We left from Cabano this morning where a regional TV news cameraman
met up with us just outside of town to film the skate for the 6
o’clock news. This cameraman was particularily innovative as he
affixed his camera to the back of his car and had Mark and Cameron
skate behind – should make for some interesting coverage!
After skating over 35 km on his first real day back on the road
yesterday, Mark hit a bit of a setback in his recovery and had a very
difficult day on the road today. Mark is going to be pushing extra
hard over the next couple weeks working his way back to his daily
maximum, and the team is there with him every stride of the way making
sure we meet our daily goals.
This was our first full-day skate in Quebec, and we had to work as we
skated over some fairly treacherous pavement on the shoulders of
Highway 185. We skated along construction, through the rolling tree
lined hills, until we finally hit the top of our climb and cruised
down towards the mouth of the Saint Laurence and our destination of
Riviere-du-Loup.
Once in town we headed to the campground where we were greeted by the
local Riviere-du-Loup Lions Club. This was our first experience with
a Quebec “Club Lions,” and Mark did well in French giving the key
points of his story, his diagnosis, blind hockey, founding Courage
Canada, and his Halifax 2 Toronto campaign. Matt was there to help
Mark and facilitate questions, and we had a pleasent meet and greet
for about an hour.
After the Lions left we had ravioli with leftover pasta sauce for
dinner, we made a campfire, and then did some work. As readers of
this blog know the Courage Canada Halifax 2 Toronto campaign is 1 of 6
finalists for the 2011 True Sport Community Give-Back Challenge and
the $7,500 grand prize. The winner is determined by Canada voting,
and we are up against some phenomenal causes that have very large
groups behind them, so we are hard at work promoting the contest.
WE NEED ALL OF YOU TO GO ONLINE AND VOTE RIGHT AWAY! It takes 2
seconds to vote, and voting closes this Wednesday September 14th at
midnight EST so be sure to vote and spread the word!
Tomorrow we are skating through Riviere-du-Loup to Highway 132 that
parallels the Saint Laurence and will take us down to Quebec City over
the next 4 days.
Stay tuned….
