Home

The time in Sicily is one of the best vacations of my adult life. So many adventures getting from Rome to Catania, to Messina to Ortona.

And the start of my 5th BBR ride. Like all the rides, it would be approximately 500km over 6 days. But Italy has unrelenting hills and flat bike trails along beaches, with everyone cutting across the bike path to get to the beach. Italy taxes both your mental acuity and your physical strength unlike any of the other BBR rides.

I had to face some demons on this trip. Waiting for me were a series of sharp corners that I crashed at in 2016. I was a victor in 2023.

There are hills unlike any hill I ride in Kenora. Back in 2016, there was a man with a cycling jersey that had a slogan that was a huge help getting up the hills. This year I had kit made so i could pay his help forward. “It’s a hill, Get over it.” The kit is the colours of the 48th Highlanders, Grandad’s regiment. On the leg is the motto of the 48th, “Dileas gu Brath” Faithful Forever.

I still have to work on my descents. I hate steep downhills. I never liked slides, detested roller coasts and I HATE going downhill on the Adriatic Coast.

I have grown up more on BBR then any other place in my life. This past year has been about understanding why I was so angry about Wounded Warriors for including Police Officers as beneficiaries of their programs (see BBR2019 post) .

I came to realize that I was angry because there had been no help for my family, no awareness of the strain of Occupational Stress Injuries back in the 1980s and 90s. For 30 years I had blamed myself solely for the breakdown of our marriage. Today, I realize that it wasn’t just me. Perhaps if there had been help then, the workplace traumas could have been addressed, both for the Officers and for the families. Perhaps, if there had been programs then, feelings would not have been stuffed down and hidden. Perhaps there would have been more laughter, less silences and less sadness.

So now I ride BBR for Veterans and for those families who make their living in Emergency Services. For those people who help you when you need it most. I ask you now, please help them. Please donate so these programs can continue to save lives.

PS: We laugh lots on these rides. Thank you Elsie for joining me on the last four. It has been a grand adventure.