More summer 2016 charity events

Hi again everyone,

I mentioned in the updated welcome video earlier this month (July 2016), I knew that my upcoming treatment session would keep me from riding and attending charity events, and it did.  There were many I wanted to attend, but trying to conserve energy, and not physically drain my body too much during the time, was more important.  Now that the session of treatment is done, it is time to get back on the road as I am quite a ways behind on my riding goal for the year.

Most of the details about normal rides, and the status of my goal, are on the 20k goal page, which I have been keeping mostly up to date.

I am not sure if I will attend any big charity events in July.  I should start getting out to the bike nights again in the evenings, but with only 1 weekend left before my big BC road trip, I have a bunch of other things on the go, so not much would happen there.  This lets me look ahead to my “I am going to attend” charity events in August.

The first on the list is the Military Minds Inc Poker run event on August 20th.  Military Minds Inc is a worldwide organization of Veterans that support other Veterans. The key to their success (in my mind) is that the Veterans volunteering for them, are just like the people who are calling for help – rough around the edges and not concerning themselves with the political correctness or public perception.  They are there to help, and provide the help using terms that they will understand.  They don’t have a therapist – patient relationship; they are fire team partners, crew members etc.  Many of the people in the military community will understand how concepts so straightforward can have such an impact.  Mostly underground and not in the press or spotlight, this community grows day by day.

The event on 20 Aug is looking to be pretty spectacular.  Looking at the list of sponsors and donated items – it will be quite huge for a first ever(to become annual) event.    To me, it looks like 3 events in 1…. Breakfast at Heritage Harley, Poker run through the secondary highways, and it wraps up with a supper concert at Blackjacks Roadhouse when it is all done.  How can that be a bad day….

 

A week later (27 Aug) is the Erin Doyle Memorial Poker Run in Legal, Alberta (just north of Edmonton).  I attended this event last year, and had a great time.  Substantial funds were raised for The Kids with Cancer society.  I have mentioned in the past that kids with Cancer make me feel like a whiny bitch because of the strength they show dealing with Cancer for such a large part of their lives.

Erin Doyle was a soldier from Edmonton Garrison who was killed in Afghanistan.  The Veteran Paratroopers MC support his memory by organizing this annual event.  A key positive trait of this event is the Military precision in which the event is executed – even makes an Air Force guy like me happy… I love that shit.

So, those are my weekend ride plans outside of my big ride in August.  I haven’t committed to an event on the 13th because when I return from my 8 day run – I might need to rest and recover – we shall see.  If all goes well, I might just roam a bit more to get more clicks on the odometer for my 20k goal.

So, if you are in the Edmonton area in August, come with me to support these events.  As always, thank you for riding along with me on this journey while I learn to live with Cancer.