Bring it on

Ah, the Rotary Club Lilac Ride! Instead of getting all worked up about the Victoria Day long weekend, which typically heralds the start of the summer months, I should try to remember May brings the glorious Picton Rotary Clubs Lilac Ride. It’s a Rotary fundraiser, so it’s for a good cause. The route is beautiful. Lots of interesting, bike-minded people show up for a morning on the road. How could that be a bad thing? To top it off, the Mayor cooked my lunch at the end of the ride. Well, Hizzoner and a dozen other Rotarians got my lunch together.

I love to trek on my Trek. The only thing better than riding my bicycle is riding my bicycle along with LOML. Back in 2005, the folks at the Bloomfield Bicycle Company kitted us out with beautiful hybrids. Hybrid bikes are part trail and part road bike, for those of you who don’t know.

Our very first ride, after the purchase was epic. We cycled from Picton to Bloomfield and back. I say epic because by the time we’d made it as far as Cold Storage Road, I was dying. One whole kilometre and I was ready to see if I could get my money back. Surely, I thought, the folks at BBC would understand what a huge mistake had been made by moi. I hadn’t cycled since the seventies, and that first ride was a killer. Did we get to Bloomfield? Why, yes we did. But I walked up that massive hill to Mallory Road. LOML didn’t give into the hill. When I got to the top, where he was waiting and catching his breath, I suggested perhaps there was something dreadfully wrong with my new wheels. Some mechanical disturbance in its force. Another reason to get my money back. I like to think LOML believed me, but I doubt he did.

The truth was—and I’ll just speak for myself— I was hopelessly out of shape. Ten years have passed since that epic ride. We’ve covered many, many thousands of kilometres in Ontario, B.C. and P.E.I. We’ve cycled up huge hills and we’ve sailed down massive hills. We’ve cycled in hurricane-force winds and driving rain. I’ve broken bones on my adventures. With your help, we’ve raised money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation and for local service clubs. You’ve been treated to my cycling adventures in the name of fun, fundraising and insanity.

Sunday was the real start of summer for us, and a fundraiser for Picton’s Rotary Club. The proceeds from the Lilac Ride supports local charitable initiatives and the Rotary’s PolioPlus fund. When I was a kid, we all knew of someone who had infantile paralysis or poliomyelitis. Today, with effective vaccines and prevention education, poliomyelitis is almost eradicated. Almost eradicated. So, today I ride for the education, vaccination and eradication of poliomyelitis and for our community.

Woo Hoo! Next up: the Picton Kiwanis Cribbage Ride. Bring on the cycling adventures.

theresa@wellingtontimes.ca