My ALS Challenge

One year ago I received confirmation of my ALS diagnosis. What has happened over that year? Well, I can list a whole bunch of things that would probably sound pretty negative and depressing, but there is only one thing that really comes to mind:

I learned how to make Lemonade!!!

That’s right. I learned how to make lemonade. Not your typical lemonade mind you. This recipe has ups and downs, challenges to overcome and learning how to do things over again. The most important ingredient, though, is I created my fundraising campaign to virtually cycle across Canada. These funds will support the ALS Society of Canada to further ALS research, increase advocacy and provide funds to help support patients and caregivers.

As I have discussed, starting on December 1, 2023 I will start my ‘ride across Canada’ virtual in Victoria, BC and, over the next 12 months ride the equivalent distance along the TransCanada Highway to St. John’s, NFLD – or approximately 7,500km.

This will require me to ride about 30km per day, which I will be doing in 15 minute segments. Why am I only cycling for 15 minutes at a time? Well, because going much longer than that at any one time will get me fatigued. As I said above, one of the items in the recipe is learning how to do things over again and adapting throughout this journey will be key to being successful.

Don’t worry though, I know I will do this and look forward to sharing this journey with you.

I also have another goal, albeit maybe a bit of a vain one. I have created a Virtual Mobility Ride page where you can follow along and track my progress. On this page, I’ve also included a YouTube video. I don’t mind writing and telling my story, but it is definitely a different story when speaking into a camera. Which brings me to my other goal. I will continue to do videos, and hopefully improve on them, in order to not only bring different forms of content and information but also provide an opportunity to allow you – if interested and able – to ride along with me.

Stay tuned, I have some ideas in mind! Until then, enjoy the ride.