NKCR Sept 11 2017 – Estevan to Melita – Happy Stories and crosswinds

Today we started off with a some time to talk about why we are here, and a happier story about a childhood cancer survivor. We started off with our crew chief Mark Geene talking about why we are doing this, and the things we need to focus on as we go: Learn, Refocus and Inspire.
Learn: To learn from what we’ve been thorugh so far – we are now 1/3 of the way through our journey, and the teams are coming together. But we need to listen to our team captains, and have a safe ride.
Refocus: Refocus and re-energize. Spend a little bit of time with your eyes closed to remember why we are here. Focus on what has gotten us here, because we care and want to make a difference. Refocus on becoming a team, and a wheel family.
Inspire: So many people follow us on social media and blogs, and see us in the towns where we stop. People see what we are doing and donate. We inspire a nation thorugh our ride.
Today we ride for Nicolina, a little girl from Manitoba who was diagnosed at two years old with bilateral Wilms tumors. She went through two six week courses of chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and more chemotherapy to eliminate the cancer, and is one of the lucky ones. Nicolina loves waterslides and popsicles, and jumping on the trampoline with her older brother Matteo. She finished her story with the following:
“Thanks for reading my story and thanks for riding across Canada to help kids with cancer. When your legs get tired, think of me and the other kids with cancer and you will be OK too.
I hope you love popsicles!”
On the road, if we find things hard, we think – it’s easier than chemotherapy, it’s easier than cancer. This puts what we are doing and why we are doing it into perspective. Happy endings like Nicolina’s are awesome, but we need to beat this disease so we don’t have the sad ones.
Our route today took us from Estevan, SK, to Melita MB, stopping in Frobisher, Carnduff and Piersen. As usual, the communities along the way were great, and the stops were the rest and refreshment we needed to get us along the road.
We finished up in Melita, with a special escort. Two kids who are battling cancer, Corson and Jase, received signed jerseys from the NKCR riders (last year and this year respectively). They were our escort through Melita to our stop for dinner. It was touching to see one of our riders, Mario, helping Jase along the road.
Today started with some fun, a touching story and a good solid 160 km ride. We are now on the shuttles on our way to our next starting point. Until tomorrow my friends.

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