4WhatMatters

Well another year almost over!  I want to say a HUGE thank you to all the team riders from this year and all the previous years for your amazing support and commitment to yourselves, your chosen charities and to the Cycle4: National Relay. Also to all our sponsors, supports, partners, donors, event volunteers, family and friends and of course the entire 4 What Matters Foundation for making another year possible.  Every single one of you has been a true inspiration to myself everyone that surrounds you!

I look forward to what 2012 has to offer and seeing you all out on the road again or working with you side by side to take this Cycle4:National Ride across Canada and all other great events we have going on to another level!

Have a great Christmas with family and friends and see you in the new year!

Megan Rose

When sanofi-aventis sent out an email in April asking if any employees would be interested in participating in a cross Canada relay this summer, Paul Beechey thought, why not? Paul had joined a cycling club the previous fall and thought he would have little trouble riding the 100km per day that was outlined for the ride.

Paul went into the ride with no expectations. Three days in, he says "it's the best experience of my life". Through the relay, Paul has also raise over $2000 for the Canadian Colorectal Association. When Paul’s father was just 56, he passed away from colorectal cancer, and Paul is riding in his memory.

Colorectal cancer is the fourth commonest cancer in Canada and is currently the second leading cause of cancer mortality after lung cancer. Recent initiatives in population screening for colorectal cancer have resulted in an increasing proportion of patients whose diseases are detected at an earlier stage with a better prognosis. Together with the advances in treatment modalities, particularly in systemic therapies, overall 5-year survival rates for colorectal cancer have improved over the past two decades.

Way to go Paul!

Follow all the riders - live from the road

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cycle4
Twitter: http://twitter.com/c4wm or follow the hashtag #c4relay
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/4WMFoundation
GPS (follow live): http://www.facebook.com/cycle4?sk=app_137331002992480
 

When Sanofi-Aventis partnered with CYCLE4:National Relay as the presenting partner of the 2011 National Relay, they offered their employees the opportunity to join the ride. Karen Hutton and Susan Svetich are two BC based Sanofi employees who decided to take on the challenge of riding through the Western Region. What is interesting about these women, is that prior to the race neither of them had spent much time on a bike, let alone a road bike, and they both proceeded to tackle one of the toughest regions in Canada, and did extremely well.

How long have you been riding?

Susan: I purchased my road bike in early June, so it has been only two months of riding for me! That has been why I was quite anxious, nervous and excited at times.

Karen: I only purchased my bike three months ago, with the plan to complete the half-fondo in Whistler, thinking that would be a big challenge. Then, I got on a work conference call and heard that Sanofi was looking for new riders and I thought, this could be my big challenge to get into shape.

Why are you doing the relay?

Susan: The company (sanofi-aventis) provided me with the opportunity to partake in this ride. My colleague, Karen, encouraged (or should I say convinced) me that I could do one full leg. I decided to ride to help bring awareness to devastating diseases such as cancer and diabetes. My personal fundraising dollars have been committed to the Kidney Foundation of Canada. My uncle, who was like a Dad to me suffered from kidney disease and dialysis. I wanted to do something in honour of him and the many other individuals and their families that suffer from this disease.

Karen: I felt it was important to get the word out about diabetes and oncology. Numerous friends have had breast or leg cancer. One friend’s five year old has brain cancer and my Mom has type two diabetes. I think work has to be done to bring these diseases a lot of attention and what better way than on a bike!

What did you expect?

Susan: I expected to fall off my bike while hitting those steep hills!

Karen: Not sure!

What was your experience like?

Susan: My experience through this journey was beyond my expectations. I was sad to stop my portion of the ride in Calgary and say good bye to the wonderful team that I had met along the way. The camaraderie of the Cyclebetes team and the Sanofi Team was amazing! My endorphins were flying high each and everyday. I do believe that when you put people together with the same determination, great things will happen! Together, we can make a difference!

Karen: Best challenge of my life, I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Follow all the riders - live from the road

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cycle4
Twitter: http://twitter.com/c4wm or follow the hashtag #c4relay
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/4WMFoundation
GPS (follow live): http://www.facebook.com/cycle4?sk=app_137331002992480
 

Chris Banks was diagnosed a type 1 diabetic in 1965. He learned to manage his disease at a time when “the only tools available were a glass syringe that had to be boiled every morning to sterilize it, NPH insulin that rose and fell over 24 hours, a urine testing kit that gave you a colour ranging from blue to orange that told you how much “sugar” had spilled into your urine since the last time you urinated.”

Many family physicians were unsure or unaware of how to treat diabetes. Chris was fortunate enough to meet a physician named Dr. John Hunt. Dr. Hunt was very different in how he treated diabetic patients. He tried to give his patients a variety of ways to control their disease, not the other way around. Chris planned to ride the first leg of the relay, from Vancouver to Calgary for Dr. Hunt. Unfortunately, Chris injured himself just weeks before the relay and was unable to participate. This is how we met Craig Carter.

Craig and Chris have been friends for over 30 years. Craig was able to step in and complete the Western Region on Chris’s behalf. While Chris now lives in Ontario, Craig is still in the Vancouver Area, is a member of two local bike clubs and cycles over 10,000km a year.

For the Western Region Team, Craig is the guy who finished every ride by saying “wow, that was amazing!” Who loved every minute of it and was always ready with a smile.

Follow all the riders - live from the road

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cycle4
Twitter: http://twitter.com/c4wm or follow the hashtag #c4relay
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/4WMFoundation
GPS (follow live): http://www.facebook.com/cycle4?sk=app_137331002992480
 

On August 13, 2011 Waterloo mom, Shirley Inglis, started a journey that she hopes will better the lives of type one diabetics everywhere. “My 20 year old son Nigel was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes five years ago and our lives changed forever on that day. He deals well with the everyday challenges, but I'd like to know that he can one day live a long and normal life because we’ve backed the research needed to make this happen. I'm sure a cure will come in his lifetime, and I'd like to do what I can to make that happen, AND as soon as possible”, Shirley emphatically states.

Shirley has signed on, for the third year, as a member of Team Cyclebetes on the the CYCLE4:National Relay. This year she will cycle across Western and central Canada covering an area close to 3100 kms completing the cross Canada goal she set three years ago. “Cycling in the Cyclebetes National Relay makes me feel less powerless in the face of Nigel's disease. It's a tough ride, just as type 1 diabetes is a tough disease, but together we will get this done. Type 1 diabetics everywhere will have the chance of a normal life”, Shirley smiles.

Shirley Inglis is a mom on a mission.

Follow all the riders - live from the road

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cycle4
Twitter: http://twitter.com/c4wm or follow the hashtag #c4relay
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/4WMFoundation
GPS (follow live): http://www.facebook.com/cycle4?sk=app_137331002992480

What inspires someone to put the pedal to the metal and join the legion of BC cyclists? There is an endless stream of motivators - fitness, recreation, ease and economy of transit, community and in the case of novice cyclist Ben Tice – driven to find a cure for his son’s type 1 diabetes.

It was an unforgettable day four and a half years ago when Ben Tice and his wife welcomed healthy robust twin boys into the world. Two years later it was the darkest of times when Jake one of the twins, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. “I firmly believe that there will be a cure and I will do anything I have to support Jake and everyone living with type 1 and now that includes getting on a bike and riding across BC as a member of the CYCLE4: National Relay to raise awareness and funds for type 1 research! I hope our son Jake, in the years to come, knows that while he is living with Type 1,we are there to support him every step or pedal stroke (in this case) of his journey”, offers Ben.

Heartfelt words from a Dad just doing what it takes. “Honestly I just hope to finish”, Ben adds with a characteristic grin.

Follow all the riders - live from the road

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cycle4
Twitter: http://twitter.com/c4wm or follow the hashtag #c4relay
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/4WMFoundation
GPS (follow live): http://www.facebook.com/cycle4?sk=app_137331002992480

On August 13, 2011 North Vancouver mom and elementary school teacher Jen Aragon ups the ante and delivers on a big promise. “I promised my son, Dylan, when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2005, that I would do everything in my power to find a cure.....I will never give up until a cure is found”. Jen has joined the Cyclebetes/CYCLE4:National Relay, for the second year, as a member of the Team Cyclebetes BC Provincial leg. She will cycle across BC covering an area of over 1055 kms.

Jen and the other Team Cyclebetes Relay members will be riding in pairs, symbolizing that great things are always accomplished in ‘tandem’ with others. The Cyclebetes/CYCLE4:National Relay will kick off Saturday August 13, 2011 in North Vancouver Mountain before traveling high atop BC’s Whistler on the first leg of the journey. The relay will wind up in the seaside town of Digby, Nova Scotia on Sunday September 4, 2011 welcomed by 50,000 people as part of the Wharf Rat Rally.

“Cyclebetes/CYCLE4: National Relay is an opportunity to raise money for juvenile diabetes research and spread awareness about type 1 AND be part of an incredible event! I want to show my son, and others, that if you put your mind to it, you CAN DO anything. Nothing is impossible if you believe in yourself”, Jen offers. Jen’s 10 year old son Dylan was named BC’s 2011 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Youth Ambassador. Dylan and Jen are committed to spreading awareness and raising funds for JDRF.

Type 1 diabetes affects 246 million people worldwide and the number is skyrocketing. “A cure would change our life in so many ways, it's hard to even imagine. It would mean no more worry, no more middle of the night blood tests, no more counting carbs, or stopping in the middle of an activity to check blood, no more needles, blood tests, purse full of dextrose tablets, or emergency glucagon shots, no more hypoglycaemic night time seizures, no more hospital stays just because Dylan has a cold or flu, and no more constant concern over what the future will bring for him in terms of diabetes side effects. But most importantly, a cure would give Dylan, and people everywhere the life they deserve. A cure is out there, and we WILL find it. Research is getting so close...it may be around the next corner!” Dylan adds, "It makes me feel excited and happy that she is riding for me and diabetes”. You can feel the hope and optimism of a family on the way to a cure.

Jen's personal blog

The CYCLE4:National Relay is a cross-Canada cycling challenge that brings communities across Canada together in a trek that extends coast-to-coast, from Vancouver to Halifax. The two cycling teams ride – relay style – across Canada. Each team consists of 30 riders representing different regions of the country, as well as a support crew and 30-foot RV. Teams choose a cause they want to raise money for and embark on a one-of-a-kind journey for what matters to them.

The relay members will be riding in pairs, symbolizing that great things are always accomplished in ‘tandem’ with others. The Cyclebetes/CYCLE4:National Relay will kick off Saturday August 13, 2011 in North Vancouver Mountain before traveling high atop BC’s Whistler on the first leg of the journey. The relay will wind up in the seaside town of Digby, Nova Scotia on Sunday September 4, 2011 welcomed by 50,000 people as part of the Wharf Rat Rally.

Cyclebetes/CYCLE4:National Relay CITY SCHEDULE:
http://www.cyclebetes.com/city-schedule.htm

Follow the ride:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cycle4
Twitter: http://twitter.com/c4wm + Hashtag #c4relay
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/4WMFoundation
GPS (follow live): http://www.facebook.com/cycle4?sk=app_137331002992480

I had the privilege to be out assisting at one of our local National Team Riders fundraising event last week in Langley BC. Tyler Vanderhoek, a teenager from Langley has ridden on the National Relay Team for the past 2 years, riding for his younger sister Paige who has Type 1 Diabetes.

They do one major fundraising event a year. Tee-off for Diabetes Golf Tournament. They have built on this each year and were able to book out the entire golf course this year. Selling hole sponsors, to cart sponsors, to title sponsors to the longest drive sponsor and the list goes on. Don't forgot the dinner after golf with Auctions and 50/50 draws!

We just finished processing all the payments at 4 What Matters Foundation and am proud to announce with over 120 golfers they raised over $18,000 on the day. WOW what an amazing effort. It wasn't just a one man show - it was a whole family effort. The parents Christie and Bryan and all the kids pitch in on the day, Tyler, Joel and Paige.

We are unsure if Tyler can join us this year, as his summer commitments are getting busier - but either way we sure are very appreciative of their efforts and support towards finding a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. We will be working with the Vanderhoek's over the coming weeks to distinguish what area of research this $18,000 will go towards. Possibly locally to some researches at UBC that JDRF support.

Congratulations and top effort to all involved.
 

Time is drawing close to the 3rd annual National Relay Ride across Canada!

I have had a few enquiries on how to pack your bike properly to fly with it for those of you that are flying to your start location and/or flying home after you are finished.  I have put together a video to give you some tips on this area.

Let me know if you have any questions. megan@4whatmatters.com

Megan

Hats off to the Vanderhoek Family. This will be the 3rd year in a row that they have organized a fundraising golf tournament.  There teenage son Tyler Vanderhoek has ridden for the last 2 years with Cyclebetes for his younger sister Page that has Type 1 Diabetes.  They do just one fundraiser each year that raises far beyond our expectations.

Last year I had the privilege of being there and helping out with donations and registration on the day and got to see how well the day ran and how much fun all the golfers had.  They set up a sponsorship program for local companies to sponsor a hole, or the golf carts, or prizes etc.  They are aiming to book out the whole golf course this year and have 130 golfers total.

Last year the fundraiser bought in over $11,000 after all golf expenses were paid for - this year they are aiming for $25,000.  The Redwood Golf Course in Langley BC do most of the leg work with organizing the day, this leaves the Vanderhoek's more time to work on selling out the event and get local business's and friends and family to come and participate and support!

They still have some open spots if you would like to be a part of the event on July 20th. Email me if interested in seeing the options megan@4whatmatters.com

You too can organize an event to this caliper to boost your fundraising totals!

Congratulations to the Vanderhoek's for all their time and effort and passion over the last few years and making a difference in their community and the families around them, there are many that greatly appreciate your passion and support.

Megan

What an amazing year 2011 is going to be!

What are your goals, passions, and dreams for 2011?

If its pushing your limits, gaining fitness, trying something new, doing something for a loved one, teaming up with some friends to do a really cool event, and/or to be involved in a ride across Canada, then I guess you have landed on the right page!

There are so many factors and details to describe when it comes to the CYCLE4 National Cycling Relay that only a fraction could be decribed at the top of this program page.  So I have developed an info guide for various types of individuals and/or organizations that would like to know more. Just click on the related link above to download the info guide that's right for you.  

My name is Megan Rose and I am the Event Manager for the ride across Canada. I am always here for you and any questions or conerns you may have or to provide clarity and some more insight on what this is all about and to get you one step closer to joining us on this unbelivable journey across the country.

I can be reached at 604-724-6558 or email: megan@4whatmatters.com

I look forward to chatting with you all soon

Megan Rose