Ry Mack here. After yesterdays head-wind, we were all banking on some good weather to boost our biking spirits a bit. When we woke up(Ross, Sean and I) we stuck our heads out of the tents to see a beautiful blue sky and winds headed for our booties, as well Scotty was just chowing down on his lunch! We were totally refreshed, we were chatting and cruising along as the wind pushed us for most of the morning! As a group, morale was extremely high, as we got spoiled in the town of Indian Head. Things were going better than ever, Scotty was leading the pack so I knew something was up.
Around 70 km into our ride just outside of Broadview, it became Sean Nevilles day. To say it modestly, Sean Neville did absolutely everything for us! The guy is a legend. We were strolling along as Sean noticed in the middle of a highway there was a bird that exactly resembled “Tweety Bird” off of Looney Tunes. The bird was helpless and Sean came to the rescue. He was leading the pack at the time and he screeched to a complete stop. We piled up together and watched in awe as Sean jumped off his bike and scurried to the middle of the highway. It was like watching a firefighter run to the top of the building and carry a baby out from the 4th floor. He sprinted to the middle of the Trans-Canada and grabbed the bird that was the size of palm. As he was running back he threw little tweety into the air as I swear I saw its first flight! Sean Neville’s Day had begun!
Throughout our trip, Ross has been a self-proclaimed “weather-man”. He has constantly been looking into the clouds, throwing grass in the air and claiming he is better at predicting the weather than “Gordie Tupper” off of CHEK News. Due to this, he has constantly been wearing his waterproof booties, Blue Sherpa Jacket and Rain pants for over 85% of the trip. Today, I can say that the weatherman was fired! As we were nearly 40 km from our destination of Moosimin, when a hurricane/tornado/typhoon/monsoon was forming in the distance. Russ pulled over and in a calming voice said “Boys, no booties for me, trust the weatherman”. Scotty, Sean and I were shocked, as Russ has been wearing his Booties as religiously as he wore his Mushroom cut in middle school. For those who do not know him, that is every freaking day! We scurried together and threw on all of our rain gear as Rusty sat there and mocked us. As we pushed around two kilometers further it literally was raining buckets on us. I have been wearing a rain-jacket that Scott lent me from the Philippines and with the first drop of rain I was soaked. For the next forty km’s it felt like I had my bike in a swimming pool as I pedaled. It may have added another 50 pounds on each of our bikes.
The best part of the trip was the rebirth of Sean Neville. To be brutally honest, Sean has had by far the worst luck of any of us on the trip. If there has been anything to go wrong it has often happened to Sean. Luckily, the guy is one of the best sports and easiest going guys so it has barely affected him. As we were rolling up to Moosimin, Ross and I pulled over to look at a herd of Moose who were across the highway. As this occurred, we realized that Scotty and Sean pushed forward for a yellow jersey sprint. We quickly jumped on bikes and pursued our two elder bros. When we were around 30 feet behind, we saw Sean and Scotty tussle for yellow jersey supremacy. In the pouring rain, it was an epic battle, Rain was flicking off of Sean Nevilles luscious long mane and spraying into Scottys eye like bear mace. Scotty flustered and rattled that Sean was kicking the living daylight out of him pushed forward. In that instant, I have never seen Scotty get out-hearted. (For those who have played basketball with Scotty, most know he was all heart and average skill-That’s payback for your earlier comment Scotty). Sean Neville left Scotty in the dust. In less than a minute Sean pushed far into the distance and may as well have stomped all over Scotty’s dignity while doing so. As Rusty and I pulled up beside Scotty, he was breathing hard, sweating, looked disoriented and was asking for an oxygen tank. I swear Sean Neville is the most resilient and toughest guy going, I now know which brother I want to take into a fight!
As we pulled into Moosomin, the rain was still pouring (For over two and half hours we got rained on) we scurried to find somewhere to stay that was dry. We came across The Prairie Pride Motel, Sean told the owner our story and she was nice enough to give us a room for free! Once again Sean was a legend in getting us sorted out. The owner was far too nice to us! I swear every time we have any sort of struggles there is someone or something that picks us up. It just continuosly reminds me of how special Baha was. His positivity while going through Parkinson’s was unbelievable and I believe we are truly lucky to have absorbed some of those traits from him. After meeting so many people along our trip affected by Parkinson’s there has been a theme that I have seen. Many of the people that are diagnosed are unbelievably positive. Their approaches to the disease embody exactly what we saw in Baha. Optimism and positivity. Very admirable people!
Around 70 km into our ride just outside of Broadview, it became Sean Nevilles day. To say it modestly, Sean Neville did absolutely everything for us! The guy is a legend. We were strolling along as Sean noticed in the middle of a highway there was a bird that exactly resembled “Tweety Bird” off of Looney Tunes. The bird was helpless and Sean came to the rescue. He was leading the pack at the time and he screeched to a complete stop. We piled up together and watched in awe as Sean jumped off his bike and scurried to the middle of the highway. It was like watching a firefighter run to the top of the building and carry a baby out from the 4th floor. He sprinted to the middle of the Trans-Canada and grabbed the bird that was the size of palm. As he was running back he threw little tweety into the air as I swear I saw its first flight! Sean Neville’s Day had begun!
Throughout our trip, Ross has been a self-proclaimed “weather-man”. He has constantly been looking into the clouds, throwing grass in the air and claiming he is better at predicting the weather than “Gordie Tupper” off of CHEK News. Due to this, he has constantly been wearing his waterproof booties, Blue Sherpa Jacket and Rain pants for over 85% of the trip. Today, I can say that the weatherman was fired! As we were nearly 40 km from our destination of Moosimin, when a hurricane/tornado/typhoon/monsoon was forming in the distance. Russ pulled over and in a calming voice said “Boys, no booties for me, trust the weatherman”. Scotty, Sean and I were shocked, as Russ has been wearing his Booties as religiously as he wore his Mushroom cut in middle school. For those who do not know him, that is every freaking day! We scurried together and threw on all of our rain gear as Rusty sat there and mocked us. As we pushed around two kilometers further it literally was raining buckets on us. I have been wearing a rain-jacket that Scott lent me from the Philippines and with the first drop of rain I was soaked. For the next forty km’s it felt like I had my bike in a swimming pool as I pedaled. It may have added another 50 pounds on each of our bikes.
The best part of the trip was the rebirth of Sean Neville. To be brutally honest, Sean has had by far the worst luck of any of us on the trip. If there has been anything to go wrong it has often happened to Sean. Luckily, the guy is one of the best sports and easiest going guys so it has barely affected him. As we were rolling up to Moosimin, Ross and I pulled over to look at a herd of Moose who were across the highway. As this occurred, we realized that Scotty and Sean pushed forward for a yellow jersey sprint. We quickly jumped on bikes and pursued our two elder bros. When we were around 30 feet behind, we saw Sean and Scotty tussle for yellow jersey supremacy. In the pouring rain, it was an epic battle, Rain was flicking off of Sean Nevilles luscious long mane and spraying into Scottys eye like bear mace. Scotty flustered and rattled that Sean was kicking the living daylight out of him pushed forward. In that instant, I have never seen Scotty get out-hearted. (For those who have played basketball with Scotty, most know he was all heart and average skill-That’s payback for your earlier comment Scotty). Sean Neville left Scotty in the dust. In less than a minute Sean pushed far into the distance and may as well have stomped all over Scotty’s dignity while doing so. As Rusty and I pulled up beside Scotty, he was breathing hard, sweating, looked disoriented and was asking for an oxygen tank. I swear Sean Neville is the most resilient and toughest guy going, I now know which brother I want to take into a fight!
As we pulled into Moosomin, the rain was still pouring (For over two and half hours we got rained on) we scurried to find somewhere to stay that was dry. We came across The Prairie Pride Motel, Sean told the owner our story and she was nice enough to give us a room for free! Once again Sean was a legend in getting us sorted out. The owner was far too nice to us! I swear every time we have any sort of struggles there is someone or something that picks us up. It just continuosly reminds me of how special Baha was. His positivity while going through Parkinson’s was unbelievable and I believe we are truly lucky to have absorbed some of those traits from him. After meeting so many people along our trip affected by Parkinson’s there has been a theme that I have seen. Many of the people that are diagnosed are unbelievably positive. Their approaches to the disease embody exactly what we saw in Baha. Optimism and positivity. Very admirable people!
RSS Feed