Time to "Jump": Tour For Kids - My summer adventure on the bike

A decade ago, I spent the weekend up north at a friend's cottage. When I was driving home, I kept seeing these signs posted for "Tour For Kids". I had no idea what it was until a couple of years later when I met someone who had done it. At that time, it was a four-day cycling trip across southern Ontario and into cottage country. That sounded incredible to me and something I added to my "bucket list".

Years later, I venture into my second career, as a teacher, and get a grade 7 position at a middle school in Mississauga. For the last two years at my school, we have had several students who have been affected by cancer, either personally or through a sibling. One of those students was in my class three years ago and is a young man who is wise beyond his years. I grew to really enjoy chatting with him about books, ideas, and various trivia and value my discussions with him. He later came back to volunteer in my classroom. In that time, he started having strange symptoms and later was diagnosed with Leukemia. I was in shock and did not know what to do. The only thing I could think of was to visit he and his mother at SickKids.

The following fall, I had a girl in my new class who, I later found out, had a sister who was diagnosed with Leukemia at two years old and died, a month earlier, at the age of eight. When I learned about that I thought about these two students and the other students in our school who were also affected and I promised myself I would finally do Tour For Kids.

I registered for the event and my fundraising and training began. I raised the $1750 by August 10th, packed up my car and headed off to Barrie for a three-day adventure. Friends who participated in the past (some repetitively) told me amazing stories of friendships made, beautiful cycling, and tears. It was more than I could have imagined.

This summer, I have been riding with a group of girls and one of them, Shannon, is training to do The Sears National Kids Cancer Ride (SNKCR). Her nephew was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia just before he turned 1 and passed away just before his 3rd birthday. She and her sister will be meeting in Vancouver with several other people to ride the Coast to Coast on September 1st. If you would like to learn more about her family's story and their upcoming journey please click here.

I joined Shannon and her group of SNKCR riders and had an absolute blast. We were met with all kinds of weather: extreme heat, headwinds, and torrential rains. Apparently. there was even a tornado lurking around. We did not care. Our spirits were high and everyone was supportive of one another. The riding was safely lead by an experienced marshal who kept us organized.

Over the three day period, I rode a total of 415 km. It was quite the accomplishment and something I will always remember. The routes were amazing: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3
Anytime I got down on myself, I remembered why I was there and who I was riding for. My older student is attending Camp Ooch this month and I know he is going to enjoy himself. I look forward to catching up with him soon and hearing his story. It will be a nice addition to all of the other stories I heard over the weekend.

Serendipitously, when I got home, Sage was running out the door with an instruction for me: shower, change, get on the TTC and meet him at the ACC. He was bound and determined to see the Tragically Hip's final Toronto performance. When I met him down there, we started talking to the guys in front of us in line. One of them had done Tour For Karen (another event in the Beyond Kids Cancer series) and, as a fellow teacher, has volunteered for eight years with Camp Ooch. Talking to him and hearing his camp stories was the perfect closure to my Tour For Kids weekend. Oh, and we did finally get tickets.

A big thank you, again, to all of my donors. If you want to learn more about the Tour please check out my page: Tour 4 Kids: Deanna Solomon

I think the next thing on my Bucket List is Coast To Coast. Shannon and crew...I will be thinking of you guys and wishing I was in your pelaton across Canada. Have fun and ride safe. You are all doing a wonderful thing!