The End of the Beginning

As we roll towards Cape Spear, the most eastern point in North America, there is a lot going through my mind. It seems so long ago Dad and I dipped our tires in the Pacific Ocean to start our journey, yet so many of the days are still fresh in my memory as if they just happened. Even as I write this final recap, it’s tough to sum up the entire trip. We’ve seen so much, met so many people and pushed our bodies and minds to an entirely new level, leaving the task of getting it all written down and doing every moment justice is near impossible.

When I think back even further to all the things that happened to our family to lead us to this point, it’s truly overwhelming. That line from Forrest Gump keeps replaying in my mind, “You’ve got to put the past behind you before you can move on,” and for each of us who are part of this ride that phrase takes on its own meaning. Whether it was the financial and physical hardships we had to overcome, or the changing personal relationships with the people we left at home, we put a lot of miles between us and the past. We set a monumental goal and we are only miles from achieving it. Surely each one of us has changed on some level, I’m just not sure I know quite how just yet.

One of the most common questions we’ve got along the way is, “What has been the best place you’ve seen?” Seems easy enough but I assure you, there is no easy answer. How do you compare the pure bliss of riding through the desert in the sunshine on 5A towards Kamloops with the sense of accomplishment you get summiting Roger’s Pass? Can one possibly rank the feeling of a perfect descent with a sweeping view of Lake Superior going into Montreal River versus the awe inspiring scenery of Gros Morne National park in Newfoundland? For every diverse climate we’ve ridden through in our glorious country, there is a day that could be listed among our best. Here’s my best attempt, in no particular order, at a list of our top rides

·      *Merrit to Kamloops – riding along the quiet highway 5A was the day I truly fell in love with my new Trek 5.2 Madone. Rolling hills through the desert climate with beautiful lakes along side us brought back the pure joy of riding a bike.

·      *Rogers Pass – Pat and Dad climbed one of the toughest passes in the Rockies bordered by head high snow banks and rain and wet snow falling from the sky. Just witnessing this incredible riding by those two makes this a highlight for me.

·      *Riding into Calgary – Nothing makes you feel like a big shot more than having the Calgary police block an entire lane of the Trans Canada Highway including every on and off ramp so you can ride your bike into town with 30 supporters. The reception we received at the Boys and Girls club was an unforgettable moment. I only wish every person could experience that to understand how truly special the Boys and Girls club is.

·      *Riding into Brandon – The prairies were supposed to be boring but in reality they were anything but that. The vast open skies inspire a sense of awe and wonder and with the wind at our back we covered a massive 360km in no time at all.

·      *Lake Superior Provincial Park to Sault Ste. Marie Just like the prairies, we hadn’t heard too many positive things about Northern Ontario. To our pleasant surprise, riding along Lake Superior was both challenging and beautiful. With rolling hills that added up to enough elevation gain to rival the Rockies and unbelievable views of the largest of the Great Lakes, this ride was one of my most difficult and favorite rides of the trip.

·      *Ontario Small Towns – I’ve driven the 401 between Ottawa and Toronto hundreds of times but until this ride most of the small towns were nothing but names on a highway road sign. Discovering how beautiful these towns was like finding a small treasure in my own backyard.

·      *Kingston Parade – Seeing a town come together to support a cause like Kingston did for us was one of the most special moments of the trip. Huge thanks to Rick Smith and everybody who arranged a full parade into town complete with military band, fire trucks, local hockey players, mounted police, war veterans and hundreds of people.

·      *Ottawa Reception – Coming home is always special but riding right onto centre ice at Scotiabank Place to the incredible reception the Senators put on was amazing. The plaque signifying June 4th, 2012, as "Brad Marsh Day" will always have a special spot in the Marsh household. 

·      *Highway 132 to Riviere-du-Loup – This place is almost indescribable. The majestic St Lawrence River winding alongside me as I rolled through beautiful French Canadian towns will never leave my memory. That road seemed to be made just for me, and might be the best cycling road in Canada.

·      *Epic Day – When Dad set out for “Epic Day” from Truro, Nova Scotia towards North Sydney, I was fast asleep. He started as the sun came up and we rode well into the dark of night. Our first major day with all 5 of our riders and three support cars. It was a new personal longest ride for almost all of us and even with that, our totals were still over 100km short of Dad’s ride. As our friend and support car driver, Johnny Barrett said, “I can’t believe what I just witnessed, that’s absolutely incredible.”

·      *Gros Morne National Park – Riding in Newfoundland you truly get the feeling that you are discovering another world. All we needed was Dr. Allen Grant there and I would’ve believed we were entering Jurassic Park. The climbing here is incredibly difficult and the boys pushed hard to conquer the overwhelming landscape. The Viking Trail gets Pat’s vote for the best cycling road in Canada.

Obviously, I could go on for days about the incredible rides we’ve had all across Canada. All I can say is that our country has so much to offer and every person needs to see as much of it as they possibly can. As we approach the end (surely another day I’ll never forget, no matter how many celebratory beers we have on George Street), I turn my thoughts again to how I’ve changed. This trip has been every bit as challenging for me mentally as it has been physically and it is still hard to put it all in perspective. When I get back will things be the same? Do I want them to be the same as they were? Part of me worries that I won’t be able to fit back into my former lifestyle, flawed as it may have been. It may not be a bad thing but after all this transient living, I’m hoping I can settle back into a little bit of normalcy. For personal reasons, I’m not sure that it will be possible but after this trip but I know I can handle anything thrown my way. As much as our journey is coming to an end, it is only one chapter in our lives. We’ll all get home and keep on going. The next challenge will be set and the next goal will be in our sights. Life keeps on going, 90 days at a time.

Erik Marsh (co-pilot and son)

Technological Advancement

Brad's new BFF

The past few months I’ve been lucky. I’ve had the opportunity to ride all over Canada with my Dad and from time to time my siblings have also joined the trek. I’ve always loved going for a ride with my Dad and my brother (its been nice getting to ride with Maddy the last few weeks too!) but since we’ve left Vancouver, something has been different from those childhood excursions. As far back as I can remember those rides, I always remember Dad on the same bikes: a red Bottecchia road bike, a red Tesch road bike and Bontrager Mountain Bike. All three bikes were top of the line when Dad got them (as he always reminded us) but the newest of the bunch, the Bontrager, he received in 1992 as a gift from his Red Wings teammates for playing his 1000^th game.

It was a thrill when I grew tall enough to ride those bikes but as a young kid I never did fully appreciate their “vintage” appeal. That said it was a little strange to be out for a ride with Dad and see him riding on his new bike; its carbon frame with black on black finish far different from the steel tubing and red finish of those old bikes. I’m just not used to seeing Dad being up with the newest sporting technology. Heck, up until last year he had the same Micron Medallion Skates he wore when he taught me to skate 23 years ago. He was finally was forced into a pair of Zdeno Chara’s old Bauer’s and when I asked him about the new skates he said, “I’ll be dead before these are broken in!” The stick he used when he played seemed more like a piece of lumber than a scoring weapon, his shoulder pads have numbers from each team he played for written in Sharpie on them because he hadn’t gotten a new pair his whole career. All you need to do is look into his hockey bag to see that Brad Marsh is a traditionalist when it comes to new technology.

This time though, it seems to be different. He has a little extra power up the hills, he is a little quicker to match the tempo when Pat tries to take off and drop us. Maybe this is a symbolic turning of the page. After all, this year Dad has finally wrapped his head around Facebook (not Facepagebook as he used to call it) and he even has a Twitter following. He’s got a smartphone and no longer asks if we have the UPS with us on a long drive (it’s a GPS, Dad). Maybe Dad is proving that you can teach an old dog new tricks, or maybe he’s been training harder than ever and that’s why he looks so fast on that new bike. Either way, Dad is looking right at home on his Trek 5.2 Madone and I can’t wait to tackle “The Rock” and finish off the 10^th and final province of our ride.

Erik Marsh (son and co-pilot)

Thoughts from the Lanterne Rouge by Maddy Marsh

Erik, Maddy & Brad make the ride a family affair.

Most professional cyclists will probably list yellow as one of their favourite colours. This is because the leader of the Tour de France wears the maillot jaune, or the yellow jersey. In fact, the lead of each category in the Tour comes with an associated colour: the green of the Points Leader, the red and white polka dots of the King of the Mountains, and the white of the Best Young Rider. But there is one colour that is not sought after by the riders of the Tour: the red of the Lanterne Rouge. Named after the red lantern on the back of the caboose of trains, this title is earned by the rider in last place. And on the 90-Day Challenge ride across Canada, I am going to be the undisputed Lanterne Rouge.

After spending a few days on the ride, two things have been made clear to me: Canada is very big, and I am a lot slower than the men in my family. Although I spent most of my time on the bike drafting behind Erik, I still found myself having to crank it in a high gear to keep up. So somewhere between Kingston and Ottawa I made the decision to approach this as more of a mental challenge than a physical one. On a particularly difficult stretch of the road that had my legs burning, I turned to an old strategy that I had used during my time as a rower. I used to make a mental list of reasons to keep going, whether it was a person who inspired me or a personal goal I wanted to accomplish, and dedicated 10 strokes of each race to each of the items on the list. On the bike, I broke it down into 10-minute segments.

The first 10 minutes was a no-brainer: my dad. For obvious reasons, he is a huge inspiration. His commitment to the community, to the Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs, and to his 90 day challenges is more than reason enough to keep the legs pumping. In the interest of time and space, I won’t go into all the details but will simply say that he is one of the biggest inspirations in my life and helped me get through those ten minutes in the same way that he has gotten me through innumerable situations.

Next I pedalled for the Boys and Girls Clubs. It sounds silly to say that I dedicated 10 minutes to them when the entire ride itself is devoted to them, but during those few minutes I spent some time thinking about what exactly it meant to be riding for them. I thought of the stories my dad had told me from the clubs out west, the little boy in the bike parade in Kingston who showed up dressed like Batman, and the look on a little boy’s face when he scored on a penalty shot during floor hockey. Those 10 minutes were when I truly understood what my dad had been saying this whole time about how the kids make it easy to get on the bike.

In the next few segments I rode for each member of my family who has contributed in some way to the trip, for our family friends who have supported us in countless ways so far, for the chance to see our beautiful country, and maybe a little bit for myself and my pride (Sorry, Erik, but I just couldn’t let you have the satisfaction of dropping your little sister).

While my first two days of riding certainly weren’t easy, they were a ton of fun and I can’t wait to get back on the bike in Moncton. Instead of one 90-Day Challenge, for me, this will be a succession of 10-minute challenges. Hopefully my mental lists will help me claw my way to Newfoundland, and maybe by the end of the trip I’ll be able to upgrade from the red of the Lanterne Rouge to the white jersey of the Best Young Rider.

Maddy

Warm Welcomes

Team Marsh is picture perfect!

Any time you’re away from home for a long stretch of time, it doesn’t matter what you miss about home in particular, when its boils down to it its really just a feeling of belonging. It’s the feeling of being comfortable putting your feet up on the coffee table and watching whatever you want on TV. It’s the feeling of walking into the kitchen and grabbing a snack. It’s the caring people around you that greet you with a smile and ask you how your day was. On the road it can get hard. You’re away from loved ones and friends and its hard to find a time and place where you can truly comfortably relax. It can wear you down mentally and make it hard to keep on going.

Luckily for us we’ve met up with some amazing people along the way that have gone out of their way to make us feel at home even though its been well over a month since we’ve been in Ottawa. When we rolled into Toronto ahead of schedule we called up my cousin Melissa and she and her husband Mark rolled out the red carpet for us. They had a comfortable place for Erik, Tory and I all to sleep and an incredible dinner on the table. We had a great time at dinner catching up and they insisted on taking care of us for the remaining two nights we’d be in Toronto. From there we were off to Belleville, where Senators Alumni and Lieutenant Colonel, Ed Staniowski took us in. Ed cooked up some steaks and we all sat back, relaxed and watched the hockey game. Admittedly, there was more than a few “back when we played…” type comments, we had a fantastic night. In the morning, I made my bed but I must say I was a little nervous as I’m not sure it was quite up to military standards.

Great Kingston Welcome 

Rolling into Kingston was truly one of the most unforgettable experiences I’ve had. Rick Smith, another member of the Senators Alumni, teamed up with his buddy, Inspector Brian Begbie of the Kingston Police to plan a full day of festivities celebrating not only my ride and the Boys and Girls Club but all the leaders and mentors in the community. We arrived at our “RV point” (that’s what Ed said, I’m assuming its military for “rendezvous”) to an entire crowd of people cheering and before I knew it I was at the front of an entire parade! A military band marched at the front filling the streets with music, followed by dozens of cyclists, police escorts, firefighters, mounted police, military vehicles, ambulances and hundreds more marching, including some Junior hockey players from the Kingston area.

The kids were raring to go when we finally arrived at the Boys and Girls Club and we had a fantastic floor hockey game and celebration to recognize the importance of leadership in the community. Everybody in Kingston did the city proud and I can’t express how incredible the reception there was. Inspector Begbie was proud of the leaders in his city too and told me, “Alright Brad, now if anyone tops that welcome, you let me know and then come back here and we’ll do it all over again!”

Huge Welcome at Scotiabank Place 

After Kingston it was on to Ottawa, my hometown. Erik, Madeline and I fought the wind the entire way. We battled and battled and finally rolled up to Scotiabank Place (maybe it was a good thing they built the arena out in Kanata) where we rode right into the Zamboni entrance straight onto the Arena Floor. The new Jumbotron was lowered and said “Welcome Home Brad!” The Senator’s Alumni was there to greet me as well as friends of mine I know through all sorts of things. As I stood up to give a quick speech I couldn’t help but be a bit choked up by the massive outpouring of support. The mayor declared June 4, 2012 “Brad Marsh Day” in Ottawa and Cyril Leeder, President of the Ottawa Senators presented Erik, Maddy and I with sweaters to take along for the ride. The media support was fantastic and we had a great time before we hopped on the bikes again for a quick 20km ride with some friends to the Boys and Girls Club. Johnny Barrett won the prize for best bike accessory as he strapped a case of beer to the pannier of his bike.

Once again the kids were fantastic and really had us running but thankfully I could lean on my Alumni buddies to take a shift for me every once and a while. Now I won’t start any squabbles between Inspector Begbie and the Ottawa team so I won’t say one was better than the other, I’ll just say that the support that everyone showed in those two cities especially means so much to me and everyone involved in this ride. The headlines the next day said, “Making a Difference” and with all the help we’re getting, this trip is becoming even more of a success.

As I said before, the distance can be hard, but with the warm welcomes we’ve received everywhere we go, we can always feel at home, even if my house if 4000km away. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who has welcomed us into their communities and their homes, and lent us a hand with whatever it may be, you are what keep our pedals turning.

Brad

Merritt & More Part 2

Day 2 didn’t get any easier. The rain was still coming down and the temperature had dipped to around 3 degrees. We had a tough day of climbing ahead of us and the bulk of it was right from the start. The first 50km was entirely uphill. We were feeling good, albeit very wet, as we made our ascent into the foggy mountains surrounding the Coquihalla Highway. The rain turned to snow and about 40km in I had a flat tire. Luckily Mom was close with the van so I set to changing the flat as quick as I could as Dad pushed on into the fog. After changing the flat I had been in the cold, covered in soaking wet clothes for so long that I started shivering so intensely that I couldn’t go on. Dad was left on his own to solo the remaining 80km.

Watching him from the car is terrifying. Every truck that passes seems to just miss him and waiting for him to catch up when we drive ahead is a nightmare of worry. Dad told us after he didn’t mind riding alone. He imagined himself in a breakaway in the Tour de France, escaping the peloton for a stage win with Phil Ligget announcing his every move, “Marsh seems to be in fine form, today just might be the day for the big man from Canada to hold off the pack and take the stage win in the mountains!” It was a long day with almost 7 hours on the road but the sun may finally come out tomorrow, and hopefully we can arrive in Kamloops dry and happy.

Erik

Merritt & More Part 1

As I sit back and reflect on the last few days, its hard to take it all in. It seems more like a month than three days. So much has happened it is difficult to distill it all down to one or two overriding themes.

As much as we’ve been preparing for months and we’ve been away from home for almost a week now, it felt like everything started as soon as we stepped into the Kimount Boys and Girls Club in Vancouver. When we walked up to the front door of the Club there was no way any of us could have imagined the beehive of activity going on inside the modest building, hardly any bigger than the houses around it. As it turns out, the Kimount club was the first club to be built specifically for the BGC in all of Western Canada. The kids were bustling all around the club and Joel, a supervisor, showed us around. Our tour finished in the gym where the kids were anxiously getting ready for a floor hockey game.

Big welcome & thanks from the kids

The goalies stretched and the other kids picked out their sticks while Dad was introduced and he told them what we were doing. The support from the kids was unimaginable. They had made a sign on the wall and presented us with a tee shirt all the kids signed with their words of encouragement. We finally got down to business and started playing hockey. Canucks Alumni Bob Murray and I joined one team while Dad went to the other. The competition was fierce and the kids really had us running. In the end my team won. I think it had something to do with our strategy. While waiting for our shift one kid, maybe 11 years old, said to me, “You and Bob play forward next shift.” I said, “Well I thought we’d put all the speed up front?” To which he replied, “Yeah but I have a better shot so pass it to me on the point!”

After the game Dad signed some autographs and the kids all wished us good luck and gave us high fives and hugs goodbye. After spending just a few short hours with these amazing kids it’s easy to see why this ride is so important. Kids need a place to be kids, a place where they have a positive environment to grow and play. It’s amazing how a few nets, some sticks, and a fun game of hockey can bring together kids of so many different ages and backgrounds.

When we woke up the morning of the 25^th and got all our gear on and loaded up the car, we were excited to do the Kimount BGC proud. We went to Kitsilano beach and dipped our tires in the Ocean. Some new friends from Visalus and my uncle, along with a few of his friends came to see us off. My uncle is a minister and blessed us for our ride and we were off. We didn’t have much time to enjoy the early excitement, however as 15 minutes into our ride, we were lost. Trying to weave our way out of Vancouver, our heart-warming Father-Son ride quickly turned into frustration before we rendezvoused with Mom. We quickly re-evaluated the route and got back on track. On the open road toward Hope we finally settled into a rhythm and could enjoy the scenery as we headed into the mountains. Even then, we weren’t without challenges. It was chilly and very rainy and a local told us there were cougar sightings in the area. We were quite relieved to roll into Hope and stretch out after our first day of riding.

Erik ( Co-pilot and son)