Shay Pitcher
- National: 1043rd
- Province: 573rd in ON
I'm Riding For
Anyone Currently Battling Cancer
To all those currently battling cancer I am riding for you. Your are not alone in this fight so, let's kick cancer's butt together!
My Story
This August, my Grandpa and I are taking part in the Great Cycle Challenge to fight kids' cancer!
Due to some unexpected health issues I've been having since the spring. I'm not able to ride my bike very much. After a bad case of pneumonia back in May, my right upper lobe collapsed and needs to be removed. Because of this I've been experiencing fatigue, low energy, and shortness of breath. Which makes bike riding challenging. I have been out a few times on my bike but I can only go about two blocks before my lungs start to feel it and I have to go home. And with all the smoke from the wildfires and poor air quality warnings it's been tough.
Which is why this year my Grandpa has teamed up with me! He has offered to do the ride for me and will be logging the majority of the kilometers. I will get out and ride when or if I can of course. But it's definitely a team effort this year.
Please support our ride by making a donation of any amount. Over the last 3 years thanks to my friends, family, and colleagues we have raised $2,513.00 for kids fighting cancer. This year I hope you will join us again in the fight and help kick cancer's butt!
Your support will change little lives.
Thank you.
My Legacy
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215 km Ridden$1,395 Raised2024
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220 km Ridden$1,118 Raised2025
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141 km Ridden$1,424 Raised2026
My Challenge
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Likely A Lake
16 Aug 2026Today Grandpa enjoyed a beautiful sunny ride. The mornings are getting cooler which makes it perfect weather for cycling. It's also lovely weather for canoeing! My aunt and uncle just finished a week long canoe trip. They were canoeing in Murtle Lake, B.C. I hadn't heard of this lake before so I decided to check it out via Google maps. It's an interesting lake for sure; I think it's shaped like a bird! According to BC Parks website Murtle Lake is the largest canoe/kayak only lake in North America! It also averages 3km wide! I heard from Grandma that they had an excellent trip and returned home safely. Thankfully they were unaffected by the wildfires too. While researching the lake I noticed that there is a town nearby called Likely. What a great town name for confusing people 😂 Imagine giving directions on how to get there "Do you know where Likely is? It's likely up the road". There is also an airport in Likely called wait for it....Likely Airport. Allow me to indulge you in puns and silly jokes about this airport. How likely is that your luggage will get lost? It's likely the flight won't leave on time. Now arriving in Likely, likely in five minutes. Are there any flights to Likely? Yes, it's likely there are. Ok I'm likely done now 😉 It's likely you haven't heard of Likely so I implore you to find out more. It's likely there is a lot of information about the town to discover. Ok now I'm really done....likely.
Posted 4 hours ago -
9.3 km ride - Route 2 - Beautiful Day For a Ride - Saturday, August 15, 2026
Logged this ride 5 hours ago -
Up-Cycling & Cycling Up
14 Aug 2026Another beautiful sunny day today! Grandpa enjoyed a nice cool ride this morning and logged another 10.8km. We are creeping up on that 200km ride goal. As my Grandma said "the turtle wins the race!". Last night while I was out for a walk I picked up a very nice bin someone was throwing away. When I got home my neighbour asked me if I went garbage picking 😅. Which I guess I did but that wasn't my intention when I set out for my walk. Anyway we had a chat about upcycling and how great it is getting free furniture or other things you need. It helps divert waste from landfills and gives items a second life! We have always been into furniture upcycling in our house. Most of our chairs my Mom got on her walks. She re-painted and re-upholstered them all too make them fun and stylish again! Some of our favourite pieces were upcycled. Like this chair my mom painted to match a small side table. She used fabric that reminded her of Mary Engelbreit's art (who she loves!). The fabric came from my Grandma who is the fabric queen!
Posted 1 day ago -
10.8 km ride - Route 1 - Cool and Sunny Ride - Friday, August 14, 2026
Logged this ride 1 day ago -
Sharks in the Sky
13 Aug 2026Today Grandpa did a 7.5km ride which brings our ride total to 120km! Only 80km to go! Yesterday was Kick Cancer's Butt Day where all donations were matched. Thanks to the support of our friends, family, and colleagues we have smashed our fundraising goal! We have already raised $1,424.06 and it's only the second week of August! Thank you so much to everyone who donated. Your donation to cancer research will be life changing for the kids battling cancer. I can't thank everyone enough for supporting mine and grandpa's ride ❤️ On another note it has been an eventful weather week. Monday saw a massive thunderstorm with ice cube sized hail which re-flooded many areas of Ottawa. Yesterday more rain came pouring down and at night another thunderstorm! Thankfully today is sunny and cool. Wishing all the best to anyone affected by the flooding and damage from the storms. I took a little walk over to the bridge by my house yesterday to look at the river. As you can see in the picture I took. The Jock river is very full! Which made for some beautiful pics. Mom pointed out that there is a shark in this one. Both in the sky and in the water. (Did you see it too?) But don't worry there aren't any real sharks in the Jock.....or is there? (Just kidding! But there are snapping turtles and very large muskies!) (Fun fact! Did you know the full name of a muskie is actually Muskellunge? I didn't! Just found out! You know who probably already knew? My Mom. She knows everything! Very smart that one 😉)
Posted 2 days ago -
7.5 km ride - Route 3 - Cool Morning Ride - Thursday, August 13, 2026
Logged this ride 2 days ago -
$1,000 raised to fight kids' cancer!
I just raised $1,000 to fight kids' cancer and achieved WARRIOR LEVEL in the challenge! Thank you so much for your support.
Posted 3 days ago -
Donations Multiply Just Like Guppies!
12 Aug 2026It's double your donation day today! Donations will be matched up to $1.3 million! Which reminds me of a story. Shall I regale you with the tale of the time we accidentally bred hundreds of guppies? Yes that's right! While others were spending the COVID-19 lock down baking bread and perfecting their zoom backgrounds. Mum and I were buying 3 guppies and a snail. Well three guppies turned into 300 guppies! Side note the last time we had guppies they didn't last long. The mom guppy had a bunch of babies and then ate them all! 😱 I can still picture it. Very traumatic for a six year old to witness. Anyway this time with no effort on our part the guppies gave birth to many other guppies and the babies hid in the plants. They also hid near Winston our 32 year old clown loach. He is the big boss of the tank and protects the baby gups! He was a father's day gift for my grandpa back in 1994! Grandpa had him for a long time but gave him to us 15 years ago when he got rid of his fish tank. I like to joke that Winston is the third child in our family. He's the middle child and I'm the youngest 😂. We'll band together against our older brother who doesn't read these posts. So, I'll take this opportunity to say I'm the best child! I'm also the favourite! And if you are reading this bear. You know I'm right so too bad!😜 (p.s my mom says "mom's don't have favourites 😉).
Posted 3 days ago -
9.3 km ride - Route 2 - Calm Ride Before the Rain - Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Logged this ride 3 days ago -
100km Complete! Puzzle Time!
11 Aug 2026Today Grandpa logged another 10.8km! Which brings us halfway through our ride goal of 200km! Way to go grandpa! 😆 What a beautiful sunny day it is today. I enjoyed a short walk over to the post office this morning to get the mail. The city is doing some work on the main street so there were construction workers and police around. One of the main sidewalks has been closed off and the street beside the public school is closed too. Hopefully the road closures don't effect grandpa's ride tomorrow. In other news my mom brought home this cool wooden tiger puzzle for me the other day. I had a lot of fun doing it. It's only 150 pieces but the pieces are all unique shapes. Some of them are even shaped liked animals! Did you know that many branches of the Ottawa Public Library have puzzles? You can take, swap, or drop off puzzles. Often times there are some really nice ones! I know other libraries systems also do puzzles exchanges too. So, checkout your local library! And in the wise words of Arthur "Having fun isn't hard, when you've got a library card".
Posted 4 days ago
My Sponsors
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Kick Cancer's Butt Day matched donation
“Here's your matched donation made possible by the generosity of long-time SickKids Foundation supporters, the Garron family. THANK YOU so much for your awesome efforts to kick cancer's butt!”
$333.11Received this donation 3 days ago
Shay
“Thank you to the Garron family for matching all donations again this year! You are awesome!”
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Chris Jarvis
“What a wonderful tradition, hope you’re better soon and doing what you love to do xx”
$103.50Received this donation 9 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your donation and support Chris!❤️ I'll be healthy and strong for next year's challenge!”
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Christy Pitcher
“My dad riding his bike by my house at 6:30 am this morning is inspiring! I look forward to Shay's stories every day, they always make me laugh. The impact you're making for little ones that need it most is amazing! What a great team!!”
$103.50Received this donation 4 days ago
Shay
“Thanks Mumzie! Your donation and support helps those little kids so much! Grandpa and I appreciate all the the love and support from you! <3”
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Anonymous
$103.50Received this donation 12 days ago
Shay
“Thank you whoever you are for supporting our ride and the fight to kick cancer's butt!”
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Katrina Shea
“We are all so proud of the Shay and Grandpa team!! Doing great things to help kids. Way to go you two!”
$103.50Received this donation 4 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your donation and support Treen and Gerad! Grandpa and I appreciate the love!”
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Sheelah Lusk
“So proud of Shay and my Dad for taking on this challenge ❤️”
$103.50Received this donation 3 days ago
Shay
“Thanks Sheel! We appreciate your donation and support! ❤️”
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Susan Elsdon
“Good luck Shay and Wayne!”
$103.50Received this donation 11 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your donation and support Susan! ❤️”
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Wayne & Delia Lusk
“We are very pleased to know that this money that is being raised is going particularly to Cancer research for children. Thank you to everyone who has made a donation!”
$103.50Received this donation 3 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your donation and support grandma and grandpa! You are helping save little lives 😊”
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Ami Jarvis
“Love that you and your grandpa are working on this together and love reading your blog!! Keep up the good work!”
$51.75Received this donation 3 days ago
Shay
“Thanks so much for your donation and support Ami! Writing the blog posts is the best part of my day!☺️”
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Jillian Shea
“Way to go Wayne!”
$51.75Received this donation 14 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your support Jill!”
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Lise Dumas
$51.75Received this donation 10 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your donation and support Lise!”
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Mary MacDougall
“Good luck Grandpa Wayne!”
$51.75Received this donation 12 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your support Mary!”
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Nicole and Greg Meredith
“Amazing, I love that you are doing this together xoxoxo”
$51.75Received this donation 12 days ago
Shay
“Thanks Nicky & Greg for your donation and support!”
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Tarja Shea Baerg
“Love this story of Shay and grandpa lusk. Way to go!”
$51.75Received this donation 14 days ago
Shay
“Thanks Tarja! Grandpa and I appreciate your donation and support! ❤️”
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Mary McNeill
“You go girl! Keep up the good work!”
$30.07Received this donation 4 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your donation and support Mary! You too! Keep on riding 😉”
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Michael Lusk
“Way to go Shay and Wayne”
$25.88Received this donation 12 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your donation and support Michael!”