Thank You!

I know I may have missed a few personal responses to sponsors. I'm not nearly as tech-able as many others, but I do try. LOL

It was an incredible adventure to say the least! I learned I am far more determined than I perhaps should be, and that great things can be accomplished if one is persistent. I also learned that Elk Pass and Grey Creek Pass are not to be taken lightly, but once summitted become incredible memories, and lessons for future trips. Both were incredible!

The whole ride was augmented by the insanely generous support of all of you, and would have been far more challenging without my good friends Liz and Norm volunteering their time driving "SAG Wagon" to make sure I was making smart decisions, and had immediate back-up for safety if needed. Friends such as them are rare indeed.

Thank You All so much for the incredible support, and I look forward to doing this again next year! Maybe not as ambitious a route, but something fun and scenic will definitely be in the works for the Great Cycle Challenge 2024!

WOW WOW WOW!

Here we are!

I set out with a rather lofty goal to ride 1500km during the month of August during this most excellent GCCC 2023.

I may not have reached that goal, but I did accomplish INCREDIBLE things on a personal level, and none of it would have been possible without the support and encouragement from my wife Lisa, our family, our friends, especially Liz Norm Levangie, and ALL of those amazing Sponsors!

I was able to....

Ride 1156 of 1500 kilometer goal

Raised $5667.00 of initial $5000.00 goal

Climbed 8,883 meters ( 29143.7 feet)...

(Mt. Everest is only 8,848 meters......)

All this was done within 1 year of having a kidney removed due to cancer, within a decade that saw me fight cancer a total of 7 times, and included a terminal prognosis in June 2013 that gave me a 5% chance of surviving beyond a year.

The people involved with the Great Cycle Challenge Canada are some of the most giving, compassionate, and supportive people I have the pleasure to be involved with.

THANK YOU!

You ALL make a difference, and absolutely deserve to be proud of what we have accomplished, both individually, and collectively.

DONATIONS are still being received through the next few weeks so there is still time to help make a difference in a child's life.

Ride my last miles....

There have been stretches where I had to take advantage of having a SAG WAGON available for safety rides through smoke, construction, and hazardous windy type conditions.

Tomorrow I fully choose to ride a short final push by driving to Burnaby Lake so that my wife has the option to ride the final stretch with me. After all, she did put up with my planning, riding, and being gone since August 1st.

Not to mention driving from near Red Deer, Alberta yesterday and today to be with me.

Heat Wave

Riding into the Okanagan sure has raised the barr on temperatures.

Slugging away in the heat and my left knee started screaming at me. It was tolerable until I got off the bike, and stopped that rotational movement. Once I got back on it was excruciating.

I stopped in one of the tunnels at Myra Canyon to take a break n the cool darkness and had a chat about the charity ride with Mary and her son William from Quebec. The days troubles turned around when William handed me his last couple energy gummies. He'll do well in life. Thank you William.

Now dinner, wine, foot massage machine, and rest at my wife's aunt and uncles place in Kelowna.

70km today.

Almost halfway!

With some monumental hills, descents, hike-a-bikes, beautiful scenery, and a couple of squirrels along the way, we're making great progress! Roughly 675 km into the 1500. We are almost at our fundraising goal to!

Thank you so much for the incredible support and encouragement!

1 More Sleep!

1 more sleep!

All the info including LIVE Satellite tracking!!!

My SPOT will be pinging the satellites every 30 minutes to allow family, friends, and supporters to check-in and see my progress. (If it suddenly goes vertical off my route, that'll be a bear...)

🎶 "IRON MAN" 🎶 chosen to highlight this year's Great Cycle Challenge "Super Hero" jersey.

https://linktr.ee/richardbone

2 Sleeps....

2 more sleeps!

All the info including LIVE Satellite tracking!!!

My SPOT will be pinging the satellites every 30 minutes to allow family, friends, and supporters to check-in and see my progress. (If it suddenly goes vertical off my route, that'll be a bear...)

Link in BIO!

#BoneRidesBikes #iamTheTrooper #fuckcancer #nobodyfightsalone #iwontbackdown #tomorrowscoffee #ChewyRides

#Alberta #getoutsideab

#Nature #Adventure #marinbikescanada #marinbikes #madeforfun #marinpainemountain1 #Piney #ContiMTB #GRIPOLOGY #shutupandridebikes

**UPDATE**

***UPDATE***

***UPDATE***

***UPDATE***

I just completed the final update of my Route!

I also shaved off about 50km somewhere!

The START point has been finalized, and will be the Goat Creek Parking Lot. I am really hoping to set-off around NOON on Tuesday August 1st. I would absolutely appreciate if you were able to make it for a nice send-off, but I fully understand how life can be!

I am really hoping to do this in 21 days.

I am feeling AWESOME.

ENTHUSIASTIC.

And SUPER EXCITED!

Aside from the numerous surgeries, chemo, radiation, and other nasty treatments, etc etc over the past decade, this is absolutely my BIGGEST personal challenge of my LIFE!

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

My dear friends, and AMAZING people will be shadowing me along this adventure to help give me the very best chance of success! Liz and Norm are very very good friends, and will absolutely keep me on-track and focused on the GOAL at hand!

Socks!

Sharon MacDonald, another awesome rider in the Great Cycle Challenge had some custom socks and caps made up for thus year. I ordered the cap which wont arrive until after I leave, and was lucky enough to have the socks arrive in time!

Not only helping Sharon, but also helping the kids, all while looking stylish when I ride into Vancouver in a few weeks after my 1500km + ride through the mountains!

If you are able, I am sure Sharon would love some of the amazing support I have been graced with... https://greatcyclechallenge.ca/riders/SharonMacDonald

Coho XC Trailer Happiness!

After finally getting the almost unobtainium Burley axle to fit the trailer to my bike, we were able to get out for a decent ride.

Today was 42km over all types of terrain, and the trailer tracks awesome behind the bike.

Next ride she gets some added weight!