Becel Ride For Heart 2007

I survived the Becel Ride for Heart yesterday and hopefully the $2.7 million raised will help others survive their strokes and heart attacks. I raised $130.19 (Thank you, T-Mash, for the 19 cents), which accounts for 0.005% of the total.

Big help I was.

What WAS big was the crowd of riders squeezing onto the Gardiner Expressway early Sunday morning. If it wasn't for the folks at Becel hosing us down with margarine, I don't know how all twelve thousand of us would have fit.

After a few minutes Ry, Dave and I began to sweat and the greasy margarine dripped away. It was totally wild riding through the middle of Toronto, past the Rogers Centre, with towering buildings overhead. It wasn't long before we reached an on-ramp for the DVP – the first of a few downhill sections.

We didn't really stop until we hit the big rest station at the half-way point, 25 kms. We drank free bottled water, ate free oranges, then washed our hands with more free bottled water.

Towards the end the hazy sky became thicker, blocking the sun as our trio headed back towards downtown T.O. and the CN Tower. It started to rain a bit so we poured on what juice we had left and crossed the finish line after 2 hours of riding.

When all was said and done I rode a total of 51 kms (32 miles) and, during a big downhill section, hit 56 kph (35 mph). At the finish line there was a concert, news crews and huge crowds. Everybody was giving away free food, too. We ate cottage cheese, heart-shaped cookies and bagels with a whole bunch of chemicals on them. Oh wait, that was Becel.