Today we started out on our Journey as usual with the now routine caution about safety and not taking risks.

The day was beautiful, cool but not cold, windy but again not too windy and it was sunny. To date the trip has been uneventful weatherwise since we left Vancouver behind. The runs through the mountains have been difficult but with the resolve of our determined athletes not too difficult to make them submit to failure. 

The excitement of the athletes was infectuous after each run down the long mountain inclines especially after watching them sometimes struggle to reach the tops of the tallest mountains.

You and I could simply get off the trike and push it along when we could no longer peddal.

These guys don’t have that option and must struggle to twist the pedals so to speak to reach the top.

Each day has gotten better as they became accustomed and worked themselves into shape. The athletes recognized their limitations and it became evident that the countless hours spent training by Harvey paid off when he faced the tallest of the mountains.

The other three athletes worked up gradually to be able to handle the tallest mountains and knew enough to approach their limits carefully so that they would not cause themselves any permanent damage.

By today most were reaching their physical limitations and were ready to move up to the next level. As support and an observer I have been amazed at the spirit and drive that these athletes possess when faced by road inclines that to me seem impossible to climb. I share in their trials and their successes and especially enjoy watching these free spirits glide effortlessly down some of the 10 to 20 km inclines with the sun and wind in their faces.

As a team we all feel the hurt and the excitement of each accomplishment achieved. I would be lying if I told you it wasn’t difficult. It is and these guys are true heros for doing what they are doing together to make a difference.

The athletes were especially upbeat after several encouraging meetings with the Mayors and their representatives along our route.

In the mountains we have a routine of pain share and fun share and the rule is if the athlete does all of the work and pain to climb a mountain and conquer it he has the right to the free ride down the other side. And oh what a ride.You can’t imagine the look of satisfaction and excitement in the eyes and faces of these amazing men as the run the trails in the mountains.

Truckers honk, people shout out encouragement and we the messengers become a much larger group as others join in to make our voices stronger and the message more widely spread.

The athletes after 5 days on the road are finally showing that they have been conditioned to the rigors of the mountains and are really atarting to show their stuff. They were particurlarly proud of the fact that they knew enough to not exceed their limitations and have so far avoided strain injuries and pulled tendons.

We met many interesting people again today and sometimes we chat too long and fall behind a little making it necessary to catch up,

At the end of the day Harvey was still on the road and he elected to run beyond his Normal 2 hour limit because of the long downhill run of approximately 20 km facing him.

You have to understand that it is not all work riding the mountain roads and there are a lot of places where they get a free ride enjoying the rush of silently gliding down winding mountain roads with the wind in their faces enjoying the spectacular view. Lets be honest it is a bit of a rush streaking down these mountains. they also get a spectacular view of some of the most beautiful scenery we have ever seen. Scenery beyond simple description, while winding along the roads.

Harvey has trained the most for this trip and is at this time the strongest when climbing hills and endurance, Chuck had strained his shoulders and knew enough to pull himself off the road for the rest of the afternoon and Charlie and Les were gradually building up their endurance after being away from training for several weeks, were comming up to speed. The team was starting to look good.

Harvey had just completed 70 km himself in two shifts of 2 hours each and was due to stop at the top of a very long mountain incline. Today was a relatively easy day since there wern’t too many long uphill inclines to climb and Harvey was excited and wasn’t tired compared to previous days from hell enduring long climbs.

The trail was easier with many long downhill runs and few climbs in the up and down flowing ribon of highway facing them.

Harvey now sat at the top of the grandady of hills extending almost 20 km into Penticton after climbing several short hills to get there and we knew he wouldn’t give it up for anything. I would have given anything to be able to enjoy the thrill of the ride they were on.

Harvey said he was going to ride this road into town because it looked like the ride of a lifetime. As Harvey started down the hill we went ahead to position ourselves ahead of him as we had done many times before.

After several wide turns in the road I asked Charlie to stop the van on a wide shoulder so I could get a picture of Harvey comming down the hill.

I junped out of the van and positioned myself just past a curve in the road and waited for Harvey.

Two motorcycles came speeding around the corner just as Harvey got there and startled Harvey when they came too close to him.

For reasons unknown the cycle started to wobble and Harvey lost control and rolled it on it’s side.

The cycle Harvey rides has verticle hand grips that host the brakes and gear shifter and hese grips are made of metal.

When Harvey rolled over the grip slammed into his significant British pinky finger. The injury sustained was a dislocated pinky finger.

When I took Harvey into emergency he was more concerned about the mission and only wanted to get back on the road.

He was treated and released on Saturday and was sent to Kelona on Sunday for a plastic surgeon to reattach the tendons torn from his pinky.

Harvey also sustained what we refer to as road rash which occurs when one skids down an ashphalt road without benifit of either wheels or skis.

This normally occurs on ones poserior but Harvey’s was safely straped to his bike so his arms and shoulders took the punishment leaving Harvey with numerous road burns.

Harvey now holds the title as the first person to receive road rash on the trip and I’m sure someone will come up with an appropriate trophy for him when our trip reaches completion.

From the start we all knew the risks and they are discussed at each day’s briefing.

We are cognizant of the traffic, the steep hills and even have imposed speed restrictions on the athletes.

TRhe bike Harvey trides has been tested to 80 km and Harvey was doing about 4o km per hour when he decided to tip over scaring the hell out of me.

I discovered that at 60 years old I could sprint up 40 yards of mountain highway without needing oxygen and resusitation on arrival.

Today the kind caring nature of Canadians shone through and their penchant to want to help was more than evident.

Many vehicles stopped to help us and even a transport truch stopped on the steep grade to assist us.

A special thanks to the truck driver and the coouple on vacation that stopped to help us get harvey off the road shoulder and back into his wheel chair.

During all of this Harvey voiced concern about the mission we had to complete and not once did he show any concern for himself and his injuries,

    Harvey is now off for a couple of days to mend and will resume cycling when the swelling goes away.  He has the stamina and desire to push on without due care for himself because of the importance of our journey but the reality is that Harvey is on the sides until we are sure the hand is on the mend and Harvey will be well soon.

Harvey is far to valuable as a team member and friend for us to allow him to jeprodise his health and well being by getting back on the road too soon.

He’ll be accusing me of mothering him soon because I am all over him about taking his medications and standing down for a few days. Believe me standing down is not one thing that Harvey likes to do.

From the start of our journey we all knew the risks and they are discussed each day as part of our briefing on safety and routings.

We are cognizant of the traffic, the steep hills and have even imposed speed limits on the athletes to mitigate some of that risk.

The bike Harvey rides is a good one and it has been tested at 80 kmh.

Harvey was only going about 40 kmh because of the slope and his cautious nature when he decided to tip it over and scare the hell out of me.

I discovered that at 60 years old I could still sprint 400 yards uphill without oxygen and resuscitation on arrival. Thank you Harvey for letting me learn that today.

We also discovered that Canadians want to help because on a mountain incline truckers stopped and other caring Canadians stopped to give assistance in any way they could to help someone in need.

Their helpful lift to get Harvey off the ground into his wheelchair was much needed and appreciated.

A special thanks to the young couple on vacation who threw their luggage on the road to transport Harvey’s wheelchair back to him up the hill in their trunk. Also a special thanks to the transport truck driver who took time from his tight schedule to get involved and make a difference that day. I hope you connect to this blog and receive some of the recognition you deserve.

Today Harvey is off and will remain off until we feel his hand is well on the mend, He had surgery to reattach the tendons on his pinky and this caused the hand to swell which we are watching closely.

Harvey is tough and only wants to get back on the road. This is a trait that has allowed Harvey to overcome the many obstacles a paraplegic faces each day of their lives. We as a group are proud to have him as a member of the team.

I owe the title of this blog to an anonymous donor who for reasons of her own wishes to not be named.

It is ironic that donor and obviously very caring person who wrote me a very touching email about encouragement and hope arrived on my computer on the same day as Harvey’s spill.

I will quote a paragraph of this touching email.

“Jim I am praying for the health and safety of all of you as this is an adventure not without risks, but these guys all know about risks. huh!

It is also ironic that while we were at the hospital with Harvey a gentleman  was brought in to the emergency area a placed on a gurney next to Harvey and I. He was in a lot of pain and had uncontrolled spasms in his entire lower body. He was also a paraplegic due to a motorcycle accident.

AJ was having a bad day with uncontrollable lower body muscle spasms and came in from Osoyoos 45 minutes away from Penticton.

We introduced ourselves, gave A J a pamphlet and asked him to view our web site. A J has been in a chair for two years since his motorcycle accident and has been searching the Internet for a year looking for a cure for his injuries.

We asked A J to become one of our messengers and help us through conversation and Internet email contacts to spread our message about spinal cord regeneration so that we can reach our goal of raising 10 million dollars.

Please become a messengeryourself so that these guys have a chance to walk again.

We rolled into Kelowna and met with my brother who was attending a car show hosted by Boyd Custom Shop.

My brother like a lot of other Canadians has Parkinson’s Disease and he welcomed us into the show with the approval of the organizers.

I’d like to thank the organizers for having us there I only wish that our tight schedule would have allowed us to arrive earlier in the after noon.

While at the show I had a very interesting encounter.

Two young women came up to me curiously looking at what we were doing there. The one was a little aloof about us and said to her friend they only want 30 cents give them the 30 cents and lets go.

I sensed that the other woman wanted to talk with me so I engaged her in conversation to give her my message. In our following conversation I learned that her friend was a quadriplegic. I felt so much sympathy for her and I knew the feelings that she must be going through.

I gave her a pamphlet and encouraged her to take it to her friend a together review our web site. I wanted her to give her friend hope to walk again just like the rats.

Every day we encounter someone in need, someone in pain and offer them hope to walk again.

We need your help as our special messengers to spread the word with us as a very large team of messenger’s so that we can reach our goal of 10 million dollars.

With total funding the doctors tell us that human trials could be completed within a year but with lesser funding it could be between 3 to 5 years which is far too long for these guys strapped to their chairs.

Please become a part of the solution.

Jim Anderson, Road Manager Wheel to Walk Canada, 905 869 6125

P.S. The anonymous donor has agreed to allow me to post a sanitized email she sent to me to keep her identity confidential and I will post it in it’s entirety soon. I have asked her to become an official messengers and work with our team. She will prove to be a valuable member of the team with her experience and I’d like to thank her for becoming a part of the solution.  God Bless