About

As I approach my 75^th birthday, I have been considering how to honour this milestone. As I have in the past, I want to raise awareness and funds for charities I support. My 65^th birthday was marked with a triathlon, Tri65. I raised money for the local food bank, the Salvation Army, and the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation. At 70, I sponsored a blood drive. I called on friends and family around the world. I encouraged them to donate to their local blood collection agency with blood, plasma, or cash. Over 70 donations were made in 7 countries. So now it is time to mark three quarters of a century.

This one needs to be good and needs to reflect my passions in life.

Military history has been a passion of mine for quite some time. I am especially passionate about Canadian involvement in overseas conflicts. As a veteran, I am also acutely aware of the impact of those conflicts. They have had a significant effect on the men and women who have served. I understand how they have suffered and died due to their service. I am also aware of the impacts that they have had on families. View my military family tree

Finally, I have been blessed with the ability to continue to achieve physical goals. Most people step away from these goals at a much younger age. After a long career in competitive sports, bicycle touring has become my active passion. I will be referring to many of these rides in blog posts,

In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.
— José Narosky

Key Objectives

Within this framework of passions, I have developed 3 key objectives for the project:

The project will promote the work being done by Wounded Warriors Canada (WWC) and raise funds for them to continue. WWC is a national mental health service provider dedicated to helping Canada’s veterans, first responders and their families who develop mental disorders as a result of their service.
The project will raise awareness of the achievements of our Canadian military in various military operations overseas. Simply put, Canada consistently fights way above our weight class. Europeans have not forgotten the thousands of Canadians who fought and died for their freedoms, but Canadians have. The project will address my interest in Canadian military history.
Finally, the project will promote healthy aging for older adults. Life does not end at retirement. It can be and should be a new beginning. There are still adventures to the active senior.

Combining these passions and addressing the objectives, I have chosen a project that I have called The Road To Valour. It will be a 2,500 km unsupported bike ride from Vancouver to Winnipeg. I will begin the ride on my 75^th birthday, 21 May 2026 and end on Canada Day, 1 July 2026. Read about my planned route

That is the easy part to describe. The more complex aspect is answering the myriad of “WHATs” and “WHYs” that arise from this project.

What’s in a name? On this ride, I will honour our veterans. They fought to defend the rights and values that we as Canadians cherish. I especially want to celebrate the Victoria Cross (VC) recipients in Western Canada. The VC is the highest award for valour awarded in the British Commonwealth. Only ninety-nine Canadians (including several non-Canadians serving in Canadian uniform) have earned this award.

Why start in Vancouver and end in WInnipeg? The selection of the start and end points of the ride was not coincidental. The last living Canadian with the Victoria Cross was Ernest “Smokey” Smith, a member of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada. Their armoury in Vancouver will serve as my start point. The end point is a unique street in Winnipeg. Formerly known as Pine Street, one block was home to three young men who went off to World War 1 and were awarded the Victoria Cross. This street is now known as Valour Road. More will be written about this in future blog posts.

As in the past, milestone birthdays are about charities that mean something to me. As I alluded to above, the wounds of war are not always seen. This is something that I will get into in much greater detail in future posts. For now, go with the understanding that, for me, this is very personal.

Welcome to The Road To Valour