After riding 577 km in 8 days, I crossed the border of New Brunswick and Quebec on Aug 29. Got an hour back, a different language to deal with.
He doesn’t speak English, and I don’t speak French. I typed in Google Translate, “I’m cycling across Canada to raise awareness for parkinson’s disease,” and showed the translation to him. He was silent for a while and got tears in his eyes. He patted my back, “Thank you.”
I met this guy at a stop sign on Sentier Transcanadien trail. Disappointed to see the trail across the road under construction, I saw him standing next to the stop sign waiving at me. His work is to transport cyclists who get stuck, like me, from this end of the trail to the next trail opening. The drive is only 4km on the highway.
We spent 5 minutes in the car and we didn’t speak, but I cried on my bike after waving bye to him. Human connection doesn’t require words. You feel it with your heart. I don’t know at that moment what he thought of, but I know he appreciated me for my service, and I appreciated him for his.
Every day, I get up, get on my bike, and pedal to the next town 100 km away. If I tell you it’s easy, it’s a lie. I don’t have a great balance on the bike because my left foot is weak and my right foot is dystonic due to parkinson’s. My right hand is always numb because of the rigidity in my shoulders. I can’t lift my head all the way up because of my dystonic neck. I have random upper body movements that cause me to waver around on the road, that’s dyskinetia. When I’m off, I have problem breathing on the bike, I feel hollow in my legs, and my muscles lock up.
What keeps me going is the human connections I experienced on the road, like this, like in many other stories. They touch my heart and give me hope, courage, and faith.
It is very pleasant story and wish you good luck for your future journeys.