I couldn’t stop smiling! We had an amazing time here, in Baie D’urfe, home of our friend and organizer of this event, Ken. If you don’t know how to pronounce the name “Baie D’urfe,” well, please Google it.
This morning, nine cyclists in neat spinning wheels uniforms made a presence along St. Lawrence River. Jane, Brittany, Rick, Mike, and Charles, the Toronto gang, just arrived last night at Montreal to participate in the last leg of the Eastern ride. And four young lawyers from McGill, Max, Shirley, Ivan, and Gwenth joined us for the group ride at Marguerite Bourgeoys Park. Together, we cycled from downtown Montreal to Baie D’urfe, a gorgeous small town by St. Lawrence River. After two weeks on the road alone, I felt really nice to ride with a team again. And it was magical riding into a community where we know we belong and bond with, at first glance.
Entering the town, the rain started pouring. But we were greeted by cyclists, police officers, the mayor and her husband, PD researchers, and their family and friends. Three police vehicles escorted us all the way to the town community center. (How cool is that!) Then we saw more people waiting and cheering for us at the community center: our dear friends in YOPD group Ken and Rob and their family, local MP, PD exercise groups, town council members and volunteers, a scout group, and their supporters. They know what we are doing, they read our stories on the road, and they care and want to help.
Ken asked me to prepare a talk a few days ago. But standing in front of this group, warmth flew through me, and I decided to speak from my heart. I talked about my journey with the disease and the people we met that inspired us to pedal forward every day. After the talk, people came to me in tears and thanked me for giving them hope. I was deeply moved by what I saw and what I heard.
On this trip, we received so much more than we shared. Thank you Ken. Thank you Baie D’urfe. We are grateful for all the love.
