Reflections - Laughing, crying, loving, living.: Ottawa Ride for Dad

The day started at 5:30 am for me. After showering and taking care of the dog I went down to underground parking to get my bike ready. After checking over my bike and wiping it down quickly I was ready to go. A friend Kris was riding with me to breakfast and blocking with the group. He lives in my building so we met in underground. It was raining out so I borrowed Ken's rain gear and reflective vest. Ken is on the road and unable to ride with us.

A group of us from Capital City Bikers Church had volunteered to block for the ride. We met for breakfast at 7:00 am in the Lincoln Fields mall restaurant. There were 22 people. We had a great visit, lots of laughs and then by 8:00 am were out at our bikes. Dave Brown and Dave Veal went over the safety rules and assigned our intersections. We lined up in order and headed out to our intersections.

My intersection was Richmond and Poulin. All of our intersections were in that same area along Carling Ave. My intersection was at the end of Richmond just down from where Carling and Richmond intersect. Once the parade of Bikes came by and we stopped traffic some people were NOT happy. I guess they don't listen to the news to know that the Ride was happening. I tried to be polite and not tell one lady in particular where she could go. Most people were patient for the 20-30 min wait as the Ride passed by. Others made a U-turn and went back down Richmond. Over all people were great and very support of the cause. It is pretty impressive to see over 1000 bikes ride by and hear the roar....oh yeah.

Once they all had passed we released our intersections and hopped on our bikes to join in at the end of the parade. Everyone ended up in Kanata at the Mitel parking lot. It was a sea of bikes that filled the parking lot. I like watching the Police parade out of the lot. Once everyone is in they gather in a section of the lot...line up and then parade out with lights flashing...pretty kool to see.

Afterward some people from our group decided to go for coffee/lunch at Starbucks. It was a great morning! I'm so proud of our group for volunteering each year to help out this cause. The fight against prostate cancer is so very important. If you want to learn more about supporting this cause or the ride itself, visit the Ride for Dad website. http://www.motorcycleridefordad.org/ott/

Some Pics taken by Rob Dale our Pastor

At the Aviation Museum - the starting point