The thunderous roar of motorcycle engines will be heard from Newfoundland to British Columbia this August, a symphony of metal and rubber as the Motorcycle Ride For Dad fundraiser embarks Aug. 1 on its first ever cross-Canada tour.
"Boy, it’s going to be an amazing ride," said Canadian hockey icon Don Cherry, co-chairman and national spokesman for the tour. "Watching those bikes heading down the highway is going to be quite a sight."
Cherry, the legendary hockey coach and analyst, known for his outspoken manner, flamboyant suits, and staunch patriotism, said he was quick to jump on board and support the cause.
The Motorcycle Ride For Dad has raised more than $5 million for prostate cancer awareness since its inception in 2000. And for the 10th anniversary cross-Canada tour, the group is partnering with the Canadian Armed Forces Military Family Fund, a support group created in 2007 by the anniversary tour’s other co-chairman, retired Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada’s former chief of defence staff.
The message for the anniversary ride is prostate cancer awareness and support for Canadian troops.
The cross-country ride starts Aug. 1, in St. John’s, N.L., with Hillier, an avid motorcyclist, riding out with the group following the opening ceremonies.
Over seven stages lasting one to five days, the bikers will hit every province and make stops at 12 military bases during their 9,200 kilometre journey.
On Aug. 29, the riders will pull into CFB Esquimalt in Victoria for the closing ceremonies.
Cherry has been a vocal supporter of Canada’s men and women in uniform, and there is one section of the tour that he is especially looking forward to – the Highway of Heroes stage Aug. 12.
"It’s going to be an emotional stretch that one," he said. "Seeing those Canadian flags flying as the bikes go by, boy, it’ll be special.
"There will definitely be some tears shed."
The Highway of Heroes is a stretch of Ontario’s Highway 401 between CFB Trenton outside Kingston, Ont., and Toronto that is used by the convoy of vehicles carrying the bodies of fallen soldiers returning to Canada.
Since 2002, when Canada’s first fallen soldiers were brought home from Afghanistan, crowds have lined the overpasses to pay their respects as the vehicles passed.
"We talk a lot about how proud we are of winning the gold medal in Vancouver, waving our flags and following our hockey heroes," Cherry said. "But I’ve seen the people waving the flags on the side of the highway.
"This is really Canada as far as I’m concerned."
Garry Janz, tour organizer and co-founder of the Motorcycle Ride For Dad, called the Highway of Heroes stage the "crown jewel of the ride."
"It’s a marvellous way for us to say thank you to the Canadian military."
Janz said as many as 6,000 motorcycles are expected to roar down the road for the much-anticipated ride on the internationally renowned stretch of highway.
Janz said he is humbled to think about how far the Motorcycle Ride For Dad has come since it started in 2000.
It was while working on a documentary about cancer in Kingston, Ont., in 1997 that Janz asked a patient what he was doing that afternoon.
"Well, if I had gone to the doctor and gotten checked this time last year, I wouldn’t be heading home to plan my own funeral today," replied Charlie Pester, a local educator and community role model losing his battle against prostate cancer.
And with that, the Motorcycle Ride For Dad was born.
"That one statement hit me like a ton of bricks. I had to do something," said Janz.
Janz, along with co-founder Byron Smith, a retired police officer and the chairman of the Ottawa Police Association, launched the fundraising event.
Both avid motorcyclists, they figured a motorcycle ride might help attract attention.
"I think there’s a little bit of motorcycle in everyone," said Janz. "There’s a romance, a freedom thing that draws people in."
Janz said it was the "perfect storm" of baby boomers with free time and money to spend on an expensive toy and men who had reached the age when they should be checking for prostate cancer that helped the event grow.
From a few dozen bikes in the first ride in Ottawa, the event has spread to 29 cities with thousands of riders joining the annual rides in May and June across the country.
Janz said the work that has gone into putting together this special anniversary event has been complicated, but he said he always goes back to that first day when Pester told him he was planning his own funeral. And that remains his inspiration.
Pester died in July 1998 at the age of 63. He never saw the fundraiser created in his honour take to the road.
Pester’s daughter, Alison Pinkerton, said the first time she saw the Motorcycle Ride For Dad participants wearing a shoulder patch bearing her late father’s name, she started sobbing.
"To see the patches is … wow, it still makes me cry and get choked up," she said from her home in Kingston. "To see the bikes en masse is pretty incredible."
Pinkerton, along with her husband, will join the ride for the Highway of Heroes stage.
She said her dad, an athlete in Ontario in the 1940s and ’50s, would be thrilled by the fundraising done for prostate cancer.
Pester, who played baseball with the minor league baseball Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1950s and had a tryout with the Ottawa Roughriders of the Canadian Football League at the age of 40, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 58.
But, like so many men, he ignored the symptoms, said Pinkerton.
"By the time he went to the doctor, it was too late," she said.
Prostate cancer afflicts one in six Canadian men. It is the most prevalent cancer among men, although is most common in men over the age of 40, according to the Canadian Cancer Society.
An estimated 25,500 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and it will be fatal for 4,400 men this year.
While it is often curable when detected early, the most rudimentary testing method is a rectal exam, which is often what keeps many men from getting tested, said Pinkerton.
"My dad ignored the symptoms and it took him too early," Pinkerton said. "He had so much living left to do."
Pinkerton said joining forces with the Military Family Fund makes the anniversary tour an especially poignant event.
"The military has always supported the event, and my dad would be proud to be associated with them," she said.
Bob Smith, a director with the military personal and family support services and a spokesperson for the Military Family Fund said there is a "natural affinity" between the Motorcycle Ride For Dad and his group.
Smith said the Military Family Fund "fills the gaps" in private and public support for families dealing with issues ranging from expenses associated with funeral arrangements to travel costs for men and women serving in remote locations.
"We can’t wait for the tour to begin," he said. "It’s going to be very special, very emotional."
FACT BOX
How are the ways people can donate:
Online: www.RideForDadCanada.org
By phone: 1-866-908-3058
By text: Text 4dad to 30333 to make a $10 donation
Tour schedule:
Atlantic Stage:
Â¥Aug. 1: St. John’s N.L.,
Â¥Aug. 2: Grand Falls N.L., North Sidney N.S.
Â¥Aug. 3: Sidney, Dartmouth, CFB Shearwater / Halifax N.S.
Â¥Aug. 4: Halifax, Truro, N.S., Wood Island P.E.I., Charlottetown
Â¥Aug. 5: Charlottetown, Moncton N.B./CFB Gagetown, Fredericton
Â¥Aug. 6: Fredericton, Riviere du Loup Que.
Â¥Aug. 7: Riviere du Loup, Quebec City / CFB Val Cartier, Trois-Rivieres
Â¥Aug. 8: Trois-Rivieres, Montreal / CFB Longue Pointe, Hawkesbury Ont., Ottawa
National Capital Stage:
Â¥Aug. 9: Ottawa
Â¥Aug. 10: Ottawa, Pembroke / CFB Petawawa
Â¥Aug. 11: Pembroke, Almonte Ont., Perth, Ont., Kingston/CFB Kingston
Highway of Heroes Stage:
Â¥Aug. 12: Kingston, Trenton/ CFB Trenton, CFB Bordon, Barrie, Ont.
Northern Ontario Stage:
Â¥Aug. 13: Barrie, North Bay, Ont.
Â¥Aug. 14: North Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
Â¥Aug. 15: Sault Ste. Marie, Marathon, Ont.
Â¥Aug. 16: Marathon, Terry Fox Memorial, Thunder Bay, Ont.
Â¥Aug. 17: Thunder Bay, Kenora, Ont.
Prairie Stage:
Â¥Aug. 18: Kenora Ont., Winnipeg Man., CFB Winnipeg, Brandon, Man.
Â¥Aug. 19: Brandon, Weyburn Sask., Moose Jaw Regina / RCMP Depot
Â¥Aug. 20: Regina, Saskatoon, Lloydminster, Sask.
Â¥Aug. 21: Lloydminster, Edmonton/ CFB Edmonton
Mountain Stage:
Â¥Aug. 22: Edmonton
Â¥Aug. 23: Edmonton, Calgary, Banff, Alta.
Â¥Aug. 24: Banff, Revelstoke B.C.
Â¥Aug. 25: Revelstoke, Nelson, B.C.
Â¥Aug. 26: Nelson, Kelowna, B.C.
Â¥Aug. 27: Kelowna, Vernon, Kamloops, B.C.
Â¥Aug. 28: Kamloops, Chilliwack
Â¥Aug. 29: Delta, Horseshoe Bay, Nanaimo, Duncan, Victoria / CFB Esquimalt
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