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Travis and his buddy Ryan became close friends soon after meeting as university roommates. Ryan’s Mother’s life was touched by cancer, and knowing that this disease is very capable of affecting his own life, Travis did not hesitate when Ryan asked him to join him on a bicycle ride across Canada to raise funds for the Women’s foundation at Sunnybrook hospital. They then began a journey that would take 87 days and cover 7777 kilometres, a journey called “Robbins Ride”.
They were not strong bikers when they left for the West coast, with a tent, 2 bikes, a bag of pasta, and some spare tires. The mountains were unkind, the below zero days were unappreciated and the record breaking rainfall in the Prairies was downright nasty, but they continue their journey and as donations started pouring in back home.
“As newspaper and radio stations began to develop increased interest so did the citizens of the small Canadian towns that we were visiting. We began to appreciate the generosity of free hotels, meals and bike tune ups. A truck driver outside of Red Deer waited 45 minutes at a gas station to give us $20 dollars as a donation to the cause, a family in Swift Current bought and cooked a Turkey dinner for us to eat,” said Travis Buckley. “Our nation is filled with beautiful people, who when given the chance, will share everything they own no matter what that be.”
In the final weeks of their trip, Travis was sitting outside of a grocery store in Nova Scotia waiting for the rest of his riders. He noticed an older woman sitting on a bench waiting for a bus who was staring directly at him. As he got up to leave, the older woman braced herself with her cane and reached for his attention. The woman shared with Travis that she had lost both her sister and husband to cancer, and that she herself was able to fight the disease and survive. When she finished with her story, she struggled through the words, “thank you”.
“In that moment I realized participation goes beyond a dollar value. I was so caught up in raising money that I lost what I now understand is most important,” Said Travis Buckley. “To the people who have lived through Cancer it is not about the money it is about honoring the lives that they have lost and that one day generations behind them might not have to live with that pain. I can grow a moustache for that.”
http://ca.movember.com/mospace/2341088/index/tp/1/dp/1
