I'm Back in the Saddle Again...
In Ajijic, the place in Mexico where Lynnda and I have established our home-away-from-home, we are enjoying a particularly beautiful 'rainy' season. The rain falls mainly in the night, and we get to see wild lightening strikes and sounds. The brown and yellow colors of the mountains in the winter turn to spectacular hues of green, contrasted with the beautiful blues of the skies. The silver lining of the clouds is the filling of Lake Chapala, the largest in Mexico, which gives up its bounty of water to the six million people of Guadalajara and our farms and people of lakeside.
It is around this beauty that I get to ride my bike, the 'Domane' as I call it... and train for next month's Two Hills Ride (my name for it) from Ottawa to Halifax... through the Adirondack, Green and White Mountains of New England. The terrain won't be different from here... up hill down dale and mountains occasionally that will challenge us all. We have been told we will likely see rain (unlike here, during the day-time) and possibly some snow. That will make it challenging... I put rain tires on my bike yesterday... but I don't have any studs! This week, after having pushed my mileage to the level the ride will require, I am already suffering from old age symptoms... a body that is saying "enough already" and a mind that is singing "I'm back in the saddle again". I will survive, happily.
And this ride, which starts just 31 days from today, will raise much needed money for research being done by the team at the University of Victoria in British Columbia that is headed up by Dr. Ryan Rhodes. They are researching ways to use exercise and diet to avoid over 25 diseases that include many cancers and chronic diseases... included are cardiovascular disease (heart attack and stroke), Parkinson Disease, Alzheimer Disease and so on. These are things from which we and our families, friends and acquaintances can benefit.
There is a cost to this research... particularly if it isn't done. Knowing what exercise to do; when, and how much to do can have a positive impact on the quality of our lives, if not length. Understanding what and how to eat foods that can have benefits in the same domain is just as important. Not knowing these things is costing society billions, hundreds of billions, each year. If we worry about the debt we will leave our children from the waste of government... shouldn't we worry more about the cost of living with our lifestyle that we seem to have unconsciously adopted.
A small investment in this research, through the Give to Live ride next month will go a long way... not into a dark hole... into ongoing research that has already produced results, and will continue to do so only with our help.
This is my last request for your help in raising more funding. To date, I have raised close to $9,000 between my Canadian Cancer Society receipted donations... and the Livestrong.org donations. Lynnda and I will make a donation to ensure we go over my goal, and certainly we will donate if our donations are over my minimum commitment of $10,000... but with this note, I ask that you consider a donation that in many ways covers the many human ailments in one package.
Some will read this note who have already donated to the ride... for this I thank you. I am not asking for "more". For you, this note is both a thank you and an update as to where we are. Those who have not made a decision to donate, please consider it. For Canadian tax receipts, please go to my site at the Canadian Cancer Society who manages our donations... http://convio.cancer.ca/goto/BRuceRoss For American tax receipts, please go to http://laf.livestrong.org/goto/bruceross
Thank you
It is around this beauty that I get to ride my bike, the 'Domane' as I call it... and train for next month's Two Hills Ride (my name for it) from Ottawa to Halifax... through the Adirondack, Green and White Mountains of New England. The terrain won't be different from here... up hill down dale and mountains occasionally that will challenge us all. We have been told we will likely see rain (unlike here, during the day-time) and possibly some snow. That will make it challenging... I put rain tires on my bike yesterday... but I don't have any studs! This week, after having pushed my mileage to the level the ride will require, I am already suffering from old age symptoms... a body that is saying "enough already" and a mind that is singing "I'm back in the saddle again". I will survive, happily.
And this ride, which starts just 31 days from today, will raise much needed money for research being done by the team at the University of Victoria in British Columbia that is headed up by Dr. Ryan Rhodes. They are researching ways to use exercise and diet to avoid over 25 diseases that include many cancers and chronic diseases... included are cardiovascular disease (heart attack and stroke), Parkinson Disease, Alzheimer Disease and so on. These are things from which we and our families, friends and acquaintances can benefit.
There is a cost to this research... particularly if it isn't done. Knowing what exercise to do; when, and how much to do can have a positive impact on the quality of our lives, if not length. Understanding what and how to eat foods that can have benefits in the same domain is just as important. Not knowing these things is costing society billions, hundreds of billions, each year. If we worry about the debt we will leave our children from the waste of government... shouldn't we worry more about the cost of living with our lifestyle that we seem to have unconsciously adopted.
A small investment in this research, through the Give to Live ride next month will go a long way... not into a dark hole... into ongoing research that has already produced results, and will continue to do so only with our help.
This is my last request for your help in raising more funding. To date, I have raised close to $9,000 between my Canadian Cancer Society receipted donations... and the Livestrong.org donations. Lynnda and I will make a donation to ensure we go over my goal, and certainly we will donate if our donations are over my minimum commitment of $10,000... but with this note, I ask that you consider a donation that in many ways covers the many human ailments in one package.
Some will read this note who have already donated to the ride... for this I thank you. I am not asking for "more". For you, this note is both a thank you and an update as to where we are. Those who have not made a decision to donate, please consider it. For Canadian tax receipts, please go to my site at the Canadian Cancer Society who manages our donations... http://convio.cancer.ca/goto/BRuceRoss For American tax receipts, please go to http://laf.livestrong.org/goto/bruceross
Thank you
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