Well sort of… We have definitely raised over $50,000.00 for the Segal Cancer Research Centre at the Jewish General Hospital. To be clear, 100% of that money is going to cancer research. All other expenses: rickshaw, inner tubes, Dagwoods Sandwiches and beers are paid for by us the riders and our sponsors. A very good feat for TeamKat indeed. We bested last years ride by $10,000.00. And of course we are still accepting donations.
So about the rickshaw… you would not believe how hard it has been to secure one of these puppies for the weekend. Two of the companies we called flat our refused to rent us one for the whole weekend due the distance we are covering: 250KM. I can understand some trepidation about seeing your equipment be loaned outside of your home turf, but that is why security deposits exists. To those guys, all I can say is shame on you. The ride to Conquer Cancer is a well established charity event with unbelievable technical and logistic support.
So we stared looking into riskshaws we could buy outright. This was not as easy as one would think for such a cosmopolitan city like Montreal. For example we found a lot of stuff that “needed work”like this one in the picture. Or some that were basically just adult tricycles. Such as the one below. Although I will probably be going back there soon for another project I thinking of.
So getting back to our quest. As time was running short and suppliers were backing out, some of the TeamKat members and supporters got involved and managed to secure a ride for the weekend. As my buddy PK would say, this one is:
“SAME SAME….. BUT DIFFERENT”.
Enter the Ted. Our good friend Ted managed to find this old sailing dinghy turned cargo bike with seat and dodger for a roof. I will admit it’s not exactly an aero bike like my Kuota, but a deal is a deal and a gentleman always honours his wagers. So here I am. Two days before the ride, with an amazing effort form TeamKat and all our sponsors and donors getting ready to literally push this boat downstream to Quebec City. My only consolation is that I will be carrying my own food and beer along the ride, conditions of the wager of course. And if things get really bad, I will just head for the nearest landing and sail this thing down the river using a Dagwoods t-shirt as a spinnaker.
GO TEAMKAT GO