Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Quel groupe! - par Denis-Claude Roy


Ce qui est merveilleux dans ce voyage, c’est le sérieux et la détermination du groupe qui s’investit dans sa mission philanthropique, tout en déployant un esprit d’entraide et de camaraderie. Douze cyclistes c’est beaucoup, quand les conditions sont parfois difficiles, comme vous avez vu dans les jours précédents, avec des routes incertaines et une chaleur torride. Mais comme le dit le dicton ce sont dans les moments difficiles qu’on voit les vraies personnalités. Et on est parfois surpris!

William est un leader extraordinaire et un organisateur hors pair! Tout est planifié au quart de tour. Il a même fait une reconnaissance des lieux avant notre arrivée! Malgré son long voyage depuis Larochelle en Charente maritime, France, jusqu’à Sagres au Portugal et maintenant vers Lisbonne, il n’a pas cessé d’établir et corriger l’itinéraire à tous les jours, de trouver les endroits pour dormir, les restaurants, les plages, les panoramas à couper le souffle, les châteaux de tous types, etc. Et tout ça en plus du vélo! Il organise même les retours en train des différents participants. Il écrit son blogue quotidien et l’agrémente des photos de la journée avec une rigueur et une discipline incroyables. Il contacte de nombreux donateurs durant le voyage afin d’améliorer la survie et le bien-être des patients atteints de cancers du sang comme la leucémie. William est un être à part. Sa création de la Chaire en recherche translationnelle est un exemple concret de son engagement et son dévouement pour les patients atteints de leucémie. Il fait tout cela avec une joie et un enthousiasme contagieux. Année après année il sollicite des donateurs et accumule des fonds majeurs pour la recherche. En plus, il trouve le temps d’aider CellCAN, le réseau canadien de Médecine régénératrice et de thérapie cellulaire. Comment ne pas apprécier son leadership charismatique! 

Avec l’ineffable Sancho Pansa, pardon, Serge Savard, son fidèle compagnon, réparateur de vélo, ambulancier, géographe, planificateur, entraineur, support moral, et tout ce qu’on peut imaginer… ou presque! Serge ne laisse rien au hasard et il a toutes les réponses, impossible de faire le trajet sans lui. De plus, William (Bill) voulait tous les appuis possibles pour faire valoir la cause de la recherche contre la leucémie, alors il a recruté sa dulcinée, Maryse, qui a interrompu ses nombreuses activités professionnelles pour la cause philanthropique. Elle nous partage toujours son beau sourire et sa pensée positive, nous instruit sur la flore locale et démontre une réflexion approfondie des différentes situations. Leur fils Philippe, un futur ingénieur qui en attendant démontre du génie pour électriser le parcours! Alors que Serge a recruté sa belle « Isa » qui pédale avec efficacité et ne cesse d’aider et encourager les néophytes parmi nous.

Mais que serait notre groupe sans deux autres leaders aux caractères antinomiques : Vincent (Vince) et Wesley (Wes). Vincent planifie et ouvre la route pour le groupe, il fonce en éclaireur pour aviser les troupes sur le chemin à parcourir. C’est le parfait « Marine » d’élite. Le vélo c’est sérieux, car on ne fait pas le poids avec les voitures! Il nous instruit des mesures de sécurité, et il ne blague pas avec ça, et il a raison. C’est notre leader sérieux et si on ne l’écoute pas ça va mal! Mais je le répète, il a raison, et il fait bon avoir un « coach » comme lui, qui dirige avec science, et qui est aussi capable d’épauler avec douceur et compréhension, attentif à la condition physique de chacun. Wesley probably has the most sensitive heart of us all! Wesley speaks his own mind; he is direct, and often provocative, but you need to learn to know the man to appreciate his wonderful human qualities and openness! Indeed Wes ensures the well-being of all the members, especially the weakest. He is always there to provide mental and physical support, water, food, guidance, and most of all “care” and humanity. Claude est aussi un cycliste aguerri et très chaleureux. Sous des dehors réservés, ce diplomate sait fort bien comment apaiser les tensions, et ses mollets trahissent une forme insoupçonnée. Il déniche les belles églises, et est d’une constance et sérénité admirables. Jean Roy, le titulaire de la Chaire Maryse et William Brock, est bien préparé. Il savait le chemin qui devait être parcouru et il s’est entraîné pour cela. Il est le premier à nous garder à l’affut des beautés naturelles que nous dévoilent le Portugal tout au long de la route de vélo et se révèle un conteur d’histoire de survie de patients qui tient en haleine jusqu’au prochain repas. Toujours de bonne humeur et attentionné, Jean pédale avec entrain, sachant que la tâche de titulaire de la Chaire sera aussi un travail sérieux. Il sait qu’il aura un impact sur l’avenir des patients atteints de leucémie.

Diane a voulu faire sa part et bien que non entraînée elle a participé au voyage. Malgré la chaleur et les difficultés de la route, elle a su parcourir le chemin. Elle a aussi contribué, avec son fils Julien, au bon déroulement du voyage en participant activement au déplacement des bagages et des personnes en voiture. Diane a créé des liens avec tous et comme sa fille, Marie-Eve, leurs qualités « sociales » ont contribué à cimenter le groupe. Le rire communicatif de Marie-Eve sait toujours rallier la joie parmi nous. De mon côté, je suis extrêmement heureux d’avoir parcouru du terrain pour la recherche afin d’améliorer les traitements de greffe de moelle osseuse, une cause qui me tient extrêmement à cœur. Et je suis sorti grandi d’avoir côtoyé toutes ces personnes merveilleuses qui ont donné et continuent de donner, de façon altruiste, temps et argent pour aider les patients atteints de leucémie et d’autres cancers du sang qui peuvent maintenant être guéris grâce à la greffe et pour lesquels nous devons faire encore plus, pour qu’ils soient encore plus nombreux à survivre!  En ces temps de grandes violences, ce voyage se révèle toute une expérience qui donne confiance en l’humain et à sa volonté de faire le bien!

Alors contribuez vous aussi au déploiement de la recherche en leucémie et participez activement à cette importante et déterminante initiative qui sauvera des vies! Merci à l’avance!



Monday, June 29, 2015

Going to Sagres, by Denis-Claude Roy


Going to Sagres, the end of the world!

What a wonderful day! For some it was just impeccable, a demonstration of strength and determination! While for others it could have turned into a disaster...

The early risers left Lagos in the direction of Sagres at 8h30 sharp, hoping to do some mileage before the sun and heat would hit at full strength. The others left a little later, determined to make it through the intense heat, although less intense than yesterday, as it was only 32°C! Soon after departure, my daughter Marie-Eve tried a difficult maneuver and fell on the road, her left side smashing  into the asphalt. Fortunately, there were no cars coming by. Wes immediately rushed to her side, securing the area.  It took her some time to recover but a bruised elbow, hip and ego were not going to stop Marie-Eve. She jumped back on the bike and continued to ride until the first stop, the fortress of Almadena. A wonderful scene, on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Impressive what humans have built in hard to reach places! Smartly constructed, the heavy stone walls and ceilings of the fort (or what is left of it) preserves low temperatures even in the intense heat!

Views from the Fort



After the fortress was the beach of Boca do Rio, the perfect spot for a swim! But that was only the prelude of the big event of the day! The steepest hill of the trip was ahead of us. A 20% uphill path under noon sunshine was the challenge. Only the most experienced and trained could get to the top without stopping. A few of us stopped only a few meters from the top, in the steepest section but totally exhausted! Nevertheless our bikers were not only biking to raise funds for leukemia research. Two of the few who stopped before the top displayed exceptional determination as they decided to make it all the way in a single run! So Marie-Eve and Wes came back down the hill! Immediately after having climbed the monster, exhausted, they decided that they were going to do it again, this time in a single climb!  And they did! Under the brutal sun and without any rest period! Wes and Marie-Eve, you clearly deserve our admiration! And a great meal at Concha in Salema! Indeed fresh fish was a most welcome prize to our warriors! Sergio and his wife served us a wonderful meal, including very interesting and tasty minuscule snails. Sergio also showed us his incredible pictures inside waves in the ocean, which can be found on his website.



My son Phil climbing the 20% grade (note the sign!)
Marie-Eve at the top

Proud cyclists!


The sun was now hitting hard, stomachs were full, too full, yet it was the call of the road... and our cyclists completed the run to Sagres. This time without any mishaps!

The lighthouse at Sagres



The end of the World





Sunday, June 28, 2015

You can't keep a good woman down


We cycled today from Lagos to Sagres, the most southerly and western part of Portugal, and the end of our cycle through the Algarve.

Vince, Jean, Claude and Isabelle left early, and Phil, Wes, Diane, Marie-Eve and I left a little later. We cycled along beautiful back roads, through lovely countryside, then we came to a golf course where the cycle path led to a dirt road.

Given our earlier experience we decided to skirt the dirt road, and we found a lovely, smooth ribbon of asphalt that skirted the golf course, where nothing could seemingly go wrong.

Of course, thats not the way life works. About 100 meters into this lovely, smooth safe path there was a speed bump, easy to traverse, but Marie-Eve tried to avoid it, by steering away from the speed bump to the edge of the road. Unfortunately she steered off the road, onto the shoulder which was depressed about 9 inches, and when she tried to steer back onto the road she crashed, and ended up sprawled across the middle of the road:





But you can't keep a good woman down, she got up, dusted herself off, was later fixed up by Serge (our EMT technician) and spent a great day cycling the hills of Algarve!

A bit bloodied and bruised, but strong and proud

First Aid in the Algarve

Marie-Eve, after her post-crash ascent of a huge hill (20% grade!)

Happy bikers, after the fall!
You can't keep a good woman down!

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Cycling in an oven


Now I know what a fried egg feels like.

Our cycle today wasn't long, but it was sizzling. We left Carvoeiro a little late and cycled through Portomao, the lovely fishing port of Alvor, then on the Lagos, only 30 kms, but the heat radiated off the pavement, and it was a oven. It is now 6pm and it is 36C!


My doctors and me



Vince (the Speedster) Mercier

Marie-Eve Roy

Portimao

Serge (our homme a tout faire) and Isabelle

Tomorrow we head to Sagres and the end of our ride in the Algarve. Monday will be a much needed rest day, and then we go on to Lisbon.

Its been a great time thus far, a celebration of life, which you can join at www.stemcellchair.com




Friday, June 26, 2015

Life is beautiful


Portugal (or at least the Algarve in southern Portugal) is just a fabulous place. The scenery is beautiful, the people are great, it’s not to built-up or developed, and it’s really in a stage of relatively early tourism compared to places like the south of France. It’s also inexpensive and the food is terrific, especially the fish and the chicken. We have feasted on grilled fish and seafood every night, and on my bicycle in today, I cycled past a small chicken take-out place, and I was so overcome by the wonderful odors I slammed on my brakes and bought some chicken which we ate on the sidewalk. It was fabulous.

My son Phil, cycling with me to Carvoeiro


My chicken lunch!

Look what we shared a round-about with!



Tonight we are staying at Tivoli Carvoeiro, which is perched up on a cliff on the ocean. The reception area is on the fifth floor on the street, and to go to the pool and ocean you go down to the first floor and then need to walk down the very steep set of stairs to the ocean. This is the view was you walk out of the first floor of the hotel looking over the swimming pool. It is, in a word, spectacular. There is a cave that you can walk into at low tide and swim into at high tide. This is truly a spectacular place.



Phil and Marie-Eve Roy, Denis-Claude's daughter

The view from the top of the cliff

The cycling has been reasonably good, not as developed or fine-tuned as in France, and there are areas where there are gravel roads which you have to navigate, which is doable, although small secondary roads are also options. All in all, just a wonderfully beautiful experience, which makes me realize every minute of every day how lucky I am to be alive.

For those of you reading this blog who haven’t yet contributed to our research fund, or if you know people who might contribute, please do so or ask them to do so. You can go to www.stemcellchair.com, the life you save could be yours or someone you love.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Good day on the road


Things went well today. 

The cycle from Quarteria to just past Albuferia went really well, a smooth route, along smaller roads, country paths and cycling trails. It  was beautiful and easy, particularly compared to yesterday. There were nice things to see on the way, including the village and marina at Vilamoura, the town of Albufeira and ocean vistas at Armacao de Pero where we are staying for the night. 

It's a wonderful little seaside town, we walked tonight to an Oceanside  restaurant and even when walking back around midnight, there was much life along the seashore, including small children still awake and having fun. 

The Algarve is wonderful, Full of unexpected surprises. As we were reaching Albufeira we came across a small stand at the side of the road selling oranges, a large bag for two euros. I asked the woman at the stand if I could simply have an orange or two which we proceeded to cut up and eat on the spot, at first she refused to charge me anything. Only when I ordered orange juice as well did she accept some money. The oranges and the juice were the best we've ever had, another unexpected pleasure of the Algarve.





A mystery biker, soon to be featured in the Many Face of *** (Vol 2)

We had a lovely lunch on the Ocean and Dr  Denis-Claude Roy from HMR gave Dr Jean Roy and I very special HMR bike shirts, quite an honor:








Wednesday, June 24, 2015

ObstacleRoadCycling


We invented a new sport today, ObstacleRoadCycling - which could easily turn into a demolition derby.

Our plan was to cycle from Tavira to Qaunteria - we thought a 65 km easy ride. We were partly right. For a while we peddled through countryside, through a path across a scenic marsh, and down country roads. We had a delicious lunch next to a fort in the old city of Faro, and looked forward to a smooth and scenic 15 or 20 km to Quanteria.


Vince, strong at the fort

Marie-Eve Roy, a happy cyclist

It was not to be - part of the  Velo 1 route was not finished, a long stretch after lunch was sand and dirt, and bumps,  and our ride turned into an obstacle course. But we all made it, 70 kms later, dirty, dusty and tired, but I hope proud. As Madame Perez says (see June 9), "c'est ca la vie"!

Ain't no mountain high enough


Ain't no valley low enough

Ain't no river wide enough 
(Apologies to Marvin Gaye) 

... and now, with a different theme:

Faster than a speeding locomotive!

No fence can contain us!


Oh yes, I forgot to mention that we had great cuttlefish for lunch, and we put the black ink to good use!

We are strong



On arrival in Quanteria we rewarded ourselves with hot showers, and a great dinner! 

C'est ca la vie!


Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Tavira - into the Algarve


We entered the Algarve today, and people cycled various distances between Isla Christina in Spain and Tavira, a picturesque town in Portugal.

We cycled through pretty fishing villages, down county roads, through towns and down the ocean shore. Its lovely country, and the weather is spectacular. We also spent some time at the pool of our hotel sipping Sangria, life is tough!

Tonight we went to a local restaurant, a fish BBQ, where they just serve you without a menu and without anyone ordering anything: fresh salad, freshly caught (likely swimming this morning) grilled local fish on a charcoal BBQ, potatoes and grilled bread, sumptuous and delicious, all for 10 euros per person, it was just exceptional, and a taste of local life in more ways than one.



Our new BananaCycle

My new favorite beer



It was wonderful having dinner with my friends and doctors, it made me realize how lucky I am, and how much I have to be thankful for, but at the same time much remains to be done - please support our research chair at www.stemcellchair.com


Monday, June 22, 2015

Together in Isla Cristina


We are all here, Wes, Vince, Jean Roy, Denis Claude Roy and Diane and their son and daughter, Claude, Serge, Isabel, Maryse and me, in Isla Cristina, about 10 km from the border with Portugal. Tomorrow we hit the road!

Vince, Wes, Maryse and I took the train from Madrid to Huelva in the south of Spain. We then had a tapas lunch at De Huelva Sabores, beside the train station,  with Manuel, the taxi driver we hired to take us to Isla Christina, about 45 km away. We ate dinner on the beach and welcomed the arrival of our other guests.

Vince and Manuel

A scene from Madrid, matrons at the Prado

Serge and Isabel 

Tomorrow we ride in Portugal.




Sunday, June 21, 2015

The arts in Madrid: from masterpieces by Goya, Velazquez and Picasso, to Agent 007: Bond, James Bond


We spent the day in Madrid, visiting Museo el Prado in the morning (the national painting gallery of Spain) and a James Bond exhibition in the afternoon. 

The Prado is an extradordinary place, one of the great museums of the world, containing masterpieces of Francisco de Goya, Diego VelázquezEl GrecoTitianPeter Paul Rubens and Hieronymus Bosch. Its works span 500 years, and highlight the huge contributions of Spanish artists. Just this museum was worth the trip to Spain. Many of the masterpieces can be seen at https://www.museodelprado.es/en/. 

After a fine lunch, including several pitchers of Sangria, we were in the mood for something completely different, Diseñando 007: Cincuenta años de Estilo Bond, or Designing 007 - 50 years of Bond style, an exhibition which just happened to be in Madrid. It was quite the change, and celebrated 50 years of James Bond style and technology. 

Madrid is great, lots of energy and space and greenery, and heat. 

Jean Roy, one of my doctors, joined us today. I am fortunate to be with him, and if you have not already done so, please help our research efforts at www.stemcellchair.com

Tomorrow we take a train to southern Spain, and it's back on the bike, and back to shooting photos. 

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Madrid


We arrived in Madrid to pick up Vince, Wes, Isabel and Maryse, and basically walked the City. Tomorrow Jean Roy arrives, then Denis-Claude and Claude on Monday, then off to the Algarve.

Madrid is big and vibrant, lots of people on the street, lots of life. It's a little surprising given the tough economic times Spain has been through. Its a high energy place, you can sense the joie de vivre.


Friday, June 19, 2015

Scenes of Santiago, with me and Mahatma


I met Mahatma in Santiago today, and after I gave him a small contribution, he gave me a very tiny scroll [perhaps 5 mm wide] on which the following was printed:

Glory lies in the attempt to meet one's goal, and not in reaching it. 






Who is who?

We are now in Madrid, we are picking up our travelling companions, and so I leave you tonight with scenes of Santiago, the city, the pilgrims, and of course (for me) food.


The streets of the City







The Pilgrims 









and of course, food


Complete with the cross of St James (Santiago)

Jambone

La Pata Negra