Well, here we are. Yesterday we packed all of our things into our bins and then put them on the trucks, and then we came home and had a little spa day for our bikes and a family dinner. At least Ken and I did, I’m pretty sure Cam worked. It was nice to work alongside Ken, I’ve missed him so much since he moved to Ottawa, it’s a pleasure just to be in the same house, do things together, have the family all in one spot. It’s something that I’m looking forward to over the next week for sure, as we all ride our bikes together, camp together… Team Knit isn’t just friends, we’re family.

I was reflecting on that last night getting ready for bed- have I ever told you about the idea of Bike Rally Family? This event is special that way, we’re not a very big group of people, only about 200 riders will ride the six days from Toronto to Montreal. We’ll be supported by about 90 crew, and we often say that we’re like a small travelling town. We pack up in the morning, and put everything on the trucks, and then road support gets out there to guide us, the rustlers move our stuff to the next stop, the food crew comes up with three meals a day (in three different locations, even) the wellness crew cares for people who are hurt or need support, and logistics pulls the whole thing together, somehow. Then we land in a new place about 100km from the first one, and take everything out of trucks and set up tents and do it all over again. That whole thing is run by a steering committee of volunteers who work a whole year to make these six days happen – and obviously we’re way too small to be a town, but over the course of the Rally together, something crazy happens, and it’s that you’re having such a wild experience, such a unique and bizarre thing, that you come to feel an intimacy and affection for the other people doing it that makes you feel closer to them than you imagined you would. By the end of it, we call it the “Bike Rally Family” and it’s something that persists all year.

Good thing too, because this tiny group of volunteers, giving up time, energy, vacation time, money… to make this happen? The Bike Rally raises most of the operating budget for an entire ASO. (AIDS Service Organization.) We – The Bike Rally Family – we are the reason that there is a PWA, and that it can support anyone.

This is the Bike Rally’s 25th Anniversary. 25 years ago a couple of friends, Danny Nashman and David Linton- heard about a funding crisis at PWA (People With Aids) and decided to have a fundraiser. They set out to ride to Montreal and supported by a few friends with pickups and BBQs – a handful of riders raised $45 000. David passed away several years ago, but today I packed up my bins next to Danny and loaned him duct tape to cover the holes in the bins so spiders don’t get in. (Also there is some concern about earwigs but I try not to think about it and just use the tape.)

25 years later, here’s Danny, here’s all of us, showing up to try and do the same thing they did that first time – fund the agency out of a crisis. This year donations are down, and as we all know, need is up. PWA has a lot of different services that they provide – some you would expect, some you wouldn’t – and one of them is the Essentials Market. (That’s the food bank, the only one in Ontario exclusively for people with HIV/AIDS and their dependents. I’ve spoken before about how shocked most people are at how many women and children it helps – the face of this virus has changed a lot over the years.) Thanks to the rising cost of living, inflation, the cost of food and ^$#%ing Covid, more people are coming for help. Thanks to those same things, the donations from suppliers used to be six pallets of food a week, and now it’s two.

That’s a big deal – and to try and keep people fed, PWA has been diverting funds from other programs to buy food for the market – and the situation is unsustainable. PWA is so much more than a food bank, what people need is so much more than a food bank – what they deserve is so much more than a food bank – but this year there is the very real risk that the Bike Rally won’t be able to raise what PWA needs. We’re about $400 000 short of the goal, and that’s a lot for a little family of 200 riders to come up with.

I think I’ve been pretty honest that I have a healthy respect for what the rally asks of a person – I won’t say that it usually scares me, but that’s only because I’ve always been worried enough that I over-prepare, over train, over pack…. by the time the Rally rolls around every year I’ve actually used that fear to get me ready. This year it’s different, thanks to ^$#%ing Covid – and its fallout. There is actually no way that I’m properly ready. None. I have a puffer now and maybe that helps? I don’t know. All I know for sure is that I’m properly scared. The guys keep saying that I can rely on my body’s experience doing this, muscle memory and all that, but I feel like I am at the age where my muscles are starting to forget things rather than remember them, if you know what I mean. This morning as I drink my coffee and think about what lies ahead of me for the next six days, I’m reflecting that this isn’t a job, this isn’t a vacation, this isn’t anything really except for a family trying to get something done.

In a family, you show up and do your best, and your family gets your back and helps you, and you make sure that all of you are okay, as best you can, so I’m going to get on my bike and keep bugging you for donations, so that the Bike Rally Family can take care of the clients who need the PWA family, and I’m going to count on my family to take care of me.

If you’d like to help- the Team Knit Family is still out there representing knitters, and working to get to our goals.

Me

Cameron

Ken

See you in a week, and thank you for all your help taking care of people. You’re legends.

(PS: I can’t post to the blog while we’re riding, but you can see what we’re up to on instagram, you don’t have to sign up to follow us on the ride. I’m @yarnharlot, Ken is @five12plus, and Cameron is @thesilverboy)