Adam Peron
Age - 25
Live - Edmonton AB
Nickname - Liteweight
Occupation - Director, Sales and Operations, TecKnoQuest Inc.
Years Cycling - 12
Hobbies - Hockey, reading
Favorite Ride - The 28km climb out of Christina Lake
Cycling Accomplishments - Raced in SPOKE 1998, 1999, Just Giver 2008, 2009
Riding for  - Brenda "Gran" Davies
Bike - 2009 Merckx  LXM
CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR ADAM

David Kosub
Age - 54
Live - Vancouver BC
Occupation - Senior Estimator, UBC
Years Cycling - 19 competitively
Hobbies - Cycling
Favorite Ride - Mt Baker return, Maui
Cycling Accomplishments - 8-time BC Championship TT Gold, 1-time BC Championship Crit. Gold, Winner Vedder Mountain Classic, 2nd Chekamus Challenge, Master's Cycling Racing 40 Gold, 32 Silver and 30 Bronze
Bike - Giant TCR Advanced Team
CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR DAVID

Mark Huggan
Age - 46
Live - Richmond BC
Nickname - Squirrel
Occupation -  Phantom Couriers
Years Cycling - 20
Hobbies - Skateboarding & Being a Dad
Favorite Ride - Anywhere
Cycling Accomplishments - Started a bike Messenger company
Riding For - My Dad
Bike - 2010 Cervelo S1
CLICK HERE TO SPONSOR MARK

2010 Just Giver Team Members Joe and Kim Gard are keeping busy by also organizing a great cycling charity event on the Island.  Looks like a great event and will hopefully have some Just Giver Team riders over for the event!

What

Nanaimo2Victoria is a 120 km, one day cycling trip from Nanaimo, BC to Victoria BC in order to raise awareness and funds for Cancer Research through the Canadian Cancer Society. There is also a 20 km route for those who would like something shorter.

When

Sunday, August 15th, 2010!

Where

6:00 a.m. everyone who requires transportation meets @ Oak Bay Police Department to load bikes and get ready. The bus to Nanaimo leaves from there at 7:00am. This transportation is available for a $20 fee, and you have to specify that you require it during registration

9:00 a.m. everyone meets at Oak Bay Bikes Nanaimo, and then the peleton departs from there at 10:00 a.m

The shorter 20km route will depart at approximately 3:00pm from Oak Bay Bikes Westshore.

4:30-5:00pm everyone arrives at Clover Point. The bus back to Nanaimo will leave shortly after that.

And then from 5:00pm onward we'll all be celebrating at the Fernwood Inn!

Why

Why take the N2V Challenge? Because you can! Because you will be helping support the BC Cancer Agency. Because you get to "own the road" with a full police escort and rolling road closures. Because cancer sucks! Because it's going to be a blast! Because you get to spend the day with a bunch of fellow cyclists also up for the challenge! Because you get to ride not just up the Malahat but to fly down it as part of the peleton.

Really the question shouldn't be "why do the N2V?" but: "why on earth wouldn't you?"

About

"This unique Vancouver Island experience enables cyclists to experience the camaraderie and support enjoyed by the Tour de Rock while helping the fight against cancer," says Sgt Ian Craib of the Oak Bay Police Department, 2001 Tour de Rock rider and member of the Organizing Committee. "The Nanaimo2Victoria Cycling Challenge promises to be a great event for the active cyclists and recreational rider who can choose to do one of two distances most suited to their level." With closed roads, a full police escort, and sag support the 2010 event looks to be the highlight event of 2010 for many cyclists!

Funds raised will come from registration fees and pledges. Registration is $100 for the 120km route and $20 for the 20km Route. Beyond the registration fee the goal is for individual riders or teams of riders to fundraise so that collectively we can raise $50,000 to go to the fight against cancer. The 120 km "Nanaimo2Victoria" is for fit, experienced riders; the 20 km "Zip to Zero" leaves Langford alongside the Nanaimo2Victoria riders and everyone finishes together at Clover Point along Dallas Rd.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE

By Tracy Holmes - Peace Arch News - CLICK HERE TO VIEW ORIGINAL
Published: June 16, 2010 3:00 PM
Updated: June 16, 2010 3:38 PM

Gavin and Laura Johnston know just what they’re going to do with 10 days of their time off this summer.

They’re gonna Just Giver for Parkinson’s.

The White Rock couple are among 13 cyclists who will pedal 1,300 kilometres with the 2010 Just Giver Team, to raise money and awareness for Parkinson’s research and support services.

The July 24 to Aug. 2 tour will take them on a loop from Vancouver to the Interior and back, through communities including Whistler, Kamloops, Salmon Arm, Westbank and Merritt.

And while the couple have done long rides before – Gavin rode 275 kilometres to Mount Baker and back in one day; Laura has pedalled 195 km – they know the tour, with back-to-back rides of no less than 112 km, will be a challenge, Laura said.

To prepare, they’re pedaling between 120 and 160 km three to five days a week. The effort has done more than hone their calf muscles. It has opened their eyes to a disease that affects an estimated 1.6 million people in North America, including 11,000 in B.C.

Their own circle of family and friends is not immune.

A close family friend of the Johnstons was diagnosed with Parkinson’s two years ago, and it’s “hard to watch,” they said. They’ve learned even more about the disease through their Just Giver teammates-turned-friends.

Ride co-organizer Kelly Jablonski launched the tour five years ago with Branko Radmilovic, as a tribute to Jablonski’s stepfather, who was living with Parkinson’s. Other team members also have family who are suffering the effects.

Parkinson’s is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects cells responsible for the production of dopamine, a chemical that acts as a messenger between the brain cells that control voluntary movement. As dopamine production decreases, sufferers’ movements slow, tremors can develop and reflexes become impaired.

“You think of Parkinson’s as people having shakes,” Gavin said. “It almost seems as if they’re intoxicated.”

The Johnstons first rode with Just Giver last year, but this is the first time they will participate from start to finish. Both are avid cyclists: Gavin’s been riding for 14 years; Laura, for 11. The pair also have a few years of racing on their cycling resumé, and Gavin hopes to add the 2010 Tour de White Rock criterium to his list of accomplishments.

The Just Giver route has some definite ups and downs, said Gavin, noting climbs over the 10 days total more than 60,000 feet.

But the physical effort is only part of the ride. Along the way, the team will visit six Parkinson Society B.C. support groups, and they know the reception they’ll receive in each community will be touching.

“You’re all there for the same purpose,” Laura said.

Since Just Giver launched, it has raised $186,000 for Parkinson’s research and support services. Organizers hope this year’s ride will boost the total to $250,000.

The Johnstons are aiming to add $3,000 to the effort. To sponsor them or any of the other 11 team members, or for more information, visit www.just-giver.com

For more information on Parkinson’s visit www.parkinson.bc.ca or call 604-662-3240.

After receiving this email last night from our friend Giles, it really made me realize the impact of human compassion.  Close friends Marnie and Giles have been friends and part of Just Giver Team and have taken part in the event from day 1 and we wish them well on their travels of India.  Another amazing story of compassion from two amazing people!

Hi All,

His name is Omani, or Amsram, or Abraham, a 59 year old Jewish man from New York who has been traveling the world for 40+ years. Omani suffers with Parkinson's, his shakes are apparent, his disposition kind but quick tempered. Omani is not wealthy by even Indian standards, where he has spent cumulatively 18 of the past 40 years. He visits His Holiness the Karmapa every Wednesday and Saturday (more about the Karmapa later) and just before I put him into the taxi that would take him home that evening, we agreed to share a cab for the next day's travel to see Karmapa.

Wednesday, we traveled, Marnie, a friend from Vancouver Brock, myself, Omani and our kind and patient taxi driver Sanji to Karmapa's monastery. Brock and I sat Omani in a plastic lawn chair and carried him up the steps of the monastery. We arrived to much commotion outside the doors to which inside pilgrams would await to meet Karmapa. Omani, who is well known to the security staff, and I were put in a separate area, where after a short time, we were permitted a brief public audience with His Holiness Karmapa. What happened for the next 3 hours was a combination of waiting for the rain to stop, incessant requests and undertakings of messaging Omani's shoulders, him yelling at a kind Chinese woman who he accused of trying to initiate him into a cult with black magic and finally, after deliberations with most of the security staff, allowing the taxi to drive to the monastery entrance to pick up Omuni and our group.

Story Continued In Blog Below

Giles joined a stage of the Just Giver 2010 Tour

Letter from Giles Continued

By now I, along with the rest of our group, that being Brock and Marnie, realized that Omani was very ill. Both feet were severely swollen, he had a deep laceration on the back of his leg, severe blisters from burns on his hands and his Parkinson's symptoms were very apparent (i.e. the slowed speech, hunched over, inability to walk more than 4 steps unassisted, needing help to go to the toilet, etc). We, Brock, Marnie and a woman named Anja we'd met at the temple, persuaded Omani to visit the Tibetan Medical Institute the next day; to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama's personal physician. Omani had initially told us that western drugs were out of the question.

The next day came and Brock and I picked Omani up from the village where he stays 3km from where we are. He seemed to be in good spirits and excited about the prospects of the day's treatment. We first visited the Tibetan hospital where natural herbal medicines were prescribed; however, the doctors there insisted to Omani that he be admitted to the Delek Hospital just up the road. We took him there on the condition that he was not to be admitted (which we latter learned was not possible anyways because he did not have travel insurance). The doctors and nurses there were kind and patient with his constant demands; however, he adamantly refused treatment of his blisters for as he said, God was healing him. His other wounds were bandaged. The Doctor prescribed 4 medications to be taken on a rigorous schedule. It was then I tried to convince him to get full time aid, but he refused, preferring rather to rely on the kindness of strangers. He did however agree to all the western medicine and to visit the clinic everyday to treat his wounds, more of which were found at the hospital during examination.

I learned through the course of the 3 days that other options for treatment had been presented to him in the past, mainly in the form of care from Indians, for which he has a prejudice. After the hospital, I returned him to our hotel lobby, where he spends every day, and bid him farewell. I'm not convinced there is much more that I could do to help him.

I thought of you lots Kel and the Just Giver Team and the work you do for Parkinson's research and even used the PS of BC Website for information that was used at the hospital. Just Giver' Bro!

Seeing the Karmapa again after 8 years was amazing, he is a very powerful force in the Tibetan community and worldwide; some may think he will assume one day the responsibilities of the Dalai Lama. More can be read about Karmapa here: http://www.kagyuoffice.org/

The Just Giver Team wants to wish William Cope and his father the best of luck as they begin their cycling journey from Qualicum Beach to Ottawa.  Pedal for Parkinson's which departs this weekend is yet another amazing grass roots effort to raise money and awareness for Parkinson's. Good luck and enjoy the ride!

More Below

Five years ago, my father was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder for which there is not yet a cure. Since then I have learned a great deal about the disease and the millions of people it affects worldwide.

In an attempt to bring attention to Parkinson's and raise money for research that may one day lead to a cure, my father and I will bicycle from Qualicum Beach, BC to Ottawa.
We are doing so in the hope that we will bring awarness to the disease, and, more importantly, raise money that we will donate to the BC Parkinsons Society. Money that may one day lead to a cure for this disease that affects so many.

Though Parkinson’s is the second most common neurological disorder after Alzheimer’s, it does not receive the necessary funding for treatment, education or research that it deserves. I decided that, this summer, I would do my part to reverse this problem.

William Cope.

www.pedalforparkinsons.ca

Kelly Jablonski

With limited tools (see picture below) and experience, and some help from both Monster Image (Huntington Beach Ca.) and TrimLine Graphic Impressions (Richmond BC) we finally managed to get the truck wrapped.  A few late nights and 1 or 2 do overs and I think the finished product turned out great.  So far it grabs allot of attention on the road and will do so thru-out this years tour as we travel thru BC.

www.monsterimg.com

www.graphicimpressionsltd.com