I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone at Touchpoint, Tammy, Alison and Thuy who were involved in planning and coordinating the trip.

A heartfelt thank you also to all those dealing with ALS that came out to meet and greet me along the way. Little do you know how much of an inspiration you were to me to continue on when things did not go as planned. Thank you also to those who assisted us along the way including the various ALS Societies, ALS Canada, and Compassionate Care ALS.

Thank you to Clint Sharples, without his generous donations from his companies, Paramount Pallet and Modu-Loc, the trip would not have worked out. Also thank you to Best Western Hotels, The Fairmont Hotels, The Delta Hotels and Kelowna Insta-print for their generous donations. And finally Harley-Davidson was not an official sponsor but their hospitality at various dealerships was tremendous from one end of Canada to the other.

Thank you to my various family members and friends for your assistance and enthusiasm to keep me going. Special thanks to Icille and Terry and Mom and Dad for your continued support.

Most of all the biggest thank you goes to my brothers Trent, who crossed all off Canada with me and Terry, who completed the Toronto to New Brunswick portion. Thank you both from the bottom of my heart for everything you did to assist me across Canada.

PS Wally is back in to retirement after a great retirement dinner in Falmouth with his three good buddies, Brian, Connor, and Charlie.

All of this was followed by a much deserved nap in the late afternoon to prepare us for a New Brunswick ALS Society reception at our hotel.

Just after we arrived at the reception I was met by Angela Worsley and her son Dale who are second cousins to the Oakley’s. We had not seen each other for close to 30 years but it didn’t take long to bring back a lot of great memories from our childhood years. Also, at the reception I met an inspirational client who the society has been working with for the past 12 years. Gilles is a Montreal Canadians fan which is a little tough for a Bruins fan to overcome but he is truly inspirational in his ability to not just live with ALS but to be full of life in living with this damned disease. We were hoping he could make it back to the Toys for Big Boys BBQ later in the evening so I gave Gilles one of my Harley-Davidson T-shirts to wear.

From the reception we went straight to the BBQ at the dealership. This is a weekly event sponsored by Toys for Big Boys and Molson beer. There were various charities there raising money and awareness for their causes. Larry was sure to have the MC mention the NB ALS Society and Compassionate Care ALS. We wrapped the night up with dinner in town followed by a good night’s sleep back at the Best Western Moncton.

Tomorrow we are off to New River Beach, NB to visit with my great Aunt Clara, but I will be in my cousin Maxine’s car as the motorcycle portion of this trip is over for me.

Miles – 126

We stopped for lunch in my grandfather’s hometown and were making great time while checking the skyline for those pesky showers that were forecast. By 5:30 we were in Hartland, NB home of the longest covered bridge in the world and also where our grandparents are buried. We stopped by the gravesite and paid our respects then on to the bridge for a photo and we were back in the saddle. We decided that we would stop in Fredericton, NB for the night about 100 miles short of Moncton. We have an action packed day tomorrow so we will be up and on the road early.

And yes we did get rained on enough to put our rain gear on about 25-30 miles outside of Fredericton, but, we are not complaining it was a good day’s ride.

Miles – 399

After the dealer stop and then some breakfast we hit the road for the ride to Quebec City via Montreal. At the edge of town we made one last stop for Jim and Pal to pick up rain gear and as you might guess we rode out of town in a steady rain, again!

By our second fuel stop we were in France, I mean Quebec; all the signs are in French and it also the predominant language you hear. Interestingly the rest stop sells cold beer, and naturally I had to buy a six pack so we could all have a beer. Next we hit Montreal and the rain was really coming down hard at one point the water on the road could be measured in inches. That combined with the city traffic made for some slow going.

On the other side of Montreal we stopped under a bridge as the rain made it nearly impossible to see. While waiting there for the rain to stop Pal spotted our first moose of the trip and Jim’s first ever sighting. The moose was about 500 yards away and crossing the highway where he was nearly struck by a semi and then a by a car.

Once we got back on the road we were into Quebec in no time arriving at our hotel around 8:00 PM. After a quick change into dry clothes we rendezvoused in the lounge for a quick beer and to find the best place to eat.

I know I usually describe the scenery and topography and/or city-scapes but on a day like this all I would be able to describe is rain, gray skies and dreary looking city buildings.

Miles –  298

So off we went with you guessed it rain starting to come down. We managed to stay ahead of it until we stopped to eat when the rain caught up to us and came down hard. Once we got back on the road we were able to stay just ahead of it for the remainder of the day arriving at the Best Western in Ottawa at 8:00 PM.

A few minutes after we arrived Jim and Pal two of my friends from Weymouth rolled in and we all went out for dinner and some drinks. It was nice to see some familiar faces and it also provides some much needed energy.

All the personnel at Davies Harley-Davidson tried their best to come up with a solution and I would like to say ‘thank you’ to them.

I will tell you that this is about the last way I would have imagined this trip working out but I will give it my best effort and try to complete the trip. When I spend some time thinking about what people dealing with this terrible disease are going through on a daily basis it makes it a little easier to keep moving forward.

Miles 340

We checked out of The Royal York in the morning, Trent went to do some laundry and head to the Richmond Hill area of Toronto where my bike is and where we will hopefully find a hotel for tonight. My brother Terry is on his way up on a rental bike that he picked up in Massachusetts.

At 11:30 a.m. I was picked up by Peter and Donalyn (Donnie) friends of my Aunt and Uncle Terry and Icille. I had lunch with Peter and Donnie at a ski area in British Columbia this past January while heading to Banff and Lake Louise. Today we went for Dim Sum in one of the many Chinatowns in Toronto. I have never experienced Chinese food like this before. Once you are seated the wait staff comes around continuously with over 40 different dishes in small portions, you select the dishes that look appealing they take the dish off the cart and place it on your table and just mark it off your on your check. We had squid, sticky rice in lotus leaf, pork, seaweed, chicken, duck, more sticky rice, shrimp dumplings and so many more dishes I cannot recall them all.

After we ate Peter and Donnie took me on a walking tour of the neighborhood which was a vibrant community of various ethnicities. You could purchase just about anything from Caribbean produce to cheeses from around the world to an electric guitar shaped like a maple leaf. The neighborhood was buzzing with anticipation for the World Cup final. Once we were back in the car they took me on a driving tour of their part of Toronto. It is a beautiful mix of neighborhoods and wooded areas with hospitals and schools mixed in. It was interesting to be in the city but have it feel more like a town. Our tour ended with a stop at Peter and Donnie’s beautiful home to watch the world cup final and enjoy some stories about our collective travels over a few beers. Peter is an engineer who worked for the Canadian government for years and Donnie is an oncology nurse. Peter’s work took them to many, many locations around the world making for some interesting stories. We were able to put Donnie’s nursing skills to work on Wally who is now back and feeling better than ever.

During the game Tammy called to let me know Alison had secured us a room at the Delta Markham Hotel, right next to Richmond Hill. After the game Peter and Donnie drove me over to the hotel where, after introducing them to Trent and Terry, we went inside had a beer and then a fantastic dinner. The people at the Delta Markham are fantastic they pitched in at the last minute to help us out in a time of need and their hospitality and facility are first class.

It was an unbelievable day after all that went wrong on Saturday. I feel blessed that I had local friends that were there to show me a great time and the people at the hotel that I had never met were all doing their part to help us out.

Tomorrow morning Terry, Trent and I will be heading to Davies Harley-Davidson to see what options Bob Davies and his team have come up with to get me back on the road. The fate of my trip hangs in the balance…

Miles 0

Not long after I passed the bus I looked in my mirror and Trent was no where to be seen. I slowed down to allow him to catch up but he still did not appear so I pulled over and waited for him to catch up. When he finally rolled up he pointed to his breast pocket where Wally was peering out looking very beat up.

Apparently one of the crosswind gusts plucked him from his perch in the pocket of my saddle bag. Trent saw this and stropped to retrieve Wally from the middle of the road. As he was walking back the Greyhound bus was barreling down on Wally. Trent looked at the driver but before he could warn him boom, boom bang Wally was run over by the bus and then by the trailer.

Trent picked him up and other than a broken nose and some cosmetic damage to his eyes he seemed ok. We have been slowly nursing him back to health and after last night’s game he seems back on track.

Early Saturday morning Trent and I headed to Davies Harley-Davidson so I could have the oil changed and have a technician listen to a new noise that had recently developed in my motor.

We arrived at the dealership around 11:00 where I received an enthusiastic hello from Bob Davies the owner and his staff. Bob immediately took me to the service department and had me set up in no time for the oil change. Meanwhile Trent set up the banner and got us set up for our event at noon.

Around 11:30 Bob brought me back into the shop where the technician had some sobering news about my bike. The engine is not sounding right was his quote as he was listening to various parts of the motor with a device that looks like a stethoscope. He was deliberate in explaining that there was something seriously wrong and he was determined to find out what it was.

At 12:00 Andrew Romano and Enzo Raponi from the ALS Society of Canada and Kathryn Dunmore of the ALS Society of Ontario arrived along with the folks from Boston and we enjoyed a BBQ and took some photos in front of the dealership.

Around 5:00 I received a call from Bob Davies who informed me that the motor needs to be re-built. My options are many but not really that good , Bob is working with his team over the weekend and we all will meet on Monday to discuss our options. The good news is we are in one of Canada’s major cities and not stuck on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.

Miles 21

At the dealer we were met by Alison’s Dad Geoff who introduced us around to the dealership personnel and some of his fellow H.O.G. members. The Operations manager, Dino, was very gracious and he had a BBQ all set up for us. We had some pictures, told a few stories and were escorted out to highway 403 by some fellow riders.

In Toronto we met my wife Patty and one of her friends Pam along with Patty’s brother Larry and his son Jimmy.

We had a great night at the Red Sox-Blue Jays game. The Red Sox gave the Jay’s such a shellacking that I think Wally truly enjoyed his night. We finished up the evening at Jack Astor’s with a couple of beers and some appetizers. Things are looking good in the weather department for the next couple of days.

Miles today 278

It was another wet one for us today. We were out of Sault St. Marie in our rain gear early and never took it off all day.

We rolled into Sudbury Harley-Davidson around 12:20 to a great response from the local ALS chapter, led by Sandra Willock the Regional Manager. The media present was the largest of any of our stops to date. It was an impressive turnout on such a bad weather day. We also received the most on site donations here.

Leaving Sudbury with light rain and fog we headed south on route 69 to Barrie. We stopped for a couple of hot dogs and fuel in the middle of nowhere and I think the mosquitoes had more of us for lunch than we did hot dogs. Back on the bikes and into Parry Sound and one of the highlights of the trip for me, a stop at the Bobby Orr Hall of Fame for a round of pictures.

All we had left after this was about a 90 minute ride into Barrie and with the sky brightening we thought about shedding some rain gear. Good thing we did not remove the rain gear as one exit south of Parry Sound the skies got dark and we were in the middle of one heck of a thunder storm with lightening and thunder cracking all around us and the rain coming down in sheets. We made it under an overpass for about 15-20 minutes and waited for the storm to pass.

Lo and behold the sun came out about 10 minutes outside Barrie which at 70 miles an hour is long enough to dry the gear. The hotel was nice and we took Wally out to Players Bar and Grill for dinner. I will say that the two stops today were well worth all the riding in the rain.

Miles today 370

PS Please look for us on the NESN telecast of the Red Sox Blue Jays game on Friday night. Wally’s big chance for fame and fortune.