Two Men, Two Bikes, 335km and over $13,000 Raised!
Pat Murphy (on the left) and Dave Richardson are a somewhat common breed out on the West Coast. Baby boomers that still like to play as hard as they work. For them, hitting the mountain bike trails whenever they can is their passion – even when the cold, rainy days of winter hit Vancouver. What’s not so common about them, however, is that they recently completed the BC Bike Race, one of the hardest and most popular, multi-day mountain bike stage races in the world in support of the Canadian Diabetes Association.
What motivated them to commit themselves to riding on fun, but often unforgiving, West Coast singletrack for a whole week as members of Team Diabetes?
They both love to support a good cause so when they heard they could ride in this epic race while raising money for diabetes, they knew it was a perfect match. Pat knows three young men with diabetes including his nephew who was diagnosed just a few years ago. He has known a lot of people with diabetes over the years but until recently, never thought of it as a child’s disease. For Dave, he sees it first hand and far too often through his medical practice. Treating those with diabetes means he has seen both the diabetes management success stories and the devastating complications, so raising funds for diabetes just made sense.
This was Dave’s first race with Team Diabetes while Pat, an alumnus of the Test of Metal, was hitting the trails for the second time for the Association. When they shared with friends, family and colleagues that they were doing the BC Bike Race in support of diabetes they got a positive reaction but, as Pat put it, “To be honest, most people did not understand what the BC Bike Race was so they were not that impressed with the mention of it. People who did know about it were more often than not involved in their own crazy endeavours so they thought it sounded like a nice way to spend a week.” And for Pat and Dave, riding 335 km of scenic BC trails that included over 9,325 metres in elevation gain was a great way to spend a week indeed.
On top of training for such a demanding event, each had to raise thousands of dollars. This was no issue for the pair however, who cite generous friends (even if they didn’t understand the magnitude of their commitment), personal motivation and belief in the cause as the reason why they seemed to raise over $13,000 between them so effortlessly!
The rewarding aspects of their participation ring true for so many Team Diabetes alumni; the camaraderie on event day, seeing the “infamous” team jersey just ahead to help stay focused on the miles still to be covered, accomplishing something that has both personal meaning as well as a wider community impact and, of course, meeting great people who are just as passionate about the cause.
When you spend seven days with five hundred other endurance junkies as they did though, you meet more of your fellow competitors than what is typical. Pat and Dave probably even more so as it wasn’t long before people noticed the colourful jerseys and support motorhome that was draped in Team Diabetes banners. The one that stands out the most for them was a fellow racer who has type 1 diabetes. She was appreciative that they were supporting the cause and thanked them profusely. Little did she know that for them, her being in the event made the ride that more poignant. Dave also noted that she left them in the dust, showing that diabetes definitely does not slow some people down!
When asked why others should follow their lead and join Team Diabetes, most of their reasons are pretty typical and heartfelt; it’s an excellent cause, we all know someone with diabetes and it just feels good. A not so typical reason Pat wanted to share is that it’s an opportunity for old guys to wear spandex in public. Always funny, quick witted and ready with a smile, the pair never seem to take themselves too seriously, except of course when it comes to making a difference.
Pat’s parting words for anyone thinking about signing up for a Team Diabetes event…”If you love doing selfish, endurance events that eat up half your free time with training, then do some good and do it for a cause. It’s my kind of multi-tasking.”
Dave Richardson, Ontario team member Jason Foy, and Pat Murphy