As we were coming down from the big Tour weekend, Lenore reminded me of something I hadn’t really thought about: this was my fifth year participating in the Tour Alberta for Cancer.

It’s odd because, on the one hand, the Tour has become a yearly ritual for me, something that in so many ways sets the tone and structure for the first half of any year as I (and now we) focus on training and fundraising efforts. July and August then become this rush as the year pivots on the axis of the Tour, the August long weekend, and the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, after which we begin the slow but inexorable march toward fall, with it’s many chilly nights and mornings, gorgeous days, and final gasps of summer activities before the wind up to ski season and the depths of winter.

And yet, on the other hand, as much as the Tour has shaped my life for the last five years, it also feels new and novel, every year bringing its own joys and challenges.

In part it’s probably because each year the Tour has often been marked by something unique: 2023 as my first ride of my career break; 2024 as my first ride without any corporate support, forcing my to work even harder with my supporters to hit the fundraising goal.

And now, in 2025, riding with my wonderful wife Lenore for the very first time!

As a result, every Tour has felt special in its own way, and this year is no exception.

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