Get ready to suffer for a great cause!

The Recycle Ride, also known affectionately as the Golden Sombrero, is full on suffering…but in a good way.  It will test your strength on the bike and give you a chance to have a great time on a memorable group ride of the North Shore. This is the third edition of the Sombrero – four climbs spanning 120 kilometres through North and West Vancouver. We tackle the traditional Triple Crown -Seymour, Grouse, and Cypress – but we throw in another climb in the Seymour/Lynn Valley Headwaters…just for fun.

Here it is! 120 km with 3200 meters of climbing

Since the first ride, the Sombrero has grown to become the main fundraising event for the Addison Fund at the Transplant Research Foundation of BC. My daughter Addison became desperately sick when she was just three weeks old. Her heart was failing, and according to doctors the only option was a heart transplant. In May of 2011 she became the youngest person to ever receive a heart transplant in BC. The surgery was just the beginning of what has become a lifelong journey for our whole family. Addison is now five and thriving, living a full life after transplant. But transplant isn’t a cure. It is a treatment. We want to change that. By dedicating our efforts to raising money specifically for pediatric transplant research, we are confident we can change patient outcomes and help these kids grow into adults with long, healthy lives.

In our first year on a hot day in August, six riders tackled the route and raised just over $2500 for pediatric transplant research.

By the time our second year rolled around, our fundraising efforts continued to grow. The Addison Fund had become the kickstarter for a national pediatric transplant research project. Partners from across the country have come on board to help fund a national team grant. However, things did not go quite as well from a riding standpoint. Pouring rain (the first in a long, hot, dry summer) washed out the ride.

We still managed 80 km and two of the four climbs. It was a strong effort by a dozen riders who started in East Vancouver. We doubled our ridership, and more than doubled our fund raising targets.

This year by pushing the date back to the end of the August we hope to catch some great weather. There is no entry fee for the event – we need as many people on bikes as we can get. We do please ask that if you are clipping in, you make a donation to the Addison Fund at Transplant Research Foundation of BC.  Remember, we are not a Fondo. We are not a race.  We are a social ride made up of people who want to test their limits on a bicycle – and have a beer or two afterwards to brag about the accomplishment.  If this sounds like fun, email us: therecycleride@gmail.com