With 900 kilometres behind them, about four dozen cyclists rolled into Jasper House Bungalows for the final leg of the Minds over Mountains fundraising ride for CASA and the J9 Sparkle Foundation, June 24.
Six locals were among the riders who took part in the final leg from Tete Jaune to the resort south of town on Saturday, including Mayor Richard Ireland and retired journalist Allan Mayer, who plotted the route for the ride.
The course started in Vancouver鈥檚 Stanley Park, went through Whistler and Lillooet before terminating in the Rockies.
鈥淭here were seven stages in all, the longest maybe 160 km, the shortest about 90 km,鈥� Mayer explained. 鈥淢ost legs, like today, were about 120 km.鈥�
Mayer has been on nine such bicycle tours, two for CASA, and has been the designated course designer for about six years.
CASA is a non-profit organization that provides mental health services for infants, children, adolescents and their families within greater Edmonton and central and northern Alberta.
As of press time it had raised more than $204,000, surpassing its fundraising goal by $4,000.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great charity,鈥� said Mayer. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so important to shine some light on mental health for children. It seems difficult enough to do that for adults. There seems to still be a reluctance to treat it as a disease or an illness, or an ailment, and the consequences of not doing it are so substantial and heartbreaking for everybody involved. If you can address a lot of these issues early, hopefully you can make some progress and kids turn into adults and have productive lives, and happy lives.鈥�
Craig Gilbert
[email protected]
