Local resident Al Muma has set a goal to raise $2,500 while bike riding 1,000 kilometres in support of Sick Kids Hospital's fight against kids’ cancer.
Muma is raising the funds through a Canada-wide fundraiser called ‘The Great Cycle Challenge’, organized through the Sick Kids Foundation. Cyclists must register to participate and set a target goal to ride a certain number of kilomertes while collecting donations from sponsors.
The fundraiser started in 2016 and has raised over $21 million dollars over the last five years.
Due to Covid, this will be the second-year cyclists have had to set their own personal riding goals while collecting donations. Over 10,000 cyclists across Canada participate in the ride every year.
This will be Muma’s second year participating in the cycling challenge, and despite enduring a very serious bike injury last year, he is eager to get back on his bike and raise money for a good cause again this year.
“This year, I’m in good shape – not hurting,” shares Muma.
The 67-year-old got into biking in 2019 after watching his son-in-law and grandkids bike on trails weekly at Coulson’s Hill by Scanlon Creek.
After purchasing his own bike, Muma began riding trails throughout Bradford and tracked his distance using an app called Strava.
In May of 2020 (a month after he had just signed up to participate in The Great Cycle Challenge), Muma suffered a serious bike crash that had paramedics lifting him off a local trail out of a forest.
“I was in pretty rough shape,” recalls Muma. “I was confined to a bed [and] chair for several weeks. Then a walker then progressed to crutches. Slowly, I got to the point I could walk again.”
Muma suffered a broken hip, pelvis, ribs, and a collapsed lung. It took him approximately six months to recover from the accident, and it was not until after November of last year when he finally got the approval from doctors to continue riding again.
“I was out of commission for the whole summer,” he shares. “By the end of July-August, I was walking but still pretty stiff, lifting my leg to get it over the bike, it was a struggle to get it over the seat alone.”
Eager to get his muscles moving again, Muma purchased a stationary ‘trainer’ bike and began riding slowly in his basement over the winter months.
“Because of the broken ribs and collapsed lung, it doesn’t take much to get winded,” he says. “So, breathing was a challenge especially on long rides.”
Muma adds he can ride up to 50 kilometres per day so far, but usually averages 30 kilometres a day while still healing.
Not wanting to disappoint those who sponsored his ride for The Great Cycle Challenge last year, Muma persevered and completed over 200KM on his training bike in the basement, taking him a full month to complete the challenge and raising $1,000 for kids with cancer.
This year, Muma has been outdoors doing ‘training rides’ throughout Bradford and the surrounding area before his big ride this August commences. He has already started collecting donations and so far, he has raised $910.
“I try to do as many routes as possible,” notes Muma, adding he has cycled from Bond Head to Bradford, as far north as the 13th Line, through Beeton, and along Canal Road through the Marsh. “I wear my Great Cycle Challenge jersey when I ride to help promote!”
His route in August will be through Bradford. He recently had posters created by The Bradford Print Shoppe to help advertise his biking-fundrasier with a QR code to scan and donate.
“These children, some of them are three, four years old stricken with cancer,” says Muma. “Some may recover, but a lot won’t. I felt I needed to recover to help these little ones.”
Despite his biking accident, Muma says his wife Sandie is still ‘very supportive of [his] efforts for this cause and cycling’.
Cyclists participating in The Great Cycle Challenge will receive a free 2021 Great Cycle Challenge jersey if they raise at least $500, and those who exceed $2,500 in donations will receive a super-hero-themed jersey called ‘Hero Jersey’.
To donate towards Muma’s bike ride challenge, visit his webpage here.
