Sunday, July 4, 2010

Th Go-Pher Run - A southern Alberta treat!

Submitted by Cindy Nobiss
WITW Southern Breeze Chapter Pres.

On a very cool and drab looking Saturday morning I was debating whether I should take my car or take my bike up to Brooks for the 1st Go-Pher run in support of the Jumpstart Program in Brooks.  I looked to the North and it looked like it may rain...so as a friend once said “I put on my big girl panties and bikered up”. I put on the rain gear just in case and headed up to Brooks to the Go-Pher Run.
Lined up and raring to go towards Bassano
All Lined up and raring to go...

I made it to Brooks and found the Wal-Mart where registration and kick off point was.  There were 110 bikes registered and 140 people.  This Go-PHER run was not a poker run.  This run was to raise funds & awareness to the Jump Start Program which raises funds to help kids get into sports & activities in their community.  The riders headed out at 10:30 our first stop was Bassano.


There was no poker involved in this run how it worked was you registered and they gave you a number on a key chain then every stop you were given a different colored ticket and you would put your number on that ticket and at the last stop in Tilley the tickets are handed in for draws for prizes.

No rooms at pumps in Bassano
No room at the pumps in Bassano
 No room at the pumps in Bassano

We landed in Bassano and everyone had a stretch got their tickets some gassed up and then we were off to Duchess.  Now I had not ridden up in that part of the country so I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
Road side at Rosemary
On the road side at Rosemary getting some shots of the riders going by...
 From Bassano we headed east to Duchess.  I headed out first as I wanted to get ahead of the group so I could take some pictures and video of the bikes going by me.  I pulled over in Rosemary it was amazing to watch all these bikes of all makes & models go by.  From Duchess we headed to Jenner and then onto the final stop in Tilley.  Tilley is a small town and they closed off Main Street for this fundraiser.  Live music and a BBQ put on by the Tilley minor hockey association.  This run was so well planned and organized I actually thought this was an annual event. 

In Tilley I finally had a chance to talk to the organizers how this event came to be.  It turns out that this is the first year for this event.  They started planning this event in January.  And what a great job they did.  My first question was why they put this on.  The answer was that there were no events in the area anymore so the seed was planted now to pick a charity to support.
Randy Patton in white head of the local Jump Start Program
 The organizers - Randy in the white shirt in the middle

So they contacted Randy Patton head of the local Jump Start Program as they knew that all the money raised for Jump Start in Brooks stays in the area.  Randy Patton is also the owner of the Canadian Tire Store in Brooks.  Randy told me that he was more than happy to jump on board with this run.  It is a great way to raise money and raise awareness about the Canadian Tire Jump Start Program.  Randy explained to me that the Jump Start Program helps kids in their community to join in sports and different activities.  To date they have helped 92 kids join different sports and activities.  Randy said that he was stocking shelves one day and a little girl tapped him on the shoulder and said “I’m in gymnastics” he said that is great.  At first he didn’t make the connection but then he said he saw the look in the mom’s eyes and realized that this was one of the kids that the Jump Start Program helped out.  That is the reason he does this and was so glad that Steve and the rest of the organizers picked Jump Start Program as their charity to raise money for with this Go-Pher Run.
Tim Horton
Main Street in Tilley


It is simply amazing what can and did happen over a cup of coffee at Tim Horton’s! 
So folks remember…NEVER RIDE FASTER THAN YOUR GUARDIAN ANGEL CAN FLY!