Steve Overland, PacBlue's IT Manager volunteering for Ride to Conquer Cancer

We are happy to have a guest blogger, Steve Overland, PacBlue’s IT Manager who volunteered his time with Obsession: Bikes to set up a mobile bicycle repair shop to assist the thousands of riders who rode in the Vancouver 2010 Ride to Conquer Cancer this weekend. PacBlue was proud to help out by tricking out Steve’s truck with cool graphics and was also involved with printing graphics and promotional material for Team Finn, the largest participating team in the ride.  Team Finn, Ron Sombilon and PacBlue Printing collaborated on a the website for a project called ‘Put Yourself in the Picture’ where you can donate to fight cancer and have your picture in the 2010 Team Finn Ride to Conquer Cancer Art Piece which will be created by Ron Sombilon and produced by PacBlue Printing. We’re proud to have dedicated employees like Steve and to play a role in supporting this fabulous event.

Now on to Steve’s blog:

A Weekend to Remember:

A few months ago my friend asked if I would help him support the Ride to Conquer Cancer as a mobile bike mechanic. The plan was to bring our two trucks loaded with all the tools and parts we would possibly need to get 2000+ bicycles from Surrey to Seattle over two days.

I knew he would have two goals:

1. Help as many participants as possible.
2. Look good doing it.

I received his company logos via email on Wednesday afternoon.  By Thursday afternoon our vinyl team had printed, cut, trimmed, weeded (a new word for me – it means removing the unwanted parts from a cut vinyl decal), and masked.  By Friday morning our installers transformed my pickup truck from a plain black pickup to a sharp looking mobile bike shop.

At 5:30 AM Saturday we marshalled at Guilford mall to await the start of the event.  Soon after, swarms of cyclists descended on the mall parking lot.  We were instantly swamped with requests for air, oil, tires, tubes, adviceand assurances.  It was very much the typical whirlwind of activity that preceeds the start of any major event I’ve helped at.  Murphy’s Law is an early riser, and in typical fashion the generator we had thoroughly tested the previous evening would not start.  Consequently, we all got good back and arm workouts using the hand pumps!

Steve assists a Team Finn rider who needs a hand

Our vehicle left quickly, ahead of the ride, to setup at the first rest stop just across the border.  As we checked out the route we saw the helicopter hovering over all the riders waiting at the border.  Soon we were passed by several “pelotons” of “those fast guys” who had sailed through the first rest stop on their fancy bikes without even stopping.  And that was the last I ever saw of those guys…

But we were not there for them.  And soon “our people” began arriving at the rest stop, our people being all the middle-of-the-pack riders.  The riders came in all different sizes and shapes of bikes and people.  All of them had a similar mission – to push themselves to raise money and push their bikes because someone they know has been affected by cancer.  Thankfully most were in good shape – both physically and mechanically – and it was a beautiful day to be out riding a bike.  We did a few repairs and innertube changes, chatted with some friends (old and new) and then packed up.  Our second truck was radioed back to the border to help with some flat tires and we continued south.

The rest of the afternoon was spent patrolling the course looking for bike casualties.  Our truck was setup as a workshop-on-wheels.  We wanted to be manoueverable and efficient so we could assist the maximum number of riders.  We had a bike rack, toolbox, spare parts, etcetera on hand to get everyone back on the road ASAP.  It was great to see stranded riders faces light up as we pulled up honking the horn and grabbed their bikes for “triage”.

The camp that evening was beautiful; the other volunteers took great care of us – hot showers, tents, dinner and well deserved cocktails. That evening was very pleasant, we did a few freeby repairs, helped some people with bike fit, and chatted with some great personalities.  I have worked several competitive bike races, and while the logistics are very similar, the atmospheres are very different.  Gone was the animosity and intensity of competition.  It was replaced by joy exuded by thousands of positive people suffering on their bikes for 250 kilometers.  I’m sure everyone there had a personal reason to suffer through this challenging ride and many people looked a little out of their element.  It was literally heart warming to see everyone’s determination.

The heart warming aspect was appreciated, as Day Two brought a classic Northwest cool drizzle.  But despite this, I don’t think I heard a single complaint or saw one frowning face among the riders.  As I enjoyed my hot coffee and heated seats, we passed hundreds of bikers through the backroads of Washington.  There were some cold hands and damp bums,  but spirits remained high.  Many hours and many flat tires later we arrived at the final rest stop in Seattle.  Watching the final few riders “gut it out” over some pretty tough rolling hills was inspiring.  Soon everyone was cruising a bike route between the final rest and the grand finish.  Our weekend of work was done.

As it was also Fathers Day, we skipped the finish ceremonies and headed back up to the border.  This was the best part of the weekend, about a dozen cars full of participants passed us smiling, waving, and flashing the same unidigital hand gesture we had been flashing them all weekend.  A big thumbs up!  I have never felt so appreciated (I AM the IT guy after all!).

The event was very well organized and the atmosphere was great.  It was like 2200 friends going for a bike ride together, and $9.2 million dollars were raised for Cancer research.  I would encourage anyone with or without a bike to consider this event.  I’m sure many of the riders found it to be “positively” life-changing!  I am proud to have been just a small part of this event.

Thanks to PacBlue for their generosity with my time and for making us look like a real professional operation with the vehicle decals.  Without the assistance of several PacBlue staff we could never have achieved our 2nd goal!  Thanks to Obsession:Bikes for inviting me to help out.  Thanks to the event volunteers for making my job easy.  And thanks to all the participants for making last weekend one of the most positive, fun, and touching weekends of my life.

Steve Overland