A Cobourg man completed his goal of riding his bicycle from Cobourg to Toronto as part of the Great Cycle Challenge in support of the Sick Kids Foundation.
The Great Cycle Challenge started in 2016, and after just four years, the event has grown to become one of the biggest cycling events across Canada.
People of all ages, abilities and from every province across the country set themselves a personal riding goal and challenge themselves to pedal throughout August to fight kids’ cancer.
Panos Kortesi just took up cycling just over a month ago, but when he takes up a challenge Kortesi puts his heart and mind into it.
Cancer is the largest killer of children from disease in Canada. Over 1,400 Canadian children are diagnosed with cancer every year.
The Challenge is about setting a goal for the rider for the month of August.
Kortesi had a goal of 500 km, but after his ride on the last day of the Great Cycle Challenge on Monday, August 31, 2020, he completed a whopping 744 kilometres for the month.
A remarkable feat for someone who just recently took up the sport.
Each of the riders was sent a package including a photo of the child they are sponsoring.
For Kortesi he was sent a photo of a three-year-old child named Roux who was diagnosed with stage 4 hepatoblastoma.
For the final day, the goal Kortesi wanted to push himself and set out to ride to Sick Kids Hospital in downtown Toronto.
Though he has a healthy four-year-old daughter Penelope who is healthy, “I couldn’t imagine her going through something (like cancer).”
“I’ve heard phenomenal things about Sick Kids and the magic it produces.”
Setting out at 6:40 a.m. from his Cobourg home, he arrived at Sick Kids hospital at 8:20 p.m.
It was a 13.5 hour travel time, with 8.5 hours riding on his bicycle.
“It was supposed to be 140 km bike ride, but turned into a 212 km ride thanks to the GPS. For two hours it kept saying I was 20 kilometres away for two hours. But it was good,” he said with a smile.
In four years, riders from all 13 provinces and territories have ridden a total of 10,294,551 kilometres, and together we raised $12,412,026 in support of research to develop treatments and find a cure for childhood cancer.
The total amount Kortesi raised was $3,585 placing him in 242 place out of 52,168 riders.
Obviously the physical part of the ride was hard, but Kortesi said the hardest part he found was being mentally strong.
“I trained very well for it considering I just started biking, but for the ride it was about staying focused and keeping my eye on the prize.”
The night before was a restless sleep, but he knew he couldn’t fail for the children battling cancer.
“I just didn’t want to fail for what I was doing which was doing something out of the ordinary and for the kids.”
Arriving at Sick Kids, he had thought he would be screaming with joy, but he was just so exhausted, “I couldn’t scream.”
“My body was starting to shut down. I just stood there and took it in.”
Kortesi said it was very emotional and he shed a few tears knowing what it was all for and being in front of the hospital.
“Kids should be kids,” and Kortesi wanted to help in anyway possible to help make a difference.
A card with a photo of Roux and a picture of his daughter accompanied him for the ride.
“I wake up in the morning for Penelope, I did it for not just Roux but all the kids there. Roux was on my mind the whole time. That was my focus, and Penelope was giving me my strength.”
The vision of the Great Cycle Challenge is, “a world without cancer where all kids are living life, not fighting for it.”
This year’s ride raised $9,266,140 from the 52,168 rides who travelled a combined distance of 4,432,051 kilometres.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
