Follow Ramesh's Journey

Members of the Rotary Club of Sudbury Sunrisers provided the team with breakfast this morning, which was a great send-off from the community. After the meal, our wonderful friend and tour guide David White took us to view Sudbury’s famous Big Nickel before pointing us west out of Sudbury on Highway 17.

The cycling day picked up where we left off on Wednesday just outside of Espanola. Today came with some challenges as there were plenty of hills, headwinds, and fumes and exhaust from road construction. I thought my tires were going to melt at one point, as workers were laying down fresh asphalt on the highway. Everything turned out just fine, though.

I have not heard so many people honk, wave, cheer and donate as today while we progressed along our route. It means so much that the people of Ontario hear our message and respond in such a positive way!

Cycle to Walk needs you to help us bring polio back to the forefront of people’s minds. Polio is in line to become only be the second disease in human history to be eradicated successfully. If we work together, we can make polio history and make this a polio-free world. All the solutions are in our hands. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative just needs help closing their annual funding gap – they already have most of the money in place.

It’s interesting to notice some of the different items people haul in and on their vehicles when traveling Canada’s highways. There were lots of small vehicles back in April which were just crammed full of luggage and effects. In some cases, it appeared as though there was only enough room for a driver. After a while, it became apparent that these were post-secondary students traveling back home. In the prairies there were pick-up trucks full of hay, and large trucks packed with livestock – which created quite the interesting aroma, by the way. Now, in Ontario, we’re in cottage country. There are vehicles carrying canoes, kayaks, BBQs, and muskoka chairs.

A lovely couple, Jack and Joyce Varieur, stopped to provide the campaign with a donation and then offered the team a cottage at their resort on Manitoulin Island. When we arrived in the evening, we were greeted and supported by many of the resort guests, which was a great way to cap off the day. Thanks so much to everyone for the support and the continued donations! Just remember – we have all the answers to polio. With enough funding, we can beat it.