Bikers for a Cause… Ride for a Dream
They stopped in for lunch at the 878 Bistro in Perth-Andover on a rain soaked this past week.
I met up with them to find out more about their story.
The guys had just finished lunch when I met up with them. They were delighted to have found the 878 Bistro out here in the hinterlands, they’d been eating as well as biking their way across the country!
Team leader and spokesman Alex Waddling told me they considered their lunch at the Bistro the height of their culinary journey.
They need good fuel for the trip and they’d eaten a lot of poutine as they traveled through Quebec!
Ride for a Dream was created by Alex Waddling. Currently in his third year studying psychology and philosophy at Ryerson University. He first got involved with the White Ribbon Campaign at the first What Makes A Man Conference. Moved by the speakers, he felt compelled to continue this work with the inspiring Jeff Perera, both to increase the presence within the community and for his own self-improvement. Understanding there is need for awareness, he came up with a way to build a national community to raise that awareness, and began work developing Ride For A Dream!
Danny Surjanec and Alex met while working as stunt men and sword fighters for the Toronto Medieval Times Dinner Theatre.
This is one of 9 such theatres in North America wherein guests are treated to the full blown pageantry of a medieval court, with jousting, swordplay and intrigue. The Toronto Theatre show uses 75 actors and 20 horses to stage the show, which is in a huge arena surrounded by the guests as they enjoy their meals.
The team is making a documentary of this journey as they travel with a following vehicle. When I met them, however, their car and driver was stranded in Grand Falls with a broken axle.
The team has been averaging 125 km per day as they travel but were happy to take a break and spend the night in Perth!
Their mission and goal is to begin a community dialog about violence against women. Not just domestic violence, but to help end misogyny in our world…to make it a safe place for women everywhere.
They say men need to call their fellows out on this issue, and to say violence is not OK!
Stephanie Kelley
