Elk sparring at Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hello and welcome to the EndMS93 BLOG SITE!!

I notice that I am now getting hits from all over, I’m guessing most folks have had a chance to read what this crazy journey is all about so it’s time that I introduce myself and give you a bit of a backgrounder on me!

I was born and raised in Calgary Alberta, grew up in a family of ten, 6 boys 4 girls; which is now down to 8 as I have had two sisters pass on. I was fortunate to have been raised in an amazingly talented family, my mother and father instilled in each one of us the importance of family and community and with that the value of giving back and of helping those in need. I grew up hunting, fishing, camping, skiing, hiking and biking and generaly enjoying the out doors.

In 1980 I traveled to Jasper to ski for the winter before going to college, I ended up never leaving Jasper and the college thing didn’t happen for over 25 years,(in 2009 I received a degree in Emergency Services Management). I got married raised two awesome children; the marriage thing didn’t work out but the children thing did, my son Taylor has a degree in Commerce and is now the local Golf Pro and daughter Emily  is in first year University studying to be a Speech Pathologist. I started out in Jasper as an Auto mechanic but in 1999 after being a volunteer fire fighter for a while I became the Fire Chief of Jasper National Park and in 2002 the Director of Emergency and Protective Services. I like to keep busy so I volunteer on a number of community, regional and provincial boards and committee’s including the West Yellowhead Regional MS Advisory Council and the Hinton MS Bike Tour committee.

I started fundraising for the MS Society 7 years ago when I entered my first MS Bike Tour, since then I have competed in numerous competitive Bike races including the World Police Fire Games, 24 Hours of Adrenaline and a few BP 150’s in the USA etc. Biking for me is a healthy form of escape from the stress and pressures of my day job and as you can guess a great way to raise funds for the MS Society. I have never undertaken an extended bike tour so this recent adventure will be just that ‘an adventure’ to say the least. There are a lot of unknowns with my Route 93 adventure but my plan is to take it day by day and go with the flow, what happens ‘happens’ and I plan to keep focused on the end goal and hopefully to get home in one piece. 3 weeks on a busy highway meeting new people, visiting new towns and cities and pedaling my ass off should be great fun, so stay tuned as I share with you my daily adventures and miss-adventures.

Cheers

/gvt