Gearing Up for Alzheimer's Disease is a special undertaking by Ryan Anderson and Kris Gendall, university students who are deeply committed to the fight against Alzheimer's disease. This summer they rode their bikes across Canada to raise awareness about Alzheimer's disease and the need for Alzheimer research.

On May 2nd, 2005 they left Victoria to begin their journey. As they traveled across our beautiful country they informed people about Alzheimer's disease and what we can all do to help. Before they began their journey they planned to raise $5,000.00 to fund a research scholarship at the University of Saskatchewan Neuropsychiatry Research Unit. To date, Kris and Ryan have raised almost $6,500.00.

To view pictures from Ryan and Kris's journey, click here

Quicklinks within this page:

• Map of the Journey
• TransCanada Journal
• The Cause - The Search for a Cure
• There is Still Time to Help!

Map of the Journey

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Part 1:

TransCanada Journal

July 27th - Final Entry - After Leaving Moncton we began riding with Rob Argalis who was riding across Canada on an ice cream truck. It looked like an old Dickie Dee bicycle. We started out late heading towards the Confederation Bridge. Our late start left us biking into the evening in an attempt to get across the bridge before the end of the day. As it happened an older fellow named Marshall saw us riding down the dark back road and offered us a place to stay at his cottage down the road. We could not refuse his generous offer. That night we had a great conversation over a few beers. I think everyone enjoyed talking about health care, politics, and culture. The night turned out to be a great time; learning from everyone and hearing different points of view.

The following day we made the trek over to Prince Edward Island. We biked into Charletown and camped in a RV lot near downtown. That night Rob and his friend Darren, Kris and I had lobster on the island. It was delicious.

The next day we separated from our friend Rob and headed to Antigonish, NS. Kris lived in Anitigonish while attending St. Francis Xavier University so it felt like home to him. We had a great time with a few old friends of Kris. The highlight was attending a traditional square dance in Cape Breton with Ashley MacIsaac performing. What a great entertainer!

We had been planning to end our journey in Newfoundland but we found out that the ferry ride across the ocean was extremely expensive and would involve another week's stay on the island. After much debate Kris and I decided to end our trip in Halifax. We made the two day trek into Halifax; enjoying our last taste of biking on the trip. We stopped by Rainbow Haven beach which offered a great view of the vast Atlantic Ocean. Holy cow it was ice cold! Kris and I did however make a sprint into the ocean and had to congratulate ourselves.

We had completed our journey. I recalled all the preparation that went into this trip; months and months of planning and organizing and now it was finally completed. The last year has been great promoting our cause and learning alot along the way. I wanted to start a small project to help raise money for a cause that stole two wise individuals from me. We did this trip our way, we tried to "live" every moment experiencing all that life can offer. This journey was life changing for the both of us. We learned alot about people and even more about ourselves. We learned patience, cooperation, and hard work. We met so many people that left lasting impressions on our lives.

"Life is what's happening at the present moment." The life we have lived for the last three months has been unlike any other time in my life. Everyday was filled with the unknown. We could never plan beyond the present day because our plans would change ten times throughout the day. Kris and I grew together as people, learning to be kind to others, share with others, experience life with others in order to survive. The time alone on the road was extremely spiritual; being alone on a back road surrounded by beautiful landscapes, mountains, prairies, forests, lakes, rivers, and even city skylines. Our surroundings gave us so much appreciation for mother nature. We saw nature's power through the wind and rain, the serenity of a beautiful sunset, the grand magnitude of a mountain pass, and the pristine outline of a lake engulfed by the forest. I try to recall the scenes now but it is never truly the same. Pictures and descriptive writing do little to explain the feelings we have for our adventure. The memories of this summer are etched in our minds forever.

July 19th - New Brunswick is awesome! It's been full of surprises and the people have been a lot of fun and exceptionally nice. We biked to Grand Falls the day after our great boat ride and stay in Lake Baker. We got a great spot and a good view when we asked Oliver if we could put up a tent on his lawn. He was really great to us and gave us a tour of the town, which was bigger than we thought.

The next morning Dan took a separate route and we met Rob, who is riding a trike for Arthritis (his website is www.spokingformore.com). Ryan and I spent the night at the Taylor's house near Beechwood, and they fed us a great supper, including Ashley's famous cookies. We were able to take a supply of cookies with us when we left the next day.

At Hartland we rode across the world's longest covered bridge. We also met up with Dan again. It had rained so much the day before that no one could really do any traveling. He biked with us to Nackawic, where we joined Rob again at the world's biggest axe.

Nackawic was a great place. The fire chief and the fire department were super! They let us camp down by the river and use the showers at the firehouse the next day. We decided to stay because we heard about the fireman's breakfast the next morning. It was a great breakfast. The town is rallying around Casey Leblanc, a Canadian Idol contestant. It's a very moving story, what with the mill closing and the town banding together to save the community.

The next night we were in Fredricton and the Alzheimer Society of New Brunswick put us up in a motel which was sweet! When we peddled in there were two gift baskets that Chandra from the Society had prepared for us with fresh fruit, pez dispensers and more. We were overwhelmed and very appreciative. Chandra also sent us to the right places for a good Saturday night in Fredricton.

It took us two days to travel to Moncton where we lost Dan, picked up Rob again and got to hang out with Cindy and Trent again. That is where we are now.

July 7th - After a stint in the big cities we're are back on a barren road with the St. Lawerence River beside us. Small towns in Quebec have proven to be a test of our French speaking ability - or lack of it. We have been slowly remembering the language and have really tried to speak the language whenever we can. We will be arriving in Trios Rivere today and then heading up to Quebec City tommorrow. There we will cross over into New Brunswick.

We have had so many adventures so far that this trip has been a grand journey for the both of us. Kris and I are appreciating all we have done as well as what is still ahead. We try to live every moment for all its worth as this exeprience is truly a memorable one.

July 2nd - After Canada Day we were back on the bikes heading to Montreal - another big city. Montreal has probably been our favorite place so far. The culture there was unreal. We arrived for the Jazz Festival which was great. There were so many free events on the street - we took in the city and loved every minute of it. Again thanks to Marnie Coch for putting us up and showing us a great time.

June 30th - From Toronto we got back onto the bikes and hit sweltering heat. The humidity is so great in southern Ontario, but we marched on through Peterborough, Belleville and Kingston on our way to Cornwall. We biked beside the St. Lawrence the whole way up. The history of that river always makes me appreciate the scenery. Kris knew a friend (Greg Light) from St. Francis Xavier who put us up in a beautiful place in Cornwall. After arriving drenched in sweat from the wall of heat, we relaxed for a few days there - golfing and canoeing around town. We also took a day trip up to Ottawa for Canada Day. Wow, what a celebration! Thousands in the street celebrating Canada on its birthday. It was great to be a part of it.

June 20th - We awoke in Thunder Bay wanting to take a boat across Lake Superior. As it happened there are no ferry boats or any means of transporting two cyclists across the Great Lake. After a dissapointing morning we went in search of an adventure. We received an email from a friend in Toronto who had heard what we were doing and offered us a place to stay with her in the big city. Kris and I immediatly concluded that we must go to Toronto. Hours later we arrived in Toronto via a Greyhound bus.

Toronto was a fantastic place. We stayed for three days experiencing all the city had to offer; Hockey Hall of Fame, Blue Jays game, CN tower and a mini-pub crawl around downtown. Thanks to Stephanie Towes and her family for showing us around and offering us great hospitality.

June 17th - Starting out from Kenora, we biked to Vermillion Bay, where we pitched our tent at the city docks. It was a good place with a nice view of the lake, a normality around Ontario.

It started to rain from the get-go we when were leaving Vermillion Bay and we had to pack up everything wet. We made a short 40km trek to Dryden where we decided to stop and hopefully wait out the looming storm clouds. There was a chiefs' conference in Dryden that week, so getting a hotel was pretty tough, but we still got to keep dry and rest our bones in the pool, despite the adventurous local children, who viewed us bearded gentlemen as a bit of entertainment.

The next day of biking from Dryden to Ignace was spent entirely in a torturous downpour. Everything we had was soaked, and there were no dry body parts on either of us.

Overnight, a miraculous weather event took place as the rain clouds were replaced by sunshine. We biked all day in the sun and loved every minute. We biked to Upsala easily where there was an excellent place to set up camp, right by a lake that doubled as a bathtub/washing machine.

The following morning, on our way to Kakabeka Falls, we ran into 6 other cyclists who were also working on a cross-Canada bike trip. They biked on ahead while we packed up camp, but we met them for lunch and rode with them for about 20km. One of them, Mike, had parents in Thunder Bay and he offered to put us up for the night. We didn't make it to Thunder Bay that night as Ryan and I decided to spend the night at Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park. It was a very picturesque night and a good stop along the way.

We are now in Thunder Bay, hanging out, checking out the harbour and trying to work on our boat trip across Lake Superior.

June 12th - We are currently in Kenora, Ontario. We will be passing through Thunder Bay within the next few days and plan to stay there for a couple of days. We had a few sunny days but the rain is still following us along. Don't worry, our spirits are still high.

June 9th - We are currently in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The weather has been terrible. We have hit rain and wind the last few days and are glad to be resting at John Makie's pad. I thought once we were past the mountains the worst would be over. The prairies, however, are arguably more difficult. The wind is so powerful and there is no escape on the bald prairie. I often heard rumors of the great western winds but that saying has proved to be misleading as we encounter winds from the east every day. It has been very frustrating.

Otherwise, things are going really well. Wherever we go, people go out of their way to help us. Everyday we meet new people and we see the positiveness and kindness in people. They always want to help us and they genuinely feel good helping us out. It's quite amazing what people will do to be hospitable. A few days after the great hospitality we got in Kendal we asked a young couple if we could pitch a tent in their yard and they graciously took us in, offering us showers and cinnamon buns. And finally, after biking through the pouring rain and 60km winds a woman offered to take us to Winnipeg. She heard what we were doing and insisted we take the ride as there were tornado warnings.

So that's about it, we are about to vennture into the Great Canadian Shield. We had a crazy idea to buy a boat and sail across Lake Superior. What an adventure that would be! We'll see what happens!

June 5th - We're here in Redvers, using the internet at the information booth. It was very hard to leave Regina. We're already missing everyone we visited with. We just came from a nice relaxing, albeit damp, weekend in Kenosee. We got to experience camping a little differently then from the camping where everything is on the bike. Laura brought lanterns and tarps and lawn chairs and pancakes on the griddle.

Dave biked down from Regina with us and we stopped in Kendal. We got great hospitality from the Drifters pub in Kendal. We asked the owner, Pat, if he knew of a place to camp and he said we could camp beside the pub. While we were eating, he set up a tarp for us, gave us a radio, fire wood and even a drive into Odessa for some supplies.

June 1st - Our stay in Regina was great! Both Ryan and I did laundry, upgraded our supplies (which sometimes means leaving some behind), and visited with our family and friends. Our bikes also got a tune-up and some special attention from Dutch Cycle for free!

In Chaplin, we met up with four cyclers from Toronto. They were very similar to us, in age and experience, and they were riding across for Breast Cancer. We exchanged some tips with them and when they stopped in Regina they stayed with us.

And lastly, but not "leastly"?, there was the Bar-B-Q. It was great of the Society to put that on and we especially appreciate M & M Meat Shop's donation of everything. We were happy to learn of the money raised but just getting to talk to some people and seeing some new faces really made us have a new appreciation for the trip and why we were doing. It helped us leave Regina, when we wanted to stick around and enjoy the comforts of home.

May 27th - The ride from Cranbrook to Fernie was an all-too-familiar wet and rainy ride. From the roadside lunch on our one-burner stove, the next 36km to Fernie was a downpour. We were forced into a hostel because of the conditions.

From Fernie we biked up and out of the mountains across the Crowsnest Pass and met up with Kevin and Julie. They offered to shuttle us to Calgary and we thought that it would be a good idea to visit with Ryan's brother Steve there.

Once in Calgary, Steve showed us a great time on Friday night, so good that it took us till Sunday to leave. The tailwind from Calgary to our evening resting place Gleichen, Alta at a Petro-Canada in the middle of nowhere. It was also our first taste of the Number 1 Highway, which has an enourmous shoulder which doubles as a third lane for our bikes.

The wind continued and pushed us to Kinbrook Island Provincial Park, south of Brooks, Alta. It was our first taste of camping after the May long weekend and the prices had changed from "closed and free" to open and $26/night.

We toured the backroads of Alberta from Kinbrook to Medicine Hat and it was a long bike ride and our first ride without the wind at our backs since coming out of the mountains. We stayed with an old high-school friend Austin Evans there.

The next day we spent hours contemplating our plan for the day, with different ideas of what to do. Eventually we decided to bike straight to Maple Creek. Ryan's cousin Erin and her husband Wayne put us up for the night at their cozy valley ranch and set up an interview with us and the local media.

The ride from Maple Creek to Swift Current was a tough ride. We were against the wind for the first time in the prairies, and the wind rivals the mountains for toughness when it is against us. We had to make it to Swift Current by 3 because Ryan's aunt Ray had lots of media attention planned for us there. We biked up and the cameras were rolling. Once some interviews were done we got to shower and enjoy a great evening of visiting with the family.

So, that brings us to today, a rest day in Swift Current. We leave for Moose Jaw tomorrow and hopefully arrive in Regina on Sunday.

May 18th - Hello! Well we have been busy biking and sightseeing. We are currently in Cranbrook, BC. Since our last journal entry from Grand Forks we biked up a huge summit, Paulson Pass (1500m), and came down into Castlegar. We stayed with Howard and Dee, family friends of Kris's for the weekend. They treated us like royalty; offering us two rooms, feeding us, lending us their car. It was awesome.

From Castlegar we traveled through a few provincial parks. The first stop was 100km from Castlegar called Lockheart Provincial Park, just north of Creston, BC. After a quick camp we trekked another 100km to Yack Provincial Park which is south of Cranbrook. We have had a few media stops along the way, making headlines in the Grand Forks Gazette and the Nelson Daily News.

We are planning to pass through Fernie on our way to Lethbridge and out of the mountains. The departure comes with mixed reactions. Climbing a mountain pass is a slow and painful journey. You try to enjoy the scenery but your legs burn and ache. With every corner you imagine seeing the summit only to see another huge climb. It plays with you mentally and emotionally.

We often bike on the old railway which ventures out into the middle of the forest where we are surrounded by nature in all its glory. The old railway would often run at night because the cliffs would hug the mountain and the view from the overhang would be too much for the passengers to bear. The climbs are very gradual.

The trip has not been all work. We have tried to party in small towns along the way. Castlegar was great small town. We happened to be at a bar the same night as the town's annual women's spring dinner. The owner couldn't believe how many women were in his establishment; he claimed it was a record. Most of the women were married but we had fun anyway.

May 11th - We're in Grand Forks tonight. We had two tough climbs - the Anarchist and the Eholt. We had some rain while in Osoyoos but the sun came out during our stay in Midway; marking our halfway point in B.C. Our next stops are Castlegar and Cranbrook, then we won't see a major centre till Lethbridge.

May 8th - We have seen some great scenery. We've had some tough climbs that saw us having to walk our bikes up. We enjoy our breaks with the lunches that we can scrounge up. We're about 40km from Osoyoos and we plan on biking there tomorrow; arriving between 1-3pm. We're fine, feel good, and seem to be able to work through any problems well together. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers!

May 5th - We are currently in Hope, BC. We started in Victoria and headed up 35 km to Sydney where we caught the ferry across to Vancouver. After a night stay in Vancouver we biked a whopping 123 km to Chilliwack. We stayed with Kris's cousin, Shelly who prepared us a great meal. From there we biked another 80 km to Hope - where we are now. From here we are heading up the Kettle Valley Railroad which is away from the main road. Penticton and Princeton are our next proposed stops. We are having a fantastic time. Biking has been spectacular.

The Cause - The Search for a Cure

There are 18,000 people in Saskatchewan who have Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder. It is predicted that by the year 2031, there will be 750,000 Canadians who have Alzheimer's disease. As members of the baby boom generation approach the age of greatest risk, the cost this debilitating disease will have on our society will be immeasurable. That is why the search for a cause, a cure and better treatments for Alzheimer's disease is so important.

Our goal to raise $5,000.00 to support a summer student scholarship at the NRU will directly impact on important research under the direction of Dr. Peter Yu to determine the role of a naturally occurring enzyme called SSAO in the development of the plaques that are found in Alzheimer patients. Dr. Yu believes that this research could one day lead to the development of a diagnostic tool for Alzheimer's disease as well as treatment to inhibit the development of the plaques before they cause memory loss and the other debilitating symptoms that are associated with Alzheimer's disease.

And not only will the money we raise forward Dr. Yu's research, it will provide a promising science student the opportunity to gain research experience while attending university.

There is Still Time to Help!

Kris and Ryan have reached their goal but your continued support can further Alzheimer research in our province and in our country. Your tax deductible donation to the Alzheimer Society Of Saskatchewan will strengthen the fight against Alzheimer's disease and will make a difference in the lives of people with Alzheimer's disease, their families and caregivers. You can download a donation form below and mail it to:

Alzheimer Society Of Saskatchewan
301 - 2550 - 12th Avenue
Regina, Saskatchewan       S4P 3X1

Download the Donation Form Here.

You can also donate on-line by clicking the link below