Mishall RehmanProminent members of the CFB Trenton community joined representatives of Wounded Warriors Canada (WWC) on April 4 to announce the first annual Wounded Warriors Canada Highway of Heroes Bike Ride.
“It’s a proud day for Wounded Warriors Canada as we continue to expand our foyer into cycling, that started as a program for ill and injured Canadian Armed Forces members in 2012,” said Scott Maxwell, Executive Director of WWC.
The ride was announced at the Afghanistan Repatriation Memorial, the very spot where the two-day bike ride on Sept. 24 and 25th will begin.
The WWC Highway of Heroes Ride (HHR) will take 200 Canadians alongside the 401 as a tribute to the many fallen soldiers taken along this route. The ride will raise funds and awareness for CAF ill and injured members, veterans and their families.
Beginning with a service at the Afghanistan Memorial in Trenton, the two-day ride will culminate at Queens Park in Toronto. The ride will feature an overnight stop in Bowmanville, home of fallen soldier Darryl Caswell.
The organization hopes the ride will connect with Ontarians along the way, bringing them back onto the bridges in support of Canada’s military community.
The Honorary Ride Patron for this inaugural ride will be Elizabeth Dowdswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. WWC has reached out to many government officials, all who have shown their support and enthusiasm for the HHR.
Bike Ride’s have been an integral part of WWC’s programs.
“Since 2012 we’ve used cycling as a tool to demonstrate the power of sport for both body and mind,” said Maxwell.
The bike rides have typically taken place overseas, in places significant to Canadian military history. However, many people wanted a chance to take part in the rides on home soil.
WWC decided to choose the Highway of Heroes as the route because it is strongly reflected the purpose and mandate of what WWC is trying to accomplish.
“The Highway of Heroes is the best route we could possible take for our charity and for our cause not only just the route itself but what the rides do. They bring communities and Canadians together behind a cause as important as this,” noted Maxwell.
The Highway of Heroes, stretching from CFB Trenton into Toronto, was designated as such in 2007 because of the use of the route for funeral convoys carrying fallen CAF service men and women. During the Afghanistan War, 158 fallen soldiers made that final journey.
