You’re Incredible! A Final Thank You.

To all my sponsors in 2024 thanks from the bottom of my heart ❤️ on behalf of all the children these funds are helping. The GCC site will be closing down tomorrow and will opening again in spring of 2025. I plan to be back in the GCC again for my 8th year in memory of Griff Bell, but meanwhile will keep riding daily towards my virtual cross Canada 🇨🇦 goal of 7821 km ( at 6636 km mark now so it’s well within reach again ) Take care everyone. #griffinmyheartforever #childhoodcancerawarenessmonth

The Final Results Are In

The results are in for the 2024 Great Cycle Challenge...

Together, we've raised $7,266,724 to fight kids' cancer! 🍁

We can't thank you enough for your support to KICK CANCER'S BUTT for these incredible kids and their families.

You are AMAZING! 👏

Our friend Nori joined us to celebrate and she wanted to pass on a message...

Thank you Don!

We're so excited because your fundraising efforts will make a real impact to save little lives, by supporting critical research into prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and finding cures for childhood cancers.

Because kids should be living life, not fighting for it.

Thank you for riding to give kids like Nolan, Nori, Jasper, Iris, Sadie, and Hallie-Lynn the brighter futures they deserve. ❤️

WOW... what an incredible result! ✊

Every pedal pushed, every drop of sweat, every kilometre ridden, and every dollar raised will create brighter futures for the kids and families affected by this terrible disease.

Over the past month, we've received so many messages from our families, they are in awe of your efforts and this outstanding result.

Once again, a massive THANK YOU for your amazing efforts in this year's challenge.

Together, we WILL save little lives. ❤️

See you back on your bike in 2025!

Have an awesome day.

Ashley and the GCC Team #griffinmyheartforever #childhoodcancerawarenessmonth

Certificate of Appreciation and Thanks

THANK YOU for supporting me in the 2024 Great Cycle Challenge to fight kids' cancer.

Your generous donation will support SickKids' Foundation to allow them to continue their work to care for these kids, develop innovative treatments and find a cure for childhood cancer.

Because in Canada, approximately 1,700 children are diagnosed with cancer every year.

But with your support, we hope to change that.

Please take a look at my fundraising page to view my progress:

https://greatcyclechallenge.ca/Riders/DonRoss/g

Thanks again, your support is greatly appreciated.

PS- Final total donation figures will be announced on Friday. #griffinmyheartforever #childhoodcancerawarenessmonth

70 KM Birthday ride

Perfect conditions today for my annual “ ride my age “ trek.

Some stats about this years fundraiser

The average GCC rider pedaled 177 km throughout August.

Your collective kilometres ridden would lap the circumference of the earth 59 times!

Over 79,006 donations have been made to fight kids' cancer!

25 riders pedaled over 2,000 kilometres for their challenge.

9-year legacy rider Will Prentice dedicated his challenge to Eric, a young man he coached for many years who was diagnosed with cancer aged 18, and passed away at just 24 years old. Will rode 1,553 km and raised $1,084 to honor Eric's memory.

The leaderboards have been viewed 57,276 times.

31 riders raised more than $10,000 to fight kids' cancer, becoming challenge All-Stars.

Sophia Shankar pulled off a stunning first-time GCC effort, riding 1,004 km and raising $14,745 in memory of her beloved nephew, Jonah, who bravely fought a brain tumour.

Father-daughter duo, Srinivasa and Shreya, combined forces to ride 204 km and raise $3,446 in memory of their mother and grandmother (respectively) who passed away from liver cancer last year.

The average donation made to sponsor a rider was $90.

The Together We Ride team returned for its 4th year of fundraising as a collective and took out the top spot on the team leaderboard once again - the 34 members rode 17,307 km and raised $101,642! Truly epic. 🙌

Members of our Facebook group GCC Friends Canada shared 2,762 posts and made 15,289 comments!

32 kids under 5 years old took on the challenge to kick cancer's butt for other kids.

The website has been viewed 1,798,715 times in 181 countries.

We've received countless messages from families impacted by cancer, thanking you for your incredible support.

2,142 riders raised $1,000+ and became members of the Peloton Club.

Jonah van Voorst beat childhood cancer, after being diagnosed at just 3 years old, and took on the challenge this year to help other kids facing the same battle he did - riding 115 km and raising $1,731.

5,852 riders achieved the 'DEFENDER' Impact Level in the challenge.

Riders from Newfoundland and Labrador raised an average of $754 - the highest average in the country.

3,522 riders completed their 2nd Great Cycle Challenge to continue their personal legacy to kick cancer's butt.

Our top fundraiser is the 9-time GCC legend Jarrod Russell, a cancer survivor himself, who raised a mind boggling $35,372 - taking him to an all-time total of $269,508 raised to fight kids' cancer! 🤯

775 riders have survived their own personal fight against cancer.

The 10 members of Team Addy rode 1,346 km and raised $19,578 to carry on Addison's cancer-fighting legacy - GCC ambassador Addison passed away just 2 days after her 14th birthday, after a brave battle with angiosarcoma. A powerful tribute to an amazing young woman. ❤️

This year we've posted 54 times on our Facebook page and received 215,571 likes, comments and shares.

Maegan Black took on her 9th GCC, and this time... it was personal. She was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer late last year, which only made her more determined to ride for kids fighting cancer. Maegan clocked 118 km and raised $4,752 to save little lives.

5,164 riders took part in the challenge in memory of a loved one affected by cancer. 💓

4-year legacy rider Richard Goodnough rode 281 km and raised $4,907 in memory of his mother, Katharine. He was joined by a super special sidekick this year - his 10-year-old granddaughter, Avalon!

205 riders joined us for their 9th year in a row, riding with us since the very first GCC in 2016.

Together, we've pedaled for the equivalent of 297,597 days, 12 hours, and 20 minutes.

Alex Ross took on the challenge for the 5th year to help other kids fighting cancer, riding 301 km and raising $1,595. Two of his friends have battled cancer, and he's had his own cancer scare, so he's seen just how terrible the disease is.

Over the 9 years of GCC, we've ridden 24,440,055 km and raised $53,922,994 to fight kids' cancer!

Keeping on keeping on……

Finished August with 1038 km which puts me at 5710 km along my virtual riding across 🇨🇦 for these past 8 mths. Should have no troubles finishing off the 7200+ km journey by end of the year and will keep raising funds and awareness about childhood cancer along the way. #griffinmyheartforever #childhoodcancerawarenessmonth

Great Cycle Challenge ends TODAY...

“It's the final day... let's finish strong!

Great Cycle Challenge ends TODAY...

And togethern we've ridden 2,217,000 km and raised $6,980,115 so far to end childhood cancer and save little lives.

But we're not done yet. 😊

Your support will give our kids the strength to keep fighting and the hope that new treatments and a cure will be found for this terrible disease.

So stand with us now and take ONE FINAL ACTION to give these kids hope for a cancer-free future!

Because it's the final day of the challenge and one of the biggest days for fundraising...

So let's make it count.”

To those who have supported my fundraising effort this year I sincerely thank you. I’ve exceeded my $5000 goal in raising $6212 so far and reached my 1000 KM goal. I’ll continue riding each day all year long and the GCC site remains open for further donations during the month of Sept, which is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Www.greatcyclechallenge.ca/riders/donross #griffinmyheartforever

Final Week of the Challenge

“As you get out for these final days of the challenge, our buddy Nori wanted to pass on a special message...

"Let's bring it home."

Nori was diagnosed with stage 4 Neuroblastoma in January 2021.

Since her diagnosis, she has endured major surgery, bone marrow transplants, chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy.

Nori has a long road ahead of her, but she will KICK CANCER'S BUTT! 💪

Nori should be living life, not fighting for it.” #griffinmyheartforever

Kick Cancer’s Butt Day Results

I have some exciting news...

Kick Cancer's Butt Day raised a record-breaking $1,939,643 to fight kids' cancer... INCREDIBLE!

It's amazing. THANK YOU so much for your butt-kicking efforts to give kids like Leena, Nolan, Iris, Nori, Hallie-Lyn, Jasper and Sadie and the brighter futures they deserve.

It was a MASSIVE day. We asked YOU to take action, and you KICKED CANCER'S BUTT! 💪

You've given these families a reason to smile, and more importantly, you've given them hope for a cancer-free future and the support they need to continue their fight to beat this awful disease.

For that Don, I cannot thank you enough.

As you know, our wonderful supporters, the Garron Family were personally matching donations up to $1,300,000...

And as outlined when we announced this amazing pledge, if we were to reach the $1,300,000 limit we'd distribute the matched donations across all your pages, based on a percentage of what you raised over the one day of Kick Cancer's Butt Day. This is the fairest way to ensure that everyone who made the effort, gets the reward. 😊

But unfortunately, this does mean that we can't match all donations completely, so you'll receive a portion of the $1,300,000 based on the total you raised. I'll explain the calculation...

$1,300,000 / $1,939,643 = 67.02% - so we've matched 67.02% of the total you raised on Kick Cancer's Butt Day and added this to your fundraising page.

This is the fairest way to ensure EVERYONE is rewarded for their efforts to kick cancer's butt. I wish we could match every single donation but the response was just so incredible.

Past the 500km mark now

Making good headway towards the 1000 km so far. #griffinmyheartforever #fightlikeakid

Progress Report

#griffinmyheartforever

Kick Cancer’s Butt Day Aug 14th

Here’s some very exciting news...This Wednesday ( August 14th ) is Kick Cancer's Butt Day! 💪 On Kick Cancer's Butt Day, the Garron Family has generously pledged to MATCH ALL DONATIONS received that day, up to $1,300,000! Once again, we're asking ALL riders to unite this Wednesday (August 14) and take action to give cancer the butt-kicking it deserves. Why? Because over 1,700 Canadian children are diagnosed with cancer every year, and 4 kids sadly die every week. Cancer has been hurting our kids and their families for too long. It's time to rise up and show cancer who's boss!

https://www.greatcyclechallenge.ca/riders/donross #griffinmyheartforever

Hit 25% of distance goal

Good first week of riding so on track for my 1000 km goal. #griffinmyheartforever

1000 KM Quest begins

My 4672 km of training rides in 2024 have prepared me well for my 1000 km goal for the month that begins August 1st. I’m $1000 towards my $5000 target of funds raised and I appreciate all the support. #Griffinmyheartforever

$1.5 Million

We've just reached $1.5 MILLION to kick cancer's butt - WOOHOO! 🥳

Our buddy Jasper made this sign to celebrate this AWESOME milestone.

Jasper was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in June 2023, just after his 8th birthday. 😢

He has endured chemotherapy, lumbar punctures and weekly hospital visits.

Thankfully, he has been responding well to treatment, and he has BIG plans for his future.

But for now, he has one goal... to kick cancer’s butt! ✊

Please put your hands together to celebrate this awesome milestone and let's keep raising funds to give kids like Jasper the brighter futures they deserve! 👏

Jasper, we're riding for YOU next month! 🍁

Meet Nori

9-year-old Nori is our official PROTECTOR level ambassador.

In January 2021, Nori was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma. 💔

Since her diagnosis, this brave young lady has endured intensive chemotherapy, major surgery, bone marrow transplants, radiation, immunotherapy and more.

At one point, Nori thought she was finally finished with her treatment, but unfortunately her cancer returned.

Her treatment journey is still far from over, but recent scans indicate that the cancer is not growing or spreading. 🙏

Kids like Nori should be living life, NOT fighting for it.

Now, Nori wants to celebrate your PROTECTOR status personally...

Don, THANK YOU!

You are making your personal impact to end childhood cancer and save little lives. ❤️

Now, let's keep going for Nori... #GriffinMyHeartForever

Over half way to cross-Canada goal

June is coming to a close and I’ve ridden 3858km so far which puts me on track for my annual target of 7204 km to cross the country virtually.

#GriffinMyHeartForever

VIP package arrived today. Thanks GCC….will wear it proudly in memory of Griff Bell who would have been 7 years old yesterday. I ride each day with #GriffinMyHeartForever www.greatcyclechallenge.ca/riders/donross

Planting a memory of Griff Bell in New Brunswick

While out east in Knowlesville , New Brunswick visiting our family there we planted a Forsythia in memory of Griff Bell that will turn golden each year and remind us of what a bright light he brought to the world while he was alive. #GriffinMyHeartForever

Riding Across Canada Virtually in 2024

Each of the past 3 years I’ve been able to log enough KM’s on the bike to have ridden across Canada from St John’s , NL to Victoria, BC ( 7204 km ) so that’s my annual goal again in 2024. The first 3 months riding mainly indoors I’m off to a decent start with 1940 km total ( 744 in Jan….504 in Feb & 692 in March ) All good training to prepare for my 1000 km goal for the August GCC. #GriffinMyHeart and thinking of all the kids I ride for each day.