“Spinning Wheels is pleased to announce our collaboration with Parkinson Canada. This year, we are the Pedaling for Parkinson’s Spinning Wheels Tour. We will continue to raise funds from across the country and leave it in the communities we pass through to help support programs for people living with Parkinson’s and their families. We will ride all ten provinces and visit three coasts, as we continue to meet people and raise awareness of Parkinson’s, the benefits of exercise in alleviating symptoms and help build community. You are not alone. The Pedaling for Parkinson’s Spinning Wheels Tour will begin August 2, 2025 in BC and NFLD and finish September 13, 2025 in Toronto.”
You can join our team here. We are doing option A. We’re the Fit is a Feminist Issue Bloggers and Friends team.
You can join us for one or both of the London to Guelph days. Ride as little or as much as your schedule, inclination, and fitness allows.
There’s also a grand finale ride, Hamilton to Toronto on the 13th.
You can read about the reason we’re riding here, in support of Susan Fullerton, an occasional blogger and a close friend and family member of mine. See Overcoming Fear: My Journey Biking for Parkinson’s Awareness.
Again, you can do a little of the ride, or all 3 days. Up to you. And don’t be stressed by the fundraising. We’ve set $1000 as the team goal and I’ve been raising that myself these past few years. Also, we’re already 1/10th of the way there.
Susan
I support Sam’s comments about riding all or part of the three days (Sept 11-13), as well as her comments about fundraising.
This year, I am on the steering committee of the Spinning Wheels Tour and was one of the people that advocated for a ride from London to Guelph.
London was my home for over 10 years. The Universities of Guelph and Waterloo are doing amazing research into Parkinson’s disease, and in particular, the impact of exercise on the disease. Therefore it is important to have the tour visit these three cities.
While we want to raise money for sure, the tour is also about reaching, meeting and encouraging people with Parkinson’s to exercise, in community.
PD remains incurable. However there is a growing body of research which proves that exercise, and biking in particular, can improve one’s quality of life by making a tangible difference in one’s symptoms. Members of the tour team can attest to their personal experience with improving their PD symptoms through exercise.
It is also clear that stress and anxiety can exacerbate the physical symptoms. Too often we hear about people hiding their PD, sometimes for years. This can quickly become a vicious cycle with the person’s stress over hiding their symptoms actually making these symptoms worse. We want people with PD to know they are not alone.
I will be biking in Ontario Sept 11-13. Please join the FiaFI team and come out and ride. Your participation will help bring awareness and show support for people like me, living with PD.
