A South 性视界传媒 man and his son recently returned from a 鈥減owerful鈥� and 鈥減rofound鈥� cycling trip overseas.
Ocean Park resident Larry Osachoff, 71, and son Steve cycled 600 kilometres across Europe and raised $8,000 for charity as part of the 2017 Wounded Warriors Canada Battlefield Bike Ride, in honour of the 100th anniversary and Vimy Ridge.
They rode under the team name The O鈥橞oys, from June 9 to 17.
Many stops along the trip were humbling for the father-son duo, who both work for RBC Dominion Securities and have both served on the board of directors for Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation.
鈥淎t each monument they would have bagpipes, our bugle player would play and we鈥檇 hear some historical context,鈥� said Steve, 37. 鈥淓very place was powerful, but Vimy was where everyone was cycling all these days to get to, and fundraising to get to. It was pretty powerful.鈥�
The Wounded Warriors trip finished at the Vimy Ridge memorial.
Stops along the journey to arrive there included the Menin Gate memorial in Belgium where daily ceremonies are held in honour of nearly 55,000 Commonwealth soldiers whose bodies were never identified or found; The Cloth Hall at Ypres where John McCrae penned his iconic poem 鈥淚n Flanders Fields鈥�; the memorials of Passchendaele and many more.
For father Larry, one of the most 鈥済ripping鈥� sites was not one they stopped at for a ceremony.
鈥淚t was Notre Dame de Lorette,鈥� he said, which is the world鈥檚 largest French military cemetery. 鈥淲hat grips you is the fact that at that site there鈥檚 so many men buried there. Commongrade crosses that stretch the size of several football fields. I look at it and say that鈥檚 almost twice the population of every man, woman and child in 性视界传媒. You just can鈥檛 understand it. And that was just one location of so many that are just horrific.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 part of what we hoped to accomplished,鈥� he said of their journey, 鈥渢o expose the horror of war.鈥�
The men cycled about 600 kilometres as part of the charity ride, but another 400 or so on their own to put a personal family twist on their adventure.
Before Wounded Warriors鈥� trip began, they made an early stop to Brighton, which was where Larry鈥檚 mother-in-law Edith was born and raised, and where her husband Henry was stationed during the war.
The two met at Sherry鈥檚 Dance Hall in Brighton, Larry explained.
鈥淚n fact, we got to find (the hall) and we got access into it,鈥� Larry said, excitedly. 鈥淲e stood on the very floor that that branch of the family tree started from.鈥�
Asked what he鈥檇 say to encourage others to hop on the saddle with Wounded Warriors, Larry quickly replied, 鈥淛ust do it!鈥�
鈥淢aybe it鈥檚 just a way of giving back,鈥� he mused about why he embarked on this journey.
Though, this was far from Larry鈥檚 first cycling trip.
The 71-year-old, who has had not one but two cardiac procedures that involved inserting stents, has cycled across Canada.
鈥淭he doctor said go live a normal life and I consider this quite normal,鈥� he remarked.
鈥淢y biggest (ride) was in 鈥�02 when I went across Canada, 7,100 kilometres,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 rode roughly five to six weeks a year from 2002 to 2005, and in 2011 did a 2,100 kilometre trip to Inuvik, though that was part cycling, part riding.鈥�
His trips have taken him through Ireland, Wales and England, as well as Russia, Siberia, China, and to the Ural Mountains dividing Europe and Asia.
In 2015, he took a 300-kilometre trip on an ancient pilgrim trail in northern Spain.
Larry said he hopes to inspire people.
鈥淲e just have so much feedback about how my trips across Canada and Asia touched people in a positive way. That feeds on itself and you just want to keep on doing it.鈥�
鈥淭hink of all the carb loading you can do,鈥� added Steve with a laugh.
to read more about the duo, and Wounded Warriors.
