Shay Pitcher
- National: 1056th
- Province: 585th in ON
I'm Riding For
Anyone Currently Battling Cancer
To all those currently battling cancer I am riding for you. Your are not alone in this fight so, let's kick cancer's butt together!
My Story
This August, my Grandpa and I are taking part in the Great Cycle Challenge to fight kids' cancer!
Due to some unexpected health issues I've been having since the spring. I'm not able to ride my bike very much. After a bad case of pneumonia back in May, my right upper lobe collapsed and needs to be removed. Because of this I've been experiencing fatigue, low energy, and shortness of breath. Which makes bike riding challenging. I have been out a few times on my bike but I can only go about two blocks before my lungs start to feel it and I have to go home. And with all the smoke from the wildfires and poor air quality warnings it's been tough.
Which is why this year my Grandpa has teamed up with me! He has offered to do the ride for me and will be logging the majority of the kilometers. I will get out and ride when or if I can of course. But it's definitely a team effort this year.
Please support our ride by making a donation of any amount. Over the last 3 years thanks to my friends, family, and colleagues we have raised $2,513.00 for kids fighting cancer. This year I hope you will join us again in the fight and help kick cancer's butt!
Your support will change little lives.
Thank you.
My Legacy
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215 km Ridden$1,395 Raised2024
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220 km Ridden$1,118 Raised2025
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242 km Ridden$1,528 Raised2026
My Challenge
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Cats and Boxes
26 Aug 2026Today Grandpa enjoyed a quiet morning ride. He also said it was rather cool during his ride. I guess the dog days of summer really are here. Fall is rapidly approaching whether we like it or not! Switching gears before seasonal depression sets in. Did you know that cats love boxes? I believe this a universally known fact but, just in case it's not. Allow me to back it up with some official cat owner science. I have observed my cats enjoying many boxes. Big boxes, small boxes, giant boxes but, never tiny boxes. Yesterday our cat Little was trying to sit in a teeny tiny box. As you can see from this picture even though he is Little (hence his name) he was still to big for this particular box. However, he was not deterred and tried to get into it anyway! I am still researching the "cat trap" phenomenon where cats climb into a box instantly if its open. Perhaps it's because they are curious or, it could be because they have nine lives. Who can say? I shall continue my research into cats fascination with boxes 😉. (p.s please excuse my messy table. I was trying to do some cleaning and Little was "helping".)
Posted 23 hours ago -
10.8 km ride - Route 1 - Quiet Cool Morning - Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Logged this ride 23 hours ago -
Balloon Fun!
26 Aug 2026This morning was quite foggy! Grandpa had a good ride but mentioned there was lots of construction going on. Luckily the construction didn't effect his ride! I went out for a nice walk this afternoon and read some more of the book "Walk" that I mentioned yesterday. The book once again blew my mind with more fascinating information about walking and the importance of our feet! I really can't recommend this book enough and I don't usually read non-fiction. But as much fun as I had walking and reading (not at the same time of course 😅). Mom had the most fun of all! With the end of summer approaching so too is the end of summer reading club. For those who don't know summer reading club is an annual event hosted by TD that encourages kids to read during the summer. However, its not just about reading. Libraries across the country put on programs and events for the kids. From crafting to journal making, to science experiments there is a program for everything! And at the end of summer reading club there is of course a closing party! Mom hosted the closing party at her branch today and had a balloon artist there. This talented balloon wizard made kids balloon animals of their choice. Monkeys, spiders, cows, horses, and cats were created in every colour! I still don't understand how people twist balloons into such complex shapes. It's like physics magic! 111 people showed up for the closing party so mom was very busy! But she had fun and got her very own balloon turtle (isn't she cute?🥰)
Posted 2 days ago -
7.5 km ride - Route 3 - Walkers and Fog - Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Logged this ride 2 days ago -
Walk the Walk
25 Aug 2026This morning Grandpa ran into his 90 year old firefighter friend again! Unfortunately, the construction on the main street is in full swing and they couldn't hear each other over the noise. But don't worry I'm sure they'll run into each other again soon! Especially since the 90 year old man (I hate to keep calling him that but I don't know his name! 😅) is keeping himself healthy with his daily walk! Turns out a daily walk of at least 30 minutes can improve your mood, lower your stress, help you sleep better, decrease you risk of dementia and certain types of cancer, strengthen your bones, and increase muscle mass! Getting in your daily dose of walking is extremely important for your overall health and longevity. Did you know that our ancestors use to walk more than 15,000 steps a day? Of course that was before we rode horses and invented the carriage and then the car. Where did I learn all these interesting walking facts I hear you say. From a book of course! (classic library worker!). The book is called 'Walk' by Dr. Courtney Conley & Dr. Milica McDowell. It's an amazing book about how important and beneficial walking is for our health and wellbeing. It even debunked the myth about 10,000 steps being the daily target everyone must meet. In reality the average daily step goal is 3,000 - 3,500 steps (which is very attainable!). But the more steps the better obviously! Our bodies are meant for moving not sitting. So, if you're able to walk get out there and walk everyday! You may even see a tree person while you're out there 👀 (p.s. mom would like to add some walking slogans she came up with. "Beat the street, move your feet!", "March in place, you'll win the race", "Keep your stride, move your thighs", "Wiggle your toes, that's how it goes", "Get some rest, be at your best". She said she couldn't stop! 😂 Can you tell she entertains children for a living?)
Posted 3 days ago -
9.3 km ride - Route 2 - Construction Interuption - Monday, August 24, 2026
Logged this ride 4 days ago -
Game of Cards Anyone?
24 Aug 2026Grandpa cannot be stopped! After smashing our ride goal yesterday. He was back out this afternoon for another 10km ride! After waiting for the rain to clear he headed out only to be met with on and off showers along the way. Luckily he didn't get to wet. We stopped in to see my grandparents right when grandpa was coming home from his ride. We delivered grandpa his 2026 GCC cycling jersey! He looked great in it! Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic of him modeling his jersey so I'll have to get him to pose for a pic later 😉. We enjoyed playing a few card games while we were visiting too! My grandma is the queen of card games! She's really good at them and won our first game of Racko! Our latest favourite is Skip-Bo. It's really fun and more strategic than you think. We love to play a few rounds of it whenever we visit! Here's a pic of all the games we played today!
Posted 4 days ago -
10.8 km ride - Route 1 - Over and Above! - Sunday, August 23, 2026
Logged this ride 5 days ago -
Achievement Unlocked!
23 Aug 2026Today Grandpa completed our 200km ride goal! Whoo hoo!! It only took him 21 days which is really impressive! I did the math and with his 3 routes he does 100km every 11 days. Isn't that crazy!? I'm very proud of grandpa for completing our ride goal. Way to go grandpa! Oh, and he also reported that he saw people setting up for a horse show at the fair grounds this morning. He enjoys watching the horse shows at the fairs so I'm sure he'll being checking it out! The Richmond Fair is coming up on September 17th and will be the 182nd fair! My Mom and I use to enter crafts into the fair when I was a kid. I don't mean to toot my own horn but I won a lot of first place ribbons and so did Mom. In fact Mom use to enter into this category where you had to come up with your own wine or beer label. She was really good and always got first prize! We always had lots of fun making stuff for the fair it was great time! Maybe I should give grandpa a first place ribbon for doing 200km 😉 (p.s Mom did all of these labels by hand! From sketching the concept, to painting, to cutting them out, and finally fixing it to the bottle. She said she use to go to the LCBO and look for interestingly shaped beer bottles from other countries. Then she'd bring them home and give them to my Dad and say "here drink this. I need the bottle" 😂. She also wanted to point out that she made all these with inspiration from books not the internet. Because it was the early 2000s and there was no Pinterest or Instagram to scroll through for inspiration 😅).
Posted 5 days ago -
7.5 km ride - Route 3 - 200km Complete! - Saturday, August 22, 2026
Logged this ride 6 days ago
My Sponsors
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Kick Cancer's Butt Day matched donation
“Here's your matched donation made possible by the generosity of long-time SickKids Foundation supporters, the Garron family. THANK YOU so much for your awesome efforts to kick cancer's butt!”
$333.11Received this donation 15 days ago
Shay
“Thank you to the Garron family for matching all donations again this year! You are awesome!”
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Chris Jarvis
“What a wonderful tradition, hope you’re better soon and doing what you love to do xx”
$103.50Received this donation 21 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your donation and support Chris!❤️ I'll be healthy and strong for next year's challenge!”
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Christy Pitcher
“My dad riding his bike by my house at 6:30 am this morning is inspiring! I look forward to Shay's stories every day, they always make me laugh. The impact you're making for little ones that need it most is amazing! What a great team!!”
$103.50Received this donation 15 days ago
Shay
“Thanks Mumzie! Your donation and support helps those little kids so much! Grandpa and I appreciate all the the love and support from you! <3”
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Anonymous
$103.50Received this donation 24 days ago
Shay
“Thank you whoever you are for supporting our ride and the fight to kick cancer's butt!”
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Katrina Shea
“We are all so proud of the Shay and Grandpa team!! Doing great things to help kids. Way to go you two!”
$103.50Received this donation 15 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your donation and support Treen and Gerad! Grandpa and I appreciate the love!”
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Sheelah Lusk
“So proud of Shay and my Dad for taking on this challenge ❤️”
$103.50Received this donation 15 days ago
Shay
“Thanks Sheel! We appreciate your donation and support! ❤️”
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Susan Elsdon
“Good luck Shay and Wayne!”
$103.50Received this donation 22 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your donation and support Susan! ❤️”
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Wayne & Delia Lusk
“We are very pleased to know that this money that is being raised is going particularly to Cancer research for children. Thank you to everyone who has made a donation!”
$103.50Received this donation 15 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your donation and support grandma and grandpa! You are helping save little lives 😊”
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Wendy Fuller
$103.50Received this donation 6 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for supporting our ride Wendy!”
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Ami Jarvis
“Love that you and your grandpa are working on this together and love reading your blog!! Keep up the good work!”
$51.75Received this donation 15 days ago
Shay
“Thanks so much for your donation and support Ami! Writing the blog posts is the best part of my day!☺️”
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Jillian Shea
“Way to go Wayne!”
$51.75Received this donation 26 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your support Jill!”
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Lise Dumas
$51.75Received this donation 22 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your donation and support Lise!”
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Mary MacDougall
“Good luck Grandpa Wayne!”
$51.75Received this donation 24 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your support Mary!”
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Nicole and Greg Meredith
“Amazing, I love that you are doing this together xoxoxo”
$51.75Received this donation 24 days ago
Shay
“Thanks Nicky & Greg for your donation and support!”
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Tarja Shea Baerg
“Love this story of Shay and grandpa lusk. Way to go!”
$51.75Received this donation 26 days ago
Shay
“Thanks Tarja! Grandpa and I appreciate your donation and support! ❤️”
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Mary McNeill
“You go girl! Keep up the good work!”
$30.07Received this donation 15 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your donation and support Mary! You too! Keep on riding 😉”
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Michael Lusk
“Way to go Shay and Wayne”
$25.88Received this donation 24 days ago
Shay
“Thanks for your donation and support Michael!”