Well, here we are. Yesterday we packed all of our things into our bins and then put them on the trucks, and then we came home and had a little spa day for our bikes and a family dinner. At least Ken and I did, I’m pretty sure Cam worked. It was nice to work alongside Ken, I’ve missed him so much since he moved to Ottawa, it’s a pleasure just to be in the same house, do things together, have the family all in one spot. It’s something that I’m looking forward to over the next week for sure, as we all ride our bikes together, camp together… Team Knit isn’t just friends, we’re family.

I was reflecting on that last night getting ready for bed- have I ever told you about the idea of Bike Rally Family? This event is special that way, we’re not a very big group of people, only about 200 riders will ride the six days from Toronto to Montreal. We’ll be supported by about 90 crew, and we often say that we’re like a small travelling town. We pack up in the morning, and put everything on the trucks, and then road support gets out there to guide us, the rustlers move our stuff to the next stop, the food crew comes up with three meals a day (in three different locations, even) the wellness crew cares for people who are hurt or need support, and logistics pulls the whole thing together, somehow. Then we land in a new place about 100km from the first one, and take everything out of trucks and set up tents and do it all over again. That whole thing is run by a steering committee of volunteers who work a whole year to make these six days happen – and obviously we’re way too small to be a town, but over the course of the Rally together, something crazy happens, and it’s that you’re having such a wild experience, such a unique and bizarre thing, that you come to feel an intimacy and affection for the other people doing it that makes you feel closer to them than you imagined you would. By the end of it, we call it the “Bike Rally Family” and it’s something that persists all year.

Good thing too, because this tiny group of volunteers, giving up time, energy, vacation time, money… to make this happen? The Bike Rally raises most of the operating budget for an entire ASO. (AIDS Service Organization.) We – The Bike Rally Family – we are the reason that there is a PWA, and that it can support anyone.

This is the Bike Rally’s 25th Anniversary. 25 years ago a couple of friends, Danny Nashman and David Linton- heard about a funding crisis at PWA (People With Aids) and decided to have a fundraiser. They set out to ride to Montreal and supported by a few friends with pickups and BBQs – a handful of riders raised $45 000. David passed away several years ago, but today I packed up my bins next to Danny and loaned him duct tape to cover the holes in the bins so spiders don’t get in. (Also there is some concern about earwigs but I try not to think about it and just use the tape.)

25 years later, here’s Danny, here’s all of us, showing up to try and do the same thing they did that first time – fund the agency out of a crisis. This year donations are down, and as we all know, need is up. PWA has a lot of different services that they provide – some you would expect, some you wouldn’t – and one of them is the Essentials Market. (That’s the food bank, the only one in Ontario exclusively for people with HIV/AIDS and their dependents. I’ve spoken before about how shocked most people are at how many women and children it helps – the face of this virus has changed a lot over the years.) Thanks to the rising cost of living, inflation, the cost of food and ^$#%ing Covid, more people are coming for help. Thanks to those same things, the donations from suppliers used to be six pallets of food a week, and now it’s two.

That’s a big deal – and to try and keep people fed, PWA has been diverting funds from other programs to buy food for the market – and the situation is unsustainable. PWA is so much more than a food bank, what people need is so much more than a food bank – what they deserve is so much more than a food bank – but this year there is the very real risk that the Bike Rally won’t be able to raise what PWA needs. We’re about $400 000 short of the goal, and that’s a lot for a little family of 200 riders to come up with.

I think I’ve been pretty honest that I have a healthy respect for what the rally asks of a person – I won’t say that it usually scares me, but that’s only because I’ve always been worried enough that I over-prepare, over train, over pack…. by the time the Rally rolls around every year I’ve actually used that fear to get me ready. This year it’s different, thanks to ^$#%ing Covid – and its fallout. There is actually no way that I’m properly ready. None. I have a puffer now and maybe that helps? I don’t know. All I know for sure is that I’m properly scared. The guys keep saying that I can rely on my body’s experience doing this, muscle memory and all that, but I feel like I am at the age where my muscles are starting to forget things rather than remember them, if you know what I mean. This morning as I drink my coffee and think about what lies ahead of me for the next six days, I’m reflecting that this isn’t a job, this isn’t a vacation, this isn’t anything really except for a family trying to get something done.

In a family, you show up and do your best, and your family gets your back and helps you, and you make sure that all of you are okay, as best you can, so I’m going to get on my bike and keep bugging you for donations, so that the Bike Rally Family can take care of the clients who need the PWA family, and I’m going to count on my family to take care of me.

If you’d like to help- the Team Knit Family is still out there representing knitters, and working to get to our goals.

Me

Cameron

Ken

See you in a week, and thank you for all your help taking care of people. You’re legends.

(PS: I can’t post to the blog while we’re riding, but you can see what we’re up to on instagram, you don’t have to sign up to follow us on the ride. I’m @yarnharlot, Ken is @five12plus, and Cameron is @thesilverboy)

Today is the day before packing day. Ken arrives tonight, and The Bike Rally leaves on Sunday morning, but tomorrow we take everything we need for the next week and pack it into two bins. The “rustlers” take the two bins and put them on a truck, and that truck goes ahead of us to where we’ll be stopping the first night. When you finish riding for the day (one presumes here you have made it to camp) you find your bins, and set up camp. Tomorrow I’ll give them my tent, sleeping bag, clothes – everything I’ll need to cycle the six days to Montreal.

This always causes me a ton of anxiety. All the riders really- it’s a little more complicated that it sounds – for starters there’s all the regular packing, plus camping packing, but also anything I give them tomorrow morning, I won’t have access to for 36 hours. This raises all sorts of regular person questions (like what does that mean for your toothbrush? Shoes? Wallet? What if you want to wear those shorts on packing day and day five?) but for a knitter, it seems extra complicated, doesn’t it? I can’t work on anything I decide to pack in my bins, but there’s still a whole day and night of knitting before I leave, and anything I work on tomorrow has to be left behind, and then there’s a whole day where I have to ride 100km to get to any knitting at all. (That happens every day, it’s a decent incentive.) I’m not a particularly monogamous knitter (okay not at all) but it still seems funny to leave something behind for a whole week. Won’t it be lonely for me?

Obviously I need yarn to knit on the Rally – while there’s not much time to knit there is evenings after dinner and a few rounds in the morning in my tent, just to centre myself. Once we’re in Montreal there’s more time to knit and then a long train ride home. My inner knitter says that means I need two sweaters worth and at least four balls of sock yarn, but I’ve been carrying around her stuff forever and she’s a terrible packer. I’m going ignore her and just take enough to make two pairs of socks – half of my stash of this years bike rally yarn from Indigodragonfly. (I’ve linked it there, if you want some, Kim, Ron and Victoria donate 25% of the proceeds to knitters riding, also it is gorgeous.) My urge is to take more, but I don’t think a sock a day is a realistic expectation under these circumstances. There’s that little voice that says “but what if?” but I’m going to try and be reasonable.

I’ve not wound the yarn, nor decided what pattern(s) I’ll make and I haven’t found needles yet, but what the hell, I have 14 hours so it’s cool. I’m only going to sleep for 8 of those. It will be fine. I haven’t packed anything else either. I still need to find all my stuff, the clothes on the line need to dry, there’s a toothpaste crisis I need to solve – I’m nervous about all of it and it’s making me procrastinate. I can’t pack incorrectly if I don’t pack, right? Yeah. I know.

In the meantime, let’s do some Karmic Balancing gifts, shall we? It’s a good distraction, at least for me. (If you missed the explanation of how this works, you can check it out at the bottom of this post.) Here we go!

First -something a little bit different, a little less random than our Karmic Balancing magic usually is. Abigail knit this beautiful Short Rose shawl out of the  Indigodragonfly 2020 Pedal Pushers colorway and she’s willing to send it away to it’s forever home. It’s too beautiful to choose a name at random – it should be with someone who really loves it. If that’s you, think up the donation you’d like to make for it, and email me at stephanieATyarnharlotDOTca I’ll look over all the offers and be in touch.

Next! Jennifer has a copy of Sequence Knitting to send out – this is a fascinating book, and it will be going to live with Kristen S. Thanks Jennifer!

Allison went into her stash and came out with this, a beautiful kit from the Unique Sheep for the Guernsey Garden Cowl.

Allison will be sending that off to Jaemi F, and I hope they love it.

Allyson has one for the spinners! 100% merino from Koigu,

she’ll be popping that in the mail to LeAnn S.

Kate has not one but three gifts of sock yarn to send to their new and happy homes:

This skein of Regia Premium Merino Yak is for Paula F.

This beautifully watery skein of Lisa Souza deluxe sock is for Vicky H.

and last but not least, this beautiful skein of Cascade Heritage sock will be socks on the needles of Eva D.

Two pretty skeins from Eliza! One of Red Sock Blue Sock Yarn Co’s sock yarns in “Queenie” for Latifa D,

and this skein of SweetGeorgias Tough Love Sock will be winging their way to Chris I.

Linda is somehow finding a way to part with this skein from Gauge Dye Works – she’ll be sending it to Madelyn.

Meanwhile Sandie has two skeins to be gifts as well. They’re both from Farmer’s Daughter Sock Squad – this pretty one is for Grace T.

and this glorious skein is going to Katie D.

Finally – last but certainly not least, Amy Snell (talented designer and friend of the show) would like to give away TEN patterns. Knitter will choose from her whole independent library and let Amy know which one they would love. You can see all her patterns here on Payhip, or here on Ravelry . Carol G, Karen B, Ruth Ann H, Michelle C, Esther R, Jessica N, Ruth V, Victoria P, Spring D, Susan G, and Ashley A will have a very hard time deciding!

That’s it for today, there’s more in the hopper but I have to bring the laundry in and really make a start on packing. I’ve emailed all the lucky knitters who’s names were drawn, so check your inboxes. As always, thank you for all each of you does to support the Bike Rally. We are so grateful for you.

Team Knit is:

Me

Cameron

Ken