Reset search
Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
  • Andrew Turnbull
  • Judah Turnbull
Current
  • Andrew Turnbull
  • Judah Turnbull

Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses

Andy and Judah - father and son - are cycling across Canada (Victoria to St Johns - 7500km) to support the mental health of our nation's nurses. Debby, grand/ma, is a nurse who has battled with mental health. Her resilience is our inspiration! Read more
FollowInsightsInsightsCalendarCalendarPhotosPhotosShareShareBucket list
InsightsCalendarPhotos
  • Currently in
    🇨🇦 Saint-Sulpice, Canada
    Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    A beautiful campsite tonight...

    Ride Day #38-Grenville to Saint-Sulpice

    Yesterday in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    They're everywhere! Headed our way. Mainly headed the other way. Canada`s cyclists! We found them, and they're in Quebec! Given the dedicated cycle paths we enjoyed for much of this gorgeous day, there's an ever so slight chance that we were passed by more of our pedal people than cars today. It was glorious! Believe it or not, if all goes to plan - and it largely has thus far - we only have 10 riding days left. Still some heavy lifting to go in them though....Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    Doug and my dad were roommates back in military college. Tudor and Turnbull.
    1

    Ride Day #37 - Ottawa to Grenville, Qc

    June 20 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Bonjour! After another great meal with super-hosts Doug and Laurelle, we headed north from theirs and took a short ferry across the Ottawa River into QUEBEC! It's hard to believe we've completed another week and, with it, have stepped into another province. Today's was a lovely, peaceful, and short ride to close off what felt an intense week, not so much because of distance but as our first alone, bearing the gear, and the relentless traffic on difficult roads. Now for some rest across the bridge from Grenville in Hawkesbury tomorrow before returning to Quebec for more Monday. Thanks for your support!Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses

    Ride Day #36 - Fitzroy to Ottawa

    June 19 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    We were packed and out of the campsite by 7am so we could make it the 55k to Fil's Diner in western Ottawa to meet with Chris and Claire of the Canadian Nurses Foundation. We were pumped to hear more of the charity's work - the only national charity that supports nurses coast to coast - over a delicious breakfast to boot. We were then fueled to press on to the east of the city where we stayed with Doug and Laurelle - such generous hosts!Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses

    Ride Day #35 - Petawawa to Fitzroy

    June 18 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    Relief! After a big day prior, we decided to take it a bit easier, doing only 120km. We thought this would be one of our last days battling with the little-to-no-shoulder Highway 17 when, to our great delight, we found a gravel packed cycle path running parallel with our overall course. So we switched to it and, though it slowed us down a bit, things got way more chilled fast!Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses

    Ride Day #34 - Bonfield to Petawawa

    June 17 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    A BIG DAY. But a good day. A couple short bouts with the rain. Judah's seemingly customary daily flat tire. But overall just a big day on the grind. We ignored the flourish suggestions of the routing software given the trauma of yesterday, and just hit the highway. I haven't checked, but it must have been our longest day in the saddle, at over 170km and climbing over 1600m through 8 hours riding. Is it strange to be enjoying it? And let's just say I really had to twist my own arm to get a hotel in town when the campsite I contacted first didn't get back to me 😀Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses

    Ride Day #33 - Sudbury to Bonfield

    June 16 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    `I am so sorry Judah'. It's fallen to me to be the chief navigator of this dynamic duo and, I think it's fair to say, our routing has generally been faultless. But twice now I've apologised to Judah for leading us astray. Once, on the second day, when I rode us North for an half-hour when I thought we were headed East! We had to ride back. But the second time was today, and it was much worse. Sometimes I trust the routing software, and sometimes I ignore it. This time I trusted it as it suggested an unpaved route alongside the highway, as we had been haunted by intense traffic all day with bad shoulders to boot. The off-highway route was peaceful and lovely through North Bay, then it felt remote but doable, then we came across a warning sign saying the dirt road through the bush was not maintained, and we were to use it at our own risk. I dared not get out the camera for the worst of it - where we waded our bikes through shin deep murky water while being swarmed by bugs, but a couple pictures are above. We camped the night before, but thankfully had booked a motel for that evening because there was no campsite at our destination for distance. We really needed it to recover! They even opened up their restaurant just for us the next morning!Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses

    Champions! RDay #32 - Spanish to Sudbury

    June 15 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Well today was our first day riding on our own, packing our kit, as Carl flew Winnipeg to Vancouver yesterday. Like Debbie and Glen before him, for the past two weeks Carl was the grease in the gears of our Ride for Resilience.

    To name just a few things:

    + He rented a truck and camper trailer for the occasion, and drove them!

    + He got very adept at speaking bike lingo to bike shops on our behalf.

    + He bought jujubes and pop and chips and...

    + He made breakfast and packed lunches for us each morning.

    + He enabled us to watch the hockey playoffs on game nights and Netflix shows on other nights.

    Judah and I could go on! And a big thanks to Nat and the kids who missed Carl while with us!

    And, while we've been travelling, Jen - Carl's twin - has been honouring our mom with all the time she can give to her, going above and beyond. I could say so much more...

    Thanks so much Jen and Carl. So grateful to call you sister and brother. Champions.    Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses

    Ride Day #31 - Sault Ste. M. to Spanish

    June 13 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    A BIG day. For a few reasons. We rode our longest day on record yet, at just over 190km, AND we marked our fastest average speed Eastward at 26.9 km/h! (You'll remember we rode one Westward day in Saskatchewan, dropped off at our destination for the day and riding back to our origin given the predicted headwind. We marked a 35km/h average that day!) But we were really pleased with the distance and pace combo today as we closed out the fifth week. But the main reason it was a big day is that we said goodbye to Carl, who has supported us for the past two weeks. We miss him already! He actually drove the gear we'll bear from here ahead to Spanish yesterday, so we could ride one more day light while he made his way to Winnipeg today. It paid off Carl!! Watch the video for more...Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    1

    Ride Day #30 - Agawa Bay to Sault Ste. Marie

    June 12 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Today we stopped at the half way point of the Trans Canada Highway! AND, more importantly, we stopped at the famous Apple Fritter shop, where they make them fresh and as big as Judah's head!

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    3

    Ride Day #29 - White River to Agawa Bay

    June 11 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    What a day! It started shrouded in fog and cold, but broke out into clear blue sky after a stop at the Tim's in Wawa at the halfway point. We rode 180km over 7.5 hours in the saddle. Carl dropped us off in White River, where we left off yesterday, and we rolled into the Agawa Bay Campground in Lake Superior Provincial Park around 5:30pm. An intense day, but we're grateful for the strength and pace we enjoyed.Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    Early in our ride the fog still dominated the lake, but thankfully not the road. Yesterday was both!
    Lake Superior starting to peek out...Back at camp, after dropping us off, the fog lifted!The afternoon got gorgeous!

    Ride Day #28 - Neys to White River

    June 10 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Late start. Or, to put it positively: slept in! A radio station wanted an interview on our ride, but 9:30am was the earliest they could meet on zoom, so we allowed ourselves a couple more hours of sleep before. Carl then dropped us off where we left off yesterday and we pedaled off into our 120km day. The weather was overcast then gorgeous! It was lovely to see some lakes minus the fog of yesterday in the afternoon. That said, Lake Superior was still shrouded in fog when we left camp. Carl got a nice view of it when he returned to camp though!Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    The cafe we hoped for in Rossport was closed, as was this gift shop, but it had a cool sign...Nearly halfway!Fog!

    Ride Day #27 - Nipigon to Neys Provincial Park

    June 9 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    30 climbs! We had this down as a 'very hard' day in our planning, and it was. My bike computer interprets the route loaded and selects out what it sees as significant climbs, so it can give special motivation for them. Today it identified 30 such climbs along our route! It was a day reminiscent of some of our days in the Rockies not only for the climbing, but also because we were socked in with fog all day, reminding of days in our first week of riding when snow and low cloud hindered visibility in the mountains. We rode high-vis, and tight with one another for much of the day. A demanding day physically and mentally, but it's done!Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    1Huge watts, in the man I mean.

    Ride Day #26 - Kakabeka Falls to Nipigon

    June 8 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Pancakes!! Carl dropped us off where we left off Saturday afternoon, near Kakabeka Falls where we camped for the weekend, and we powered on to Thunder Bay and returned to the church we had been invited to on Sunday, this time on bike and for pancakes! Kari, who Carl got to know through a business contact, invited us to his church Sunday and then to speak to the weekly community Monday morning pancake breakfast! Kari invited his guests to donate to our cause, and allowed us to address the room about it. Folks were really friendly and interested, and it seems a significant amount will come through from it. We were really grateful not only for the second breakfast, but for all the genuine interest shown by those gathered at Hilldale Lutheran. And did I mention the PANCAKES!Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    A cool sign to see. We're headed East though, not South, so it's not yet all down hill from here...Carl's truck is starting to look like a bike shop on wheels itself!1Need a wheel? A saddle? Some innertubes? Some cables? A tire?!

    Ride Day #25 - Atikokan to Kakabeka Falls

    June 6 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Thunder Bay - nearly! It was great to finish this riding week on schedule, getting into Thunder Bay's proximity as we camp for two nights at Kakabeka Falls, the Niagara of the North. Ontario has been very kind in its weather this week.Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    At one of our rest stops...
    This guy was motoring down the highway, but laid flat as I stopped alongside him.Ontario has about 250,000 lakes! This is just one of the very many we've passed this week.

    Ride Day #24 - Fort Frances to Atikokan

    June 5 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    A kind of halfway! Today we rode 144Km from our campsite in Fort Frances to where you turn off the #11 to head up to Atikokan, where Carl picked us up and took us to our campsite for the night farther afield. We'll start back where we finished tomorrow morn.

    There are several ways to think of 'halfway'. As you saw in a post below, we passed the longitudinal halfway point of Canada just East of Winnipeg on Monday. We'll pass through the halfway point of the Trans Canada Highway next week. Today was another kind of halfway point: the 24th riding day of a 48 day schedule. The overall plan is longer including Sunday rest-days and margin days, but we're halfway through the riding days as of today! The plan may change, as it did this week. But progress!    Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    2

    Ride Day #23 - Nestor Falls to Fort Frances

    June 4 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    It was evident first thing that we needed a bit more rest, so Carl dropped us off at the Nestor Falls United Church - where we finished riding with the mechanical fault yesterday - around midday after a restful morning at camp. We then spent a gorgeous afternoon riding to Fort Frances. We're loving riding in Ontario!

    But after most of the day lost to the mechanical issue yesterday, and need for yet more rest today, we have quite a ways to go to make it to Thunder Bay on Saturday....    Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    1

    Ride Day #22 - Sioux Narrows to...

    June 3 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    The first major mechanical...at church! We were aiming to get to Fort Frances today, and had made a very strong start - knocking off nearly 50K in the first couple of hours. Then, as I was pedaling along, the rear wheel stopped spinning in sync with my pedaling - as it had so faithfully done since Victoria. A fatal mechanical fault - i.e. one not easily repaired roadside. Carl was called to the rescue and, in the meantime, we took refuge at the church that just so happened to be in the middle of nowhere, right where the fault struck! We had to head back into Kenora to secure a temporary fix to the issue, and hopefully will be able to sort it properly in Thunder Bay at the weekend. Thankfully, we had worked a margin day into our schedule for Saturday in attempt at anticipating things just like this without getting too knocked off plan. Looks like we are riding Saturday!

    PS: Input invited below on the perplexing theological question as to whether one can trespass in church... ;)    Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    Monica and Rob welcomed us to Ontario with a lovely cooked breakfast!

    Ride Day #21 - West Hawk to Sioux Narrow

    June 2 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    ANOTHER border?!?! Soon after leaving West Hawk Lake in the morning, we met the Ontario border. See the video for more. Then, soon after the border, we were welcomed to a lovely lakeside cottage for a very needed second - cooked! - breakfast by Monica and Rob. Rob is my dad's cousin and grew up knowing my grandparents well. Though they live in Winnipeg, they couldn't have given us a warmer welcome into Ontario!Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses

    Ride Day #20 - Winnipeg to West Hawk Lake

    June 1 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    When the (new) chain slips...Monday morning, Carl dropped us at the Alter Ego bike shop where we had left off on Saturday, and we hit the road refreshed from a good rest day in Treherne. Our zeal soon abated, however, no further than 500 meters down the road when we realised that Judah's new chain was jumping on his old rear cassette. Long story short, we were back again to Alter Ego Sports, who had helped me with my crank on Saturday. They were great with Judah's bike, as he had to buy a new wheel and rear cassette to go with his new chain. We got away from Winnipeg by 1pm or so, and wondered if we would make the planned distance for the day. The planned distance was already longer because we finished Saturday in the West of Winnipeg rather than the East. The wind on the day strengthened the question. But as we broke out of the prairie lands into the woodlands that bridge Manitoba and Ontario, we found respite from the wind and made it to West Lake, as originally planned, around 9pm!Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    Debbie and Glen handed off the supporting role to my brother Carl, who is with us for 2 weeks.

    Champions...

    May 31 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    This is my favourite picture of Debbie and Glen - Julie's parents - from our time with them.

    As you know, they supported the first three weeks of our ride as we rode from the West Coast to Winnipeg.

    They drove our gear from campsite to campsite as we rode between.

    They setup camp and tore camp down.

    They cooked.

    They cleaned.

    They consoled.

    Glen made runny eggs for Andy each morning, joked about their poor quality, and then made good eggs for Judah.

    They prayed for us at the outset of each day, when we were finally ready to ride off in the morning.

    They often met us halfway on a day's ride for food and encouragement - which made such a difference on hard days.

    But more than all this - they are to be commended for being the first beyond Judah and me and Julie and the girls, to actually believe this was possible and to get behind it practically.

    We would not have made it as far as we did in three weeks without their support. But even more, we would have had a much harder time assuring loved ones this was doable had they not signed themselves up to help from nearly the first mention of the idea.

    Glen and Debby, we bless you!    Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses

    In better news....

    May 31 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    A big thanks to brother Carl for reaching out to various news media as we've travelled across, which has resulted in a few interviews....and attaining front page of THE Treherne Times! ;)

    Peace Arch News: https://peacearchnews.com/2026/06/01/former-whi… (this article was also published, in a slightly altered form not mentioning the White Rock connection, throughout various small towns in BC)

    Moose Jaw Express: https://www.pressreader.com/canada/moose-jaw-ex…

    Swift Current Online: https://swiftcurrentonline.com/articles/father-…

    I suggest you get Judah's autograph before he realises he's famous ;)    Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    Post-ride, Pre-showerPost-ride, Post-shower

    Ride Day #19 - Treherne to Winnipeg

    May 30 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    When the crank comes off....The first signs of wear are showing up on our bikes. The plan for this Saturday ride was to get from Treherne to Winnipeg - with Auntie Joan picking us up East of Winnipeg in the afternoon to bring us back to Treherne for our Sunday rest day, with a bike rack she bought for her car just for us! But we ran into our first major mechanical. Just outside Treherne, there I was cycling along, and my left crank arm came off - attached to my foot via my clipped in shoe and pedal, but no longer to the bike! We were able to temporarily fix it roadside, but called the day about 30km early, stopping at a bike shop in the Southwest of the city instead of in the East as planned. The good people of Alter Ego Sports were very helpful in providing a permanent fix for the crank, and Judah was able to pick up a replacement chain for his bike to install over the weekend back in Treherne. Not as much progress as we had hoped, but progress still!Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses

    Ride Day #18 - Aspen Grove to Treherne

    May 29 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Treherne! Ever heard of it? It`s great! And it means a lot to our family. The family farm my dad grew up on is there - now sold, my grandparents on my dad's side lived their lives there, my Auntie Joan lives there today, and we have lots of memories visiting it! It's a big reason why we took a more southerly route through Manitoba for a bit. Check out the video to see whether a fourth generation Turnbull can find his way through the town to the family home on his own...While taking our Sunday rest day there, my brother Carl also flew in from Vancouver to take over from Debbie and Glen in supporting us!!Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    4

    Nesbitt, Manitoba - Where it all goes down...

    May 29 in Canada ⋅ 🌬 29 °C

    We went out of our way to ride into - dare I say pilgrimage toward - the metropolis of Nesbitt, Manitoba, in honour of a dear colleague and friend.

    PS: Check this out! Today we passed the $10,000 mark in funds raised for Canada's nurses. Thanks for all your support! It's been a privilege to tell something of my mom's story as we've met people. Sadly we met no people in Nesbitt ;) https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/ride-for-r…Read more

  • Ride for Resilience: 7500km for Debby & our Nurses
    1

    Ride Day #17 - Broadview, SK to Aspen Grove, MB

    May 28 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Another provincial border! Saskatchewan's roads and winds were jarring - to say the least! But the hospitality was second to none. Where to start with all the Sask-love? Debbie's friend Mary-Beth hosted us our first night in the province in her cabin last minute, we enjoyed not one, but two, great visits with old friends Jason and Emily and their girls, were served a wonderful meal by another Eritrean family in Regina with connections in Oxford, and spent three nights with Roberta and James - who were way too kind in more ways than one!Read more