As the Cycle of Hope comes to an end, I would like to say that though I have blathered on for almost two weeks, to the annoyance of some, about the ride, it isn’t really about the ride.

It’s about what we saw and what we felt on Saturday as we rode into Winnipeg and to the Habitat for Humanity build site.  The Cycle of Hope is really about the home and the family who will live there.  Our arrival at the build site is the culmination of the efforts of 49 riders who fund-raised to finance the home.

But we are only one piece of the equation.  It’s about the donors who gave so eagerly to support Habitat for Humanity and the Cycle of Hope. As a result of their generosity, we have raised over $225,000.  This is enough to finance “our” home with some left in the kitty to continue the work of Habitat.

It’s about the Cycle of Hope support people, who drove us to Niagara Falls to start the ride, who kept us safe on the roads and who kept us fed along the way.  Their days were longer and harder than ours.  When we laid down our bikes at the end of the day, they still had work to do, whether it was looking ahead to the next day’s route or prepping our next day’s breakfast and lunch.

It’s about the organizing committee who planned all the routes and found us places to stay. They worked throughout the past year to put this all together.

It’s about the churches and service organizations who housed us and fed us, every single day along our route. We passed through their communities and they embraced our cause and so willingly helped us.

It’s about the work of the volunteer builders who are actually building this home.  While we have been off riding our bikes, they have been working in the same sweltering heat here in Winnipeg to actually build the home.

And it’s about the family who works alongside them, helping in the building of the home, which sometime soon they will buy with an interest-free mortgage and move into and make it their home.

It’s really not about the ride.  It’s about the home!