Key Takeaways
- The Test Your Limits team includes heart and kidney transplant recipients who aim to inspire others through extreme adventures.
- They recently tackled the 1400+ km Tree Sea Bike Packing Loop, emphasizing resilience in challenging conditions.
- Team members share the importance of exercise and organ donation for heart health and overall well-being.
- Dr. Ross highlights that regular exercise significantly reduces the risk of cardiac issues and other health problems.
- The team raises awareness for life-saving cardiac research and encourages others to push past their limits.
Seven black bicycles are parked beneath the branches of an ancient cedar that towers over a beachfront campsite at Muchalat Lake. It’s so peaceful here, you could hear a pin drop. Earlier in the day, world-renowned Canadian cardiologist Dr. Heather Ross and six riders from the Test Your Limits team rolled into the campground without any fanfare.
Just this morning, the TYL team set out on the first leg of the infamously gruelling 1400+ km Tree Sea Bike Packing Loop. Today’s leg of this epic ride saw each of them pedal more than 115km (including over 2000 meters of climbing). There’s definitely jubilance in the air as they introduce themselves from the comfort of their camping chairs. But they don’t seem tired at all- these people are celebrating what it means to be alive- by living to the max.
What Makes These Cyclists Phenomenal?
It’s not unusual to meet cyclists taking an overnight break from this gruelling route at Muchalat Lake. To me, these riders are always awe-inspiring. Achieving even part of the Tree To Sea loop is a phenomenal achievement in itself. Every rider who gets here had to overcome extraordinary physical, mental, and emotional challenges. Even in the midst of such incredible fortitude, the Test Your Limits bike-packing team is extraordinary. Each of the riders have faced a life defining health crisis that no one ever expects to face. With the exception of Dr. Ross each rider is either a heart or kidney transplant recipient.
And the Tree To Sea Loop isn’t the team’s first expedition. They’ve completed 12 gruelling expeditions around the world since 2006, including trekking to Vincent Massif in Antartica, as well as trekking to both the North and South Poles. They’ve assailed remote trails in Bhutan, Bolivia too. Their adventures also once took them to the highest peak in Nepal.
“We look to do adventures that are not commonly done, and that are physically challenging,” Ross explains “Because the whole point is to show heart transplant recipients and kidney transplant recipients that anything’s possible.”
The team chose the Tree To Sea Bike packing loop for this year’s adventure because of the route’s unique remoteness as well as its opportunities to view bears, whales, elk and other wildlife in their natural habitat. On the first leg of this journey, they’ve already seen several bears- including a big black bear that jumped from a ditch right in front of team rider Sunneet Singh’s front tire right at the bottom of a downhill section
Meeting Mother Natures Surprises With Resiliance
But (as if these expeditions aren’t challenging enough) the Test Your Limits Team is used to surprise encounters like this. Mother Nature always seems to throw in a few unexpected curveballs.
An example is the torrential rain they faced while camped on a ledge about 14,000 feet up a mountain in Nepal. “The rain was coming down in sheets. It was just SO much rain” Ross is emphatic as she retells a favourite tale “We were in our food tent, having our supper. There were streams of river going underneath our feet. Everything was black, and quite miserable. But then we just started to laugh. It became funny-in a way that doesn’t make sense- but is sort of that adversity that tends to bring teams together.”
Fellow rider Perry Ross adds “If we don’t test the ourselves, then we never find out what we can actually accomplish. It makes regular life a lot easier–like when you get home from one of these trips, you get a flat tire, you’re like: “oh, well”! and you get on with life. Most people will be like crying on the side of the road…”
These riders have come from regions across Canada with one shared, powerful mission: To inspire others to push past their limits, to fund life-saving cardiac research, and to raise awareness of the critical importance of organ donation.
Exercise, Become An Organ Donor, And Support Cardiac Research
Dr. Ross’ award winning research into heart failure and transplantation led her to the conclusion that exercising a minimum of 150 minutes per week is critical to preventing cardiac events. But taking just 25 minutes a day to exercise also contributes to the prevention of a litany of related health issues too. This includes hypertension, diabetes and obesity.
Ross is quick to point out that it doesn’t matter whether we walk, hike, bike, run, or climb mountains– any one of these activities will help keep us healthy. When it comes to heart health and longevity, what matters is regular exercise, eating a varied diet, getting adequate sleep. One of the best benefits of exercise is that it helps boost mental health, perhaps especially if it involves good friends and fresh air.
If you’re on the North End of Vancouver Island, there’s a good chance you might come across a group of happy cyclists, singing songs as they ride over some of the most challenging roads on Vancouver Island. If you do, honk your horn, wave, and tell them I said “Hi”.
- Click here to find out more about the Test Your Limits initiative.
- Want to find out more about exciting cardiac research being pioneered in Canada? Click here
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Lynne Fedorick is an RV expert and experienced outdoor author who has written hundreds of articles for RV Life, RV Trader, and other leading publications. She evaluates RV gear, portable power systems, and emergency preparedness equipment for real-world RV travel. Lynne is the founder of RVAdventureGuide.com, offering RV travel tips, reviews, and destinations from a uniquely Canadian perspective.
