What’s your day job?
Senior Sales Tax Policy/Data Analyst
What’s your past biking experience?
I have ridden extensively since last year.
What’s your inspiration for this ride?
Last year’s ride is my BIGGEST inspiration. It was so much fun to bike with the group, visit multiple places and meet a few United Way employees!
How are you preparing for B4UW?
I ride across the GTA (and beyond!) whenever I can on weekends.
What do you think will be your greatest challenge on the ride?
Drinking enough electrolytes!
What do you like to do other than riding your bike?
I love cooking, baking, reading, doing lots of different sports, camping, traveling and cooking (yup, I spend a lot of my time in my kitchen).
Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
I am in a quest to master the art of making macarons. I am still not there but I will eventually!
Ministry: Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery (MPBSD)
Years doing the B4UW? This will be my 5th time doing B4UW. What’s your day job? Terminologist What’s your past biking experience? I started road riding in July 2016, for the 2016 B4UW, and kept it up since. I still regard myself as a relative newbe. What’s your inspiration for this ride? It’s a great cause!
How are you preparing for B4UW? Getting as many rides as I can fit in – back-to-back 100+km will be needed this year. What do you think will be your greatest challenge on the ride? Not whining about camping.
What do you like to do other than
riding your bike?
Swimming, reading, baking, going to the movies and
hanging out with family and friends.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself. I was right into punk in my youth and still love the Sex Pistols.
Ministry
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC)
What’s your day job?
I’m currently Manager of the Healthy Active Living Unit, Health Promotion Implementation Branch of MOHLTC.
What’s your past biking experience?
As with most people, cycling was a part of my childhood and youth that I did not fully appreciate at the time. Fast forward a few years to a trip to Amsterdam that convinced me that cycling could be integrated into a busy, urban professional lifestyle. Starting as “just a commuter” turned into a year-round, rain-snow-or-shine lifestyle commitment. I haven’t used any other means of transportation to get to work or travel in town (Toronto) for the last few years and only miss a day or two each winter during the worst storms. More recently, I’ve added a “roadie” component to my cycling identity. This basically means a few more long rides a week and the chance to indulge my previously-undiscovered love of wearing spandex. Yes, I have embraced my identity as a MAMIL (Middle-Aged Man In Lycra)!
What’s your inspiration for this ride?
The beauty of our Ontario landscape and the heroic efforts of cycling pioneers who have risked their lives to promote the radical notion that bicycles belong on the roads.
Also “reverse” inspiration from my stupid mutt Max who I won’t have to walk/feed/pick up after for a few days!
How are you preparing for B4UW?
I’m actually much better prepared than the same time last year because I have been consciously shifting from simply riding my bike everywhere to an actual, organized training regimen – and many more kilometres. I’ve tried to add both intensity and duration to my rides and vary the terrain to approximate some of the topographic challenges we will be facing – namely the ones that go upwards at steep angles. I’ve also been trying to increase the number of back-to-back “long ride” days – riding 150 km once is not that bad; doing it again the next day (and the next…) is a whole other thing!
What do you think will be your greatest challenge on the ride?
Trying not to let the other riders see me cry like a baby on some of the more challenging climbs.
Chafing.
Convincing other riders to push me and/or give me their food.
What do you like to do other than riding your bike?
I’m fortunate enough to maintain an active (semi-)professional musical career. For over 20 years I have gigged, recorded and otherwise performed at least weekly around the GTA. Music has been a great balance with the OPS career (although like any musician, I would give up the day job in a second for the right gig).
I have also actively practiced yoga (mostly Ashtanga and Iyengar) for the last 15 years, which I took up mostly to help repair the damage I did to myself during the previous 15 years of competitive martial arts.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
I can do the splits and will happily demonstrate any time, any place. The only potential impediment is my pants. Also, Ock is the third rarest Korean surname. My family are the only ones in Ontario.
What’s your day job?
Customer Experience Manager with the Digital Garage. We are a new branch researching emerging technology in the Transportation and Labour sector.
What’s your past biking experience?
Starting riding 5 years ago in prep for B4UW 2013 North Bay to Toronto, and have done 4 B4UW rides since.
What’s your inspiration for this ride?
This year I’ll play more of a supporting role (driving the Support & Gear truck, feeding riders along the route). I’m looking forward to ‘giving back’ to the community that has supported my me over the years.
How are you preparing for B4UW?
Errrrr, can I get back to you on that one? Since I’ll be driving a lot, I’ve been quite lazy with training. Am still at the gym 3 x a week but only getting out on the road for a long ride once every few weeks.
What do you think will be your greatest challenge on the ride?
Getting off the bike and back into the truck. Its a great route (as always) and I’ll want to be out there!
What do you like to do other than riding your bike?
Travelling, hiking, spending time with friends and family.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
In my teenage years I showed goats at fall fairs. My goats name was Hilary.
What’s your day job? Advisor to the Ontario Parks Reservation and Registration Service Project
What’s your past biking experience? This will be my fifth B4UW. I last rode with the B4UW in 2016. In 2017 I was busy growing a small human. In 2018 I had my hands full (literally) caring for that small human. This is my big “come back”.
What’s your inspiration for this ride?
I believe in the work that the United Way does. In Peterborough you don’t have to look to far to notice the positive impact the UW has on this community.
How are you preparing for B4UW? A little bit of riding, a little bit of running, a few trips to the gym, and A LOT of what I’ll call “cross training” (trying to keep up with a very active one year old).
What do you think will be your greatest challenge on the ride?
I’m not in shape for this!
What do you like to do other than riding your bike? I love anything that gets me outside. Running, swimming, hiking, camping, and patios are my favorites.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself. A fun fact? Oh, geez… I laugh A LOT! And my laugh has zero volume control. Innocent bystanders always crane their necks to see what is so funny!!
Ministry
Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change
What’s your day job?
Toronto District Manager
What’s your past biking experience?
I ride endurance type mountain bikes events, plus lots of road riding on other weekends. I’ve been fortunate enough to take cycle trips over-seas. Riding the Alps during the Tour was fun… and humbling!
What’s your inspiration for this ride?
I always enjoy OPS United Way events because the organization supports so many great causes. The events provide team building opportunities where you can make connections with colleagues, and events create healthy workplaces.
How are you preparing for B4UW? I plan to spend the summer carbo loading.
What do you think will be your greatest challenge on the ride?
Finding the best roadside food stands and bakeries.
What do you like to do other than riding your bike? Chase my kids on the trails… and stay fit enough so the kids still have to chase me.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself. Will ride far for apple pie!
What’s your past biking experience? I have done the T2T Ride and the B4UW 2013 ride, as well as many mountain bike races, adventure races and have tackled the streets of Toronto every morning and night for my commute!
What’s your inspiration for this ride? I just love to be on my bike seeing amazing pocket of Ontario and doing it with likeminded OPSers is even better!
How are you preparing for B4UW? Biking, biking and more biking!
What do you think will be your greatest challenge on the ride? It all depends on how I approach this ride this year. Last year I rode single-speed this year maybe tandem???
What do you like to do other than riding your bike? I love to play golf, do crossfit, eat amazing food and head to my cottage when I can!
Tell us a fun fact about yourself. I love to dance! I think it may be how I am wired, but if there is great music playing, I will dance to it!
What’s your day job? Senior New Media Consultant (web dev, etc.)
What’s your past biking experience? 10 years of commuting in Toronto, evening and weekend rides – the longer the better!
What’s your inspiration for this ride? I’m looking forward to sharing the road with other OPSers that enjoy cycling as much as I do.
How are you preparing for B4UW? Daily commuting, 3 or 4 loops around Lake Simcoe (anyone care to join?), plus a 0% reduction in beer intake between now and the ride in September.
What do you think will be your greatest challenge on the ride? Finding good coffee every morning.
What do you like to do other than riding your bike? Hang out with my wife and kids, drink coffee, watch baseball, play golf, play music, record collecting, and travel.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself. Before beginning my career in the OPS, I was full-time touring musician in my early/mid-twenties. I would take my bike on tour and ride every morning in a different city/town, which was awesome.
What’s your day job?
A/Senior Strategic Initiatives Lead, Strategic Services Branch
What’s your past biking experience?
Competitive cyclist, training with the Sudbury Cycling Club
What’s your inspiration for this ride?
Always excited to discover new routes and looking forward to riding with my colleagues in support of the United Way.
How are you preparing for B4UW?
Occasional rides to the corner store, watching the Tour de France in July, and several months of carbo-loading.
What do you think will be your greatest challenge on the ride?
Controlling my pastry intake along the way.
What do you like to do other than riding your bike?
I’m an all-around outdoor sports enthusiast. Also love playing music, and I am a cross country ski coach of Laurentian Nordic’s Junior racing team in the winter.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
I used to be the lead singer in an 8 person bluegrass band in Thunder Bay. We had a stand up bassist, banjo player, mandolin player, two guitarists, a fiddle player and a washboard player, too.
What’s your day job?
Senior IT Performance Measurement Advisor
What’s your past biking experience?
New to road riding
What’s your inspiration for this ride?
Just seems like a neat thing to do and a great opportunity to meet new people
How are you preparing for B4UW?
Riding 40k to work most days and plan on doing weekend group rides with local riders
What do you think will be your greatest challenge on the ride?
The distance
What do you like to do other than riding your bike?
3D archery, hunting and fishing and I volunteer with the North Bay Search and Rescue organization Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
I’m 58
Ministry: 
