Jamie Fligg

Ministry
Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry

Years doing the B4UW?  This will be my second ride including T2T 2024 (with 11 years between).

What’s your day job? Policy Advisor, Crown Land Use Planning

What’s your past biking experience? B4UW Ottawa to Toronto (via Kingston and Peterborough) in 2013. I have used my indoor bike trainer to help prepare me for the Canadian Ski Marathon (a two day, 160km classic ski challenge in Quebec) 4 times in Quebec and two at Kawartha Nordic during the pandemic.
I have also made use of my bike trainer in a creative way to raise awareness regarding domestic abuse and to raise funds in partnership with the YWCA of Peterborough and Haliburton (a United Way supported agency).
I picked up cyclocross racing during the pandemic as a fun way to mix up my cycling.

What’s your inspiration for this ride?
I rode in the first B4UW after the original T2T and promised myself that if a T2T route was ever planned again, I would not miss the opportunity a second time.  I used to work in Thunder Bay and I have worked in Toronto and Peterborough, so in a way, this is stitching my career together spatially. I also see the value that the United Way adds to communities around the province and know that doing something EPIC can really help to support fundraising for the United Way.

How are you preparing for B4UW?
I have been riding my bike trainer all winter (completed the Canadian Ski Marathon in Quebec in February) and I have already completed one 100+ KM outdoor ride this year.

Continuing to build the milage so that I actually start in Thunder Bay with the confidence I will need to complete this challenge. My two amazing girls are now teenagers, so finding time to train while I am not driving taxi could be a real challenge.

What do you think will be your greatest challenge on the ride?
My greatest challenge will be overcoming how well I know that highway and those hills. This will be a test of training over known commodities, the more I train, the better I hope to overcome my knowledge based appreciation of how many massive hills stand between Nipigon and Sault Ste. Marie!

What do you like to do other than riding your bike? I am part of an active outdoor family.  We love to canoe trip, hike, Nordic ski and ride our bikes together. We also love to road trip across our amazing country together.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
In 2022, I paddled a kayak from Marathon to Wawa (200km) along the Lake Superior Coastline as part of a 10 day paddling trip with two friends.  Completing T2T would make it so that I have travelled that portion of the Lake Superior coastline by car, moving van, kayak and now bike!