Big Bike gears up local fundraiser

Motorists and pedestrians on the roads surrounding the Complexe Pointe Claire shopping centre were doing plenty of double-takes last Wednesday, and for a good reason: it’s not ever day you see 30 people pedaling one giant bicycle together.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation’s annual Big Bike has been making its way across Canadian cities over the past few months, including Pointe Claire last Wednesday.

“People drive by and they go, ‘what?’ You see their heads spinning,” said Nathalie Adams, special projects coordinator at the Foundation’s Dorval branch, who has been on the Big Bike herself.

For the event, local corporations put together 29-member teams to bike a 15- to 20-minute circuit around Complexe Pointe Claire, all the while raising money for the Foundation through pledges and donations. Last year, the West Island Big Bike event raised about $18,000 for cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease research and prevention in Quebec.

“It’s a team building event. You want to incorporate the corporate world, because (heart disease and strokes) can touch anyone,” Adams said.

That is a point Kirkland resident Donald Palumbo understands very well. For the past four years, he has been team captain for Pointe Claire-based retail software company, Epicor. The company has been the West Island event’s leading fundraiser, bringing in over $16,000 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation since it started participating in the Big Bike, including this year’s $8,600.

“I actually had a stroke in December 2003,” Palumbo said. “When I went back to work (after a year), I saw and ad for the event on our website. The next thing I knew, I was team captain.”

The event has become a hit at Epicor, and finding participants for this year’s Big Bike was a breeze, Palumbo said.

“We each have our personal goals, and it all causes us to come together as a team,” he added.”

As Epicor’s team sat on the bike waiting to be escorted on their circuit by two police cars on Wednesday afternoon, the 29 members practiced their turn signals by sticking their left and right arms out in unison, and used different instruments, noisemakers, and their own voices to get geared up for the ride. Their excitement continued as they made their way down St. John’s Boulevard to turn on Brunswick Boulevard.

“The thing is so big, after a while of pedalling, it gets heavy,” Palumbo said with a smile. “But it’s a hoot!”