Author: Jeffrey Preston

A common theme is beginning to form on these blog posts–getting up early in the morning and me reminiscing about sleep-ins past. Like most days this trip, we were up at an early (read: reasonable time for anyone else in the world with an iota of responsibility) to set off on a day of several important missions of the political and domestic nature.

We started the day out at Leeanna Pendergrast’s constituency office to sit down and chat with Lisa Littlefield, a woman who works closely with Leeanne. This was a really good meeting–I had a great time talking to Lisa. Lisa was one of those political-type women who aren’t into the silly business–with surgical precision she cut deep into the issue, found out what she needed to know, asked how she could help, and started developing strategies to solve these problems. We need more people (women in general, perhaps) like this in politics! The meeting was good and we’ve developed some firm actions to move forward. I found myself leaving this meeting totally energized and full of ideas–I’m cookin’ up some doozies we’ll be rolling out over the next few weeks that are sure to add a bit more excitement to an already interesting trip.

After chatting with Lisa we got down to business–we got a cup of Starbucks Expresso in Sam (it’s her “Function Juice,” she runs better with a couple litres in her) and sought out a Laundromat and Internet cafe. I know…I somehow had forgotten the whole “have to clean your clothing or you run out of clean clothing to wear…” thing. That whole “week into the trip” thing kinda snuck up on me and I was definitely on my last pair of clean underwear. Strangely enough there just happened to be a Laundromat just down the street from Leeanna’s office–perfect, finally Ms. Thatcher led us somewhere profitable! After getting the laundry started we set off for downtown to seek out some high speed internets to upload our first vlog. Unfortunately, there are no listed Internet Cafe’s in our GPS and the Gaming Cafe we had seen across the street from the City Hall has been closed down…dang!

Since the Internet search was looking like a bit of a strike-out we decided instead to walk down to Karen Redman, Kitchener Centre MP, constituency office, which is also located near Kitchener City Hall. Unfortunately, Karen wasn’t in her office today and wouldn’t be back in town until Friday, at which point I will be enroute to Hamilton), but the woman at the desk seemed interested in what I’m up to and said she would see about getting Karen to give me a call sometime this week–fingers are crossed. Having said that, this seems to be a pretty good way of getting the attention of MPs and MPPs–simply show up at their constituency office and start talking…you never know where it might land you!

After this excitement and finishing up our Laundry, including having an employee of the Laundromat give us the creepiest stare through the front window of the shop as we loaded up into the van and drove off, we decided it was about time to restock on some essential food products. The Zehrs trip was pretty uneventful, except that a telepathic link is beginning to form between Sam and Pete…it’s kinda scary. Pete and I were literally across the grocery store gabbing and Pete mentioned that we should pick up some disposable cutlery. Literally 5 minutes later Sam returns from her mission to find a bag of salad holding a box of disposable cutlery, saying “Hey guess what we should get today too?” Scary.

This afternoon was a lot quieter, although quite productive. We all broke off into individual tasks that needed doing–Pete finished booking the rest of our hotels, Sam took on the media and I worked on setting up some more political meetings along the way. Between cavorting with the media, Sam and I decided it would be kind of cool if I set off from Kitchener City Hall on the next leg of our trip, something that will involve some police escort through the city. After being bounced around about a million different departments, and an officer asking Sam about how many bicyclists would be involved in the event (clearly someone wasn’t listening too closely), we finally got…okay…well…an uncertain but possibly positive response from the Waterloo Region Police. The official word is that because we aren’t going to pay for the escort (shocking, I know) they cannot guarantee that an escort will be available. Sooooo, we’re apparently suppose to just leave it up to fate and hope for the best that we’ll have a cruiser helping us through the city…otherwise, this trip could get a little more interesting as I fight my way from City Hall to the City Limits by myself. We’ll see what happens. Suddenly Kitchener could look a lot like LA in the Future…which would make me Kurt Russell. Hrm, thinks may be looking up after all! Chicks dig Kurt Russell, don’t they?
Tomorrow boasts another busy morning so I should be getting off to bed. I’ve now made it two days in a row without a nap! Look mom, I’m a big boy now! Bright and early we’re giving a presentation at Mary Johnson Public School, followed by a Meet and Greet at the Scotia Bank in lovely downtown Kitchener (64 King St West). So if you’re downtown, come on in to the Scotia Bank between 11am-Noon and say hello!

And now….we sleep!

– Jeff

Wow. I can’t believe this is the end of week one–it feels like it’s been a lot longer. To commemorate the week, I’ve sliced together a 10-minute clip of what we’ve been up to; however, the Internet here is pitiful and I can’t get it online yet. Never to fear, tomorrow we’re going to find a cyber cafe with some solid intertubes to upload from…so alas, you will have to wait another day. Tragic…I know.

As a result, this post is going to be horrendously uninteresting. Today was completely uneventful, involving naps, subway sandwiches, and about 5 hours of video editing (iMovie HD 6.0 and I are no longer friends). We’ve got a busy day tomorrow involving some good ol’ fashion door-to-door campaigning downtown. Wish us luck, we’re certainly going to need it!

I feel that because this is the last post of the week I should at least write a little something to encapsulate my time thus far. To be honest, I’m craving the road. On Monday, I was loathing the long trip ahead of me, so much so I barely slept a wink several days before leaving because my stomach ulcer was bubbling over with tension. I had a deep knot of regret and fear in the pit of my stomach…an unspeakable turmoil of self doubt and fear of what may go wrong. There were so many unknowns about this trip–how would it work on the road? Would I be safe? Would the chair last? Would I last? What if I get sick? While I don’t have a concrete answer for any of those questions right now, I’m coming to terms with the reality that there are no definitive answers and ultimately, I am definitely growing to enjoy my time out on the open road. There is something transcendental about being out there alone: just me, the chair, and the poignant pageantry of rural Ontario unfolding before my eyes. I don’t mean to wax faux-poetically here, and to be honest some of the visuals I’ve witnessed so far are prettier than my mediocre grasp of the English language could ever do justice, but over the short 7 days I can already feel this trip changing me in significant and profound ways. Now, 7 days later, all my fears and doubts have been replaced by a craving for more–I’m ready to do more, to take on greater challenges and conquer further distances. Before this trip began, the obstacle of accessible transportation seemed like an insurmountable mountain–an Everest of Strife–but now, a mere week in, the problem seems like little more than a fleck of dust on the brim of my increasingly worn March baseball cap…desperate to be brushed aside and forgotten forever. I truly feel like I am turning another massive page in the story that is my life and while I cannot say how the story will read when I pop out at the top of the province, I can certainly say that by the end of this trip we will not just be turning the page on inaccessible transportation in the story of Ontario, but we will be closing off an entire chapter of our existence, one so vile and undignified that we will have no idea why it took so long to close in the first place.

I don’t mean to sound negative or pluck on the shame-chords of your collective hearts: rather, I believe that we are truly moving in a profoundly positive direction and this is something we should all take pride in. The quest for an accessible Ontario had it’s first real victory shortly after the birth of the new millennium–now in the summer of 2008, we have the opportunity, duty, and ability to give birth to the next major milestone in the fight for emancipation. Now all we have to do is turn the page.

Tomorrow, more news, less blab, AND our first video blog–-I promise…probably.

– Jeff

Growing up in Port Elgin I always loved Saturday mornings. It was one of the few times I would get to sleep in–Monday to Friday I would have to get up early to go to school and Sunday mornings generally meant getting up to go to church with the family. But Saturday…no, Saturday was my time to shine, to sleep in until 10, 11, or noon if I was feeling particularly saucy. Today was our first chance to sleep in and sure enough, my eyes popped open around 8:30am and my brain refused to cooperate with my sleep-in plans. I tossed and turned for another half an hour before finally getting up and heading to grab some breakfast in the hotel lobby.

After packing up and leaving a little present for Karen the Manager (who helped arrange a bunch of great hotel deals for us), we set off for Kitchener. The sun was blazing this morning and it was PERFECT out for driving. Of course, the day we get the great weather is the day we have one of our shortest rides–just under 10km. Regardless, moments after setting out from Cambridge we had another close call on the road. Some cars were driving past us and I guess the lead car slowed down to take a look at what we were doing and the car following him/her wasn’t paying attention and after some loud screeching tires, nearly got rear-ended. Luckily, the rear car stopped in time and no one was hurt.

Shortly there after we turned on to Maple Grove Road, which turned out to be WAY busier than I had ever, ever imagined. Last night, Peter and I sat down and went through all of our routes again and tried to make sure we were staying off the busy roads as best as possible, which involved changing our route from Cambridge to Kitchener. Low and behold, there are basically no direct roads from Cambridge to Kitchener that aren’t really busy, so we decided to take our chances with Maple Grove Road. I explained to Pete last night that we probably wouldn’t have to worry though because there will probably be next to no one on the road on a Saturday morning. Boy was I wrong! It was so busy on this road that we spent the entire time on the shoulder, bouncing along through the loose gravel and stone. It sucked because the gravel was JUST big enough to send my chair bouncing around, with the vibrations jolting right up the foot plates, through my calves and into my knees. My thighs were pretty tingly by the time we got to Kitchener.

We had another really cute moment along this drive. Just around the Toyota Plant, Pete informed us that he had someone following him along the shoulder. To this point, we still aren’t sure what these people were doing, but after following us for a few minutes they decided to get back on the road, pass us, drive ahead and pull over. We thought they might want to stop and talk to us but as we passed they just hung out the window and waved enthusiastically. So we kept driving and low and behold they started following us on the shoulder again. By this point, it was getting kind of weird and curiosity was about to kill the cat, when they pulled out on the road and drove off. Pete thinks they may have been waiting for friends who they had lost on the busy street, but we may never know for sure.

Just as we arrived at the city limits of Kitchener, Braden (one of our dedicated team members who helped us set this all up), called to say hi. As he was chatting with Sam, Pete and I followed a small grassy/gravel path down to the edge of the Grand River, where I dipped a tire in–drive 3 was finally complete.

The rest of the day was spent cruising around Kitchener and relaxed. We had a nice big lunch (finally got some steak! finally!) and got to check out Kitchener City Hall briefly before checking into our hotel for a little pre-dinner nap. I’m feeling really good today, like I can take on the world–bring on the long drive to Hamilton, bring on the marathon in the north, I’m ready for it!

Another day of rest tomorrow, then back into the fray on Monday! Keep an eye out tomorrow for our VERY FIRST Video Blog entry, which will review, in video form, some of the events of this past week. I’ll make sure to post it to youtube for easy sharing and streaming.

Have a good one,

– Jeff

Another day, another early morning. We got up early today to make it across town for our first presentation of the day at Stewart Avenue Public School. Although the sun was shining brightly, it was definitely a bit nippy out. I guess it was kind of a good thing though because the blast of cool wind definitely woke me up–it was tough getting out of bed today for sure. The presentation went quite nicely at the school and a bunch of the kids mauled me after for autographs, which was both really neat and kind of strange all at the same time. Usually when I sign my name to something it means I’m losing money to the phone or cable company, which is rarely cause for celebration, but sitting at the front of the auditorium and giving kids high fives and signatures was a pretty cool experience. I’ve never really thought of myself as being “autograph” worthy and I’m still not too sure if I fit within that category–I guess ultimately it’s just really, really humbling and surreal to have these kids looking up to me and thinking “Wow, he’s a really cool guy!” I’ve never thought of myself as being much of a role-model figure, I just hope I don’t let these kids down.

After a really great conversation at the elementary school with some other students with disabilities from a local high school, I made my way over to the City Hall. Now, as some of you may know, we purchased a GPS unit before heading out on this journey, which I have affectionately named Margaret Thatcher because of the shrill and bossy British voice that is constantly leading us down a path of catastrophic destruction. Today, Ms. Thatcher decided to lead us to the wrong City Hall–apparently Cambridge has recently rebuilt their City Hall a few blocks down the road. Luckily, there was a sign on the old City Hall door so we didn’t miss our appointment.

Shortly after arriving in front of the beautiful new City Hall, which I’m told is the most energy efficient City Hall in all of Canada…take that British Columbia, we were quickly greeted by Mayor Craig, who saw us approaching from his throne on the 2nd Floor of the Glass Acropolis that is Cambridge City Hall.

After a short meet and greet, CTV arrived anxious for an interview. It was a really fun interview with a very nervous intern (who I blabbed at for a bit longer than I intended…sorry!) and a very chill camera man who was incredibly good at walking backward while filming from his shoulder. The CTV crew followed us into the Mayor’s office after our interview and stuck around for our chat with Mayor Craig. The Mayor was quite receptive to our concerns and explained that he was so excited to hear about what I am doing and hopes his City Council will be able to continue to break down barriers through the the Accessible Advisory Committee–a very, very active group who have done some incredible work around Cambridge over the past 2 years.

After this, Operation: Sleep took hold. I fell asleep around 1:30 this afternoon and was borderline comatose until around 6pm tonight. Without betraying my famous Jeff Preston Bravado too much, I definitely have to admit that this trip has been far, far, far harder on me than I rarely let myself acknowledge. I definitely did not expect how much physical strain would be put on my body from driving for extended periods of time–the static driving position is already beginning to wreck havoc on my neck and left shoulder. Because of my reduced muscle mass, from the Muscular Dystrophy, it takes almost all of my strength just to remain sitting upright, something that is complicated further when driving on bumpy or gravel roads. For short drives (less than an hour) I don’t seem to really notice the strain, but on our last 6 hour run I was absolutely feeling it by the end: I’m pretty sore and unbelievably tired after a long drive, far more than I had planned on before. Having said that, I never expected this to be simple or easy and I will struggle my way through both the physical and emotional obstacles to achieve my goal–I owe it to all of those with disabilities across this province. We deserve so much better and I’m willing to sacrifice everything to attain that goal.

We’re only on Day 5 and Woodstock seems like it happened last months. Oh well, onward we preserve for a cause far bigger than any one person.

Oh! Some exciting news! I’ve now put all of our routes online under the Itinerary section (or by following this link). Now the embedded maps are a little screwed up, Google Maps has been really buggy tonight and I’m just too tired to try and figure out what is wrong. Having said that, if you click on the little link that says ‘View Larger Map’ below the embedded map, that will open our EXACT route up into a new window. This is the way we’re planning to get to Ottawa, so come on out and see us on our way!

Tomorrow we head to Kitchener, a nice and short trip starting around 11am. We’ve got a really nice quiet weekend ahead of us, followed by a really really busy week in Kitchener and Guelph. Time to get some rest, relax a bit, and get ready to change some minds!

Onward and upward, Drive 3 tomorrow.

– Jeff

Okay, for serious this time, a short post. For real. I promise! Today was a pretty relaxed day all in all, something that was definitely needed. I accidentally slept all afternoon…instead of finishing my thesis…whatever, I’ll just do another year of school, no problem, right mom? We got up early and grabbed some continental breakfast from the Comfort Inn lobby–I had a bowl of Raisin Bran for the first time in like 40 years. For those of you who don’t know me, this likely seems pretty obscure and of questionable significance, but without going into graphic detail, I am an unbelievably picky eater. So much so I leave many people wondering how I’m even alive to this day. My diet generally consists of meat (I’m a Bruce County boy, we love our beef), what I like to call the anti-vegetarian, and have a personal vendetta against fruits and vegetables. More proof that I am a young child stuck in a grown man’s body, as if the fact that we are DEFINITELY going to Chucky Cheese tomorrow night for dinner isn’t enough (Whack-a-mole here we come!!).

Anyway, post-breakfast we headed over to Avenue Road Public School for the very first school presentation of the trip. They were a great group of kids who were really excited to hear what I’m up to on my way to Ottawa. I also had one of the toughest questions ever from a girl in the audience, who wanted to know the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’m pretty sure that is officially the hardest question a kid has ever, ever, ever asked me. How much do I weigh? No problem. How do I go pee? Simple. What does it feel like to be in a chair? Terrific. Best thing that’s ever happened to me? Wow. That question was way too philosophical and introspective for 9:30 in the morning!

Once again, the legendary Sam must make another appearance on this blog. As we were walking to the gymnasium we started hearing whispers in the classrooms that we passed, the normal type of excited buzz when strangers are walking around a school. Except this time, we clearly heard some kids say “I think that’s Sam!” Now at the time, Sam figured this had nothing to do with her and must have been about something else, but of course, during the question and answer period after my presentation a young girl raises her hand and asks: “Who is Sam?” At this point, Sam does her best face-painted hockey fan impression and I almost find out what it feels like to pee my pants from laughing too hard in front of an entire elementary school.

So make a note–in 4 days, Sam has now been called out two, arguably three, separate times. The best part about this is that it is becoming a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy because as more hilarious events occur involving Sam, they will be written about in the blog, which will lead to more people asking about her, which will lead to more blog postings about her. After I’ve fixed up this whole accessible transportation mess I think I may be able to just live off “Sam Burton Celebrity Foundation” royalties for the rest of my natural life (and probably some of my unnatural one too). Good news mom and dad, looks like your retirement pension is safe for another few years!

Tomorrow is going to be a big day and I hope Cambridge is ready for it! I’m presenting at Stewart Avenue Public School tomorrow morning, followed by a mini-rally at Cambridge City Hall and a meeting with Mayor Doug Craig starting at 11am. All are welcome and we will have all kinds of post cards for people to sign and rally posters for people to wave around and place in the windows of their house or business. I will be making a very brief speech and the rest of the time will be dedicated to just chatting with everyone who shows up.

Well, it’s about time for me to pack it in. See? I can be brief when I want to be! Oh one more thing, we just got the rest of our decals for the vehicles, so keep your eyes out for some of the coolest looking vans cruisin’ around Cambridge tomorrow night!

– Jeff

Well it’s day three of the trip and the team’s energy level is running a little low–we had a long drive today from Woodstock to Cambridge, Pete and Sam have already passed out, and I’m likely not far behind. So unlike the last two posts, this one is going to be relatively short (for reals this time, I promise).

We got up nice and early today to hit the road on time after reading the article about the March in the Woodstock Sentinel and reporting in to John Dubinsky at 98 The Beach. Oh! I almost forgot–if you’d like to hear live updates about the trip, tune into 98 The Beach on your FM Dial if you’re in the Port Elgin area OR listen online at: http://www.98thebeach.ca/

I will be checking in at 10:00am on:
May 15th
May 29th
June 3rd
June 12th
June 20th
June 23rd

So anyway, we hit the road around 10:30am and made incredible time. It was pretty overcast, although the rain held out for quite some time. The drive today did, however, provide several hilarious moments, most of which involved Sam (sorry Sam). The first happened just after turning onto County Road 4. Huge trucks were whizzing past us at some pretty incredible speeds, so much so they were actually pushing my chair almost off the road…it was like being hit by a baseball bat made of wind…or a wind made of baseball bats…I’m not even sure which. So anyway, after being wind-molested several times I told Sam to let me know when big trucks were coming so I could veer out of the way and brace for impact. Sure enough, Sam informs me moments later that a big one is coming barreling down the road. I grit my teeth, get ready for the onslaught and (insert memorable 300 quote here). Just as the truck is pulling into view, I look into the cab to see the truck driver taking a nice big look at Sam as he pases, including a second glance in the review mirror, finalized by the most comical “ooooh yeaaaa” facial expression I have ever seen in my entire life. It’s at this point that I begin to wonder if all those honks and waves on the first step of the trip were really about the March at all or if it was just Sam.

My suspicions were later confirmed as we were passing a crew working in a field and one of the workers ran out into the road to Sam’s van and gave her a donation. Oh well, I don’t even care if it’s all her doing anymore–she has become pretty profitable!

Shortly after leaving Drumbo, the skies opened up and I was forced to bust out the rain poncho. Now, I’m not even going to bother trying to describe this to you, because only a picture can adequately depict how ridiculous I looked (which will be attached to the bottom of this post once Sam wakes up and tells me where her camera is). Anyway, I will simply say there was a giant robotic pumpkin flying around outside Woodstock this afternoon, causing most passing motorists to either stare at me with a look of utter confusion or simply burst out laughing. Pete thought I looked kind of like an over-sized road hockey ball and secretly wished hockey playing Giants would climb out from behind a hill and hammer-time me to Ottawa with one devastating slap-shot. Unfortunately, no giants arrived…only the snide jokes of Pete and Sam over the radio about my flaming orange poncho, which I was unable to defend against because my arms were bound beneath said flaming orange poncho. You’ve won this round Sam and Pete…but just remember who writes this blog you jerks!

I’d also like to give a huge shout out to the motorist who tore past us just outside of Drumbo, laying on his horn the whole way and pumping his fist in the air for a solid block and a half after passing us like he was front row at a Rod Stewart concert. This could have ONLY been better if he was also blasting “Panama” by Van Halen out the window of his car. Regrettably, no music was audible. Regardless, you sir, are an incredible human being. Thank you so much for existing.

The hilarity that was our Cambridge Marathon also had one incredibly touching moment. While driving through Drumbo, a big white utility van TORE past us, cut off Sam and flagged us down a block ahead. A gentleman and a lady got out of the van and explained that they had heard about us on the news and when they saw us pass their house, they just HAD to come out and meet us. As it turns out, their daughter now uses a wheelchair as a result of a car accident and they wanted to tell me how excited they were when they heard about what I am doing and that they completely understand why I’m making this trip and wish me the best of luck. It could have rained cats and dogs for the rest of the afternoon–nothing could have wiped the smile off my face after this moment.

It is for people like this that I have put my life on hold for this mission, people who have found themselves dealt a rotten hand in the game of life and feel like they are all alone in the struggle. Well, I am learning, step by step, kilometre by kilometre, that we are most certainly NOT alone in this struggle, the barriers to accessible transportation are being felt equally by all individuals across this province, regardless of age, sex, race or cree. That’s something really unique about the disabled community–it truly is a great unifier. Disability does not discriminate–it can affect us all, regardless of who we are or where we come from and once you get trapped in the tangled web of socially constructed barriers, like accessible transportation, you will be hamstrung in the exact same way as everyone else. It is from this foundation of sameness, of equal strife, that we can find the strength and the power to bridge the gap of understanding and push for the type of revolutionary change that we so desperately need in this province. By understanding how a devastating barrier like a lack of transportation can leave a population stranded, regardless of who they are, it is not outside the realm of understanding to see that perhaps the other could be true too–people of varying abilities and social backgrounds should have the same opportunity to transcend these obstacles through the support of our surrounding community…if we can be equal in suffering then why not equal in bliss as well?

Just a thought.

Anyway I promised to keep this short and the bathtub is looking MIGHTY tempting right now, so I’m going to end this here. Tomorrow morning we’re getting up bright and early to speak at Avenue Road Public School at 9:30am. I can’t wait to meet the kids and shower them in Mobilize March stickers and buttons (oh yes, we have merch!).

Also don’t forget if you are in the Cambridge area to come out on Friday morning, 11am at the City Hall, for a chance to hear me speak and talk to me afterwards.

Lots of love to Mom and Dad, don’t worry I’m staying dry and warm! A big hello to everyone back in London, I’m missing you guys and gals already! See you real soon, I promise!

– Jeff

This morning began much like many of my mornings as a university student–being woken up by Pete because the alarm didn’t go off and franticly getting ready to make sure I didn’t miss my first appointment of the day. Despite this late waking, we made really good time getting to the Mayor’s office for our first meeting of the day (a whole 15 minutes early!), despite our bumbling alarm clock.

Going into this meeting I really didn’t know what to expect. Although I have been to Woodstock many-a-times in the past, I have only ever been here with my family for the annual women’s hockey tournament that my sister played in throughout her high school years. As a result, while I know a bit about the community I always had my parents accessible van with me and didn’t need to use accessible cabs or busses to get around, so I had no idea what type of system was currently operating in this community. Upon entering the Mayor’s office we were quickly brought into the Board Room and introduced to two members of the community’s Accessible Advisory Committee, who were about to tell us about accessibility in Woodstock when a young, and excited, journalist from Heart FM burst through the door.

Apparently Jeff Johnston, a reporter for Heart FM, had seen an article in the London Free Press about my March, checked out the website and discovered that not only was I in Woodstock, but I was meeting with the Mayor that very morning! So doing some quick thinking (and some crafty investigative journalism, I might add), he found out when we would be at City Hall and came running for an interview! It was a lot of fun and Mr. Johnston said he was going to pass on our information to some of his fellow journalists in Cambridge and Kitchener. Very Excting! If you’re reading this Jeff, thank you so much!

At this point, the Mayor of Woodstock arrived and it was showtime, and wow were we in for a show! I was absolutely blown away.

Here in little ol’ Woodstock, an oasis of sanity lost in a sea of nonsensical barrier-ridden communities, change is thick in the air. Not ONLY do they have 5 accessible cabs servicing a population of about 30,000, compared to the 9 cabs serving the 300,000 in London (not that we’re keeping count…), but these rides were even subsidized by the city! Holy Smokes! Mayor Harding, an educated, extremely friendly and well spoken man, literally tore the words directly out of my mouth at this meeting and made them way more sexy and exciting. The City of Woodstock has recently taken on an aggressive accessibility overhaul, bringing in more accessible cabs, more accessible busses and various other modifications around the city to ensure that it’s citizens with physical limitations have the same opportunity as everyone else. Asking the head of the Accessibility Advisory committee how receptive the city council has been to these requests, he shot us a big smile and answered “They haven’t said ‘No’ once!”

This meeting was like music to our ears. I’d love to say that Woodstock is a progressive community, but I don’t think that even begins to describe how incredible things are here. Mayor Harding explained how they found the Paratransit specialized transportation system to be confusing, problematic and generally useless, so they developed a “Para-taxi” service that allows riders to use regular cabs just like everyone else, except that the rides are subsidized so that they are paying the same as they would if they were riding the bus. This allows the riders tremendous flexibility without gouging them like certain organizations in Toronto. Furthermore, it provides benefits to the private industry that ensure they get riders, encouraging more cab drivers to invest in accessible cabs (which are also subsidized to be converted). The comprehension of the issues and the intuitive quick thinking of Woodstock City Council has brought about some pretty incredible results.

Now, I know this is beginning to sound a bit like a Woodstock infomercial (Come to Woodstock, the land of Stocked Wood! What? I don’t even know…it’s late and I have a long drive tomorrow…I’m amazed I’m even stringing sentences together at this point) and I swear I was more than a little skeptical of what I was hearing. It sounded suspiciously similar to what Western had told me before I arrived in my first year of university–”Oh yes, don’t worry Jeff, we have a fully functional accessible transportation system!” Ha. It took five years of working with the administrators of the University before setting up a truly “fully functional” system. Granted, we’ve got it done now, BUT it always sounds too good to be true when someone tells you it’s “fully functional.”

So, in honour of the guys at “Mythbusters,” we ran our own little experiment tonight to test this wondrous system the City spoke so highly of this morning. The plan was perfect–we would randomly call for an accessible cab ride shortly after dinner, around 7pm, without telling anyone about our little test and see how long it would take to be picked up and how long it would take to get to our destination. While I won’t give it ALL away (because you would have no need to watch our video blog entry this weekend!), but I will simply say that it went well and while the system is by no means “perfect,” it definitely appears to be fully functional and a DRAMATIC improvement over what I’ve seen in other communities around Ontario.

Well I’ve been babbling away for quite some time now and it’s starting to get kind of late. Ugh…it’s only 10pm and I’m getting tired…I’m turning into my parents…….this blog posting just got kind of depressing. Anyway, I should get off to bed soon, we’ve got a really long drive tomorrow to Cambridge and the weather report is looking questionable, at best, for tomorrow. If anyone who is reading this entry is driving along Drumbo Road between Woodstock and Cambridge tomorrow, feel free to give us a honk and a wave on your way by and please don’t splash me too much!

Thank you so much for a great time here, Woodstock, and I’ll see you soon real soon Cambridge!

– Jeff

Well the first stage of this journey is officially in the books! Around 4pm this afternoon I crested the final hill leading into Woodstock and had officially completed drive one of fourteen. While this was a welcome sight, there were some pretty memorable moments along the way out of London.

The morning started, bright and early, finalizing our packing and running to City Hall for our launch at 9:30am. We arrived (just in time…but not late! Perfect timing? Absolutely) and got everything set up just in time for the kids from Nancy Campbell Collegiate Institute to come strolling down the street. Everything went great with the launch, Harold Usher (Ward 12 Councilor) delivered a passionate speech about the rights of the disabled and our communities duty to provide equal access to transportation. After my speech I had a chance to meet with some of the crowd who showed up and discovered I was being seen off by friends, both old and new. Professor Blackmore and Professor Gryzb were both there to see me off, some of my fellow grad students, and even my very first Educational Assistant, who came in from Port Elgin, Mrs. Eby. Christina and Natalie made the trek as well, along with Natalie’s cousin, Caleigh. It was great seeing the dynamos from Hanover again–the launch wouldn’t have been complete without them along for the ride.

About an hour out of London, the monotony of the road was beginning to get to me–drive straight, drive straight, drive straight, drive on the shoulder to let people pass, drive straight, drive straight, drive on the shoulder, drive straight, drive on the shoulder, drive on the shoulder, drive on the shoulder…I was already going stir crazy and we had only just begun! I began wondering what in the world I had gotten myself into–why am I driving all the way to Ottawa? I drive myself out side, through all sorts of weather, all the time when I can’t get a ride…I don’t need a special reason to do it! It was from this wasteland of growing despair when fellow motorists started honking their horns and waving as they passed; especially motorcycle riders, they ALWAYS smiled and waved…they truly know what it means to take to the open road, sun on the skin and wind in the face, I suppose. Something so simple was such an INCREDIBLE boost to my confidence. I’ve known all along that this was important and it’s something I just have to do, but when I think of all the people who came out to see me off today, all the people with disabilities around this province stuck in the ridiculousness that is accessible transportation, and all the friendly motorists along the way who happily shared the road with me today, well I know that not only can I accomplish my goal to reach Ottawa, but we truly are on the cusp of something revolutionary. People seem to really understand the problem and empathize with our plight–they genuinely believe that we, the disabled, have the same right to access transportation just like everyone else. I think that’s really significant.

The ride only got easier and easier from that point on. The sun was feeling great and the breeze was just perfect–not too warm and not too cold. I even had a Llama (or perhaps it was an Emu? I’m not really an animal expert. It may have been a Giraffe…) running along side me from behind a fence! He was loving it, for sure!

We got into Woodstock without too many problems and Sam and Pete worked out a great system to keep us moving but try and reduce the traffic backup caused by my lack of rocket boosters. I have also developed a new appreciation for the lack of fields covered in manure in London…the only thing worst than walking home at 3am in November would be walking home at 3am in November beside a field covered in manure. It certainly stunk, but no worst than the accessible transportation system currently operating in Ontario (hiyoooo). I also discovered upon entering Woodstock that my trip through rural Ontario left me completely covered, from head to wheel, in a thin film of sediment–the first thing I did when we checked into the hotel was to jump in the shower and peel off the layer of farmland that I transported from London to Woodstock. There is a slight chance I could grow crops in the shower in my hotel room. Okay, that’s a total exaggeration, but the amount of dust was impressive!

This has been a really long post so I’m going to wrap it up shortly, but before I do I just wanted to share one more story. Moments after getting cleaned up we decided to go grab some food, but Sam wanted to go work out first (something about her getting in shape this trip? I don’t even know…is it bad that we’ve already started zoning each other out?) and I asked her if she wanted to just get food with us first and then go work out after. At this point, she gave me a confused look and started to say “Wait, have you never eaten before working out?!” at which point she remembered who she was talking to, Captain Unhealthy the 3rd, and retracted her statement. I think my favourite part about this question was that she actually nuanced it with the “eaten before” phrase, implying that I may have worked out so many times that I would need her to narrow the experience down a little bit.

Amazing. Maybe the first drive has made my muscles grow at an unbelievable rate!

Probably not.

…Definitely not.

Anyway, I should get going–we have an early meeting with the Mayor of Woodstock tomorrow before heading off to Cambridge on Wednesday. A heads up to anyone in Cambridge, we’re hosting a Rally at Cambridge City Hall at 11am on Friday, May 9th. Anyone who would like to meet me and chat about accessible transportation I encourage to come out and see me!

Talk to you soon,

– Jeff