GUELPH – Retired educator, former naval officer and Guelph native Fred Promoli will cycle 3,700 kilometres over 51 days through the Himalayan region starting Aug. 18.
Promoli is one of a group of riders, supported through the TDA Global Cycling company, that will ride from Kashmir, India to Kathmandu, Napal.
Promoli’s personal goal for the trip is to help raise awareness for the Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington (CFGW).
“An important goal is simply to increase awareness of the Children’s Foundation and its four core programs, especially the one which provides physical activity and recreation opportunities to needy youth,” Promoli wrote in an email to the Advertiser.
He welcomes donations of any amount to the foundation.
Promoli is one of a group of riders, supported through the TDA Global Cycling company, that will ride from Kashmir, India to Kathmandu, Napal.
Promoli’s personal goal for the trip is to help raise awareness for the Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington (CFGW).
“An important goal is simply to increase awareness of the Children’s Foundation and its four core programs, especially the one which provides physical activity and recreation opportunities to needy youth,” Promoli wrote in an email to the Advertiser.
He welcomes donations of any amount to the foundation.
Promoli has a long history with the CFGW.
“My father was executive director of the Children’s Aid Society (now called Family and Children’s Services); he and my mother initiated the fund which eventually became the Children’s Foundation,” he explained.
His career as a Canadian Naval Officer and physical education teacher took Promoli out of the province, but he reconnected with the organization upon his return to Ontario.
Promoli has also endorsed the CFGW through other long-haul cycling tours with TDA Global Cycling.
This particular tour, he noted, will present some challenges, notably travelling as high as 4,500 metres.
“On many of these tours, we camp out, but not on this one. Therefore we are limited to one duffel bag each, and it will take some planning to fit everything in,” he said.
“We will experience a wide range of weather conditions and road surfaces, which require a variety of clothing and equipment.”
There is also the potential for challenges arising from medical problems such as intestinal difficulties, infections, or dog bites; navigation; language barriers; and political instability between India and Pakistan.
While he also identified the psychological challenge that comes with feelings of isolation on long-haul rides, he said his main focus will be on the experience and what he can take back to the CFGW.
“I will try to focus on the positive, to stay with the theme of helping children. I will focus on observing children and their activities whom I pass along the way,” he said. “I will try to show the children whom the foundation assists here at home that they have so much available to them and encourage them to make the best use of what they are being given.”
