Being a climber, I’m sure you’ve heard of CAC. That is Climber’s Against Cancer for those of you who have been living under a rock. What my friends are doing is something with very similar causes; they decided to bike across Canada during the month of Movember (November with a moustache) to raise awareness for Men’s Health. Here’s an article in The Province about the start or their ride.

[singlepic id=612 height=280 width=280 float=centre] Cancer strikes hard and we all have someone we know who it has touched. It most recently came to someone who is very close to me. It is only through awareness and support that we can continue to fight through these difficult times for our friends and loved ones.

Three of my good friends from Vancouver embarked on a journey of a lifetime. They left Vancouver on October 17th and are making a 45 day ride across Canada finishing in Toronto. They will cross the Rocky Mountains, they will ride in snow, sleet and across the prairies. One thing that will never fail is their determination, cause and moustaches. I was lucky enough to go to the same high school as these men and they were always fun to be around. When they announced the ride, I knew I wanted to do it with them but sadly didn’t have enough time. To support them on their trip, another one of great high school friends Erin Quinn decided to drive the camper van for them!

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They are happy, funny and hard to miss having an average height of 6″5 (195 cm). Here’s a picture of me with two of the MoRiders after the 2010 World Cup in Eindhoven. Their ultimate goal is to spread awareness, start conversations and raise money for men’s health. They declared a personal goal of raising 100,000$. Yes One-hundred-thousand-dollars… They’re just over halfway through their ride and have raised 40,000$.

So my challenge to you is to help them reach that goal. It’s everyone chipping in whatever they can that makes these things a success. HERE is a link to their donation page. It’s tax free and get to declare it among your taxes!

<< Donation Page >>

If you live in Ontario and near the trans Canada highway, go and cheer them on as they come through your town. I wish I could be there in Toronto as they finish their ride… I know I’ll get to see them soon enough but I find what they are doing to be so inspirational. Great job guys, keep up the good work 🙂 [singlepic id=608 height=500 width=500 float=centre] As an added incentive, my friends have decided to ride through Thunder Bay Ontario in these fantastic suits (pictured below). This is of course however only if they reach their 50,000$ mark by midnight November 11th on whatever time zone they’re on. I will also contribute to their cause by posting pictures of my fantastic looking moustache which I’ve been growing since November 1st. [singlepic id=610 height=500 width=500 float=centre] If you have any questions about their ride or anything else, you can post here, on my “Sean McColl” facebook page or directly to them at their “Moustache Ride Across Canada” facebook page. One last time, here’s their << Donation Page >> Thanks for reading!

I managed to get the video completed after filming on Tuesday! Thursday was dedicated to the interview portion and then I spent the better half of Friday editing it all together. I’m by no way a pro using video editing software but I still find it really fun! If you missed my first one, it can be found HERE. After finishing this second one, I’m inspired to do more, but I’d love a few ideas if you have some! I hope you enjoy the video, if you have questions about the video, you can ask them here or on Youtube and if you have other random questions, I have an “ask Sean McColl” page which can be found HERE.

While competing in Vail, I was staying with a friend of mine Walter Wong. We were discussing different concepts of recovery while climbing and what I ate and drank. He started talking about his friend Allen Lim who had created a sports drink that was “perfect” for athletes that needed to recovery quickly. Allen Lim went to school locally by going to school at the University of Boulder. He got his masters in Kinesiology and a Ph.D in Integrative Physiology. He worked closely with Lance Armstrong while doing Tour De France training. There’s a great article here about his work with Armstrong. [singlepic id=382 w=320 h=240 float=center]   Allen created a powdered drink called Skratch that refuelled the body with sodium, magnesium, calcium and potassium while at the same time delivering a small dose of sugar. I had always enjoyed drinking gatorade/powerade at competitions but found that with all the sugar in them, it was just too much, especially when drinking 2-3 litres a day. The problem with drinking just water is sodium; while doing exercise and sweating, you secrete sodium and without replenishing those levels, the water you’re drinking will end up making you pee and overall dehydrating you. As you can see on the bottom of their website, many Tour De France athletes were putting this drink into their bottles while being sponsored by other companies, so it became known as the “secret drink“. It’s not so much a secret anymore as many pro cyclist now use the brand. [singlepic id=383 w=180 h=180 float=right] If you now see me with this new logo, it doesn’t stand for “Sean” as I’m sure many of you thought but rather “Skratch”. I’ve now stocked up on Skratch product which will last me the season. After drinking it in Vail and placing my best result in World Cup, I felt like I was on top of my game. Even in Vail, at 8000 feet, I could breathe relatively easy. I had asthma as a kid and I find altitude hard on my system. Of course you can say that maybe I just having a good couple of days, but I thought this stuff was great, and I’m going to start drinking it everyday! If you want to try out some of their product for your gym, training group or personal use, I get a small discount so get in contact with me and I’ll get you a code! You can post a comment below with any email address and I’ll get in contact with you!