Sean Washburn was adopted and given a loving home by the Washburn family in 1970. In 2003, he added his name to the Ontario adoption registry. To his surprise, he had 4 birth brothers and a birth mother, in Ontario, wondering where he was. Sean and Jon met in 2004, and the pair hit it off immediately. Then, in the summer of 2009, Jon and his family traveled from Ontario to Alberta on a vacation to spend ten days with Sean and his family. In both cases, Sean and Jon had a great time and have developed a great relationship. During the most recent visit, Sean shared his personal goal of Cycling across Canada and Jon thought it sounded like a great idea. Sean and Jon saw this as a great opportunity to bond and really get to know each other. The plans for the Awesome Ride got underway.

The Ride

As both Sean and Jon both have jobs and families, the decision was made to conquer the Ride across the country over a period of 5 years instead of a single trip. Therefore, it was decided to meet each year in the location we left off. The first year of the journey will take us from Vancouver through the Rockie mountains and across the praries of Alberta to the Saskatchewan border. All the way, Sean and Jon will have only what they can carry on their bikes and the open road ahead.

The Cause

As we began formulating the plans for the Awesome Ride, we started to ponder the idea of helping others as a part of the Ride. We decided to raise money for charities. Since the plans involve spreading the ride over 5 years, we decided that we should also spread our efforts over 5 different charities.

The Charity

The first charity that we have chosen is the Sunshine Foundation. Why, the Sunshine Foundation? Well, to give back. In December of 1990, the Sunshine Foundation granted a wish to Brandon Ross (our younger brother) to go on a family trip to Florida. Brandon had a painful childhood suffering from a brain tumor which lead to 6 brain surgeries, nightly needle injections, radiation treatment and spending a good portion of childhood in hospitals beds. The Sunshine trip took Susan (our mother), Jon, Brandon, Jeff (another brother) and Brett (our youngest brother) to the Polynesian Resort for 7 days right in Disney Orlando. It was a spectacular trip for Brandon and the whole family. So, obviously we would want to raise money for this charity first.

How You Can Help!

There are a few ways you can do to help:

Sponsorship - Companies, organizations or individuals are invited to sponsor our ride. Contact us by email if you would like to discuss sponsorship opportunities.
Donation - Donate to the "Ride For Charity" cause, to make a donation, click on "Make a Donation". This will take you to our donation site at "CanadaHelps.org", a charitable gifts website that makes giving easy!