Frequently Asked Questions

The deadlines for registration are:
June 4 for the 3-day ride from Vancouver to Osoyoos
June 15 for the 50km and 100km Oak Park circuits 50km & 100km Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/26562563
Please find the registration details here http://www.gearup4cf.com/

Riders are asked to make their own way to the starting point at Oak Park in Vancouver, 900 W 59th Ave, Vancouver, BC V6P 1X7.
There is limited free parking around the park, so please plan your travel accordingly. Please also be respectful of the residents living in the area.

Once you arrive, please proceed to our registration booth located at the gravel section of Oak Park to check-in. Riders will receive a rider card (route map with emergency contact details) and a rider number for your bike which must be displayed at all times.

The fundraising minimum is $100 for the 50km and $150 for the 100km rides. The ride to Osoyoos has a $2,500 fundraising minimum. Please call us on 604-436-1158 as soon as possible if you don’t think you will raise the minimum required. We have lots of great ideas and resources.

Before you start fundraising, there are a few things you should know to help you achieve your goal.
Set a goal: Set an ambitious, yet attainable fundraising goal for yourself and share that goal with everyone you ask to donate.
Get social: If you are active on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, use them to get the word out. Tweet or post with a message about the ride and why you are participating. Provide a link to your page so that people can donate easily online.
Ask: Not being asked is one of the top reasons Canadians do not donate to a charity.
Invite others: When you meet someone that is moved by your story, ask them to consider signing up and riding with you.
Say thank you: When you receive a donation, thank the person who has supported you with a personalized email, handwritten card, or a phone call. They will be more likely to support you again in the future if you thank them in a personal way.

Above and beyond everything else, we are doing this ride to raise money to find a cure for cystic fibrosis. Raising money can be a daunting task, so we have put together a list of suggestions based on approaches that have been successful for past participants.
Email Blast: Send an email to your family, friends, co-workers, neighbours and everyone else you know asking them to sponsor you. Provide them with links to your page and directions on how to donate. The key to making your letter successful is to ask for a specific dollar amount. Don’t forget to follow-up with a phone call!
Social Media: Use social media like Facebook, Twitter or a personal blog to update your friends on your training and get them excited about your adventure. Make sure to include a link to your personal fundraising page.
Local Businesses: Approach businesses that you have a strong connection with and ask them to support you on the ride. A great place to start is your local bike shop!
Spread the word: Wear CF related clothing while training and tell everyone what you’re doing. See if you can get complete strangers to support you.

Tax receipts for fundraising events may not be issued for the purchase of a product, entrance fee, lottery ticket or revenue from an event. For example, if you hold a burger and beer night and raise $800 through tickets sales, raffle and silent auction, you may not submit that $800 for a personal tax receipt. If you have personal expenses from hosting the event, you can submit your receipts to us, and we will provide you with a personal tax receipt for the amount of your expenses. If you have any questions regarding our tax receipting policy, please contact the office.

Tax receipts are issued directly from the website when an online donation is made.

The easiest way to accept donations is through your personal online fundraising page which can be accessed at www.GearUp4CF.com. Electronic tax receipts will be issued immediately via email for online donations. Please make sure to check your junk mail folder.
If you are collecting cash or cheques, please complete the pledge form on the last page of this package and make sure to bring your cash and cheques to the registration table on event day.
Tax receipts will be issued by the Western Regional office after the event.
If you are collecting cash or cheque donations and would like your personal online fundraising page to reflect your success please follow these steps:

1. Sign into your account
2. Click on the ‘Fundraising’ tab at the top of the page www.GearUp4CF.com
3. On left side, click ‘Manage cash and cheque’
4. Enter the donor’s information and submit

If you have any questions or require anything further, please contact Sandra Niven, Fund Development Associate
Email: sniven@cysticfibrosis.ca
Phone: 604-436-1158 ext. 105
Address: Cystic Fibrosis Canada - Western Region
301 - 3185 Willingdon Green
Burnaby, BC V5G 4P3

• This is a fully supported ride. Mechanics will be available at Oak Park and along the route, at the pit stops and roving on motorbikes to help fix flats and do minor repairs. Larger parts will need to be paid for so bring cash or a credit card with you just in case. If you are a fair distance from the pit stop and for some reason cannot pro¬ceed with the ride, call the dispatch number and we will determine whether it is best to send a pick up vehicle or mechanic to your location.
• Your safety is a priority for us. Medical personnel will be located at Oak Park and on motorcycles roaming along the course. Our staff also have First Aid. If you have a critical emergency while on the route please call 911. If you need non-critical first aid support, locate moto-support nearest you, or call the dispatch number located on your rider card and we will dispatch the first aid support to your location.
• We will have bike racks available at Oak Park. A volunteer will be monitoring bikes during lunch and after the ride but please note that the racks are not in an enclosure and we do not have security guards present on site.
• There is no directional signage along the route so please ensure you are familiar enough with the route, have a rider card with you or have loaded “Ride with GPS” onto your phone. The Rider card contains a map reference, route directions as well as key contact numbers.
• We encourage riders to carry a phone or at least a one of your team members to carry a phone.
• We have 1 pit stop located at 11251 Dyke Road in Richmond in the Ideon Packaging parking lot. This stop will have water and snacks to help keep you hydrated and fuelled for the ride, as well as a portable washroom.
• As a safety precaution, all riders must check-in at the pit stop and at the finish line, even if you do not intend to stop.
• There are portable washrooms located at the pit stop. Please also refer to your rider card to see where public washrooms are located along the route.
• Infection Control Policy: there will be individuals living with cystic fibrosis at the bike ride, so please read our Infection Control Policy. For a copy of the policy, please click here.

• This is not a race. It is a self-paced, supported ride.
• Participants may use standard road bicycles, hybrids, commuters or mountain bikes.
• An approved cycling helmet is mandatory. Riders must have the chin strap buckled at all times.
• Please ride for the conditions. Ride safely and in control at all times, single file. Any cyclist deemed to be riding unsafely, discourteously or recklessly will be removed from the GearUp4CF event.
• No outside support vehicles will be allowed on the route.
• Emergency vehicles always have right of way.
• As a safety precaution, all riders must check-in at the pit stop and at the finish line, even if you do not intend to stop.
• Display your GearUp4CF bib at all times.
• Unregistered riders will be unable to take part in GearUp4CF.
• No headphones, personal stereos or cell phones whilst riding.
• Riders under the age of 19 years old, but over 16 years old, must have a waiver signed by a parent or guardian. A parent or guardian must be registered, have raised the minimum and participate.
• The finish line for the 1-day event closes at 2:00pm. Riders who are travelling after this time are permitted to continue but must follow the road rules.
• No littering on the course. Riders are to dispose of garbage in designated garbage bins only. Riders caught littering will be disqualified from the event.
• All riders are to obey traffic officers and course marshalls. To disobey instructions from these individuals will result in disqualification from the event.
• Public urination is not permitted. Please use the portable toilets at the pit stops.

• Make yourself familiar with British Columbia’s Rules of the Road.
• Be respectful of other riders and help others when needed. Always be aware of others around you and communicate well in advance while cycling. Pass on the left only, politely saying “on your left” Ride with your head up, looking down the road, not at the person in front of you.
• If you choose to stop while on course, signal to the riders behind and pull over safely. Our support team may pull over and ask you if you’re okay.
• Control and speed of your bike, even going downhill. Know your limits. Crashes can occur when inexperienced riders do not have bike-handling skills to make quick decisions in a pack. Always plan an escape route.
• Never overlap your wheels with another cyclist.
• The use of aerobars is strongly discouraged by the GearUp4CF team.

We will have photographers located at Oak Park and along the route. These will be posted on our website and Flickr – an email will be sent to all registered riders as soon as they are available.

Join us and help support and cheer on our GearUp4CF riders. We need volunteers to help with setting up, registration, bike valet and route markers. Please email Sandra at sniven@cysticfibrosis.ca.
A reminder to please dress appropriately, bring extra water and food.
GearUp4CF is managed by a dedicated volunteer committee and our Cystic Fibrosis Canada team.

Celebrating our 13th Annual GearUp4CF, the ride to make CF stand for Cure Found wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of our many amazing sponsors! We proudly present our 2018 sponsors and thank them for their commitment to #AWorldWithoutCF.
If you would like information about sponsorship opportunities for this year’s GearUp4CF, please contact Sara Hoshooley by emailing her at shoshooley@cysticfibrosis.ca or call 604-436-1158.

The age limit for all GearUp4CF rides is 16 years old. Anyone aged below 19 years of age is required to ride with a legal guardian who must sign the waiver for both of them. Each registered rider must raise the minimum funds for the ride they are registered for.

You can expect to have light snacks and beverages at the start/finish and pit stop along the route. A BBQ lunch will be provided to the one day riders at Oak Park after the ride - family and friends are also welcome (additional costs will apply)!

Jersey orders are now closed

All riders are invited to the Cystic Fibrosis Canada Burnaby office on Monday, June 18th, between 9am and 7pm, to pick up your GearUp4CF jersey (if purchased online), and to drop off cash or cheque donations that you may have already collected.
We will have Sugoi jersey’s in our office for you to try on during the week of April 30 to May 4 between 9am and 5pm and until 7pm . We are located on the 3rd floor at 3185 Willingdon Green, Burnaby V5G 4P3, near BCIT.
Jerseys will only be provided free of charge for those participating in the 3-day event. If you would like to purchase a jersey, please order yours at www.GearUp4CF.com by May 3rd, 2018.

The jersey order deadline is noon this Friday, May the 4th. Please access ‘merchandise’ on your fundraising page to place your order if you haven’t already done so.
Jerseys are $60 for the one day ‘Vancouver’ jersey and free for the 3-day ‘ Vancouver to Osoyoos’ jersey; additional jersey’s may be purchased for $60.
Contact us at bcinfo@cysticfibrosis.ca or call our friendly team on 604-436-1158 for further information.

Please add #GearUp4CF on Social Media

Share your ride! Please follow us on social media and share with your family and friends.

Hashtag - #GearUp4CF | #makecfhistory | #aworldwithoutcf | #CysticFibrosis

Meet impassioned rider and supporter, Aaron Mittler. His daughter, Lucy was born in 2013 and 2 weeks later, Aaron and Mary got that call that Lucy had been diagnosed with CF. It was devastating.

“We only got the call because CF had successfully advocated for newborn screening for all kids with CF. This gave us a head start for giving Lucy a great start in life. We were introduced to a team and resources provided by CF Canada. We went from totally devastated to very optimistic about giving Lucy a good life and have vowed to support the cause right from the start.”

About three weeks after she was born, Aaron’s friends Mike and Adam contacted him to say they wanted to do something. “It makes me emotional to think about it, the sense of community.” They started ‘Team Lucy’ the same year and raised about $12,000. Aaron joined in year two and have been riding each year ever since. To date, they have raised more than $250,00 dollars!

“GearUp4CF is always an incredible time, meeting and riding alongside people with CF and lung transplants and other riders raising funds for CF Canada. It shows how strong people really are, especially the second day, riding straight uphill for five hours – it’s hard physically as a healthy person and you want to give up and you look beside you and someone with CF is doing it. It inspires me to keep going.

We hope you’ll join us. Please register for GearUp4CF here today.

Convio, the company responsible for housing and maintaining The Ride website, has made every effort to protect your information. They use industry-standard SSL encryption techniques to make sure that your credit card information, passwords, and personal information travel securely over the internet. They have also installed an encryption engine on our database server so that your data is securely stored.

All donations go to Cystic Fibrosis Canada to help us reach our mission of funding targeted world-class research, supporting and advocating for high-quality individualised CF care. In 2016-2017, we invested $5 million in cystic fibrosis (CF) research, including grants to support innovative science across a broad spectrum of areas relevant to CF, improve the health and quality of life of CF patients, and bridge the gap between research and clinical care.
To find out more about how funds you so generously raise are used, we invite you to view our Annual Report.

Every participant is required to raise at least $2,500. Once a donation has been made to a rider, we are unable to move it to another rider.

Donors that provide us with a valid email address will receive a tax receipt via email. Donors that send in their donations will receive an emailed receipt if they provided a valid email address or one will be posted to them if they provided a valid postal address.

You will need to login to your account from the front page, www.gearup4CF.com at the top right of the page, then enter your login details on the second page. On the left side of your personal page, click ‘change’ on the fundraising goal in the middle of the page and modify your personal fundraising goal. Enter your new goal and submit the changes.

Credit card are processed using a secure connection.

Once you register, by default you will have a Personal Page created for you. You can personalise this information by clicking ‘edit message’ and saving what you write. You can also upload your own photos and videos.

If you need your username or password reset, please call us on 604-436-1158 and we will ask you some security questions and reset your details for you. Remember that your username and password are case sensitive.

On your Personal Page, click the "Add Media" button in the photo section and in the message box click ‘Add image’ or Add media’, File Upload, select the photo you wish to place in that piece of the layout. You can only upload a photo in ".jpeg" format. Click “Save image”.

Each GearUp rider is required to raise the minimum fundraising amount which is:
50km registration fee $50, minimum fundraising commitment $100
100km registration fee $50, minimum fundraising commitment $150
2-day registration fee $150, minimum fundraising commitment $2,500

Need help or suggestions on how to raise money? Our team is here to help! Call our office at 604-436-1158 or email us at bcinfo@cysticfibrosis.ca If you do not meet your fundraising minimum by June 23, you’ve got a few options: make a donation by cash, cheque, debit or credit card at the event OR made a donation directly to your personal fundraising page online. Our fundraising website will be available until Wednesday August 1, 2018.

Route Details

If you have already registered as an individual, you can log in, click the ‘team’ button in “Your fundraising page” and create a team. When you click ‘team’ you get an option to create a team, join a team or email a team. Choose ‘create a team’.
For people registered, you can let them know the team name and they search and ‘join the team’.
For people not yet registered, they need to register and ‘join a team’ at the time of registration.
Please contact our office at 604-436-1158 if you need further assistance.

GearUp4CF Rider Welcome Package

No refunds are available for any reason, medical or otherwise. However, we do recognize that unforeseen events may occur. Riders may transfer the registration fee to the following year. Note this must be done by June 1, 2018.

All accommodation is booked on a shared basis for the riders. Please let us know if you would like to room with a particular person by May 30.
Hotel rooms for the 2 nights will be provided to all 2-day riders. To book additional rooms for friends and family, please call 1-800-663-1144 (Coast Chilliwack), 1-800-330-3321 (Manning Park Resort) and 1-250-495-6035 (Poplars Motel).

• Saturday, June 23rd, 2018 - Chilliwack Coast Hotel - 45920 First Ave, Chilliwack, BC V2P7K1
• Sunday, June 24th, 2018 - Return to Vancouver by bus from Manning Park Resort - 7500 Highway 3. Riders may opt out at the time of registration

As GearUp4CF is a fully supported ride, food will be provided for all riders. Snacks and beverages will be provided at each pit stop. Additionally, there will be designated lunch pit stops on the route, and breakfast and dinner will also be provided at each hotel for all three days.

If you have special dietary requirements please notify us by May 30. We will make our best efforts to accommodate everyone’s needs.

We will provide a bus transfer from Manning Park to Vancouver, including bike transfers on Sunday, June 24. We plan to leave at approximately 9:00pm, arriving at the Cystic Fibrosis Canada office at 301-3185 Willingdon Green office at approximately 11:30pm; please allow extra time if you are being picked up.
Bikes will be transported WITH PEDALS REMOVED in a separate trailer. Please let us know if you do not require a ride back to Vancouver.
If you are only riding part of the way, please make your own arrangements to get back to Vancouver.
IMPORTANT: Please remove all valuables and personal belongings from the bike such as bike computers, seat bags, etc. If you are concerned about scratches please pack protective material for your bicycle provided by the GearUp4CF team. It is understood by those utilizing this service that Cystic Fibrosis Canada accepts no liability for damage or loss of property to bikes using this service. Any bikes that are not picked up on the day that they are transported back to Vancouver will be subject to a $100 storage fee.

All riders can deposit one day bag for removed clothing during the ride (jackets) and one overnight bag that will be taken to the hotel and will not be available during the ride (pyjamas).
Bags are limited to two bags per person with the maximum size being 21.5 in. x 9 in. x 15.5 in. (standard airplane carry-on size).
When checking in at Oak Park, you will be given a luggage tag that must be used when leaving your bag with us.

You are more than welcome to join our riders for part of the ride but are requested to raise the minimum for the 2-day ride. Please make your own arrangements to get back to Vancouver.

Day 1 Route Details

Day 2 Route Details