After riding 670 kilometres in the first week of June, Todd Martin reflected on his experience of arriving on Juno Beach on the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
As part of Wounded Warriors Canada’s Battlefield Bike Ride 2019, Martin marked the milestone with hundreds of Canadians.
“The ride itself was absolutely fantastic,” he said. “I’ve described it to some friends that typically people talk about things in highs and lows, but there were no lows. There were some euphoric highs for the trip itself, but even the humbling periods were highs.
“They were really emotional experiences, but very humbling. It was really fantastic to be able to experience that.”
On top of the physical endurance of the ride, Martin said the emotional impact, the acknowledgment and reverence of what happened 75 years ago on the ground where they stood was most significant.
As a veteran himself, Martin served in the Balkans for the Canadian army. His grandfather was also in the military, and served in the Second World War.
“To know that our forefathers were part of that and we’re standing there where they once stood, it was pretty amazing,” he said. “When you hear a bit more of that history and context of where you’re standing, that really resonated and gave me goosebumps.”
Martin said to stand on Juno Beach, where Canadian forces landed the morning of D-Day flanked by the British to try and push the enemy back, on what is considered the last living milestone for D-Day veterans, left a lasting impression.
“To see how open the area is that these guys had to cross, and seeing where the gun positions were that the Germans were defending, it really put things into perspective,” he said. “It was highly emotional, extremely humbling, and from a military perspective it was fascinating to see what was going on and the obstacles these guys had to overcome.
“One German veteran went was on record saying the ‘Canadians just kept coming, and they just kept coming and coming, despite all of the things we threw at them, they just would not stop.’”
Martin commended the vets of D-Day, who he said were 18-20-year-old kids that did their utmost to serve their country and win the war.
Though the cyclists had to make some adjustments along the way to avoid thunderstorms, Martin said they mostly kept to their route despite the uncooperative weather—the temperatures came in at 39 degrees for the first two days of the ride, and rained for the next three days, before finally settling at 18 degrees for the last two-day stretch.
Martin trained for five months prior to the event by riding his bike every day—including riding to work in downtown Calgary after parking in south Calgary—and longer rides on the weekends, snow, rain, or shine. He said he focused on interval training and increasing speed rather than distance to prepare for the bike ride.
On top of the physical training, Martin said he changed his eating habits as well.
“For me, all the training that I had done in the previous five months really paid off because I felt strong every single day and felt I had lots in the tank to get through the days,” he said.
“Nonetheless, I was tired at the end of the day.”
Team Calgary, as Martin and the six other riders in the area called themselves, collectively raised over $80,000 for Wounded Warriors.
“Number one, two, and three in the country (for fundraising) were from our team,” said Martin.
Martin was the leading fundraiser for Canada at the beginning of May, but said one of his Calgary teammates ended up edging him out of first place. Martin raised over $19,000.
“I graciously stepped aside for him to take first place,” he said with a laugh.
The Battlefield Bike Ride included current and ex-military, firefighters, police, EMS, civilians, hockey players, musicians and philanthropists as well as civilians, said Martin.
Wounded Warriors Canada supports veterans and first responders living with PTSD, and Martin said it is important to remember those still with us.
“The slogan for Wounded Warriors is to ‘honour the fallen, help the living,’” he said. “Our fundraising efforts were there to help the living, we attended the services on D-Day to honour the fallen. The best way to continue to honour the fallen is to continue to help the living.
“While we say we will remember them, we need to remember those that are still with us as well as we do the sacrifices of those that have fallen.”
To support Wounded Warriors, go to woundedwarriors.ca.
