WELCOME LETTER

“THE TWO MOST POWERFUL WARRIORS ARE PATIENCE AND TIME”

-TOLSTOY-

Time can be complicated. When you are entirely present, exactly where you want to be, doing what you love, time can slow down. The flip side is that often when we work towards that something, there never seems to be enough time.

As I type this, we are days out from the 30th annual Walton TransCan Grand National Championship. The pace and energy around here have quickened. Days feel too short, nights even shorter. In our house, we usually try to find a solid work-life balance. But once July arrives, the scale is often cemented in one direction with one focus (TransCan) - and time feels like it is blurring by.

The beauty hidden in all this hectic lead-up is that when the gate officially opens for the event - time slows again. A few hours prior feels like a day ago. An entire day feels like a week ago, and a week in the field in Walton feels like much more.

Walton TransCan is often described as a long week: “How was your week? “Long.” Early mornings, full days of emotion, late nights of reflection. And then repeat. These are days filled with purpose and goals set out months ago and, for some, years before. The clock ticks like it always does, but these are long and good days.

Wherever you are now reading this, take what you have created. Close your eyes and listen. A generator, kids playing outside, Dave Bell’s voice over the PA, the sound of bikes racing on the track - pause right now and listen. The reward for this unique week, for travelling, working, saving, and training to be here, surrounded by people who support and understand you most, is time. You are in the moment of doing what you love, where time stretches a little further.

Thirty years of Walton TransCan Grand National Championships and racing bikes on a farm in a small town in Southern Ontario is hard to understand for many. And it is cliche to say, “Where has the time gone?” but when your feet are on the ground and you are truly here, you don’t feel the time speeding by. The days are full of purpose, presence and time.

Enjoy your week in Walton.

- Brett Lee