Jul 6, 2020

Cycle for Sight Virtual 2020: An Unforgettable Day

Our Cycle for Sight event, held on Saturday, June 20, 2020, was an amazing success! With over 550 participants of all ages joining the active fun from across Canada, the event helped raise an astonishing $375,000 in support of Fighting Blindness Canada (FBC).

COVID-19 had a significant impact on this year’s FBC fundraising events and programs. After much thought and consideration, the decision was made to host our annual anticipated Cycle for Sight fundraising event virtually – and aren’t we glad we did! Hundreds of members of the vision loss community joined us in support of sight-saving research and showed their Cycle for Sight excitement in true spirit; posting, sharing, tweeting, Instagraming, and spreading the word daily leading up to the event. We can’t thank everyone enough for the love and support shared during such unprecedented times. Together, you helped make the success of this virtual event possible.

Check out more great posts and photos shared by participants on our Cycle for Sight Instagram and Facebook pages, and be sure to use the hashtag #CycleforSight if you have event photos to share.

There were many great programs and activities that took place leading up to and during the virtual event –many of which were led by individuals living with vision loss. Highlights included:

• Inspiring opening and closing ceremonies hosted by Ramya Amuthan, Cohost and Producer at Accessible Media Inc’s daily Entertainment and Lifestyle audio show, Kelly and Company.
• Team Canada Paralympic Athletes joined the virtual fun:
  • Donovan Tildesley, 5x Paralympic medalist in swimming and 2008 Paralympic flagbearer
  • Victoria Nolan, Paralympic bronze medalist in rowing
  • Jessica Tuomela, 3x Paralympic Games in swimming, 2021 Paralympic hopeful in triathlon
  • David Johnson, Paralympic 400-metre running hopeful for the 2021 Paralympics
  • Melvin Fitzgerald, Paralympic gold medalist, marathon winner and wheelchair track athlete 
  • Dylan Bibic, 17-year-old competitive cyclist and future Olympian hopeful
• A custom, indoor cycling program led by spin instructor and running coach Mike Porter from Positive Edge
• An interactive Zwift ride, led by Parapan American Games silver medalist and The Amazing Race Canada season 4 participant, Lowell Taylor
• An Empower Me cardio class led by Marla Ericksen
• A yoga class led by yoga teacher, Vivian Chong

Thank you to our Cycle for Sight host Ramya, Team Canada Paralympians, and interactive program leaders for volunteering your time and helping make Cycle for Sight Virtual 2020 a day to remember.

Did you miss this event, or interested in watching a replay?

Access event day recordings of the open and closing ceremonies, Zwift ride, yoga session, and more!

From the entire FBC team and Cycle for Sight volunteer committee, thank you to all who helped raise funds, joined us on event day, and sponsored this event. Your continuous support has helped impact the lives of over 1.5 million Canadians living with vision loss. We hope to share this experience with you again next year!