ATHABASCA — It sounded like rolling thunder approaching town as a large group of motorcycles and trikes rumbled into Athabasca Aug. 15, but it wasn't thunder, it was the Rolling Barrage.
The non-profit group was founded in 2016 by Cpl. Scott Casey (Ret.), a member of the infantry with the Royal Canadian Regiment who served in many places including Croatia, Sarajevo and Bosnia, and had their first coast-to-coast ride as a group in 2017.
“(Scott Casey) is a good friend of mine; we served together in Germany. He was in the initial rotation to Bosnia when the former Yugoslavia erupted in civil war. I was on a follow-on tour directly after they finished” said deputy lead bike Warren Cave in an Aug. 19 interview from the road in B.C. near Merritt.
“I’m affected by PTSD, and it took me years, and years, and years to get help. I was 2014 when I reached out for help, and that tour (in Yugoslavia) was 1992.”
Cave, who is from Morinville, helped organize a smaller portion of the ride, including stopping for lunch at the Athabasca Royal Canadian Legion #103 and has learned it’s OK to speak to others about being impacted by PTSD, and that leads to deep friendships during the 20-day long annual rides.
“I started hearing about it in 2016 and the first ride was going to be in 2017 which was the 150th anniversary of confederation and the 100th anniversary of Vimy (Ridge) coinciding on the same year, so it was it was a pretty big deal, and they went right from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Victoria B.C. I joined a short bit,” said Cave.
Riding right across the country, on the complete trip is called a full pull, and there are 20 riders this year who will add to their full pull stats or become full pull alum, but people can ride with the group for as many days as they wish.
“My girlfriend is with me; she joined in Winnipeg,” he said. “My son joined again. He drove out to Saskatoon and rode with the Barrage to Stony Plain and then there's all the other people I consider family who are part of this organization. People that I've worked with over the years on this ride I’ve come to know and call brothers and sisters.”
With riders joining and leaving as they need to, the size ebbs from a high of 85 down to 60 but they become a tight-knit group who backed their tires into the Pacific Ocean to finish the final pull Aug. 20.
“It’s both rewarding and a difficult time because we've been a group together for 20 plus days so it can be a bit of an emotional roller coaster as we change gears and start focusing on next year,” said Cave.
You can support the group by following them on social media, or their website, therollingbarrage.com and anyone can join the next ride, the group just asks for no affiliation with illegal elements.
“At the end of the day, we just need to be human and understand that people deal with things differently,” Cave said. “We don't know what other people are going through so we just need to be decent human beings to them and understand that they may be going through something that's making them act or react the way that they are.”
