Local man preparing for seven‑day commemorative cycling journey tracing some of the most consequential terrain of the First World War
Retired local businessman Rory MacKinnon is trading Simcoe County’s trails for trenches next month as he heads to Belgium to take part in the Battlefield Bike Ride: In Flanders Fields.
It’s a seven‑day commemorative cycling journey tracing some of the most consequential terrain of the First World War.
From Sept. 6-12, MacKinnon will ride from Bruges into the restored landscapes around Ypres, where Canadian soldiers once endured mud, gas attacks and heavy shellfire.
The route moves through the Ypres Salient, past preserved trenches and memorials, and ends each day at the Menin Gate for its nightly ceremony honouring more than 54,000 missing soldiers.
The ride is an annual, multi‑day cycling event organized in support of Wounded Warriors Canada, bringing participants to historic battlefields around the world to honour Canadian military service and raise money for mental‑health programs for veterans, first responders and their families.
This year’s ride, In Flanders Fields, follows a route through Bruges, Ypres and the Ypres Salient, tracing key First World War locations and major battle sites.
MacKinnon, who owned and operated eight McDonald’s restaurants, including locations in Alliston and Angus, before passing the business to his son, says the trip is both a physical challenge and a personal act of remembrance.
Retired local businessman Rory MacKinnon, seen here playing the bagpipes during a ceremony in Dieppe in 2015, will join the Battlefield Bike Ride: In Flanders Fields in September. | Image supplied
He’ll fly to Belgium on Sept. 4 to join hundreds of riders honouring the sacrifices made on the same ground more than a century ago.
An honorary colonel with the RCAF at CFB Borden for the past seven years, MacKinnon has seen firsthand how vital the organization’s support is — and the impact it has on the people it serves.
“I’ve done the Wounded Warriors ride for mental health for many years. I’ve gotten to know the chair of the Wounded Warriors charity and some of the key folks there. Their other big fundraiser is the Battlefield Bike Ride that they do every year over in Europe,” he says.
As an avid cyclist who spends much of his spare time on the trails around Simcoe County, MacKinnon says he’s looking forward to a trip that blends his passion for riding with his commitment to supporting Wounded Warriors Canada.
The trip begins Sept. 6 in Brugge, with participants cycling roughly 60 kilometres a day. Most days include visits to two or three battlefield sites, he says.
Although MacKinnon has visited battlefield tours as a piper for the 100th anniversary of CFB Borden in 2017, this will be his first time visiting this particular area in Flanders.
Having the opportunity to participate in the ride is deeply meaningful for MacKinnon, who says the region holds a powerful family link.
“There’s a very strong family connection to that area. So, when I went over before, I piped at Courcelette and at Sanctuary Wood, mainly in tribute to my grandfather, my great uncle, and my great aunt who served in that area,” he says.
His daughter, who’s a nurse, even gifted his great aunt her nursing pin on graduation day — a gesture MacKinnon says still resonates.
“She went over just as the war was starting and didn’t come back until 1921, so many years after caring for the wounded,” he says.
“She spent the rest of her life and didn’t talk to many people. She was definitely scarred,” MacKinnon adds. “The family always talked about the horrors that she saw in the war and the service that she did. So that’s special to me as well.”
What’s also important to MacKinnon is knowing the charity he’s supporting truly makes a difference.
“I’ve learned that Wounded Warriors is an excellent charity. They have an excellent reputation within the Canadian Armed Forces community,” he says. “And I think they’re making that connection to the folks that fought overseas and the sacrifices that they made.”
He says the ride also gives him a chance to honour others along the way.
“I get to bike and I get to pipe there, and I’ve also got five names so far that people want etchings from the Menin Gate to commemorate their buried ancestors that fought over there,” says MacKinnon. “Hopefully I can get them because there’s 54,000 names on the Menin Gate and sometimes it’s hard to get to those names and etch them — but that’s one of my goals.”
He’s looking forward to the chance to connect with people who share his sense of purpose.
“The thing I’m looking forward to most is that through my connections as an honorary colonel, I’ve met some incredible Canadians that share the same passions that I do,” MacKinnon says. “I expect, because (it’s) Wounded Warriors Canada, that I’m going to make a lot of new connections to folks that have similar goals, similar passions, similar interests.”
To make a donation to MacKinnon’s ride or to the Battlefield Bike Ride event, click here.