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 PBP 1979 Member #2 Dan McGuire Dies at 88 Daniel James McGuire BC Randonneurs Member #2 From Deirdre: It is with a sad heart that I heard of the passing of Dan McGuire, one of the founding members of the B.C. Randonneurs who died yesterday of COVID-19, just three days after testing positive. He was 88. He had Parkinson's Disease for many years. For the last year he lived in Lakeshore Care Home. His mobility had declined. Though he had difficulty speaking he was able to listen to people and he enjoyed music. Dan has always loved cycling and switched to riding a recumbent trike as his Parkinson's progressed. You may be interested in reading about Dan's bicycle ride across Canada in an effort to raise money for Parkinson's. [Link to Dan's Journey on Tara McGuire's web site:] http://taramcguire.com/a-man-rides-into-a-cafe-dads-journey-the-vinyl-cafe/ As you read, you'll recognize the "randonneuring spirit". Unfortunately I can't find the podcast of the CBC radio podcast of Vinyl Cafe that honoured Dan. For years Dan volunteered for the BC Randonneurs. It was through his communications with France and their trust in him that the BC Randonneurs were allowed to hold the first Fleche event outside of France. He and his wife, June Gallagher, were great mentors to me and many others. He could be gruff but he was also very generous. I rode many kilometres with Dan and June and I sampled lots of wine in their company! Because of COVID-19 there is no celebration of life planned at this time. Deirdre Arscott From Tara, on Twitter: (Tara McGuire, Dan's daughter) My dad just passed into the light from Covid-19. So when you hear the stats on Monday please remember these numbers are people's beloved family members and friends. Tara McGuire
 Click to Enlarge Some Media Links: Link to the CBC report on Dan's passing. It's also archived on this site here. 2014 Interview with Dan, archived HERE. It was reprised on CBC Radio's "As It Happens" on December 16, 2020.Thanks to Karen Smith for finding this. Dan's 2013/2014 Cross-Canada Jouney as told by Stewart McLean in a 2015 episode of the Vinyl Café. Internal link to newsletter page, where it is archived, or direct link to the MP3 file. (MP3) The CBC radio link had disappeared so many thanks to Walter Piovesan for finding this. From Dan's Cycling Friends: From Ralph Maundrell Hello, Steve, Carol, Deirdre, and Bob, I was so sorry to hear of Dan's passing. I've put a few memories down about the wonderful man that I hope you might share with others if you like. All the best! Stay safe! RalphDan McGuire's passing is a huge loss to BC's cycling community. His love of the sport, his ability to promote cycling, and his encouragement will be missed by all who knew him. I met Dan in 1982 at a Vancouver Bicycle Club meeting at Kitsilano's Bayview School. Besides commuting to work every day by bike, I had recently started running. I was a little awe-struck with Dan upon finding out he had run several marathons. We chatted, and he mentioned I might also try endurance cycling. Dan's easy-going manner and total lack of pretense inspired me to kick things up, and I completed my first marathon and Super Randonneur series the following year. Dan had the ability to instill confidence in people. Dan and I were always comfortable riding together, whether doing randonneur events, Vancouver Bicycle Club rides, or tours. I feel fortunate that I was able to learn so much about cycling from him - he was always willing to share his vast knowledge of cycling with others. The tour across northern BC that Dan organized in the early eighties will never be forgotten - it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bond with over one dozen other cyclists that included his son and sister, as I recall. I know that anyone else who was on this tour has many fond memories of the two and a half weeks spent together. If Dan wasn't riding himself, he was always ready to support others in endurance cycling events, from Wayne Phillips ill-fated Race Across America in 1985, to organizing and handing out muffins at Lower Mainland randonneur events, to travelling to France and offering encouragement to BC participants in the Paris-Brest-Paris. Unfortunately, as my randonneuring came to an end, I lost touch with Dan, but I continued to hear of his ongoing battle with Parkinson's Disease and his ceaseless riding exploits from others who knew him. Dan's strength of character and love for all things cycling will be missed all. Ralph Maundrell From Leo Boon: Sad to hear about Dan's passing. We have lost a wonderful human being, a tough old guy, a great cyclist. Blessed are we who had the opportunity to meet, cycle, talk and laugh with Dan. I had that luck to cycle with Dan, June, Gerry, Luis, John, Wayne in the early 80s. As I moved around the globe a lot I lost touch with the group, but when I reconnected with Gerry Pareja, I finally managed to sit down again with Dan after 30+ years in Vancouver in 2015. Although his speech was hard to understand, together with Gerry Pareja we looked at some of the old cycling magazines, old Vancouver Bicycle Club newsletters and other mementos I had among my travel diaries from the early 80s which I had brought for Dan to look at. It was a good visit to the memories of the early era of randonneuring in BC. We had a good laugh about some of our trips, that day. As we talked I heard the story of Dan's cycling trip to the 4 dirty corners of the Canadian landscape towel. Dan had still one corner of the Canadian towel to finish at the age of 82, the section of Dempster Highway to Inuvik in the Yukon and NWT. It weight heavy on his mind and he wanted to finish the journey, no matter the Parkinson disease that slowly had crippled him over the years. I told Dan I would use my contacts to help organise the road support for Dan’s second attempt. Getting Dan a motorhome rental so late in the season was a hard task but I managed to convince the CEO of Fraserway RV rental division with whom I worked for a number of years to get him a vehicle. Timing however was difficult. And as we know, Dan could focus intensely on an idea and the tasks that lay ahead. Loved to have been there when Dan finished that journey in Inuvik. My thoughts are with his daughter Tara who lost a great dad and to all of us who were blessed to have journeyed, even if only briefly, with Dan on the same road and in the same gear. Here is a picture before of the 1982 Triple Mountain Challenge on the top of Mtn Seymour with Dan, Gerry and the rest of alumni of the BC Randonneur Club. LB  Click to Enlarge From Barry Bogart I must have met Dan in '78 through VBC, although we both worked at Hydro at the time. I saw him a lot on VBC rides but not so much on Rando rides because Dan was always ahead of me, figuratively and literally. But I saw him often when one of us were volunteering. When I learned of his cross-Canada exploits I was so impressed and inspired. If I get to the Yukon next year I will be thinking of him. Although I saw Dan a lot at scheduled events, my favorite encounter with him was unplanned. It happened when I was riding out the Crowsnest Highway heading for Alberta and Montana on a bike tour. I was crawling up to Allison Pass when he drove by and recognized me. He stopped. He was heading out to help Danelle on Tour BC I think. I told him where I was headed and he INSISTED that I go up to Nelson and take the ferry rather than take Kootenay Pass. I will never know but I am sure he was right about that! I did follow his advice. He is my hero. It is so sad that Covid took him after all he accomplished. RIP Dan. Barry From Manfred Kuchenmuller As a fellow Randonneur I always admired Dan's devotion and commitment to our club. While we had an occasional disagreement, he was always respectful, encouraging and generous with me. I will miss him. Manfred From Danelle Laidlaw Dan introduced me to the Vancouver Bicycle Club when I first arrived in Vancouver and helped me get involved in the cycling scene. Over the years, my path crosssed frequently with Dan's activities. Dan was a valued volunteer for me on TourBC, on the Pacific Populaire, and got me involved with the Irish Tour. We also shared an interest in cross-country skiing, wine, and opera. Dan contributed to many people and in many ways. A lovely, lovely man. From Pete Pazdera Dan's Every F'Inch of his life made a fine example of how to live life. He showed gentleness and caring, while driven by stubborn determination to achieve his goals. I am happy to have been part of achieving some of them, and will always have Dan in my heart. There is a photo of Dan with a bloody head. Perhaps he never told anyone of that incident, and he insisted that Diana and I didn't tell anyone for fear his family would never let him out again. In the Rockies, there was a waterfall that dropped a very long way down, and you could walk to it from the highway which was at the top of the precipice. Despite his Parkinson's handicap, Dan had shuffled his way somehow over the jagged rocks leading to the edge, and on his return had tripped and smashed his head - nit too serious but it looked nasty. While we bandaged him up, he said that he had lost his hat somewhere back there, could I go look for it: and also, if you lay down at the edge of the cliff and looked down over the falls, it was quite a unique experience. So off I went, and found his hat, one of two special hats he brought on the trip. I decided to take the advice and look over the falls by laying down. Clumsy me, while getting up I dropped the hat and watched it float hundreds of feet down to the river below. I would hope that his hat made it to the ocean, perhaps charged with his spirit of determination despite all odds. From Bob Boonstra Our condolences and thoughts are with June and the McGuire family. I was quite affected by Dan's passing and so much so that I had to go and find some images that I knew I had from the 1980's when I began cycling with the group. Dan led a group of 5 including me - in Holland and Germany on our way to Paris in 1986. We cycled through those countries together. In Holland, we had a significant incident (read "crash") in which Dan "nerfed" another cyclist right off the road, sending this hapless individual right off the road. As it happened we five were in a loose pace line cruising along through the Dutch countryside at about 25kph, approaching a curve to the right, and with a hedgerow blocking our long view. A Dutch cyclist on approach on the wrong side of the road suddenly appeared and then attempted to "weave" his way through our pace line. He got past the first cyclist, Norm Brodie but couldn't clear Dan, who promptly and quickly dispatched him into the weeds with a glancing shoulder check. All turned out well because as I understand Dutch just enough to understand that the hapless victim was on his way to the hospital anyway for an appointment regarding his head. It turned out that this man was returning for an appointment regarding a recent surgery and also, that no one was seriously impacted by the event. Kudos Dan. I'll always know Dan's voice, his dry sense of humour, his "ass" as I followed it for enough kilometers.. and mostly - his dedication to others. He is surely missed by many of us. A finer man I'll never know.. We need to do a ride in his memory. It needs to be a long one... Bob  Click to enlarge From Judy Morrison We just attended a zoom memorial for the most wonderful human: Dan McGuire. Dan is pictured here with me in 1991 in Paris at the 100th year anniversary of the 1200km-90hr time limited Paris-Brest-Paris. Dan called Karen Smith and I in dismay when he heard we were going to attempt PBP on mountain bikes. He warned us of our folly. I told Dan: "We're students, it's all we have." And off we went on our memorable ride of folly. Shortly after PBP 1991, Dan reached out to me. We had a connection that felt almost like he placed me under his wing like a father-like figure. He told me I needed a more suitable bike for randos and he happened to have an old Cannondale he wasn't using. I told him I couldn't possibly take it. He said, consider it a long-term loan. The only condition was that I not ever sell it, which I never did. We made the arrangements. Soon after a letter arrived in my mailbox: inside a note from Dan: "Sold for $1 to Judy Morrison. I'll front you the loonie, I know you're good for it." I put many happy miles and kms on that bike. Thanks to Dan. Some of them with him and many common friends. It was only just today at his memorial that I discovered Dan was born in 1932. The same year as my Dad. Dan, you are one amazing human being that has left this world a better place. I'll think fondly of you, as your daughter Tara has suggested, when I am riding my bike on some roadway on a sunny day. For wonderful insight into Dan, have a listen to Stuart MacLean recount a bit about Dan's intrepid ride across and up/down Canada to raise funds for and awareness about Parkinson's Disease, which my Aunt also lives with.  Dan & Friends ~1991 (photo details HERE) Go to: - December 14, 2020 Updated August 2024 |