Story by Dean Campbell, CTV Olympics Staff

Almost weightless, the ring on Canadian road cyclist Denise Ramsden's finger is always there. It's a reminder of family, of so much of what has helped her get to the London 2012 Olympic Games. But it's a bittersweet possession.

Meant to be worn on the pinky finger of the dominant hand, the ring was earned by Ramsden's father, Dave, when he became a professional engineer. It was meant to remind him of the obligations and ethics of his profession.

Two years after her father passed away from cancer, the ring now reminds Denise of the events that shaped so many aspects of her life growing up.

Dave Ramsden, while studying engineering at the University of Waterloo, went to the Northwest Territories for a work placement. While there, he met Fran, his future wife, and Denise's mother.

Also from Ontario, Fran had moved up north to work as a nurse. They stayed in the north for 18 years. Denise was born in Hay River, N.W.T., in 1990, and was quickly introduced to sport.

"I started cross-country skiing when I was, I think, two and then started speed skating when I was three or four up in Yellowknife, because those are two big winter activities that everyone does," said Ramsden, who continued on the blades for another 13 years.

In those early days, Ramsden recalled her first introduction to multi-sport games.

"Yellowknife just has such an active community. I think I went to watch the Arctic Winter Games in Alaska when I was four or five," said Ramsden. "That kind of showed me the multisport games environment. Obviously it's not quite the same as the Olympics, but it's probably where I saw athletes in a competitive atmosphere. I think I have probably watched every Olympic Games since then."

Watching Catriona Le May Doan was an early inspiration for Ramsden, who, though she competed in short track speed skating, was still impressed.

"That's probably when I said I'd really like to do what she's doing," said Ramsden, referring to the Olympic Games.

Soon, HUGHES Clara began to make her mark the sport of speed skating, and Ramsden continued to follow along. Now, both Ramsden and Hughes will compete side by side for Canada in women's road cycling at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

"Now it's kind of funny that someone you watched on TV, you're rooming with them at Pan Am games," said Ramsden, who went pro in 2011. "I think that was the first time I met her, two years ago. "

During her teens, Ramsden's family moved from Yellowknife to Kingston, Ont., so Dave could complete a master's and then a PhD in Organizational Behaviour at Queen's University.

While there, Ramsden began to get bored of speed skating and cross country skiing at about the same time she began to get interested in triathlon. Her father helped found a triathlon club, and soon, Denise was doing her best swim, bike, run performances. But it was in cycling where she really excelled.

"I enjoyed the bike part the most, particularly because my body is more designed for cycling, not swimming," said Ramsden, who tried her first cycling race when she was 16.

"Before that we didn't realize I could just do a bike race on its own, but through the club we heard about the Ottawa Grand Prix, so I went and did it that year," said Ramsden.

A year later, she shifted her athletic ambitions to two wheels and hasn't looked back.

All the way along, Fran and Dave Ramsden helped in every way they could. Fran continues to travel to races, volunteering at the 2012 Canadian National Championships where her daughter beat Hughes to the line and the title.

"When I got into speed skating, we were over mileage on our car every year from going to meets every weekend. Then, getting into cycling, and I was getting driven to different races, not quite every weekend, but often enough," said Ramsden.

And while those tangibles were vital to her development in road cycling, for Ramsden, it's the mental aspects of the sport provides the biggest challenges.

"People are always ‘Wow, you do 120 kilometres' and yes, it's long, but it's relatively easy to prepare for the physiological aspects of it" said Ramsden. "Psychologically, it's a pretty hard sport, especially in Europe. There's so many girls and you're fighting for four hours to hold your spot on a tiny little road that might be made of cobbles and there might be wind and rain. You see people crashing off the road, and piling up. Half the pack will disappear, but you have to keep going.

"Just dealing with that – the fear of riding in the pack and wanting not to crash – and how mentally hard it can be, the conditions, wind rain, everything. That's probably the most difficult."

For the two years since his death, Dave Ramsden has stayed with his daughter in his ring. Though he is no longer there to drive her to races or to cheer her on from the sidelines, he is on Ramsden's finger, there for every corner, every pedal stroke, reminding her what she can be.

Ramsden will race in the road cycling race on July 29 and in the time trial August 1.