I grew up in a biking family. Not the Lycra-clad speed-demon kind, but the kind where bikes were our transportation, our fun and most of the decorations in our house.
My dad worked in managing cycling infrastructure, my mom was part of a Women on Wheels group and on weekends, we’d bike around our Toronto neighbourhood taking turns deciding which direction to ride.
Bikes gave me a sense of freedom and adventure as a kid. They still do.
So, a team that turns bikes into a symbol of hope for children facing cancer, and their families, was a natural draw for me. That’s what the Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock has done for Island families since the first ride in 1997. I’ll be joining the 27th annual ride as a media rider.
A partnership between first responders and the Canadian Cancer Society, the annual two-week ride from one end of the Island to the other by first responders has raised more than $29 million for pediatric cancer research since that first year.
Money donated also helps send children to Camp Goodtimes, where kids and their families going through the hardest time of their lives can enjoy all the fun of a summer camp with medical care available on site.
Our 17-person team of police officers, paramedics, guest and media riders received our training jerseys Friday morning in a ceremony at St. Margaret’s School that kicked off the official training season for the 27th tour, which starts in Port Alice Sept. 21 and ends in Victoria on Oct. 4.
But we’ve already started training, riding laps of the two-kilometre road up Observatory Hill off West Saanich Road on Tuesday nights, racing around Sunnymead Way in Cordova Bay as a group on Thursdays to push our speed, and exploring the Saanich Peninsula on long Sunday rides.
We’re learning to work together and I’m learning that cycling is easier (and a lot more fun) as a team sport.
As a reporter, I’m more accustomed to working on my own. Teamwork doesn’t exactly come naturally to me.
But at the end of a long ride, when my legs feel like lead and my teammates at the front are doing the heavy lifting to reduce drag on the rest of us, it’s easy to see the value of being part of a team.
That’s what Tour de Rock is all about. It helps children and their families staring down a scary diagnosis feel like they have a team supporting them, helping to keep them going in the most daunting times.
If you want to donate, here’s the link to my fundraising page: tinyurl.com/muvuuxhb.
Here are the members of the 2024 Tour de Rock team:
• Sgt. Jereme Leslie — Saanich police
• Const. Dani Frohloff — Saanich police (retired)
• Reserve Const. Steve Foster — West Shore RCMP
• Const. Adam Foster — West Shore RCMP
• Reserve Const. Haydn Barrow — West Shore RCMP
• Const. Mary-Ellen Somerville — Sooke RCMP
• Const. Warren Kongus — Duncan RCMP
• Const. Ian George — Nanaimo RCMP
• Const. Keeley Deley — Comox Valley RCMP
• Capt. Liam Kenney — Esquimalt Military Police
• Steve Ward — paramedic, B.C. Emergency
Health Services in Victoria
• Chris Baratto — paramedic, B.C. Emergency Health Services in Port Alberni/ Sproat Lake Volunteer Fire
• Chris Seeley — guest rider, Campbell River Boston Pizza
• Bailey Parker — media rider, Virgin radio
• Nicholas Arnold — media rider, Vista radio
• Mary Griffin — media rider, CHEK News
• Roxanne Egan-Elliott — media rider, Times Colonist
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