The culmination of a demanding 1,100-kilometre ride that began Sept. 19 in Port Alice continues Thursday and Friday around Greater Victoria for the 2015 Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock team.
Twenty-one cyclists — 20 police officers and media rider Hilary Eastmure of 91.7 Coast FM radio in Nanaimo — have a heavy schedule that wraps up with a finale Friday at 5 p.m. in Centennial Square.
The cyclists arrived in the capital region on Wednesday and their first stop was at Millstream Elementary. They made stops at more schools throughout the Sooke school district the rest of the day, and will continue to other school districts Thursday and Friday.
On Friday afternoon, they’ll be at Oaklands Elementary where the Canadian Cancer Society’s Jan Buehler said a special fundraising effort has been going on. Student Rene Soto-Taylor died of cancer in July and there are two other students with the disease, she said.
Rene had been a junior rider on the tour.
“They’re going door-to-door, they’re shaving heads, they’re doing all kinds of fundraising,” Buehler.
The ride has been taking place since 1998 to raise funds for pediatric cancer research and such Canadian Cancer Society programs as Camp Goodtimes, a camp for children affected by cancer.
Reaching the Victoria area is always a great experience for the riders, said Buehler. “It’s huge, it’s enormous,” she said. “The stops just are increasing and increasing and the people are honking their horns and coming out.
“Sometimes it’s just 10 minutes a stop because we want to see as many people as we can.”
A trip to Sidney completes Thursday’s schedule, Buehler said. It includes a gala event at the Mary Winspear Centre called Comedy for Cancer.
Friday’s itinerary includes the tour’s first-ever stop at CFB Esquimalt — there are four riders this year from the military police — and a visit to the University of Victoria to cycle with UVic president Jamie Cassels.
“Basically we shut down Ring Road,” Buehler said.
Donations to Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock can be made at tourderock.ca.
jwbell@timescolonist.com
