As the Tour de Rock team gathered in Cathedral Grove, the last stop before the dreaded Port Alberni Hump, our road boss Rob McDonald held a photo to his chest.
It showed Saanich police Sgt. Mike Lawless, giving high-fives to a pack of past Tour riders, totally in his element.
We huddled close as McDonald spoke, his voice cracking. Tears fell from behind dark glasses.
“When he was on support crew, Mike Lawless used to give a speech about how you guys are going to destroy this hump [a 1,490-metre mountain peak],” McDonald said.
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Thinking of Lawless, who has had to step back from his role on the support crew while he battles cancer, we put our hands in a circle, a show of unity and strength.
Lawless has been a fixture on the support crew since 2005, the year after he rode the Tour himself.
The 19-year veteran with Saanich police inspired his colleague Sgt. Jason Bland to ride this year.
The two are like brothers. They met in 1996 when Bland was a reserve constable, trying to get hired by the department. Lawless took him under his wing. When Bland was hired, the two ended up as partners in the motorcycle unit.
“Mike has pulled me through a lot of dark times in my career. He and I have a bond that is very strong because of very high times and very, very lows,” Bland said.
Bland has always been amazed at how positive Lawless is, despite a diagnosis of lung cancer in July 2013 and, this year, a discovery of cancer in the brain.
“When we hit Cathedral Grove, I just thought of so many stories from previous Tour riders. I kept thinking of Mike as we got closer and closer and closer. It just solidified for me that yet again, at another hard part in my life, my brother is there.”
As the team rode up one of the toughest hills of this 1,100-kilometre ride, we looked at that photo of Lawless high-fiving former riders, which was taped to the bumper of the lead car. His police badge number, 25, was also taped to each support vehicle and the bikes of the Saanich police riders.
Junior rider Brett Wasyliniuk, a seven-year-old cancer survivor from Port Alberni, was at the summit, clapping for us.
Never was there a day that we needed the support crew more than on Friday. Three motorcycle officers shut down the right lane of the highway to keep us safe.
Our lead and rear cars made sure we stayed together as a team, also acting as a mobile stereo system to pump us up.
While the Tour de Rock riders get all the press, photo ops and ovations, the 18-member support crew makes it all possible.
The 13-vehicle convoy that rolls through each town includes a motorhome, where many of the lunches and snacks are prepared, a five-ton truck, where the riders’ bags and bikes are stored overnight, a Magnum that acts as the lead car, and three motorcycle riders who block off traffic on the highway, at intersections and even keep aggressive dogs from running into our path.
There’s also a medic, in case of injury, and our mascot, Rider the Raccoon, who is popular with our younger audience.
All the support crew members have their own reasons for wanting to remain a part of the Tour.
Steve Robinson, of Saanich police, survived testicular cancer. He was told he would never have kids again and then, four years ago, he and his wife, Kathi, gave their daughter Brooklyn a little sister, Jordyn. Robinson rode the Tour in 2011, two years after his battle and is now the MC, a powerful spokesman who can bring you to tears as easily as he can turn on his goofball side to get a laugh out of a child.
Misty Dmytar of Nanaimo RCMP, who takes riders to events and fundraisers in the police van, is mom to Griffyn, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma at nine days old. Griffyn is now a healthy three-year-old.
Rob McDonald rode the Tour in 2007. That was also the year his daughter, Lochlyn, was born with Costello’s syndrome, which makes her more susceptible to childhood cancer.
Today, the North support team finishes their leg of the Tour, allowing the South support team to take over on Sunday.
McDonald said he’s always amazed at the level of commitment shown by the support crew.
“If you’re somebody who bought into the Tour de Rock when you rode, you don’t want it to stop. You want to keep going, you want to make a difference.”
Saturday's ride
Some call this the toughest day of the Tour De Rock: more than 100 kilometres of hills on the serpentine road from Port Alberni to Ucluelet (you know a climb is tough when it has its own name, like Hydro Hill or Sutton Pass). The riders are expected to wobble jelly-legged into the Ukee RCMP detachment around 2:30 p.m.
