The Tour de Rock cancer fundraiser ride is rolling out of Nanaimo after making community connections and charity collections.
The Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock, a 14-day, 1,200-kilometre journey from Port Hardy to Victoria, arrived in Nanaimo on Sunday, Sept. 29, and on Monday, Sept. 30, the tour stopped by Berwick on the Lake retirement home.
There was a breakfast spread of scones, fruit, trail mix and tropical smoothies set up for the riders to fuel them for the day, and there was time for the riders to meet the seniors, accept donations and receive well wishes.
"The Tour de Rock is about every generation stepping up and helping out," said Nanaimo RCMP Const. Ian George, the local detachment's representative on the ride. "Our seniors, they know. In their lives they've seen friends come and go through this unfortunate disease."
More than two-thirds of the way through the tour, the riders were in good spirits in Nanaimo. George said they appreciate having made it out of the rain, as it poured the first four days of the tour on the north Island.
"When you're a cyclist and you wake up the next day to the sounds of pouring rain coming out of your hotel room, you just say to yourself, 'really?'"
He was a bit sore the first few days, and joked that even though the riders trained three days a week leading up to the tour, he could have used four days a week.
"We have the best training coaches who helped get us through all of what we need, psychologically, mentally, physically, emotionally, to prepare us for these 14 days of riding," he said. "So we're strong."
It's been hard not to get emotional along the way, George said. The tour raises money for pediatric cancer research and also supports a summer camp for children going through cancer and their family members.
At the tour stop at Thrifty Foods, just before Berwick on the Lake, the riders were told of a young person's recent cancer diagnosis and recorded a video message in support, and felt that even as strangers, they were helping to make a difference.
"No one wants to see a child suffering and whether it's through Camp Goodtimes or the improvement of pediatric cancer research, we are winning," George said.
For more information or to donate, visit http://support.cancer.ca/site/TR?fr_id=29673&pg=entry.
