Black Press journalist Mario Bartel rode with the Cops for Cancer Tour de Coast on Wednesday and filed this report...
In cycling jargon, Greg Gunson is a Clydesdale. Great if you're a horse, not so much if you're perched upon an 18-pound aluminum Trek racing bike.
But that's exactly where Gunson, a veteran officer with Port Moody Police Department, will be until next Thursday. He's riding with 28 other officers from departments around Metro Vancouver, the RCMP, Canada Border Services as well as a contingent of paramedics, in the Cops for Cancer Tour de Coast.
The tour, which got underway Wednesday with a rousing send-off at Coquitlam's Scott Creek middle school, will cover about 900 km, heading up the Sunshine Coast to Powell River, and from Whistler to Pemberton before returning to the Lower Mainland for its final four days. Along the way, the peloton will stop at schools and community gatherings, spreading a message of hope and good health for cancer victims and their families, and raising funds for pediatric cancer research.
The Tour de Coast is one of four such efforts in British Columbia, which also include the Tour de North, the Tour de Valley in the Fraser Valley, and the Tour de Rock on Vancouver Island. Together, they raised more than $2.4 million last year, making them the Canadian Cancer Society's largest contributor to pediatric cancer research.
As Gunson cruises easily in the middle of the pack making its way west along St. Johns Street after a brief stop at his own HQ, he says he's hoping the ride will help him shed a few of his 250 pounds.
"I was surprised my bike wasn't green and yellow and said 'John Deere' on it," says Gunson, who only took up road cycling in the spring when he signed up for the Tour de Coast.
"Amazing" Bob Lee of Port Coquitlam is on his third tour. The paramedic with BC Ambulance Service earned his nickname with his enthusiasm.
"Each stop is amazing," says Lee, who trains for the Tour by riding to work from PoCo to Vancouver's Broadway-Renfrew area every day. "The people just grasp you and you want to hold onto that feeling."
To participate in the Tour, each rider must raise $6,000.
"The fundraising is pretty tough, especially in today's economy," said Lee. But three years in, he has it down to a science, accumulating the funds he needed through a "jail and bail" event at Coquitlam Centre mall as well as a daffodil campaign, and working with students at his alma mater, St. Thomas More Collegiate in Burnaby, to help raise $1,000.
The connections with schools are especially important, says Sue Woods, the manager of revenue development for the Canadian Cancer Society. The fundraising events organized by students help instil in them a sense of community and a visit from the peloton of police is a chance to promote a message of healthy activity, healthy eating choices and being smart in the sun.
"It's about creating opportunity for kids to be involved," says Woods.
Which is exactly what the students at Scott Creek middle school did. A Tour participant for more than 10 years, the school has been the top fundraiser for the past five.
After a series of speeches and a thank-you chant from the cyclists, directed by paramedic Al Pruden, who would be hoarse by the end of the day, the entire student body and teachers then sprinted to the front of the school to create a corridor of noise for the departing peloton.
"When people come and clap, that's the blessing," says Lee.
The Tour de Coast will return to the Tri-Cities on Tuesday, Sept. 27, beginning the day at Coquitlam city hall, then making stops at the Coquitlam branch of Coast Capital Savings, Thrifty Foods, Kwayhquitlum middle school and Blakeburn elementary in PoCo, then the PoCo branch of Coast Capital Savings.
To learn more about the Tour, and to support a rider, go to www.copsforcancerbc.ca.
