The sound of cowbells and cheers filled the air at St. Margaret’s School in Saanich on Friday morning as the 28th annual Tour de Rock officially got underway.
A team of 18 riders will train over the next four months ahead of the 14-day, 1,200-kilometre journey, which runs from Sept. 20 to Oct. 3, starting in Port Alice and finishing in Victoria.
As always, the riders – a mix of police officers, firefighters, paramedics, military personnel, and community members – are raising money for the Canadian Cancer Society’s programs supporting children with cancer.
Each year, an estimated 1,000 children (ages 0-14) are diagnosed with cancer in Canada. Over the past five years, the Canadian Cancer Society has invested more than $13 million toward fighting the disease.
That investment is helping improve outcomes: the five-year survival rate for childhood cancer now sits at 84 per cent, up from 71 per cent in the 1980s, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
For Megan Jones, a military police officer and first-time rider, the cause couldn’t be more personal.
“I lost my father and my grandmother to cancer,” Jones said. “I don’t have kids right now, but I couldn’t imagine being a child and having to grow up with cancer. Hearing our speaker talk today about how she felt like an outcast until she went to Camp Goodtimes and finally felt normal – that hit me. That’s what we’re riding for.”
Jones said she was inspired by former colleagues who spoke about the tour with reverence.
“You attend all these events, you see the kids, you meet families – people who’ve raised money to support us and support these kids," Jones said. "That kind of impact is hard to describe. I just knew I had to be a part of it.”
The riders have been training hard since March, with team sessions four nights a week and long Sunday rides across the region. Jones laughed about the hill nights – her “favourite”– but said the true highlight has been the camaraderie among the team, a diverse group united by a shared mission.
Highlands volunteer firefighter Terry Kopeck echoed that sentiment. A lifelong Greater Victoria resident, Kopeck used to watch the tour roll through his kids’ school. A few times, his son even shaved his head for the cause. Now it’s his turn to give back.
“It was never even on my radar as something I could do,” Kopeck said. “But when I saw the call go out for first responders, I thought, ‘Yeah, I’ve got to do this.’”
After three months of training, Kopeck says the team is shifting into gear.
“It’s been really cool to see how far we’ve come. The first ride was a little shaky, but now we’re tight – riding as one. And we’ve built such a strong bond.”
The North Island riders joined the South Island crew on Friday, rounding out the full 18-rider roster that will complete the two-week journey down the Island this fall.
For Matthew Campbell, national director for Cops for Cancer at the Canadian Cancer Society, Tour de Rock represents the best of what community fundraising can be.
“It takes a whole community and an incredible team of volunteers to make this happen,” Campbell said. “This isn’t just a police ride – we’ve welcomed a broader range of public service members to the team. After 28 years, it’s really become a Vancouver Island institution.”
And while the route is long and the training intense, every rider knows why they’re pedalling.
“We’re doing it for the kids,” Jones said. “For their normalcy, for their chance to just be kids again – that’s what makes it all worth it.”
This fall’s route will include stops in several communities along the way – including Campbell River, Port Alberni, Tofino, Nanaimo, Duncan, and, finally, Victoria.
