Cops For Cancer is taking a new route this fall, and on Thursday night they took in new amounts of money.
A final fundraising event was held by the Prince George contingent of cycling Mounties, a pub night full of door prizes and gift baskets and hair removal which put more than $4,000 more into the Tour De North purse.
So far this year the event has gathered in excess of $70,000 and they haven't even turned a wheel yet. (Donations can still be made online at the Tour de North website, or cheques made out to Cops For Cancer can be sent to North District Headquarters at 4020 5th Avenue, Prince George.)
"When the tour comes through town there will be a special event, and that is to raise even more money but also to welcome in the riders and send them off on their way again," said Tish Wick, a former rider and current helper of the annual tour. "But we will get people flagging us down with money in their hands, people in motor homes handing us bills, and those sudden moments of giving are so heartwarming. We get to meet those people, too, and share with them what we're doing and what their reasons are for giving, and that's a big motivator."
The ride this year deviates for the first time from the route along Highway 16 from Prince Rupert to Prince George. This year, it goes north-south starting Sept. 9 in Fort St. John and finishing Sept. 15 in Williams Lake.
The longest single leg in Cops For Cancer-Tour De North history is on Sept. 13 when they cycle from Mackenzie to Prince George. That 200 kilometres - rain or shine - will need the open arms of the local public to cap off that hard segment.
"When you have the tough days you can easily turn your mind to what you are doing this for. You know that cancer is so much of a harder journey than this. It is what keeps you going out there," Wick said.
Dakota Stone doesn't need abstract motivations to push his pedals. Stone is an ambulance paramedic stationed in Valemount but the Prince George youth is in the application process for the RCMP.
"I will be riding in memory of my father, Brian Brooks," he said. "My dad just recently passed away from lung cancer on Feb.19, 2011. At only 20 years old it isn't fair to lose a parent. I have had many people close to me and my family who have lost their battle to cancer and I will also be riding for them as well as for their children that no longer have a parent."
Williams Lake member Michael Hacker lost his step-father and father-in-law to cancer. Prince George civilian member Liesl Wittkopf is riding for the child of a close friend. Thomas Stewart, a highway patrol member based in Quesnel, lost his grandfather, as did Josh Smith stationed in Fort St. John. Greg Pichler's and Kendra Felker's mothers fought it and won, Corinne Legault's mom is fighting it now. Terry Mitchell's and Ken Davies's mothers did not survive. Nor did Dave Dickson's father or Josh Martyn's uncle . Prince George's Shawn Ingham was at RCMP depot when cancer claimed his father. Civilian member Shirley Hogan lost her father and had a scare (it wasn't cancer, in the end) with her daughter. Journalist Marissa Harvey is the tour's media member and lost her grandmother. For Rachel Geense it was a close friend. Brian Evans lost two grandparents and an aunt. Kyle Bailey's uncle survived cancer but a close family friend did not.
All the members of the tour had their reasons - many of them loved ones - for investing the effort on the arduous trip. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, 62 per cent of people who take on cancer today, beat it. That's worth the bad weather and long hills and disrespectful traffic the riders are likely to encounter along the way.
Each night, though, the stopover town gets a chance to buoy their spirits.
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