THE CAPI TAL

timescolonist.com | TIMES COLONIST A4 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

Elizabeth Avis
North Cowichan/
Duncan RCMP
Growing up in the
Cowichan Valley, Avis
followed the Tour de
Rock, seeing teachers
at Chemainus
Secondary shaving
their heads and the
riders roll through
every year.
Thats going to be
me one day, she
said.
Ryan Blakey
Nanaimo RCMP
Having seen how
passionate Islanders
are about the cause,
Blakey is keen to dive
into the experience.
As strange as it
seems, Im really
looking forward to
sleeping on the gym
floors.
Jason Bland
Saanich Police
Bland has provided
motorcycle escort for
the Tour in years past,
alongside fellow offi-
cer Sgt. Mike Lawless,
who was diagnosed
with lung cancer in
2013. It has been a
career-long goal, to
give that little bit
extra. Ive been on
the peripheries
this time its the full
commitment.
Jordan Carrie
Oak Bay Police
Ever since he saw the
Tour de Rock roll into
Spectrum Community
School as a student ,
Carries goal has
been to ride. Carrie
said he developed
strong roots growing
up on Vancouver
Island and wants to
give back.
Adam Carruthers
CFB Esquimalt
Carrutherss grand-
mother, who lived in
his hometown of
Thunder Bay, Ont.,
died of cancer a year
ago.
That would be one
of my motivators for
doing the tour, he
said.
Katie DeRosa
Times Colonist media
rider
DeRosa has inter-
viewed families who
described the pain
and anguish of losing
someone to cancer
and wanted to take
action.
For me, the tour is
about trying to do
something about it.
Andrea Folk
Comox Valley RCMP
After Folks close
friend was diagnosed
with sarcoma, she
watched him deterio-
rate for four years
before he died.
Its my motivation to
push myself up those
hills.
Chandler Grieve
CTV News
Kids deserve to have
fun and run around,
laughing and jump-
ing. They dont
deserve cancer. Thats
why Im riding.
Colleen Henry
Comox Valley RCMP
For five years, Henry
has participated in
the Weekend to End
Breast Cancer, an
annual 60-kilometre
walk. She befriended
a man who lost his
wife to breast cancer.
It hits you right in
the heart and makes
you realize it could be
any one of us in their
position.
Heather Hunter
Saanich Police
The school liaison
officer has seen the
tours magic when
the team rolls into a
school gym. When
she learned Dean
Norris-Jones was rid-
ing, she decided it
was her year to ride,
too. Kids dont get
to choose a conven-
ient time to have can-
cer, so I decided to
just go for it.
Carla Johnson
Island Radio,
Nanaimo
Johnson lost her
grandmother to bone
cancer and her
brother-in-law
recently died of can-
cer at the age of 43.
That was really diffi-
cult. He was so young
and healthy.
Chris Kippel
Comox Valley RCMP
Kippel met his wife,
Katie, after her first
battle with breast
cancer. We thought
she had it beat. She
had the surgery and
the chemo. We
thought everything
was great, but then it
metastasized to the
bone. Seven years
after we met, it
claimed her.
Ryan
Koropatniski
Victoria Police
A father of two
young girls who
recently lost their
grandfather to cancer,
Koropatniski has seen
first hand how diffi-
cult the fight against
cancer can be, and
how much strength it
takes from those
directly affected and
from the families and
communities at large.
Lori Lumley
Victoria Police
Lumley is riding for
Terry Albrecht, a
Victoria police officer
who died of cancer in
2013. She is also rid-
ing for long-time
friend Trish Massart,
who continues to bat-
tle cancer.
Jack McClintock
Central Saanich
Police Department
The retired corporal
said his motivation
for choosing a career
in law enforcement
helping people
is the same reason
hes on the tour. I
am looking forward
to offering encour-
agement to families
impacted by cancer
to help support their
fight against it.
George Minshull
Oceanside RCMP
At age 25, Minshull
lost his mother to a
long, hard-fought
battle with pancreatic
cancer. Minshull is
dedicating the ride to
his wifes uncle, Alec
Stenger, who died
May 9, the day
Minshull was offi-
cially named to the
Tour de Rock team.
Dean
Norris-Jones
Reynolds Secondary
School teacher
Norris-Jones has been
helping students at
Reynolds raise funds
for the tour for nine
years. He and his wife
are cancer survivors.
I think any time you
get a diagnosis like
that one it puts a lot
of things into per-
spective.
Matthew
Pidgeon
CFB Comox
Pidgeon heard stories
about the tour from
colleagues the vis-
its to small, remote
North Island towns
and to schools full of
excited kids. Now he
wants to live it.
I cant believe the
generosity of people.
They really want to
help out.
Jordan Reid
Oceanside RCMP
Having completed the
Tour de North while
posted in Kitimat,
Reid has seen what
the campaign means
to kids battling the
disease. Those kids
obviously have it a
whole lot harder than
I do. They wish
they could be sitting
on a bike and push-
ing it instead of being
in a hospital bed.
Tyson Richard
Port Hardy RCMP
The third-generation
police officers sister
Marika, also a
Mountie, hoped to
ride alongside her
brother in the tour
this year, but raising
two young children
made that difficult.
Richard says hes
looking forward to
riding on behalf of his
sister and her young
family.
Kyle Ushock
Campbell River RCMP
Ushock said he wants
to help send kids
with cancer to Camp
Goodtimes. The big
thing for me is help-
ing kids who dont
have the chance to
be kids, and sending
them to camp so they
can have a good time
and forget about
whats going on in
their lives for a
week.
Justin Whittaker
Saanich Police
Whittaker said hes
riding for any parent
who has faced losing
a child. That power-
less feeling where
you cannot help them
in any way, shape or
form, it's absolutely
horrible. For parents
to go through some-
thing like cancer,
well, its my time to
step up and do my
part.
Steve Wright
West Shore RCMP
Having taken to heart
a doctors advice to
get in shape, Wright
lost 55 pounds and
this year felt physi-
cally fit. His wife,
Ailsa, has been an
enthusiastic sup-
porter, cheering the
team on at a number
of rides. It has been
rewarding having her
there.
Jennifer Young
Victoria Police
Let kids be kids.
Young said shes
determined to con-
tribute to a future
where children are
able to focus on
things like what
sports to play or how
they will spend their
weekend, rather than
having to think about
what treatment
options they will face.
TOUR DE ROCK 2014
Meet the 2014 Cops for Cancer team members and learn their reasons for riding in the Tour de Rock.
Source: Canadian Cancer Society
KATIE DeROSA
Times Colonist
If one jersey could represent
1,100 kilometres, 24 nervous and
excited riders, dozens of junior
riders, and unwavering commu-
nity support across Vancouver
Island, this would be it.
The signature red Cops for
Cancer Tour de Rock jersey pre-
sented to each of the 24 riders on
Friday is a symbol of 6
1
2 months
of training and fundraising as
well as the journey ahead.
On Sept. 20, the riders will
leave for Port Alice to start the
13-day ride, zig-zagging across
the Island to raise money for
pediatric cancer research and
programs for children with a his-
tory of cancer.
Its a symbol of the riders who
came before us and the ones who
will follow, said Oceanside
RCMP Const. George Minshull of
the red jersey. More than any-
thing, its a symbol of hope for the
kids.
Minshull said trading in the
blue training jerseys for the red
ones worn during the ride means
the dress rehearsal is over and
now the real journey begins.
He admits that even though
hes heard lots of emotional and
life-changing stories from past
riders, he has no idea what to
expect.
As much as you want to think
you know whats coming, you
never really do until youre
thrown into it.
Const. Colleen Henry of
Comox Valley RCMP said the jer-
sey represents blood, sweat and
tears, because I couldnt even
ride a bike when I started.
Im excited to go to all these
communities and see all these
people [who have] given us
money, given us their hearts and
given us so much respect for
what were doing, Henry said.
Victoria police Const. Ryan
Koropatniski was thinking of all
the riders over the past 17 years
who have helped raise more than
$20 million for the Canadian Can-
cer Society and childhood-cancer
research.
It represents all the hard
work and dedication that the team
has done since 1998, he said.
kderosa@timescolonist.com
Times Colonist reporter Katie
DeRosa is one of the media riders
for this years Tour de Rock. Start-
ing Sept. 21, the Times Colonist
will have daily coverage of the big
ride, including maps, route infor-
mation and stories.
Tour de Rock riders ready to roll
DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST
The 2014 Tour de Rock team shows off the red jerseys they will wear during their 13-day, 1,100-kilometre ride down Vancouver Island.
Kids with cancer
inspire cyclists
facing journey along
length of Island
Times Colonist
Aburn barrel has been pin-
pointed as the cause of a fire
Thursday that spread from a
Otter Point house into the nearby
forest.
Sooke Fire Chief Steve
Sorensen said the burn barrel,
use of which was permitted under
Capital Regional District bylaws,
was being used to burn household
materials.
The person who lit the fire
thought it was out and left, he
said.
The winds came up and it
wasnt the greatest burn barrel in
the world, had some holes in it.
The wind blew the embers
through a hole into a pile of scrap
wood that was next to the tool
shed, which set the tool shed on
fire, which set the house on fire,
Sorensen said.
Purely accidental, but just
goes to show how dry it is.
On Friday, the fire-hazard rat-
ing rose to extreme, meaning
burn barrels can no longer be
used.
An estimated 50 firefighters
were involved in fighting the
blaze Thursday, including mem-
bers from the provincial Forest
Service and fire departments in
Sooke, Otter Point, East Sooke,
Shirley, Metchosin, Colwood and
Langford, Sorensen said. View
Royal Fire covered Sookes area
as backup.
Heavy smoke prompted the
evacuation of 15 homes on West
Coast Road, Carpenter Road and
Dalrae Place.
Damage to the log-cabin-style
house at 7760 West Coast Rd. was
estimated at $500,000.
Burn barrel sparked
blaze, fire chief says
ISLANDER
>Sunday in the Times Colonist