Nearly 40 first responders cycled through the Sunshine Coast on Thursday and Friday as part of the 20th Cops for Cancer Tour de Coast fundraiser for cancer research.
Police officers and first responders from BC Emergency Health Services and other organizations take part in the annual tour, which sees them cycle 800 kilometres through Vancouver, North and West Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast and the Sea-to-Sky Corridor over nine days.
The cyclists arrived at the Langdale terminal on the first ferry from Horseshoe Bay on Sept. 19 and made their first stop at Cedar Grove Elementary School in Elphinstone.
“So far it’s been pretty good,” said Const. Dustin Shevchenko, a rider from the Sunshine Coast RCMP detachment. “We’ve had luck with the weather. Yesterday was wonderful. We did North Vancouver and West Vancouver and Vancouver itself and today now we’re over on the Coast, so hopefully we get a good stretch of this as well. We’ve had phenomenal support along the way, too.”
Local constable Chris Mager is also participating in the tour.
Riders told students about their efforts to raise money for pediatric cancer research and Camp Goodtimes, a camp for children with cancer. To date the Tour de Coast team has raised more than $280,000.
Students were encouraged to bring a toonie to the event and Mager and Shevchenko presented a plaque to the school’s principal, Olwen Cowan, to acknowledge their support.
Other Sunshine Coast stops included Davis Bay Elementary, Madeira Park Elementary School and Madeira Park Legion, and the RCMP detachment in Sechelt. They were expected to cycle through the upper Sunshine Coast on Sept. 20.
