Riders battled bad weather, illness and fatigue to ride up and down the Island in 48 hours, but the cash for kids facing cancer was worth it.
The eight cyclists who rode the inaugural End2End cycling relay finished the 1,000-kilometre journey within 48 hours and surpassed their goal of raising $110,584 and counting for the Island Kids Cancer Association.
End2End chair Andy Dunstan announced the total shortly after the team arrived at Victoria’s Trek Bicycle Store on Thursday (June 19).
In addition to Dunstan – the retired police officer and part-time bike store employee who dreamed up the idea for the fundraiser – the team included Trek owner Bill Fry, Saanich police officer Rob McDonald, CFB Esquimalt firefighter Chris Day, reporter Mary Griffin, former Mountie Steve Foster, commercial real estate agent Erin Glazier and Victoria police detective Kevin Nystedt.
The eight cyclists rode in four pairs, taking turns on a succession of 50-kilometre segments until the trip was done.
Along the way, they raised cash and awareness for the Island Kids Cancer Association, a small frontline charity under the leadership of Susan Kerr. Island Kids comes up with money for families that, already knocked sideways by a cancer diagnosis, suddenly find themselves in financial trouble.
“Families should not have to worry about the ability to put food on the table or fuel in their cars when their child has cancer,” Kerr said.
The End2End team also brought another reminder of why they were riding: the crutches that Kerr’s late son Jacob used before succumbing to cancer at age 19 in 2019.
“Jacob never stopped moving forward,” she wrote in a letter that Dunstan read aloud to the riders and other End2End volunteers just prior to Tuesday’s departure. “These crutches are a testament to his will to keep going, to never give up and to see the light through the darkness. He practised with these crutches day after day, even when he was told there was nothing more they could do.”
Jacob’s crutches stayed with the team in a support vehicle throughout the journey. They were a reminder that no matter how wet, tired and sore the riders were, their hardships paled beside those of families struck by childhood cancer.
For more information, visit End2Endcancer.com.
