After travelling over 280 kilometres, a crew of 30 cycling grandmothers and their team, arrived in the capital city on the afternoon of Sept. 8.
Welcomed by a cheerful crowd of supporters, the band of women, nicknamed the Victoria Grandmothers for Africa (VG4A), completed a three-day trip, starting from Campbell River and ending at Victoria’s Mile Zero Monument.
Despite the demanding experience, event coordinator and cyclist Laurie Wilson described this year’s ride as blissful.
“(We had) perfect weather,” said Wilson. “A tailwind on the first day, a few flat tires, but we've got lots of good support. Lots of people cheered us all the way down, fed us and held up signs. You feel kind of like a celebrity.
“Yesterday did get a tiny bit hot in the afternoon but you hate to complain about that when there were so many other things.”
Having trained for months, the troop of grandmothers was dedicated to pushing their limits for a good cause.
Celebrating its 18th year, the Victoria VG4A’s Cycle Tour began as a fundraiser to support African grandmothers raising grandchildren orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
“The grandmothers were pretty grief-stricken 20 years ago as they were losing their own children and raising their grandchildren was a massive challenge,” said Wilson. “They were fighting everything from stigmas for having HIV, starvation, lack of medicine, etc. Over the years, we have helped them recover so all of their basic needs are being met.”
Having raised more than $1.2 million over the last two decades, Wilson said this year's event has been the highest-grossing since its inception, bringing in more than $169,000.
