Tour de Rock - DAY 6: PARKSVILLE TO PORT ALBERNI Posted on September 26, 2014 by ryderguy This is Sgt. Jason Bland from the Saanich Police. In the world of Tour de Rock, today is “Hump Day.” Now, to some, that phrase evokes the boisterous camel walking through the office: “Yay! Hump Day!” But not to the Tour de Rock riders and support crew. Hump Day, for us, brings the Tour de Rock closer to the west coast of Vancouver Island, accessed by one of the world’s most picturesque routes into Port Alberni. This trek takes us through Coombs and alongside Cameron Lake guarded by steep mountain sides covered in mist and, on this date, rain. This journey is also one that takes the team and support crew on a cathartic trip. Fear, strong emotions and purification is how to define today’s catharsis. It so aptly defines what today meant to the team. There were some among us today who were not looking forward to the Alberni Hump we were about to climb. A stretch of highway with a daunting grade, some of us held trepidations of the even longer and steeper decent that would take us into Port Alberni. For me and a number of the support crew, the catharsis was the unknown for one of the Tour de Rock and Saanich Police family. This was the day where traditionally, at least for the past 10 years on Tour, the usual Tour de Rock road boss, Mike Lawless, gave his speech to inspire everyone to fight their way up this stretch of incline. He would rally the team and with his special brand of humour, he would amp everyone up and over. But it wasn’t so this year. Mike can’t be here, though he would if he could. Mike has been a cancer fighter for many years (by that I mean he has raised funds and participated in Tour de Rock as a way of life for a long time; fighting the fight as an educator, ambassador and leader. Today, Mike is a cancer fighter in a different way. He’s fighting his own personal battle with the disease. Hump Day today for Mike signified his first day of radiation treatment to shrink the tumours attacking his brain before he has to begin another bout. The team rallied around our road boss today, who produced a photo of Mike, and he gave a speech as best as he could to bring out the passion of Mike in all of us riders. With that speech, we formed our lines and followed our escort vehicle up that hill. The catharsis for me today was following that car up the hump, but it wasn’t fear of the road ahead of me. That photo of the longstanding road boss, Mike, is a photo of a colleague, a brother, my best friend for 18 years. I love hills, I love going up them and down them, so for me, the fear wasn’t the asphalt. The catharsis for me was looking at the photo of Mike, now taped to the rear of the lead car, and not knowing for certain where Mike’s fight will take him. But I overcame that fear this afternoon in a genuinely touching way. Our first stop in Port Alberni brought me directly to a family that has always made this stop to see the team and to see Mike, because of how he always brought so much energy to Luke, a sweet young boy who has fought cancer and won. They showed me pictures of Mike and Luke together, nose to nose and smiling at one another in such a sweet and heartfelt connection. Mike was here, after all. Then after that encounter we met more and more people who shared with us their personal stories of cancer; their successes and their losses and their gratitude for what Tour de Rock has done to positively influence their lives. We pulled into Walmart with a crowd of regular Tour supporters waiting visit and give out special items they had made. We visited three schools in Port Alberni where the student bodies electrified us and warmed our souls, even though we were all soaked to the skin from the wet ride. We interacted with the kids, exchanged cheers and made several new friends in this amazing community. Boston Pizza hosted us again for anouther great community event, where we had a chance to visit with Jr. riders past and present - Brett, James and Kayla. As I look back on this day, Port Alberni will be affirmation that we all have fears, but we can beat them. We can be strong, and we can win this fight. WHAT’S UP ON SATURDAY, SEPT. 27 Some call this the toughest day of the Tour: more than 100 kilometres of kills on the serpentine road from Port Alberni to Ucluelet (you know a climb is tough when it has its own name, like Hydro Hill or Sutton Pass). The riders are expected to wobble jelly-legged into the Ukee Coop around 2:30 p.m. WHAT’S UP ON SUNDAY, SEPT. 28 After Saturday’s long, twisting, climbing, three-dozen-hill roller coaster to Ucluelet, this is as close as it gets to a recovery day. The team will mount up at 7:50 a.m. and cycle to Tofino for a fundraising breakfast at the Legion, then get driven back to the Island Highway for a 35-kilometre ride to Nanaimo. The day gets capped with a Red Rerge dinner at Nanaimo’s Coast Bastion Hotel, where they’ll arrive at 6.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 04:30:07 +0000
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