Allan Wishart
Dan Wingham knew how to get city council’s attention Monday evening.“I’m not here with an ask,” the representative of the Canadian Cancer Society Cops for Cancer Tour de North told council. “I’m here to provide information.”The highlight of his update on plans for the 2011 ride, which features RCMP officers and auxiliaries from across the north as well as a few civilian riders, is a change in direction.“This is the 10th anniversary of the event,” Wingham said. “For the last nine years, the Tour has gone from Prince George to Prince Rupert.“This year, we’ve changed the route. In September, we will be riding from Fort St. John to Williams Lake.”Wingham says the distance cycled is about the same, so the event will still be a one-week ride. He cited a numbers of reasons for the change.“We want to create greater regional awareness of pediatric cancer services available here, we want to get communities involved who had asked if we could visit them, and we want to, in some ways, give the Highway 16 communities a ‘rest’. The same people are usually involved in the events each community holds during the ride, and we decided to give them a year off.”He expects the ride to return to the Prince George to Prince Rupert route in 2012, and says that while no plans have been made, the ride could change each year.“We might decided in the future to go from Prince Rupert to Prince George one year.”Just as the Highway 16 route featured the cyclists taking a side-trip up to Fort St. James, this year’s riders will take a side-trip to Mackenize on their way through.At the conclusion of his presentation, Wingham realized he had made one minor mistake in his introduction.“I do have one thing to ask you. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your neighbours that the Tour de North is coming to Prince George again.”The tour is scheduled to be in Prince George on Sept. 13. This year’s goal is to raise $225,000.
