It started as a way for Vernon-North RCMP officer Const. Nick Reimann to give back to the community while he stayed in shape.
He enthusiastically volunteered to be part of the Cops For Kids charity cycle around southeastern B.C. in 2014.
Reimann realized he was part of something special with that ride, and that spirit has carried him to today, where he is a director on the Cops For Kids foundation board.
“During the 10-day ride, riders have the privilege to meet the families has touched and what our efforts mean to children in medical, physical and traumatic crisis,” said Reimann. “During the many hours I spend on my bike training, I have hit mental walls that I have had to overcome. It is remembering the families who every day are dealing with challenges most of us cannot even imagine and how we are helping them that keeps me riding.”
This year, Reimann has the honour of designing the team jersey and is the lead cyclist for the riders across the 1,000 kilometres to Kelowna and and back. This position is exceptionally challenging as the lead rider expends substantially more effort to create a draft for others to follow which permits the peloton to maintain an overall faster pace.
Reimann has been with the RCMP for 11 years and his leadership both on the job and with the Cops for Kids Foundation is admirable. All the funds raised go to help families in communities throughout the southeast of British Columbia.
Cops for Kids riders each pedal 1,000 km over a 10-day period typically as a team of 30, however, this year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the event looks slightly different. These riders will now complete a few legs of the journey as a designated cyclist, in a relay format as part of a smaller team of six riders. They will then go on to finish the remaining distance, approximately 800 kms, with rides in their own home communities between now and Sept. 20.
Joining Reimann in representing the North Okanagan are:
*Const. Carl Stene of the Vernon-North Okanagan RCMP;
*Katherine Ahvenus, a police dispatcher with the Southeast District Operations Communications Centre;
*Cpl. James Moore of the Southeast District Integrated Forensic Identification Services;
*Steve McVarnock, former Vernon-North Okanagan superintendent, now retired.
The Vernon-North Okanagan Facebook page (@VernonNorthOkanaganRCMP) and Twitter account (@VernonNOkRCMP) will follow the journey of Reimann and the other North Okanagan area riders as they each pedal towards their 1,000 km commitment.
Reimann and other members of the RCMP will be participating in Fuel Good Day on Tuesday Sept. 15 at the Armstrong Regional Co-op Gas Bar on 27th Street in Vernon.
To donate to Reimann or any of the other riders, please visit the Cops for Kids website.
READ MORE: Cops For Kids provides help for mother of premature twins
READ MORE: Milestone RCMP Cops For Kids fundraiser ride going virtual
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