Come September there will be a serge of cycling police officers through the north.
Er, surge, we mean.
The Cops for Cancer Tour de North is ramping up for their up to 800km cycle from Prince George to Prince Rupert, with a stop-over in Kitimat as well.
Representing Kitimat’s constabulary is Cst. Rob Buller with the Kitimat RCMP detachment, who is leaving his comfort zone to train on his donated (for the run at least) bicycle.
It’s not a style of cycling he’s used to, he says, historically having more experience on much heavier mountain bikes.
Yet the chance to make a difference in the ongoing fight against cancer was not an opportunity he wanted to waste.
“All the money from it goes towards childhood cancer research and also goes towards support programs for the families and children,” he explained.
Buller, as with each rider, is tasked to raise at least $3,000 and at this early stage he has already surpassed the $500 milestone.
On July 11 and 12 he’ll be reaching out to the community with barbecues at Overwaitea. People can also donate to his cause by visiting www.tourdenorth.ca and searching for Robert Buller in the participants list.
Buller says he knows the generous spirit of Kitimat residents and has little doubt he’ll make it to his goals. What will really make him sweat though is, of course, cycling through the northwest’s challenging terrain.
“Places like Hungry Hill along the way, those are pretty long days climbing those hills,” he said.
He said they also may be looking for people to put riders up for a night on September 16 when they’re in town and people should contact him at the detachment if they’re interested.
