It’s all about the journey for Tour de Rock rider Hilary Eastmure.
Eastmure, a reporter for 91.7 Coast FM, and Nanaimo RCMP Const. Mihai Ilioi were among 20 riders named to this year’s Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock team on Friday.
The annual ride will see the team bike 1,100 kilometres across Vancouver Island to raise money for children to go to Camp Goodtimes, a summer camp for kids with a history of cancer, as well as raise dollars for pediatric cancer research.
Eastmure and Ilioi have been gearing up for the gruelling ride since March, but training and fundraising will ramp up this month.
Training will go from once a week to three times weekly with 4,000 km logged before they even leave the start line on Sept. 20.
Eastmure, Tour de Rock’s only media rider, said training is a fun challenge, intense and just outside her comfort zone. She’s motivated by the idea of living life to the fullest and the memory of a friend who died of cancer three years ago.
“It’s mentally and physically challenging and you just have to stay positive through that,” she said, adding that this is a year of “just jumping in” and she intends to savour each step of the journey.
“I just want to stay mindful along the whole journey and just enjoy riding and enjoy getting to know the other people on the ride and fundraising and not just see it as one giant build up to the ride [in September].”
Riders received Coast Capital Savings training jerseys and Trek bikes at the Friday announcement of the 2015 team in Oak Bay.
The Cops for Cancer tour began in 1998 and has raised more than $20 million, including approximately $1.2 million last year. Each rider raises a minimum $5,000.