For the next six months Sandi Holman and Chris Bush will be pushed beyond their limits, asked to keep going when all they want to do is stop. They'll be taxed emotionally and physically and, inevitably, will suffer.
But all they have to do is ride a bike.
It's nothing compared to what kids with cancer have to face every day, which is why Holman and Bush have volunteered to represent Nanaimo on the 2011 Cops For Cancer Tour de Rock team.
The 22-member team was announced Saturday in Victoria, with riders from all over the Island, who will take on the 1,000-kilometre tour Sept. 24 to Oct. 7 while raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for children with cancer.
During the two-week tour, riders – including municipal police and RCMP officers, military police and media members – will visit 60 communities from Port Alice to Victoria.
Last year the effort raised $1.4 million.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Holman, 30, a Nanaimo RCMP constable. "Everybody is affected at some point in their life by somebody who's had cancer and now is the time in my life when I can do this. I want to give something back and use my position as a police officer to get the word out."
To prepare, team members train three times a week focusing on speed, hill climbs and endurance to tackle everything Island roads can throw at them during the tour. One training ride will take them up the Mt. Washington access road. By the time September rolls around, riders will have put in roughly 3,000 kilometres and 8,000 hours in the saddle.
For Holman, riding a bike is not second nature.
"For the first month I couldn't take my hand off the bike without ending up in the ditch. I've progressed to being able to wave at people now," she said.
For Bush, a reporter/photographer with the News Bulletin who covers the police beat, riding as a member of the Tour de Rock team is something he's wanted to do for some time.
"I've covered the Tour de Rock for quite a few years now and have come to know a lot of the people who took part on past rides. Some of the people I had covered got me thinking about it and when the offer came up through Black Press to do this, I thought, 'now or never'. I just wanted to see if I could do it and set a good example for my daughter," said Bush, 52.
Training is just one aspect of the program. Each team member is asked to raise at least $5,000 to contribute to the Canadian Cancer Society, as well as participate in various events and fundraisers to help build a groundswell of interest leading up to the tour, which is scheduled to arrive in Nanaimo Oct. 2.
Money raised goes toward awareness and pediatric cancer research and programs that support kids with cancer.
Both riders are looking forward to getting the training and fundraising done so they can begin the tour, which they expect will be challenging both emotionally and physically.
"After working our butts off for six months with the riding and all the fundraising behind us and having reached that goal, the general excitement of the community and the riders, just to put on our jerseys and group together as a team and just go for it, go for the ride," said Holman. "I think that's going to be unreal."
Both riders said they can prepare for the cycling and fundraising aspects, but have nothing to prepare themselves for the emotional side of the tour.
"In July we're going to Camp Goodtimes to meet some of the kids and I really don't know how I'm going to react to that. I'm a fairly emotional guy," said Bush. "Camp Goodtimes is really going to be a benchmark for me because I've never really put myself out there, left myself sort of vulnerable to things beyond my control before."
Both riders said they are expecting the next five months to go by quickly and both are eager to get those first pedal strokes of the tour behind them so they can settle in to what they volunteered to do, which is make a difference to children with cancer and provide some hope.
The Tour de Rock was started in 1998 by Const. Martin Pepper of Saanich Police. In the past 12 years, the tour has raised more than $13 million.
To make a donation, visit www.tourderock.ca.
reporter2@nanaimobulletin.com