Staying motivated to fundraise for a cause, even fighting cancer, can be difficult year after year, said Langley’s Miles Clyne.
That’s why the local man is mounting up for a new challenge this year, as a guest rider for the Cops for Cancer Tour de Valley team.
“I have a long history with the Canadian Cancer Society,” said Clyne, a local investment portfolio manager. “My wife is a cancer survivor.”
Gwen was treated for cervical cancer and has been cancer free for more than 15 years.
But everyone knows someone battling the disease.
“This year I have a very good friend in tough shape,” said Clyne.
So Clyne decided to sign up in the new guest rider program.
On his recent ride in the Valley Gran Fondo, Clyne was thinking of his friend while he was having a hard time.
“He’s battling 24/7, every day,” said Clyne. “I really just kept thinking how insignificant this was,” he said of the ride.
The Canadian Cancer Society’s Cops for Cancer rides are fundraisers that see peace officers, including RCMP, city police, sheriffs and Corrections officials go on multi-day bike rides to raise funds.
The Tour de Valley includes officers from Delta through Langley up into the Fraser Canyon.
This September and October, the officers will ride throughout the region, as far as Boston Bar, visiting schools and local fundraisers.
The money raised by the Cops for Cancer largely goes towards supporting the youngest cancer patients. Some of the funds go towards research for pediatric cancers, and they help fund Camp Goodtimes, the summer camp for children who are in treatment or who have survived cancer.
Clyne had a long history as a fundraiser for the Cancer Society, but his history as a cyclist is more recent.
He rode in his 20s, then got back on the bike a little over a year ago, riding in the Valley Gran Fondo for this year and last.
“There’s about a 30-year gap there,” he noted.
As a new rider, the Cops for Cancer event is a nice fit for him.
“I’ve only been a fair weather rider, so I’m hoping for a sunny September,” said Clyne.
He’s planning to head out for some practice rides with the officers in the near future to get in some more practice.
To take part as a guest rider with any of the Cops for Cancer events, the guests must commit to raising at least $2,500.
That wasn’t difficult for Clyne, who’s been a member of the Canadian Cancer Society’s Dream Team for several years.
Dream Team members commit to raising $10,000 annually.
“We’ve exceeded that comfortably each year,” Clyne said.