More for 24
Held by Paul Balfour
Tour de Cure presented by Wheaton Precious Metals
77 supporters
Well, we're at it again!
If I have this right, this is the 15th Tour de Cure / Ride to Conquer Cancer since the event started in 2009. (There was no ride in 2020 because of that thing.) Being the unimaginative chap I am, I have done all of them but could not have without your overwhelming support year in and year out.
I want to thank my former co-captains Andrew Sweeney and Dave Young who have hung up their Horny Goat Tour de Cure kit after 15 years of doing most of the heavy lifting (including pulling me over hundreds of kilometres0 in running our team. Thanks for everything guys.
For those of you who don't know me, here's a quick snapshot of my cancer journey:
My wife Pam died of a form of brain cancer in 2005 after a diagnosis five years earlier. My son Alex hadn't tuned seven yet and my daughter Samantha was five years old.
In 2008 my now wife Cynthia's husband Bill died from cancer leaving her behind along with Nathanial aged 11, Michaela, 13, and Miles, 15.
That's tough. Tough for us, real tough for kids.
It didn't get any easier in 2010 when Alex was diagnosed with leukemia. He did forty months of treatment, the first year of which was pretty harrowing at times. Thanks to advances due to research, he is a strong Horny Goat and has done the ride a number of times.
And then in 2021 it was my turn. THanks to the early screening programs that the BC Cancer Agency I have, I found out I had colon cancer. Some fairly major surgery seems to have fixed that and they still check me out every six months.
I like to think this family has paid its dues! But there are so many stories out, so many lives taken far too soon.
Research is working - albeit slowly. We have made steady progress but we need to Keep Going.
That is why I am riding again in 2024 - and I need your support.
Many thanks.
