Annette Smith sees the heartbreak and occasional triumph of cancer every time she clocks into work. One of Kootenay Lake Hospital’s oncology nurses, the local needs no insight into how the disease impacts lives.
On June 18 and 19, Smith will take a break from the health care rigours and hop on her bike in hopes of making a difference in the battle against the disease. On that weekend she will join husband Wes and two close friends Karen Poulin and Maggie Mulvihill on the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer between Vancouver and Seattle.
“That’s who I am dedicating my ride to, the patients that I see,” says Smith, who also lost her father to cancer.
The annual bike ride is billed as “a powerful movement, one of hope, healing, celebration and optimism where thousands of cyclists join together to raise funds and awareness in order to conquer cancer.”
The local team — calling themselves Call Us A Cab — will join 2,500 bikers in the two-day event that covers a total of 260 kilometres. Each participant is required to raise at least $2,500 to take part. So far three of the four in Call Us A Cab have hit the mark, but they are setting a goal of at least $15,000 from their local efforts.
“It’s really impressive,” Smith says of her team’s ability to raise the required baseline money already. “When I went to the orientation they too were quite impressed that a community this small could raise such an amount.”
The funds from the bike ride support groundbreaking cancer research at the BC Cancer Agency that is focused on advancing new understanding of cancer with the goal of developing new therapies to extend and save more lives. All the funds raised stay in British Columbia.
The ride is fully supported by bike mechanics and a team of people that ensure the adventure is enjoyable. Riders will cover 140 km on the first day and follow it up with 120 km on the second day.
“It’s not a race and it’s not a difficult route… it’s a participation event with a focus on raising funds,” explains Wes Smith. “But it is 140 kilometres of riding the first day which at 20 km/h is seven hours of riding. You want to have a certain level of fitness or it could be a miserable day.”
All four local riders have been training to ensure they are up to the task come June.
This weekend the four members of Call Us A Cab will be set up with their stationary training bikes in front of Safeway where they will be raising more money and spreading the word on the ride.
For Annette Smith, it will be one more opportunity to talk about a ride that she has been anticipating since last autumn.
“It’s all I can think about,” she says with a smile.