Nanaimo RCMP Cst. Ian George will represent the region during the 2024 Tour de Rock this September. (Submitted photo)

By Alex Rawnsley

rolling on

Nanaimo Tour de Rock rider training for second stint in the saddle

May 22, 2024 | 5:29 AM

NANAIMO — While he has some idea what he’s in for over the next few months, a Nanaimo RCMP officer is bracing for several surprises.

Cst. Ian George will represent the Nanaimo detachment and the mid-Island as part of the 2024 Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock, a 14-day cycle trek beginning in late September which visits numerous Vancouver Island communities.

The event raises money for the Canadian Cancer Society.

While this will be his first, and only, tour on Vancouver Island, George rode in the Tour de Coast across the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast in 2018, but he’s expecting a different experience this time.

“In the Tour de Rock, we’re actually riding for families that have been affected by cancer. Every time you get on the bike you know you’re going to be supporting a family that is going to, or has been to, Camp Goodtimes. I think it just resonates more because there is someone that is associated directly with you.”

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Training has already begun for the riders, with George involved for roughly the last month.

Riders will cycle three times per week as a group, conducting multiple hours of hill training on Tuesday’s, speed work on Thursday’s and distance rides on Sunday’s.

Despite being a life-long cyclist, from his days riding five kilometres each way to elementary school, to his bike racing days in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, or more recent time spent mountain biking, George said training has been rough.

“Anytime you ride a road bike on Vancouver Island, you’re always facing a hill. Most of us drive in vehicles, you don’t experience what it’s like on two wheels pedalling over hills. Even if it’s a training ride from Parksville on some of the undulating roads that have a minimal ascent, you can still feel it.”

Cst. Ian George will represent not only Nanaimo, but the mid-Island overall as part of the 2024 Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock. (submitted photo)

George, who moved to Duncan in 2018 before transferring as a general duty officer to Nanaimo in 2023, said he offered to ride after learning there’d be no mid-Island representation this year otherwise.

He added the detachment’s fundraising committee do amazing work, and it was a way to support them as well.

In addition to getting a unique perspective on the Island, George is excited to interact with kids at local school visits and provide a positive connection with RCMP members.

George admitted police may not be the “most liked” among emergency services and the ride represents an opportunity to forge better relationships.

“Anytime we interact with the youth, the children in our communities, they are just so excited. Children get to see us not in our police uniforms, but as cyclists riding for a cause and I think they really get excited so it’s hard not to get moved by that.”

Cops for Cancer began in 1997 with the annual ride helping generate over $54 million towards cancer research and supports for those battling the disease.

More information on this year’s ride and the group competing is available on the Tour de Rock website.

The 2024 Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock team conducting time trials earlier in May. (Tour de Rock)

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