Bruce McKenzie is representing the mid-Island on the 2025 Tour de Rock trip down Vancouver Island this fall. (submitted photo)

By Alex Rawnsley

pedal power

North Oyster firefighter taking on Tour de Rock challenge

May 18, 2025 | 6:53 AM

NANAIMO — A passion for bike riding and a career in emergency response inspired one local man to undertake a major challenge.

Bruce McKenzie, a firefighter with the North Oyster Volunteer Fire Department, will be the only mid-Island representative for the 2025 Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock team, who will undertake their annual ride down Vancouver Island beginning Sept. 20.

The 70-year-old McKenzie told NanaimoNewsNOW he’s an avid rider, but the early-season training for the Tour has been on another level.

“I think the big thing is the length of the rides. I typically will ride for anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour or an hour and a half, and now we’re doing two plus hours. The distances are now in the 80-plus kilometre range. We do that twice a week.”

Born and raised in Nanaimo, McKenzie attended UVic after high school and then travelled the world in a career mainly in the oil and gas sector.

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He primarily worked in emergency response throughout his career and then opted to return to the mid-Island around 15 years ago.

McKenzie and his wife live on five acres in Yellow Point and he’s been a member of the North Oyster department for 10 years.

“I just felt like it would be something I could do in retirement, particularly since a lot of the guys work and are out of the district, during the day, myself and some other guys can attend calls during the day when the rest of the guys are away at work.”

He was inspired to join the Tour and support cancer research through the Canadian Cancer Society, having seen the impact it can have on colleagues and friends.

McKenzie said until recently, there wasn’t a lot of research done on the impacts on firefighters from smoke inhalation and particulates.

“Oftentimes, you may not be directly in the fire, but you’re resting or whatever, and you’re still being exposed to some fire and also a lot of the toxic materials from a fire get embedded in your clothing. It gets on your face and your hands and things like that.”

He said fire departments are putting in a lot of work to understand the consequences of firefighting, particularly on members working for 20 to 30 years.

McKenzie’s training continues throughout the summer, increasing in difficulty through to September.

“We also work on hill climbs, because there are some pretty impressive hills on the Island that we’re going to have to ride. The other big area that we work on is riding as a team, when you’re riding at 25 or 35 kilometres an hour, right on the wheel of the person, you have to be really well organized.”

Riders are expected in Oceanside on Sept. 25, with stops in Nanaimo on Sept. 28 and 29.

The ride wraps in Victoria on Oct. 3.

Cops for Cancer started in 1997, with the organization and Tours across B.C. raising over $56 million toward cancer research and support since.

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