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Dr. Huy Chau of Whitehorse is traveling down to Chilliwack Aug. 27 to take part in the Tour de Cure.

The event takes place in the Fraser Valley in B.C. It starts and finishes at Heritage Park in Chilliwack, and is comprised of 50, 100 and 160 kilometre races.

鈥淐hilliwack is hosting us, but really, when you鈥檝e got one of the distance options covering over 100 miles, you鈥檒l see a lot more than just that town,鈥� said Lindsay Carswell, the senior director of development for the B.C. Cancer Foundation.

Carswell explained how the Tour de Cure came about.

鈥淭he B.C Cancer Foundation has been staging a large cycling fundraising event since 2009 for many years 鈥� well, up until the pandemic hit, it was known as the Ride to Conquer Cancer. So it鈥檚 an event that a lot of people are familiar with.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an incredible coming together of the cancer community. It provides thousands of people with the opportunity to share their story, to heal and to find purpose and an outlet for a common goal of breaking down cancer,鈥� he added.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a variety of things that we are able to use the funds for that includes breakthrough research, recruitment of talent, like scientists, that can produce this breakthrough research, state of the art technology and patient support services,鈥� related Carswell.

Carswell said it鈥檚 pretty easy to register for the event.

鈥淕o to . A lot of people will do it as a group of colleagues from work or as friends or family.鈥�

Carswell said the number of participants is looking good.

鈥淲e鈥檙e encouraged and really delighted with the response. In fact, there鈥檚 people from every corner of B.C. but also from a number of provinces and states that are coming so it鈥檚 very encouraging to see the response we鈥檝e gotten.鈥�

According to Carswell, there鈥檒l probably be between 1,500 to 2,000 cyclists.

鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing to see the numbers that are committing to riding 100 kilometres or 160.鈥�

Each person who signs up commits to raising a minimum of $2,500.

As for donations, 鈥淵ou go to the same site and the donations are usually collected or the result of personal appeals, so you can easily navigate your way to an individual who you want to support and donate towards,鈥� said Carswell.

He added 鈥淭he B.C. Cancer Foundation鈥� is here to stay. We鈥檙e committed and we鈥檙e very proud to be able to provide this opportunity to gather at the end of August.鈥�

Dr. Chau鈥檚 team, the Flying Tiger, has raised $37,360 to date, with Chau leading the way with $6,426.

The Star reached him in Kelowna, where he explained how he got involved in the event.

鈥淎 few of my friends live in the (Vancouver) area and every now and then they鈥檒l choose some kind of cancer-type relay to be involved in or some kind of event ... one of my friends, he鈥檚 huge into cycling. His father recently passed away from cancer so that鈥檚 kind of the connection of having gotten into this charitable event.

鈥淥ne of my good buddies (Ben Yip), we grew up together and he鈥檚 got a number of family members who have had cancer and a couple of them have passed away from it, so every now and then he鈥檒l send me a note saying 鈥楬ey, are you interested in this event?鈥�, something close to him.

鈥淚 think with life we get so busy we forget about these type of charitable events and he鈥檚 always a good reminder for me and so the last time we did something like this was about 10 years ago. We did the Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer. We鈥檙e both hockey fanatics so it was easy, but this time we decided to pick an event that would push us a little bit more 鈥� to educate us on the sport but also at the same time, the primary focus is raising money for cancer research. It was a no-brainer and coming from Whitehorse, I thought this was something similar to the Haines to Haines run. He鈥檚 like 鈥業t鈥檚 gonna be 100 kilometres but there鈥檚 going to be 10 of us鈥� and so I was like 鈥榊eah, I can do a leg for you. 10 kilometres, that鈥檚 easy.鈥� And so when I met up with him, he鈥檚 like 鈥楴o, no, this is 100 kilometres and all 10 of us are riding together as a pack, so I committed early, then recognized what I got myself into ... I took it on as a challenge.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 a few good reasons why I鈥檓 participating. One is being in medicine, obviously and seeing cancer and the impact it has on people, family. The second one is my father-in-law, who鈥檚 diagnosed with cancer. He鈥檚 still a survivor, 11 years in and it鈥檚 fascinating 鈥� even 16 years in medicine 鈥� how much cancer treatment has changed in that 16 years, and the experimental drugs. So he was part of a number of experimental studies and I think it鈥檚 very important that we support that research because I鈥檝e watched people on these new treatments that has provided added life expectancy,鈥� he added.

Chau has tried to get in some training, despite the long Whitehorse winter.

鈥淲ith the late winter and what I鈥檝e learned too, is that the highways don鈥檛 necessarily get cleaned right away, so doing a lot of indoor biking on a trainer and once the snow melted, did a couple rides out there and then down here in Kelowna, with beautiful weather, it鈥檚 been a lot easier to ride more. They鈥檝e got some really good trails down here, quite a big cycling community in Kelowna, so it鈥檚 been pretty easy to get out and ride.鈥�

Chau looks at this as a big challenge.

鈥淎bsolutely. When I was shocked that it wasn鈥檛 going to be a 10 kilometre ride, I kind of thought about pulling out of it initially but once I committed, I felt I needed to maintain that commitment. I鈥檝e got a pretty supportive partner who鈥檚 allowing me to do the training and I鈥檓 riding with a number of colleagues and Ben, my buddy from Vancouver, has come up to Kelowna right now and so we鈥檙e probably going to do a couple of longer rides.

鈥淚 think the idea is more just to participate and complete it, as opposed to participating and getting under three hours or whatever it is. So I think it鈥檚 definitely doable from that perspective.鈥�

Chau said he plans to do something like it next year.

鈥淚 think that鈥檚 the hope. And whether it be cycling again or another different event 鈥� I think one of the things we forget about in the pandemic is it鈥檚 really allowed us to focus on that there鈥檚 so many things that are important in life. Sometimes we鈥檙e in this rat race and we forget about it. And so being invited to this and training for this allows me to put more focus on enjoying life, focusing on what鈥檚 good, as opposed to having just been so fixated on the pandemic, being in medicine, for the last few years.

鈥淚 definitely do hope that we would do further events with something like Tour de Cure or something like that or continue cycling. So I definitely see this as an opportunity, for sure.鈥�

Chau added 鈥淭he main focus of why I鈥檓 doing this is for cancer research.I think it鈥檚 huge. I think it鈥檚 important. I鈥檓 really fascinated to hear all the new developments that occurred in the last decade and the successes of some of them and how important it is to support something so important that does impact almost all of us.

鈥淪o I do think the whole support of cancer research is necessary and I think that鈥檚 the message I want to pass on ... it鈥檚 less about us doing the ride. It鈥檚 more about why we鈥檙e riding.鈥�