I’m riding next to a Tour de Rock teammate who’s describing the moment he watched his father take his last breath.
Haydn Barrow, a reserve constable with West Shore RCMP, asks me if I’ve ever been with someone at the end of their life.
No, I say, and he begins to tell me about his father’s death as we ride next to each other.
“Hole!” I yell. Not because it has anything to do with the deeply personal story he’s sharing. It’s because there’s a pothole in the road that could mess someone up. Our team cycles in a tight peloton, and every rider behind us is at our mercy to warn them of coming hazards.
Every conversation we have, whether we’re chatting about death or marriage or chafing in unmentionable places, is punctuated with shouts of “slowing!” and “cracks centre!” and “debris right!”
We ride in twos and switch lead riders often, moving clockwise as the first rider on the left overtakes the right. The regular switches help keep our legs fresh, but they leave only a few minutes for each conversation before someone yells “switching!” and I don’t get to hear the rest of Barrow’s story about his father.
We’re in this peloton to raise money for pediatric cancer research and support programs for families facing a childhood cancer diagnosis. Nationally, Cops for Cancer, in partnership with the Canadian Cancer Society, has raised more than $54 million, and more than $29 million of that was raised on the Island by Tour de Rock. Our team of 16 police officers, paramedics, media and guest riders has raised nearly $380,000 and we’re aiming for $1 million.
Conversations in the peloton go from light to deep to downright silly, complete with inexplicable accents and entire personas born from nothing but too much time spent together.
At one point, I’m making plans to go hiking in Strathcona Provincial Park with one rider, and after a switch, another teammate is telling me about his own cancer diagnosis last year. Chris Baratto, a paramedic in Port Alberni and firefighter with the Sproat Lake Volunteer Fire Department, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer known as cholangiocarcinoma.
He was 41 years old and the prognosis was essentially a “death sentence,” he says.
At first, no doctor was willing to attempt an operation on him, but eventually one agreed to remove 65 per cent of his liver, leaving him with what Baratto calls his “sliver liver.” Since that surgery, he’s been in the clear for about a year, but Baratto says there’s a possibility of the cancer returning, and five years post-cancer is the big milestone he’s looking forward to. The diagnosis, while devastating, changed him. Baratto’s bond with his wife deepened as they faced an uncertain future. He started paying more attention to his diet and he took up road cycling as a form of rehabilitation.
And generosity poured in from friends, family and strangers, including people Baratto hadn’t been in touch with in years. Some sent food boxes or raised money to support Baratto while he was sick, he tells me as we ride toward Ucluelet on Saturday.
And then someone calls a switch and Baratto pedals away.
The next day, the team meets 11-year-old Owen Wetklo, who introduces our team at a fundraising gala in Nanaimo with the confidence of someone much older. Owen looks forward to Tour de Rock rolling through town each year, his dad, Mike Wetklo, tells me. As we cycle from Nanaimo to Ladysmith, he rides in our lead car.
The family has been involved with the event since Owen’s older brother was undergoing cancer treatment. Lucas was diagnosed as a toddler and went through treatment three times, Wetklo says. “We were surprised because we really felt that he had good treatment. His cancer was considered dead gone, but it was aggressive and it came back,” he says, taking a pause to steady his voice. “And unfortunately, they didn’t offer anything.”
Lucas was seven when he died in 2015. “It’s nice to be remembered,” Mike Wetklo says.
WHERE THE TOUR DE ROCK TEAM IS RIDING
With more than 800 kilometres under our belts, the team is nearing the home stretch, riding today from Chemainus to Duncan, with stops in Lake Cowichan and an evening event in Shawnigan Lake. On Wednesday, we’ll tackle the Malahat and make stops in Mill Bay and Sooke on the way to Esquimalt.
To donate to Tour de Rock, visit tourderock.ca.
