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Conquering cancer 200 kms at a time

Brad Bryant is headed for a 200 km bike ride to fight cancer.

A trip across the border, from Vancouver to Seattle, is little more than a day trip for the lines of cars waiting at the border crossing, but, for the cyclists on the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, it will be a two day adventure.

Local cyclist Brad Bryant will be one of those, propelling themselves over 200 km in  an effort to raise money.

"For me, it's a double win," Bryant said.

"Because not only are we raising funds, but I'm looking forward to the physical challenge."

Cancer has affected most people in North America and it was those brushes with the diseases that propelled him to go for it.

"I've lost two close friends to cancer and my mom had two battles with it," Bryant said.

"The first time she lost a lung and we thought she was better. The second time the doctor's found it in six or seven different spots."

Urged on by the experience of supporting his mother through those hard times and the difficulties that expensive drugs and unaffordable alternative treatments caused, Bryant was ready and willing to join in on the fight against cancer when the chance came up.

He and five other co-workers from Arrow Transportation, decided to make a team so they could ride together and encourage each other.

The Ride requires a minimum pledge of $2,500, which can

be supplied by the rider or through pledges from the community, to participate in the ride. The Arrow team, however, has set their sights higher. Each team member set the bar up to $3,200 when the drive for pledges began. This proved to be too low for many of the team members, and especially for Bryant. Instead of hitting his goal and getting complacent, Bryant raised the bar each time he found he succeeded. After making, and raising, the goal a couple times, Bryant is now closing in on his new, $5,000 goal.

As of publishing, the team as a whole have collected $30,490 to give to the cause.

And while having a team is great for spurring him on to greater heights of funding, Bryant’s team, being that they're all from the Kamloops arm of Arrow, are not such great riding partners.

"I ride alone up here," Bryant said.

He takes those lonely rides every second morning, riding just over an hour through the soft, morning light.

And, with longer rides under his belt like his recent ride to Macallister, Bryant is confident of the ability of his legs to stand up to the two days of 100 km rides. Other parts, however, he's not so sure about.

"I'm fairly fit and athletic so I think I'll be fine as long as my butt doesn't get sore," Bryant said with a laugh.

The Ride to Conquer Cancer offers two routes from Vancouver to Seattle: the shorter 'Classic' route; and a new, longer 'Challenge' route that winds over hill and dale for nearly 200 miles, half agian the 200 km the 'Classic' runs.

The team, however, is new to the ride

and so will be taking the shorter route to make sure they are as fit as they think they are.

Never having done this before, Bryant knows there is an element of the unknown in the ride.

"Until you actually go through, it you don't know how draining it will be," Bryant said.

After the 'easing in' of this year's 200 km ride, Bryant sees the team continuing the fight against cancer next year, but on the larger ride.

"I can almost guarantee we'll all be on the team next year and take the more challenging course," he said.

If you want to help Bryant surpass another goal, he can be reached at the local branch of Arrow Transportation, 250-992-8103.