For Steveston resident Guillermo Francisco, cycling 250 kilometres over two days was an exhausting, but worthwhile, experience.
Guillermo and his daughter, Bea, participated in the eighth, annual BC Ride to Conquer Cancer on the weekend, which saw 1,687 participants cycle from Vancouver to Seattle. This year’s event raised $7.1 million for the BC Cancer Foundation.
This was Guillermo and Bea’s first time participating. They decided to do it together as a father-daughter bonding experience and to support a worthy cause, which ended up inspiring them both.
“It was an incredible experience,” Guillermo, 59, said. “There were cancer survivors participating, young people, old people. Some had pictures of loved ones they were cycling for. It was quite the journey.”
Guillermo started training for the ride in March, but since Richmond is flat, he spent a lot of time cycling in Vancouver, training around UBC.
“I went down that hill from UBC to the beach years ago and said to myself, there is no way I’m going back up that hill on a bike, but then I did it this year.” Guillermo said.
“As I cycled more, I started looking for more inclines to challenge myself.”
Expecting to go at a leisurely pace, it became apparent that Guillermo was the least seasoned cyclist in the team.
“I was the slowest of them all. They all left me,” Guillermo said. “My daughter decided to have some respect for her father and waited for me though. She is very athletic so she’s much faster than me.”
“He was really slow,” Bea, 24, laughed. “I waited for him because I wanted to make sure he was alright.”
Guillermo and Bea cycled with the Ames Tile & Stone team, which raised $47,964.07.
The leading cause of death in Canada is cancer, according to Statistics Canada, and both Bea and Guillermo have had family and friends affected by it.
“It seems like before it only happened to other people but now it happens so often that it can happen to anybody, including myself,” Guillermo said.
“It’s quite moving seeing how much it changes the lives of people affected by this disease.”
Both Guillermo and Bea said they would participate in this again.
“It was so inspiring and I had no idea I would make all these random friends,” Bea said.
“Hearing about why people were riding, talking to survivors, it was so amazing to be part of it.”
