Hey, I’m Nicholas Arnold your midday guy here on 89.7 Sun FM and I’m chronicling my experience of being on the 2024 Tour de Rock team. The 14 day and over one thousand kilometre bike ride has been done every year since 1997 and raises funds for the fight against childhood cancer.
It’s finally here. The day that I’ve waited for since I applied to be a Tour de Rock rider in January: we’re coming to the Cowichan Valley.
I have been so fortunate to be a part of the community for the last three years as a member of the Sun FM team and I was so excited to show off the valley to the rest of the team. Me and my fellow riders awoke in Ladysmith and went to Lake Cowichan.
We arrived at the Lake Cowichan Fire Hall and rode over to Lake Cowichan Secondary School where we got a raucous reception as we brought our bikes into the gym and the kids. Props to our man Chris Seeley from Campbell River for shouting out “Hello Lakers!” in his intro to the student body. As an aside, when you go to so many schools it’s hard to find a way to connect with the student body, especially in an ‘assembly’ environment. So we’ve always got to be taking context clues to try and find a way into their hearts. It’s a small thing that Chris did, but learning their team name on the way in to the gym and using it makes a difference.
Once we left, we made our way back to the Duncan area. That’s when the day took an emotional turn. The Cowichan Valley has become as close to home as I have on the west coast, so it was surreal to be riding there with my team. It’s even more home to my Tour roommate Warren Kongus, who’s lived and worked here his entire life.
You could see how much it meant to him to bring the Tour to his workplace, the new North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment. His eyes welled and voice cracked as he presented a plaque to his Acting Inspector, Ken Beard in front of a sea of friends and coworkers.
From there, we headed to Drinkwater Elementary where we got some time to chat with the students. One of those in attendance was Megan who calls into the radio station quite a bit and loves to ask for us to play Imagine Dragons. Megan said, “Nicholas! How’s Justis?” And we got into a bit of a conversation. It was really cool to see that our station is making an impact on people of all ages. From there, we gave out our high-fives and then we were on our way.
Right after that we made a trip to Queen Margaret’s School. The entire studen population was lined up on both sides of the pathway in a cheer tunnel around their quad. We rode through it and made our way to a staircase by the front door of a building. After a dismount, we went out and mingled with the kids for a little while. I found a cute girl, no older than eight years old, named Anna who made a sign with my name on it. I said hi and thanks for the sign and we gave a couple of high-fives before heading over for a cheque presentation.
After the presentation Chase, who we had met the night before at an event in Ladysmith, made his way to center stage to get his hair chopped off. He had raised over two thousand dollars for the Tour and grown his hair for several years to get it to a length that could be harvested for a wig. Like a rockstar, he sat basking in the applause of his fellow students as his hair was prepared and a rider grabbed the scissors to make the first snip. More applause as we quickly finished the job and rushed back to our bikes to try and adhere to our tight schedule.
Up next was by far my favourite Tour stop. Rolling in to the Save On Foods in Duncan, where I’ve spent three weeks of my life broadcasting over the years raising funds with our Stuff the Truck campaign. Out front, our Sun FM staff was there with signs made up for Warren and I. I was quite verklempt and was fortunately able to get it together by the time we came to a stop. Later on in the day, we were able to link up again at another stop at Red Arrow Brewing where I presented them with a plaque for all their help.
Words cannot express the gratitude that I feel for everyone’s support at our station. It’s been an effort that everyone has pitched in to. So much legwork done by our general manager, Julie Winter, and sales legend, Jen Metz. So much grace has been given to me by my program manager, Justis Doucet, when I’ve needed to miss a day or to bug off early. The support from our news guys Justin Baumgardner and Eric Richards to shave their heads and help get the message out with interviews. Even just everyone in the office asking me how the ride is going and offering support where they can. It’s been a real team effort from start to finish and today was such a nice moment to be able to share with them the fruits of our labours.
The final thing that was really fun about today was a visit to the Shawnigan Lake School. We’ll be riding through there tomorrow, but we made our way there tonight for dinner and to stay in one of their dormitories overnight. They gave us an incredible BBQ dinner with chicken and ribs, before a bit of a party on their quad.
Honestly, it was a well orchestrated circus. Five or six students volunteered for headshaves, and for each two or three other students were given clippers and went at their victim’s scalp with the ferocity of jackells trying to pull the last morsel of meat from the skeleton of their prey. All raised money to support the cause.
After that, the Tour team was asked for three volunteers to get involved in a mysterious activity. Myself, Bailey Parker from Virgin Radio, and Mary-Ellen Somerville, from Sooke RCMP, put our hands up. Once we said yes, we were informed that the activity was a “pie fight.” Which I came to understand was as close as I’ll ever get to being in a cage match. Basically, we were put in front of a tub of whipped cream and given plates. We take the plates, load them with cream from the tub and launch them at another one of our teammates.
I may have gone a little over the top during my introduction… But hey, doesn’t everyone rip off their shirt, throw it into the crowd and then launch a primal scream from their larynx to the heavens? In hindsight, it was kind of weird that I was the only one who did that.
And so, we threw, and threw… and threw whipped cream at one another. Yes, I was only aiming for headshots. And yes, I had a pretty high success rate.
Both my adversaries later confirmed that since I had won the crowd over with my theatrics, they were both throwing mostly at me in the hopes of beating me. But since I was clearly the best, I ended up winning the crowd’s applause vote. Afterwards someone came up and asked for a selfie, and a guy came up saying he won five bucks from his friend because he bet on me to win. Hilarious.
And now for something completely different…
People are constantly saying to me how much of a sacrifice it is to be a Tour de Rock rider. During training, we’re leaving our homes three nights a week. Maybe that means missing out on family events, Sunday morning breakfasts, or kids’ sporting events. During the two weeks of the actual ride, it’s possible that they’re away from their families for the longest consecutive amount of time ever.
Which is why it hits so much closer to home to see them reunited. From Campbell River rider Chris Seeley being able to bring the team to a family gathering at his Boston Pizza. To surprise family visits at stops along the way – Steve Ward’s wife and puppies in Ladysmith, Bailey Parker’s husband and dog in Duncan, Warren’s wife and daughter in Nanaimo. These are some of the most important moments that will stick with me from these two weeks.
It hasn’t felt like much of a sacrifice for me, as a 27 year old single guy. Tour has been a blessing, meaning I get to leave work early two nights a week, hang out with 15 of my favourite people, and ride a bike (often really fast)… And all in support of childhood cancer research and Camp Goodtimes. What a lucky thing to be able to do.
However, seeing everyone reconnect with their families has made me miss mine from across the country. For those of us who don’t have families out here on the Island, it’s not quite the same kind of experience, but we do get to live vicariously through our teammates. As much as I know my family wants to be here in person it’s just not feasible. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been receiving support from them. My mom has been sending me pictures from friends and family spread across the continent.
Tomorrow brings another day of riding in the Cowichan Valley. From Valleyview over the Malahat to Sooke. One of our longest days on Tour. Wish us luck!
Daily and Overall Stats
Total kilometres ridden on Day 11: 39.81 km
Total kilometres ridden: 852.12 km
Total elevation on Day 11: 303 m
Total elevation climbed: 7,805 m
Total sodas consumed on Day 11: 3
Total sodas consumed on Tour: 46
