An Emotional Journey to Seattle

On June 15th and 16th, our team, the Market Cycles, (twelve individuals from the firm and twelve friends of the firm) took part in the 5th annual ride to Conquer Cancer – a two-day bike ride from Vancouver to Seattle benefiting the BC Cancer Foundation. 

This year, our team raised just over $91,000 for the BC Cancer Foundation and thanks to many of our clients, we have collectively raised about $520,000 for the BC Cancer Foundation over the 5 years we’ve participated in the ride. 

We ride in honour of our friend and colleague, Ken Hawley, who sadly passed away on May 17th, 2010 after battling aggressive prostate cancer for nearly two years. We also ride in support of clients, friends, and family who have been affected by this terrible illness. We want to work together to make a difference in the battle to conquer cancer. 

Each ride to Seattle has been an emotional experience, but none of us were prepared to learn of the tragic accident that killed 16-year-old ride participant, Xavier Pelletier. Young Xavier will be in our thoughts during future rides. 

Our journey started bright and early at the Fraser Downs racetrack in Cloverdale. The sun was shining at the start line for the first time in many years. As a result, the excitement at the start line was higher than it has been for previous rides. The conditions were amazing and we had no mechanical issues. It was nice for a change to worry about loading up on sunscreen rather than trying to keep dry and warm. 

Toward the end of Day 2, we planned for the team to meet at the final pit stop and ride the last 6 kms to the finish line together... and that’s exactly what we did. We waited for about 30 minutes until the last of the group caught up and all of us crossed the finish line as a group. It was with heavy hearts that we crossed the finish line, as hours earlier we had learned of the tragic accident and death of Xavier. 

We sincerely thank everyone who donated and supported us in this year’s ride to Conquer Cancer. Our team will be back next year, as the battle continues. 

For more information about our 2014 team, please see our ride to Conquer Cancer website at: http://www.conquercancer.ca/goto/marketcycles2014