Jacob Koomen is back on his bike.
This time, Koomen will be riding in the Tour de North, an 850-kilometre fundraising ride for Cops for Cancer from Sept. 20 to 26. The route starts in Dawson Creek. From there, the riders head northwest to Fort St. John and then come down through the communities of Hudson's Hope, Chetwynd, Powder Keg, Mckenzie, Bear Lake, Prince George, Hixon, Quesnel, McLeese Lake and Williams Lake.
Koomen, from Campbell River, is the only Islander to participate in the race. He originally wanted to ride in the Tour de Rock, but it was full. He decided to wait to ride in it next year. But then he got the call from Cops for Cancer to ride in the Tour de North.
He travelled to Prince George, where the Tour De Rock team is based, in April and met the team.
"Everything fell in place," Koomen says.
As of Sept. 13, Koomen has raised $7,025.00, which will help send kids living with Cancer to Camp Goodtimes, a summer camp in Vancouver operated by the Canadian Cancer Society.
"The other nice part is that the Canadian Society contacted the Tour de Rock team, and they said, "Yeah, you can train with us," says Koomen. "So I have been training with them."
Chris Seeley, another Campbell Riverite, is riding in the Tour De Rock (which starts on Sept. 21 and ends on Oct. 4).
Koomen has been active in cycling and fundraising for Cancer research and funding in recent years. In 2017, he started riding from Newfoundland to British Columbia, a roughly 7,500-kilometre journey. It was under the banner of Ride2Survive at the time, which also operated a one-day 400-kilometre ride from Kelowna to Delta, which Koomen has done multiple times.
