Tour de Rock riders conquer Malahat, meet supporters in Sooke and West Shore
The Tour de Rock team made it into the Capital Regional District on Wednesday, marking day 12 of the team's 14-day ride.
The riders made a difficult climb over the Malahat highway and made stops in the West Shore and Sooke.
"The ride has been a good series of ups and down, absolutely," said rider and Saanich police officer Karen Robinson.
"A lot of highlights, really tough grind, a lot of steep hills, it's been really good though," she said.
The tour wouldn't be in its 25th year and the riders wouldn't have made it this far into their two-week journey if it wasn't for the support of the community.
"No words for it. Every school we go into, every community we go into, I'm blown away with the generosity," said rider and VicPD officer Chris Van Swieten.
That generosity often comes in the form of donations, with community members helping raise more than $600,000 for the tour this year.
The funds go towards cancer research and sending kids to Camp Good Times.
The Bottle Depot in Greater Victoria helped contribute to those donations, raising roughly $19,000 through its charity of the month program.
"Really it is the local community that is raising those funds, making those donations," said Mathew Martin, general manager of the Bottle Depot.
"Without their support we certainly couldn't have raised all this money," he said.
For the riders on the road, the moral support means just as much as the donations.
"Everyone out there, thank you for your patience on the road," said Robinson. "Those honks and waves are amazing and keep us going."
For families that have had to face cancer, the tour also brings them support.
"It's very important to support them when they are doing something so amazing for other kids, kind of like me, that went through something I went through," said cancer survivor Lily Lecianana.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.