Cyclists bike from Toronto to New Orleans for cancer

TORONTO — This Saturday, 22 cyclists will embark on a journey leading them from Toronto to New Orleans. Although a challenge, this ride is an adventure of a lifetime — for a great cause.

These cyclists have been training all summer long for the Wellspring Peloton Challenge, a seven-day, 24-hour cycling relay for cancer.

Each group of five to six riders will cycle for six hours at a time, covering approximately 120 kilometers.

“We have 22 cyclists riding from Toronto to New Orleans. We wanted to create something that was different and unique — that was different then all other cycling events,” said Billy Cheung, a Founding Member of the Wellspring Peloton Challenge.

Designed to be fun, yet demanding, for both novice and experiences cyclists, most are riding to give back to Wellspring, an organization that helped them or a loved one with their fight against cancer. These dedicated cyclists had to raise a minimum of $10,000 in order to participate in the ride.

“Wellspring is a place of kindness and warmth that people have, and when they have questions, they feel like they are in a community. So Wellspring, to me, is a gift,” said Janet Turner, the Chief Development Officer of the Wellspring Cancer Support Foundation.

“It started with a couple of our board members that were riders, very interested in really doing something to raise money for Wellspring,” said Turner.

“Without this ride specifically, we would not have the quality and the wonderful programs that we’re able to provide free of charge.”

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As a spectator last year, Will Tompkinson is more than excited to be participating in this year’s ride.

“It’s where I wanted to be last year,” said Tompkinson.

“Wellspring put me on a bike, they got me fit enough after my brush with having cancer and once I was clear of my treatment, I started cycling. This has been a goal of mine for quite some considerable time”.

In regards to having Tompkinson be a part of his team, Cheung said “having somebody who fought the battle, joining us and being a part of our team is going to be tremendous in terms of just really linking what we’re doing every single day.”