It was a gruelling day of pedalling yesterday for Tour De Rock Riders as they made their way south through Woss to Sayward.
According to Vista Radio’s Nicholas Arnold, the 147 km journey was worth it to see the impact they had on the communities they visited.
“The way that everybody was cheering, and it was like a level that is normally reserved for Marvel superheroes, it is a powerful thing. It does make a difference in the lives of kids and people across the island,” he said in an early morning interview
Today the tour makes its way to Campbell River where they will stop at elementary schools and a few local businesses.
He says every rider has a “welcome to the Tour De Rock moment” and for him, that moment happened yesterday.
“You have that one moment where it’s like, oh my gosh, this thing is real, and I was verklempt with emotion. The dry eye streak that I was hoping to have through the entire two weeks of tour, just that it went up in smoke.”
Arnold says that one school they stopped at had an interesting fundraiser happening inside.
“The school’s principal was raising money by letting her students buy a strip of duct tape to stick her to the wall,” he recounted. It was one of the many stops they made on their ride from Port McNeil.
Arnold says their ride today was not as far but would feature more stops and more singing on the road. For the uninitiated, the lead car has speakers mounted on top, playing music from a shared playlist all the riders contribute to.
“I tried to get some Neil Diamond on there, ’cause it’s a ridiculous thing to bike too. I put “Cracklin’ Rosie” on there, which is just insane because it’s not a biking song.
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