POWASSAN - Jeff Dagg says the hardest part of cycling is the hills, but he says he motivates himself by thinking about the young cancer patients he is riding for.
Dagg, a retired OPP officer, is raising money for children’s cancer research through the Great Cycle Challenge, which combines his hobby of cycling with a good cause.
“I ride my bike anyways. And when I heard about the challenge through Facebook, [I thought] it might be a great way to combine a couple of passions. I could ride my bike and maybe even raise some money for kids' cancer.”
The Great Cycle Challenge in August raises funds across Canada, as well as in the United States and Australia, for children’s cancer research. The fundraiser began in 2016 and has since raised almost $12.5 million.
Dagg's goal this year is to raise $500 through his 300-km ride in honour of a young girl named Jillian Kmith, who is battling cancer in hospital in Ottawa.
This is Dagg’s third year cycling for cancer research, having cycled more than 630 kms and raising more than $2,000. He says he averages 25 to 30 kms a day, finishing in roughly 10 days.
Last year, Dagg rode 312 kms for Kayge Fowler of Sault Ste. Marie, who was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a brain tumour that killed the youngster last year.
Dagg says he rode with a small trailer and a 45-pound weight to symbolize riding with the boy.
“When you hear about that [you think] what can I do for you? I was trying to raise money for all children's cancer and to fight all children's cancer, but with a specific motivation to bring attention to some northern Ontario kids, too.”
Dagg also is riding this year as part of Alex’s Army, a group cycling for a boy with acute myeloid leukemia after relapsing twice. Alex’s condition was deemed palliative in January, but he has since been fighting, says Dagg. The fundraiser is to ‘give Alex and his family a memory they will never forget.”
In an internet fundraising page photo, Alex is covered in layers of a beaded necklace, with each bead representing a shot, surgery or medication, Dagg explains.
“You can’t even see the bottom of those necklaces. It’s humbling.”
Alex’s Army has raised more than $72,000 with a collective goal of reaching 10,000 kms.
“For me, going uphill is the hardest part of cycling; the biggest challenge and mental hurdle I have to overcome. But again you think about [these kids with cancer] it's such a minor suffering,” says Dagg. “That's over, and then you get the joy of the downhill. Some of these kids don't get the joy of the downhill.”
Mackenzie Casalino, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with The North Bay Nugget.
Local Journalism Initiative Reporters are paid for by the Government of Canada.