Typically Canadian cycling team riding across Canada for cancer cause

By JAMES NEELEY Examiner Staff Writer Four friends from London, Ont. are biking across the country in honour of typical Canadians who have been affected by cancer. After leaving Port Renfrew on May 2, the Typically Canadian team rode into the city with the help of the Peterborough Fire Department Tuesday with nearly $50,000 raised to date. The typical Canadian is the person who serves you coffee in the morning, said rider Kyle Braatz. “They are not defined by background, culture or birth,” he said. “The typical Canadian is defined by courage, willpower and determination.” Braatz went to his three best friends, Andrew Hopkins, Alex Gray and Steve Coleman, after his grandfather died of cancer more than a year ago and the 2008 Tribute Tour was born. “By honouring our heroes — typical Canadians — we want to inspire the thousands, maybe millions of Canadians affected by cancer to get involved,” Braatz said. Each rider had their own personal reason to join the cross-country tour, but they also shared a willingness to inspire. Hopkins said he lost two of his grandparents to cancer before he was born. “I ride for the relationships I never got a chance to have with my grandparents,” he said. The teams is on a 72-stop, 8,200-kilometre adventure. And the four Peterborough firefighters who joined the team from the intersection of Highway 7 and Sherbrooke Street to the main station were also riding for the brotherhood and sisterhood of firefighters. “This is something that affects us all,” said acting Capt. Rob Lloyd, explaining two department members have recently been diagnosed with cancer. “This is something very close to our hearts,” he said. Peterborough firefighters raised about $400 for the Typically Canadian team, which has connected with firefighters across the country during the tour. All the money raised on the trek will help support individual branches of the Canadian Cancer Society, Braatz said. “All the money stays local.” Following the stop in Peterborough the team will continue the journey east to the final stop in St. John’s, N.L., July 25. The team members hail from London, Ont. They typically ride about 120 km a day and have been living in an RV piloted by Kyle’s father Al Braatz. jneeley@peterboroughexaminer.com