Originally published in the Cowichan Valley Citizen on August 11, 2021
The Cowichan Life Cyclers raised $37,959 for Cowichan Hospice during the annual Cycle of Life Tour.
Due to COVID-19, the event had to go virtual, with cyclists simultaneously riding in at least 10 communities across Vancouver Island for those in need of hospice care.
“With such support and encouragement from the Cowichan Valley and abroad, I was able to cycle 201 km in one day on July 21,” enthused Mary Hof, who turns 65 in November, in an email to the Citizen. She rode in honour of her late father. “That was 12 hours in the saddle.”
But Hof wasn’t done. She went on to ride 420 km over three days, raising more than $18,000 for Cowichan Hospice House.
Her teammates, David Pope and Dana Lyngaard, also put the pedal to the metal to make up their impressive total.
“The community work of the Hospice Society has continued and become even more important during these COVID times,” said Pope before the event began. “Despite the restrictions isolating us all, the staff and volunteers have used technology and resourcefulness to secure safe meeting places to carry on providing palliative and bereavement care and support.”
