April 28/10 10:55 am - Pro Team Incentives to Drive Cancer Fundraiser

Posted by Editoress on 04/28/10
 

Journey Home Ride now in Second Year

The second annual Journey Home ride will be ridden in memory of Michael Meier who lost his fight with cancer in the Autumn of 2009. Michael was the brother of professional cyclist Christian Meier of the Garmin-Transitions Pro Cycling Team. Michael Reinhold Meier fought a very short, very intense battle with brain cancer and passed away six days shy of his 26th birthday. He is survived by his wife Katie and two children, Kristina and Sophia.

"We are riding in Michael's memory which motivates us daily,” said Christian. “We are partnering with F Cancer on the Journey Home and will be raising money to further fund their education and early stage detection programs.” F Cancer is a Vancouver based organization that promotes early stage detection of all cancers through meaningful and targeted education.

The ride will take place on Monday June 21, 2010 and will take a small group of Canadian riders from Seattle, WA back to Vancouver, BC in one day. The riders will have completed the BC Cancer Foundation Ride to Conquer Cancer from Vancouver to Seattle over the preceding two days.

To aid fund raising, an impressive collection of cycling memorabilia has been collected from past and current pro cyclists. Eddy & Axel Merckx, George Hincapie, Dave Zabriskie, Christian VandeVelde, Travis and Cameron Meyer, David Millar, Gord Fraser, Michael Barry, Team Sky Giro D’Italia Team 2010, Saxo Bank 2009 Tour de France Team and CSC 2008 Tour of California Team are amongst some of the donors.

“The items will be offered as incentives to people who donate specific amounts to the Journey Home," explained Philip Meyer, General Manager of the Relais & Chateaux Wedgewood Hotel & Spa in Vancouver and one of the Journey Home riders. “Each day we hear from more and more pro teams and riders who have learned of what we're doing and are offering some very special items for us to offer as gifts. We're hoping that this will translate into some very serious dollars being raised for the Journey Home. Ultimately we hope that our support of the F Cancer education and early stage detection program means that people will be looking for cancer rather than finding it, which can often be the difference between life and death.”

Visit the Journey Home website, for more details of the ride and how you can donate.