Cowichan Valley local bike trials wizard John Webster will perform at the Tour de Rock kickoff on May 31 at the Cowichan Sportsplex. He is a champion cyclist on the Union Cycliste International circuit.
The kickoff is the official opening of the 2014 Tour de Rock and will be the community's first chance to meet Beth Avis. Avis is an Auxilliary Officer with the Duncan/Cowichan RCMP detachment and she is representing the Valley in this year's Tour de Rock. Avis will be riding the length of the Island from Port Hardy to Victoria between Sept. 20 and Oct. 3. On Sept. 30 there will be four stops in the Cowichan Valley in Chemainus, Lake Cowichan, Duncan and Mill Bay as well as at a number of schools in the area.
The kickoff includes a Bike Safety Rodeo, which will offer Valley youngsters between six and 12 years of age a chance to brush up on their bike safety skills. The Safety Rodeo is being put on by Cycle Therapy Bicycles and the RCMP. As well as the rodeo there will be lots of fun games and music by Blue Cadillac and a number of other local artists.
A bake sale offered jointly through the efforts of the Chemainus Garden Club members and Canadian Cancer Society volunteers rounds out the local organizations who are joining in to help in the fight against childhood cancer.
The Tour was inspired by an initiative in Edmonton in 1994 In 1998 when it hit the island the Tour was born and has grown each year since then.