Students from Powell River participated in the Great Canadian Ride for the first time, cycling 300 kilometres from Pemberton to Vancouver—all while speaking French.
Jarek Long, 15, and Noemi Mazurek, 14, Francophone students at École Côte-du-Soleil, rode the final stages of national cycling relay, also known as La Grande Traversée, from Pemberton to Vancouver, joining in the event with Francophone students from across Canada.
“It was a great opportunity and I got to meet a lot of new friends and saw a lot of places in BC,” said Jarek, who met students from Victoria, Squamish and Kelowna. “I was worried because I didn’t know what to expect, but there was so much encouragement it made me want to go again.”
“Having another language is great because not everybody has that,” said Jarek of the Francophone experience. “Being able to share that language with people my age was great.”
Organized by the Conseil Scolaire Francophone de la Colombie-Britannique (CSF), the over 2,000-kilometre cross-Canada cycling relay is completed in stages by Francophone students from across the country. The ride is intended to create healthy lifestyle ambassadors and build leadership skills, as the students cycle alongside and learn from Olympic medalists Dominique Maltais, Maelle Ricker and Senator Nancy Greene-Raine.
City of Powell River Councillor Russell Brewer, an advocate for cycling who helped begin Powell River Cycling Association, acted as team leader for the Powell River students, as his daughter Zoe was originally to participate.
In particular, Brewer, who helped train the Powell River team, said he was struck by the leadership skills he saw the children develop in the course of the three-day ride.
“I saw them transferring the things they learned while riding a bike as a team and transferring that to their life,” said Brewer. “These kids become leaders with respect to their peers, setting a goal, training, organizing [their] time, sharing their thoughts with and encouraging others.
“It’s not just a bike ride, these kids made some great friendships,” he added. “I think it would be something great for other schools to do.”
