Prince George, B.C.- Over the next couple of months,  the 31 riders who will take part in this year’s Tour de North  Cops for Cancer  ride,  will be  training and raising funds for their  annual  event.

Today  8 of the riders are making their way through Prince George to say thank you to their sponsors.  The first stop was at Canadian Tire.

This is the first time dispatcher Amy Ballantyne has joined the team and is getting herself in shape for the ride .”I have been cycling each day doing the Ospika hill to try and get ready.”   She says she wanted to be part of the Tour “Because it’s a great cause. ”

This is the 15th year for the ride,  and will see  the cyclists  on  the east to west route,  starting  from Prince George and  wrapping up their ride in  Prince Rupert.

The official   start of the ride  is  September 16th, with the first leg of the Tour seeing riders cover 100 kilometres   from Prince George to Vanderhoof.   Over the course of the  7 days of the Tour,  they will have covered 865 kilometres.

Over  the  past 14 years, the Cops for Cancer  Tour de North  has raised more than $2.3 million for paediatric cancer research and  support services such as Camp Goodtimes,  where  children on a cancer journey can have  some fun.