Record race for ovarian cancer ends after cyclist hit by motorbike

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Bianca Hayes was about 1,000 kilometers from her goal when a motorcycle mowed her down as she attempted to set a world record by cycling from Vancouver to Halifax in 15 days.

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The crash happened on June 26 during her last 48-hour spurt, with just 10 minutes of micro-naps here and there.

The North Vancouverite’s drive was to raise money and awareness for ovarian cancer, which claimed the life of her sister Katrina in April 2018, aged 32, leaving her then three-year-old nephew without a mother. But instead of heading to Nova Scotia’s capital on June 28, she was driving home in an RV after being released from hospital.

“It could have been a lot worse,” said Hayes from somewhere in northern Ontario along the empty stretch between Moonbeam and Nipigon. “Another inch or two, I might have broken bones or I might not talk to you now.

“It’s devastating not to have been able to finish my race. It was grueling, but every hard time was worth it if one more family didn’t have to go through the same grief as mine.

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For Hayes, it was his second world record attempt. Her first, in 2020, took her 19 days, the fastest recorded time for a woman to cycle across the country, but longer than the 15-day mark decreed by Guinness World Records as a world record for a woman. .

The fastest man to cycle the nearly 6,000 kilometer road across Canada did it in 9.4 days, with Guinness defining the official route as City Hall to City Hall in following the roads and trails on which it is legal to cycle.

Hayes had approached a railroad crossing at an odd angle. A similar crossing had caused him to crash land two years ago and hit the ground hard with his helmeted head.

“You are not allowed to walk with your bike anywhere, you have to go the whole route, so to cross at 90 (degrees) I had to go out and cut across the road,” she said.

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There was a curve in the freeway behind her.

“I did a shoulder check when I got to the tracks, hopped on the shoulder, checked again and it was all clear. I started crossing and heard something behind me.

“As I turned to look, I saw a motorcycle on the side flying towards me.”

The motorcycle skidded when the driver tried to brake, and she pulled her bike out from under her and ripped a shoe.

“Of all the things that could have happened, it was very lucky,” she said. “Very shocking, quite a dramatic way to end the whole ride, but I’m very lucky to know how it turned out.”

In the end, Hayes suffered a sprained ankle, concussion, rash, and an unfinished quest.

“Not all cyclists are so lucky when it comes to motor vehicle accidents, so I try to stay positive and remind myself of that because missing the world record really hurts.”

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She’s 11% away from her goal of raising $1 million for ovarian cancer (you can donate at biancahayes.com), and she left Vancouver on June 13. The money she raises is shared between Ovarian Cancer Canada and the BC Cancer Foundation.

While ovarian cancer rates are similar to breast and prostate cancer, because the latter two receive much more publicity, they have received more research funding, and patients have better survival rate.

Fifty years ago, survival rates for all three were about the same, Hayes said, but today, while the fifth most common cancer in women, it is the deadliest, killing five Canadians per day. This year, 3,100 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer, according to Ovarian Cancer Canada.

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Hayes’ fundraiser is an effort to provide the same level of screening and treatment options as for, say, breast cancer, and a significantly improved life expectancy for those diagnosed with breast cancer. ovary.

“One of the things that struck me when Katrina was sick was that she only had a year of treatment and was able to fight off the disease. There is no survival. The survival rate is so low that there aren’t people really talking about it and advocating for the cause. It’s up to family and friends to talk about it and make people understand why it’s so important. to fund it.”

She was accompanied by two physiotherapists and a documentary crew from The Coconut Creative in an RV. It was like she had fought all the elements, she said, including one day in Manitoba when it was so hot the Winnipeg Marathon was canceled halfway through.

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Hayes encountered her first prairie dust storm, mosquitoes invading your face by the hundreds the second you stop moving, headwinds that seemed to push her back and just the pain of riding 20 hours a day (the most days the shortest was 1pm).

She doesn’t know if she’ll give it another try. It took him two years to recover from the last one and then start planning the next one.

“It bothered me for those two whole years that I hadn’t made the last one in the time allotted and that was the whole point of doing it this time.

“I don’t know. This will probably continue to bother me. I feel like if I say never again now, I’m going to eat those words.

gordmcintyre@postmedia.com

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