Keeping Ken Quon’s memory alive may be helping to save other lives as well.
This year, friends and family of Ken Quon will host the second annual Ken Quon Ride On, a mountain bike event and barbecue to raise money for emergency care equipment.
In the first year the event raised close to $12,000 for the purchase of a portable diagnostic machine that can be operated by battery and transported with injured patients by ambulance. This year organizers are hoping to raise the same amount or more to purchase a second portable diagnostic machine to ensure both ambulances have the equipment.
“When (mountain biker) Todd (Hellinga) was transported to the city following his injury, he was hooked up to the machine we bought last year,” said Tom Thomson, a friend of Ken Quon and organizer of Ride On. “Every time we transport someone from here to the hospital in the city, that piece of equipment goes on a long ride that leaves our other ambulance without the monitor.
“It’s equipment we feel that they should have, and that we understand they use all the time. It’s not just for the biking community, but it’s used for everybody.”
The second annual Ken Quon Ride On is slated for Sunday, Aug. 12, and is sanctioned by the Whistler Off-Road Cycling Association. Once again there will be a short course for walkers and hikers that goes by the memorial established for Ken Quon, as well as a recreational race on trails around the park.
New this year, organizers have created the Re/Max Corridor Cup challenge, inviting teams of three men and one woman to race three laps of the course. The winning team with the lowest combined time will win the cup, which sits in the Re/Max Sea to Sky Real Estate offices.
“There are not a lot of Canada Cup or B.C. Cup-type events in August, and we want to see if we can get the fast guys and girls to come out and race and support a really good cause,” said Thomson.
If you don’t have a team, organizers will match up solo racers that want to do the three-lap course with teams that are short members.
Once again the main base of operations is the Riverside RV Resort and Campground. Sign-on gets underway at 10:30 a.m. and the race will get underway at noon. Five minutes later the slower walkers and riders will make their way to the memorial.
The cost is $10 to enter, or $15 for racers participating in the team event. You must be a WORCA member to take part or be sanctioned by Cycling B.C. Thomson is in the process of having the event insured by Cycling B.C., which would allow for day-of-race insurance for non-WORCA members.
The entry fee includes the post-race barbecue, and a ticket to the prize draw. Additional raffle tickets will be available, and there will be a 50/50 draw and silent auction.
Ken Quon was a popular member of the mountain bike community who died of an undiagnosed heart condition while guiding a Wild Willies ride in 2005. Although he died almost instantly, his friends and family established the Ken Quon Memorial Fund in his name to raise money to purchase emergency care equipment.
For information on the race, visit www.kenquonrideon.com.
