Like a lot of things these days, it started with an Instagram post.
Whistler’s Claire Buchar was scrolling through the app recently when she came across a post promoting Metro Vancouver road biker Bianca Hayes’ upcoming cross-Canada ride in support of ovarian cancer research.
Hayes became the fastest woman to cycle across Canada two years ago, when, motivated by the loss of her 32-year-old sister in 2018, she completed the more than 5,700-kilometre trip from Vancouver to Halifax in 20 days. This summer, Hayes is gunning for the official Guinness World Record and is hoping to raise awareness and $1 million along the way. (Guinness set the women’s record at 15 days.)
Buchar related instantly—and not just because of their shared habit for achieving massive feats on two wheels.
The pro mountain biker lost her mom to ovarian cancer as a 17-year-old.
After the two connected through Instagram, Hayes invited Buchar to participate in a “ride anywhere” for ovarian cancer event scheduled for April 2. “I was like, ‘Well, that’s a great idea,’ but I don’t even own a road bike,” she explained.
So Buchar will support Hayes’ campaign in her own way: off-road. Buchar is currently in the process of mapping out a 57-km route through the Squamish trail network that she’ll complete next weekend, in honour of Hayes’ upcoming 5,700-km ride.
“Obviously riding singletrack, it’ll be a big day,” said Buchar.
But, “I’ve been searching for more meaningful things to do and [to] connect my riding with,” she added. “I’ve been working with youth and rider development, but this is just something that’s so close to my heart and I feel like it’s a good use of my time and energy.”
Initially, the former downhill national champion and World Cup medallist had a goal in mind of rallying the mountain bike community to raise $570 for ovarian cancer research. Less than 24 hours after throwing up a social media post about her plans, Buchar’s fundraising total had already surpassed the $2,400 mark. At press time, her total stood at more than $3,200. All funds will benefit Ovarian Cancer Canada and BC Cancer.
Ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest forms of the disease: the Canadian Cancer Society estimated that of the approximately 3,000 Canadian women who would be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021, approximately 1,950 would die from it. It has a 44 per cent survival rate over five years. Currently, no screening test for ovarian cancer exists for women without symptoms.
“It shaped my entire life, losing my mom,” Buchar explained.
“Losing her and watching her deteriorate over the period of one year; it was very traumatic as a teenager … It’s a scary thing to think about, because she looked so healthy and so strong right up until she was diagnosed. She had a few symptoms, but she was feeling fine.”
Adding to the trauma is Buchar’s resulting fears about her own health, with ovarian cancer present on both sides of her family. But Buchar said seeing people like Hayes working to raise awareness—and now, contributing to those efforts herself—is helping her find optimism.
“Just seeing how devastating [cancer] can be … I’ve had friends that have passed and just watching the people left behind struggle with it; it really is life changing. This gives me hope, for a type of cancer that is so deadly, that maybe there could be a cure one day, and spare a lot of people the horror of having to go through it and losing family members,” she said.
“Hopefully, we can grow this into something bigger and more positive in the years to come … I think we can rally together and do some good work. I’m just so proud of the community and of the response so far, it’s been amazing.”
Contribute to Buchar’s fundraising efforts here.
