Two Courtenay friends will be cycling a 400-kilometre distance from the Okanagan to the Lower Mainland over the course of a single day to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Gary Egli and Rob Trainor are part of a team of cyclists in the annual Ride2Survive from Kelowna to Delta. Starting in the wee hours of June 24, riders depart from downtown Kelowna, and climb two mountain summits (3,714 metres in total) along the Coquihalla Highway en route to Delta, where the group is piped in.

鈥淭he last 40 kilometres are pretty impressive,鈥� said Egli, 54. 鈥淎ll intersections are blocked. People are cheering and honking their horns. It鈥檚 pretty emotional. When you get in there isn鈥檛 a dry eye.鈥�

Egli works at Save On Foods in Parksville while Trainor is a financial advisor with CIBC Wood Gundy. This will be the fourth year they will have participated in the event, which is in its 13th year. Ride2Survive has so far raised more than $5.5 million for cancer research. A significant amount of the money goes to brain cancer research, but riders can stipulate where they wish funds to be directed.

鈥淚 stipulate lung cancer because I lost my dad to lung cancer,鈥� Egli said. 鈥淎n anonymous donor comes in quite often and matches a donation. It鈥檚 pretty impressive. Everything is volunteer-driven.鈥�

Though the ride is supposed to conclude around 11 p.m., Egli said last year鈥檚 event finished well after midnight due to inclement weather on the Coquihalla.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the furthest thing from a race,鈥� he said.

鈥淓veryone supports each other. We ride together, we finish together. If you see a rider struggling, you pull up beside and put your hand on their back and help them up hills.鈥�

On the morning of the event, the first thing cyclists encounter is the Pennask Summit, a 32-kilometre, low-grade hill. Larson Hill presents another challenge at around noon, but the steepest grade is Deroche, aka 鈥楬eartbreak Hill.鈥� It鈥檚 only about a kilometre, but Egli likens it to the opening stretch on the road to Mt. Washington.

There are roughly 11 stops scheduled during the 19-hour ride. Team-building happens well in advance. Members recently completed a 180km group ride, and will soon tackle a 240km stretch of road.

Each year, the Ride2Survive attracts more than 100 cyclists. Many are cancer survivors, who wear a yellow jersey and ride at the front of the pack for the final kilometre.

鈥淭his started out as a challenge. Then it evolved into something way bigger than that,鈥� Egli said. 鈥淥nce we did it, we realized the biking is the smallest part of it. It鈥檚 the whole cancer awareness, and just the spirit of the ride. It captures you and brings you in. It鈥檚 a feeling more than anything.鈥�

For more information, visit ride2survive.ca