Motorcycle ride motivated by cancer survival

For one local biker, involvement in the Motorcycle Ride for Dad in Halifax over the weekend was personal.

Barry Faulkner’s brother-in-law is a prostate cancer survivor and this motivated Faulkner to attempt a $2,500 pledge for the biggest motorcycle ride for prostate cancer in Canada.

Motorcycle Ride for Dad is a national fundraiser for research and awareness as more men than ever are being diagnosed with the number one male cancer in Canada.

Despite public figures such as Nelson Mandela and Arnold Palmer are making it known that they received treatment for prostate cancer, little is being done to help this cause in a way which catches public attention like the Motorcycle Ride for Dad.

Advertisements for the Ride for Dad state that support for prostate cancer research has become the New Frontier.

The ride in Halifax, appropriately held on Father’s Day weekend, is only the second such event held in the province, Faulkner said.

“Those participating in the ride gather pledges and then go on a police-escorted parade through the city and a scenic tour of the surrounding countryside,” he said.

As an avid biker and a principal officer of the Tuscan Lodge in Weymouth, Faulkner’s canvassed pledges from all the lodges in the Annapolis and Digby district from Middleton to Weymouth.

“I also applied to the Masonic Foundation of Nova Scotia for further funding which I received,” he said.

Faulkner and fellow lodge member Fraser Sypher biked to the Hiram Lodge in Yarmouth last Thursday night for a financial pledge to reach his goal of $2,500.

“Hiram and Tuscan lodges have had long standing ties,” said Faulkner. “This way I could go to Halifax having reached my goal.”