Blog - 2025 BMO Ride for Cancer

“It’s all about the people”: Fifth-time rider Steve De Belie shares his reasons to ride

All, Rider Profile 2024

Author: Nicole Topple – Publish date: September 27, 2024

With BMO Ride for Cancer taking place this Saturday (Sept. 28), rider Steve De Belie believes there’s a common thread amongst all event participants.

“Ultimately when it comes down to it: it’s all about the people,” says Steve, who’s riding 100 kilometres via trail this Saturday. “I think everybody who rides has a person in mind when they’re doing this.”

For Steve, one of those people is his late mother who lived with breast cancer for over 20 years.

“There’s good survival rates and there was a substantial portion of her life that was attributed to the care she received through our healthcare system,” he explains. “She spoke very highly of all the people involved in her treatment.”

According to Steve, his motivation to first get involved with BMO Ride for Cancer is quite simple.

“I do it because I can get on a bike, I can ride and I can raise some money,” he says. “The care teams at the QEII are doing so much, often, with so little. Funds raised go to a targeted purpose each year, purchasing equipment in the areas that our cancer care teams need it to go.”

For many riders, like Steve, the annual cycling event provides an opportunity to pay it forward – whether they’ve been touched by cancer directly or through loved ones or friends.

“This is a very small way to help give back and compensate for the care and treatment I received at the QEII and for all the people who helped support me through that experience,” says Steve, who was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal esophageal cancer at 53 years old.

As he explains on his personal fundraising page, “in 2017, I was given a best-before date that wouldn’t see my 55th birthday.”

Now, at age 60, it’s been five years since Steve’s last treatment and surgery.

In sharing his reasons to ride, three key points are critical to him.

“Never give up hope, never doubt the power of the support of friends and family and the power of prayer, and never underestimate what the QEII Cancer Centre is capable of,” he says.

As Steve gears up for BMO Ride day (Sept. 28), he’s looking forward to his fifth time participating in Atlantic Canada’s largest cycling fundraiser.

“There are so many volunteers that put their heart and soul into making this happen and just experiencing the event is fantastic,” says Steve. “This is an important event and people need to support it.”

BMO Ride for Cancer is proudly hosted by the QEII Foundation. All funds raised here, stay here. Support Steve or another BMO Ride for Cancer participant or team with a donation today.

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