Sitting in a saddle is nothing new for constables Matt Cawsey and Jenn Symonds of the Saanich Police Department, but long-distance cycling is.

The two are representing Saanich police on the Canadian Cancer Society Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock.

Cawsey’s trading in the BMW motorbike he rides while patrolling traffic for the police department. Symonds, a patrol officer and former rower, is making the transition to the bike seat from the rowing skull.

Joining the tour is part of a long-term commitment to cycling and themselves, both police officers say.

“I’ve wanted to get into cycling for a long time but have waited until I could give it the full commitment it deserves,” says Cawsey, who used his police motorcycle to escort last year’s Tour de Rock.

“I’ve traded in the BMW for a very skinny little seat,” he says.

For Symonds, the Tour de Rock is the beginning of a new journey. “I was a competitive swimmer as a teenager, then moved to rowing at 18,” she says.

The tour is her latest adventure, after a history of whitewater rafting and skydiving.

The riding is also helping Symonds round out the abilities she needs to be a competitive triathlete. Already an accomplished swimmer, the final discipline triathletes must master is running.

And while the Tour de Rock isn’t competitive, the demanding training has also benefited Cawsey’s ice hockey game.

“I just got back from the World Police and Fire Games and skated at the highest level I’ve ever played at and I felt I was right there with them,” said Cawsey.

Saanich police’s hockey team lost in the playoffs against teams with college-level players and even ex-pros.

Like all riders on the tour, each of the Saanich officers have had their lives touched by someone they knew who had been afflicted with cancer.

Symonds has an eight-year-old nephew living with the nerve-affecting neuroblastoma who is “on the winning end right now.”

Cawsey has also seen a child affected by cancer.

“When I was growing up (in Victoria) there was a young boy across the street with leukemia, unfortunately we lost him at a young age. We were a tight-knit community and I witnessed what the family went through while he was sick and going through treatment.”

Though Saanich is a tight-knit department, joining the Tour de Rock helped Cawsey and Symonds form inter-departmental friendships within the tour team.

As the tour’s start date of Sept. 19 approaches, Symonds says the big talk includes a pair of hill sections along the route.

“I’ve been hearing about The Hump outside of Port Alberni and the section from Port Alice to Port Hardy, but I’m just looking forward to it all.”