Hudson Mack doesn’t want to talk about his dad dying of cancer. Nor does he want to talk about when his brother-in-law and a good friend were hit by the disease.

He wants to talk about the effect of meeting some special young kids at Camp Goodtimes, a summer respite on the Lower Mainland for children going through cancer treatment and those in recovery.

“You know as you’re pedalling up those hills, boy, this is nothing compared to what these kids are going through,” Mack said in the A Vancouver Island TV newsroom, where he is news anchor and news director.

As one of 23 cyclists pedalling 1,000 kilometres down Vancouver Island in the 2009 Canadian Cancer Society Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock, Mack wants to stress the ride’s focus.

“It’s about the kids. Money raised through Tour de Rock helps children through pediatric cancer programs and research,” he said.

Tour de Rock riders only get asked once to take part in the two-week ride that winds its way from Port Alice to Victoria. Mack wants to make sure he puts his best pedal forward on the ride and has been working out five days a week in order to do so.

“If this had happened two years ago I don’t think I would have been able to be in any kind of physical shape to do it,” he said. “I was overweight and not fit.”

Since he began working with a personal trainer in January 2008, he has lost 50 pounds and now says he’s in the best shape he’s been in since his 20s.

Because Tour de Rock members train when he is on air, Mack goes solo on some cycle training, takes part in spin classes, works out on a rowing machine and heads out to Victoria streets. He’s become a pro on how to conquer Mount Tolmie.

“Many think the Richmond side is easier, but I don’t think so,” he said. “You’ve got that long climb at the beginning, then it levels out, then you turn the corner and it’s long and steady to the top.”

The Cedar Hill Road route, with its climbs balanced with level plateaus, is better, he said. “It’s like doing reps – your muscles know what’s coming and you know where to stand, where to dig and where to grind.”

But on Sundays Mack heads out with other tour cyclists on 100-kilometre rides.

“It’s important to ride with the team. To learn about communication amongst riders – it’s elbow to elbow and tire to tire and going down the highway at 50 km/h – you need to be warning each other about gravel, holes and just learn how to ride as a group.”

Having lost his dad when he was 14, a tragedy that Mack said shaped his life, he knows what the money raised from the ride will accomplish.

“Treatments are better now than when Dad was ill – it still makes you sick, but there are things now that mitigate it.”

The 2009 Canadian Cancer Society Cops for Cancer Vancouver Island Tour de Rock runs Sept. 19 to Oct. 2.