Every year, hundreds of Team Enbridge riders take on the Enbridge Tour Alberta for Cancer with a shared purpose: to challenge themselves, support one another and help create more hope for Albertans facing cancer.
Since becoming the Tour’s title partner in 2010, Enbridge has helped build more than one of Alberta’s largest fundraising events. Together with its employees, volunteers and supporters, the company has helped grow a community united by a commitment to changing the future of cancer care and research.
For many riders, the Tour begins as an opportunity to give back alongside colleagues.
For Elise Bieche, it started that way too.
She completed her first Tour before cancer touched her own family, describing the experience as “an incredibly formative experience.” At the time, she couldn’t have imagined how personal the event would one day become.
Then, in January 2025, her spouse, Kurt, was diagnosed with Stage 3 throat cancer.
Treatment quickly became the family’s priority. While riders took to the road last summer, Elise found herself cheering from the sidelines instead.
“Last year we were in the throes of Kurt’s treatment and recovery. I came out to support riders on the day, but I did not have the capacity to train and ride myself.”
Returning to the Tour this year wasn’t simply about getting back on her bike. It was about returning to a community that had taken on an entirely new meaning.
Throughout Kurt’s treatment, Elise saw firsthand how donor-funded care and research supported by the Alberta Cancer Foundation can make a difference for families when they need it most.
One moment, in particular, has stayed with her.
“My family heard, ‘It’s okay — the Alberta Cancer Foundation pays for this.'”
Those words became a powerful reminder that no family should have to face cancer alone. Today, Elise rides to help ensure more Albertans have access to the same support, care and research that helped her family.
The journey also changed how Elise thought about asking for help.
Like many caregivers, she hesitated to lean on the people around her. Instead, fundraising became an invitation for friends, family and colleagues to rally around a cause that had become part of her own story.
“Taking on the challenge of riding this many kilometres while fundraising has given me a clear goal and renewed sense of purpose. What I didn’t expect was how meaningful the fundraising journey itself would be. Asking for support from my community has been incredibly uplifting, and the response exceeded my expectations. Each donation, message of encouragement, and show of support reinforced the power of community and generosity. More than anything, it has given me a profound sense of being cared for, supported, and connected to something bigger than myself.”
Knowing those efforts will help another family navigate their own cancer journey has made every kilometre worthwhile.
For Elise, that same sense of purpose extends into her workplace.
As a member of Team Enbridge, she has experienced firsthand how a shared commitment to giving back creates stronger relationships and a deeper connection to the work they do together. Knowing Enbridge has stood beside the Tour as title partner since 2010 makes this year’s ride even more meaningful.
“Having Enbridge as the title sponsor and key supporter is incredibly important to me. Working for an organization who also shares my values makes me proud of where I work and who I work for.”
That pride is rooted in more than sponsorship. It’s built through people coming together with a shared purpose.
Whether it’s training rides, fundraising milestones or colleagues encouraging one another along the way, Elise says those experiences have strengthened both her connection to the Tour and to her team.
“Building relationships based on giving back creates a different sense of purpose. It makes my work experience richer and makes me more committed to seeing Enbridge succeed.”
Today, she rides with a renewed appreciation for the moments that matter most.
Not just the finish line, but the family dinners, graduations, celebrations and ordinary days that become extraordinary after a cancer diagnosis.
“It means that my family can celebrate more milestones. That our daughters have Kurt in their lives — to see them accomplish great things. To build memories. To laugh. To just be the family we are.”
That’s why Elise rides, for more family time.
And thanks to riders, donors, volunteers, sponsors and supporters across Alberta, more families will have the opportunity to create those moments together.
