Tour de Nick a Ride for Remembrance, Awareness

Bill Metz befriended Nick Sansome through bicycling. So, it’s fitting that Metz turned to cycling to find a memorial to his friend.

Metz is originator of the Tour de Nick, which will be making its eighth annual trek through Rice and Goodhue counties on Saturday. He and members of the Northfield Bike Club organize the event.

The bike ride, which raises money for Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, was established after Sansome took his own life in 2003 at age 27.

“I felt that we had to do something,” Metz said.

Metz soon figured out what that “something” would be. While biking on the Cannon River Trail near Red Wing shortly after Sansome’s death, he came upon a cycling event supporting SAVE.

“So we said, why don’t we do a bike ride,” he said. “It’s how we all knew Nick. He loved riding, and we couldn’t think of a better way to remember him. It seemed like a good idea.”

Fellow Northfield Bike Club member Eric Bergh agreed.

“People in the bike club really saw Nick at his best,” Bergh said. “When Nick was biking, he showed lots of enthusiasm. He really got a lot of joy out of competing.

“When he was there biking, he was a good mood.”

About 40 cyclists took part in the first Tour de Nick. Participation has grown through the years, reaching about 70 last year. Nearly $10,000 has been raised for SAVE through the years, including $3,600 last year.

SAVE receives all proceeds from the ride.

In addition to raising funds, the ride has drawn attention to how suicide has impacted people in the Northfield community and elsewhere, said Metz and Bergh. For instance, they have learned the stories of a number of Northfield residents either who have lost family members to suicide or who have attempted suicide themselves.

“At SAVE, there is a memorial wall where you can put the names of suicide victims,” said Metz. “What was shocking the first time I saw it, there were so many names on the wall. And three years later, there were so many more.”

Based in Bloomington, SAVE is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit organizations dealing with suicide prevention, awareness and education. Its website offers information and resources on suicide and depression and on coping with the death of a loved one.

In recent years, Bergh and Metz have become active with SAVE. Both are on SAVE’s nine-member Board of Directors.

Bergh’s brother, in 1997.

This year’s Tour de Nick features three routes: 10 miles, 20 miles and 50 miles. All three begin at 9 a.m. in the parking lot in front of .

The bike ride is a bit unusual, in that there are no pre-registrations and no entry fee. Cyclists who want to take part can show up the day of the event and contribute what they want to the cause into donation boxes.

A major reason for doing business this way, said Metz, is to keep organizing costs low.

For more information about the bike ride, visit www.save.org, www.northfieldbikeclub.org or Tour de Nick Facebook page.