Three brothers with infectious and inspiring personalities, Ernie, Joe and Frank Nick, ages 80, 81 and 82 respectively, are hopping on their bikes Saturday, May 3rd in the 2014 Wheel 2 Heal event in support of Eagle Ridge Hospital. The three Nick brothers were born, grew up, and still live in Port Coquitlam.
Their first biking experiences were delivering newspapers in the local community. “When I was 11 years old I was delivering 40 newspapers in Port Coquitlam. In those days the houses were far apart so a bike was necessary. By the time I finished delivering newspapers I was up to 120!” shared the eldest brother, Frank Nick. Joe Nick had a paper route too and when he was ready to move on to a different ob, he passed his route on to younger brother, Ernie!
Two of the brothers, Frank and Joe were firefighters in Port Coquitlam for many years while Ernie worked in downtown Port Coquitlam for nearly 40 years and was part owner of PoCo Building Supplies for 29 years.
Not only has biking been a family affair, the brothers have also stayed active by continuing to bike the PoCo Trails “when the sun shines says Joe”! “And Frank,” shared Ernie, “is a phenomenal athlete and hikes mountains all the time.” Frank assured, “I have hiked every trail on Burke Mountain and climbed Golden Ears Mountain as least 30 times…so far”, he quipped! His most recent ascent of Golden Ears as August 2013!
Enie and Joe (80 and 81 respectively) will be riding the 30 km trail ride in the Wheel to Heal on May 3rd participated in the event numerous times and believe it is important to give back to “their hospital, Eagle Ridge”. “We have got to support Eagle Ridge because the community is growing around us and we have all used the hospital over the years so we do what we can to help out”, say Ernie, Joe and Frank. Each has had a procedure or surgery at Eagle Ridge Hospital ranging from colonoscopies to knee surgeries. They also fondly remember their two brothers who passed away at Eagle Ridge Hospital, one at the age of 74 and the other at 64.
You can join Ernie, Joe or Frank Nick and ride in the Wheel2Heal on May 3rd them by going to wheeltoheal.ca and clicking on the link “pledge” and typing in their name.
