Derek Pineo's son Kayleb (middle, back) will be riding alongside Weyburn Constable Jeffrey Bartsch in the Ride to Remember thanks to support through a fundraiser. (Photo courtesy of Bartsch and Pineo family)

Weyburn Police Service Constable Jeffrey Bartch will be riding in the Saskatchewan Ride to Remember in September. The event commemorates officers who have fallen in the line of duty. This year, he will be accompanied by Kayleb Pineo, the son of RCMP Constable Derek Pineo, who died in 2012 in an accident.

The Pineo family will be joining Bartsch in Saskatchewan, arriving from Nova Scotia on September 17th, and staying through the Saskatchewan Police & Peace Officers Memorial in Regina after the ride on September 24th.

Bartsch and Kaylen will be riding from Prince Albert to Regina, with the journey beginning on the 21st. The trip takes three days, and they will be joined by many others who are making the ride to remember.

With the Pineo family arriving ahead of the ride itself, Bartsch said some of that time will be spent getting Kayleb ready for the ride, although he is used to long distances, as the 15-year-old is currently in Iceland on a riding tour. The extra days won’t be wasted, though. With a bike being provided for Kayleb by a Regina business, there will be some work to do.

“We have a couple days to get him fit to that bike, and just to meet a couple people, and possibly bring him down to Weyburn and have a look around,” Bartsch explained. As for the rest of the Pineo family, Natasha Pineo, Derek’s wife, and daughters Novalea and Ocean will be spending time in Regina visiting friends, as well as sightseeing around the provincial capital.

The trip by the Pineo family from Nova Scotia was made possible through a GoFundMe campaign started by Bartsch. Within 24 days of starting the campaign, the goal of $4,000 needed to bring the Pineo family out to Regina was raised and exceeded.