A local man who spent the summer cycling from coast to coast in support of charity has reached his destination and raised over $16,000 in the process.
On June 17 Westlock’s Bryan Carnegie departed Vancouver, B.C. on his 7,000-plus kilometre journey to the east coast, and on Aug. 22, after 65 days on the road, Carnegie pulled into St. John’s, NL.
Carnegie said he dipped the wheel of his bicycle in the Atlantic Ocean and breathed a sigh of relief that his epic trek had finally come to and end.
“It was kind of surreal the last couple days knowing that I was going to be done, thinking about how far I had gone,” Carnegie said. “It seemed like time stood still as the summer went by. It went by fast when I was peddling — it didn’t seem too bad time-wise.”
By the time he reached the end of the road Carnegie had raised over $16,000 towards the Heart and Stroke Foundation, which was one the main reasons behind the journey.
“I’m very happy with the way people donated and all the encouragement I got all along the way from friends and family,” he said.
Over $14,000 was collected through an online donation page set up through the Heart and Stroke Foundation, while nearly $2,000 was raised in-person along the way.
While the weather cooperated with him for the majority of the trip, he said it was even more grueling than he ever imagined.
“It was harder than I thought it was going to be. I thought I’d get stronger, but I think with the daily grind you don’t get time to build up,” Carnegie said. “It was a big time commitment, but I was expecting that and it was nice. You have to sacrifice the time if you want to do it.”
Carnegie’s trip was unfortunately not without incident as a new bike was rushed to him after thieves stole his original one in Winnipeg. However he was back on his way after only a four-day stoppage.
Along the way he got to take in some sights from across our vast nation including fishing on Prince Edward Island and touring Cape Breton Island.
“I took a day in Ottawa, two days in Montreal, one day in Quebec City, and a couple days in Charlottetown,” he said.
“I went tuna fishing and caught a 750-pound tuna … my wife picked me up off the ferry from PEI and we went to Halifax for a few days and we got a shuttle and did the Cape Breton Trail together.”
In the end Carnegie said he’s proud of his accomplishment.
“I’m glad I did it … I wouldn’t do it again,” he said with a chuckle. “I’d maybe do some short four- or five-day rides, but the time commitment was huge … it was a long time to be away from family and a job.”
Donations can still be made towards Carnegie’s fundraising efforts via his online donations page http://goo.gl/hmkyYU, or in-person donations can be made to Carnegie directly by reaching him at 780-349-0652.
