Dave Wilson is planning a bike ride from southern B.C. to Dawson City Yukon, and is hoping to be in the northern city by the summer solstice.
Wilson was in Kimberley the past couple of days staying with relatives (his grandfather is Tom Blundell) and getting his bike fixed up at Kootenay Cycle Works.
He was actually lucky to have a bike at all. He was camping at the top of the Salmo Creston pass last week and when he came out of the cabin in the morning, his bike was gone.
He didn’t know if it had been stolen or perhaps caught by a snowplow. In any event, he hitched a ride to Kimberley to stay with the Blundells while he looked for a new ride.
It turns out Wilson won’t need a new bike — his was caught by the snowplow and he has it back. He hung out in Kimberley over the weekend while Trevor at Kootenay Cycle Works did the repairs, and was planning to leave Monday or Tuesday.
This will not be Wilson’s first long trek. Last summer he raised funds for the same organization — The Arthritis Research Foundation — on a ride from St. John’s to Tofino.
He chose the Arthritis Research Foundation because he has an arthritis related back disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis that fuses the spine together, hence, the name of the ride Watch My Back.
“I wanted to keep fundraising but change up the route,” he said.
He says he’s a little nervous about the northern ride, given the long stretches with no civilization and a lot of animals, but he’s looking forward to it as well.
You can donate to Wilson’s ride at watchmyback.ca. All donations go directly to the Arthritis Research Foundation and are tax deductivle.