From a farm in Northern Alberta, across the prairie flats, up into the foothills, over the Rockies, through the Caribou and the interior and finally over the Coastal Mountain Range, it was a relief for island-raised childhood friends Liam Zahara and Mateo Everitt to coast into Horseshoe Bay Sept. 23 and see their friends and family cheering.
The duo cycled 1,400 km in nine days to raise money for the barrier busting non-profit Power to Be.
B.C.-based Power to Be was founded in 1998 to help people living with disabilities or other barriers to access nature. “We work to remove cognitive, physical and social barriers to the outdoors, supporting participants to explore who they are,” explains the website.
In a year where usual fundraising events are altered or cancelled, Zahara and Everitt decided to take on their endeavour of endurance to raise money. Though the two are active (Zahara ran a 100-mile ultramarathon last year also for Power to Be) neither had cycled seriously––they got their new bikes in April.
Though some might think twice about taking on the Rockies for their first long-distance bike trip, not Everitt and Zahara.
“My mindset has changed a little bit over the last couple of years of what I’m able to do,” said Zahara. “We’re all so much more capable than what we imagine we’re capable of.”
“That’s what Power to Be does, is they really help enable people to overcome those limitations,’ said Zahara.
“During [quarantine], I think we all got a taste of being trapped in our apartments. And it was kind of a helpless feeling,” said Everitt. “That was super hard on me to not be able to get out to nature and just reset my mindset.”
“That’s a reality for a lot of people who can’t access [nature] with whatever disability they have,” said Everitt. “And it’s just something they live with their with their whole lives.”
The two did one trip to Halfmoon Bay in August, but other than that, didn’t have the chance to do much training together before they set out for their starting point: Zahara’s grandparents’ farm in Northern Alberta Sept. 15.
“A trip of this length, you have so many physical battles but also mental battles,” said Everitt. On a bike for 10 to 12 hours a day through a gruelling terrain took perseverance.
The two grew up on Bowen but Everitt now lives in Victoria and Zahara now lives in North Vancouver. Yet, they knew Horseshoe Bay, gateway to Bowen Island, needed to be their destination.
And through brutal uphills, crushing headwinds on downhills in the Rockies, peddling through pounding rain, the two visualized their arrival in Horseshoe Bay.
“Knowing that we..[had] both our families waiting for us at the finish line, it was that carrot at the end of the stick,” said Everitt.
While there were many points where they were in pain, raising money for Power to Be was too a strong motivator. “Collaborating with them is really something that pushes you to wake up in the morning and get back on the bike and try and reach a different destination,” said Zahara.
The journey wasn’t always a smooth ride.
“Everything that could have gone wrong with my bike did go wrong,” said Everitt. After several setbacks, the derailer snapped off and Everitt had a friend come and switch the bike out for a new one.
Zahara didn’t have much trouble until five km from the finish line when he got a flat tire. “It started pouring on us that day. And it was just kind of a funny but fitting way to end the trip,” he said.
The Undercurrent talked to the two a couple days after their trip had ended. They were still feeling a bit fuzzy and were coming down off the adrenaline rush of the trip.
“It almost feels in a way like hasn’t really happened,” said Zahara. “It just came and went and now we’re I guess just settling back into reality.”
“Each day felt like an eternity because you’re in so much pain and you’re riding for so long. But then when the trip was done, it was kind of like snap your fingers…where did those nine days ago?” said Everitt.
Their trip, called “Riding our Roots,” has raised $10,800 of an original $5,000 goal with the fundraiser closing Oct. 8. See more information at powertobe.ca/riding-our-roots/.
“The amount of support that we received the whole trip was overwhelming,” said Zahara. “But we’re both extremely grateful.”
