ELORA – Ian Evans is no stranger to adventure.
He has scaled five of the planet’s seven summits and ran 10 marathons. Cycled across Australia from Perth to Sydney. Circumnavigated Iceland on a bike.
And at 58, he was the oldest Canadian to ski across Antarctica and reach the South Pole – a title he held for about two weeks until his record was beat by another, older Canadian.
Now Evans, who lives in Elora, has just completed another milestone adventure, cycling from Prince Rupert, B.C. to Cape Spear, Newfoundland in 84 days.
And along the way he raised almost $10,000 for the Centre Wellington Community Foundation’s (CWCF) Community Response Fund.
A retired accountant, Evans, 65, is now a much sought-after motivational speaker and the subject of a 2016 documentary, Lunatic, about his South Pole expedition.
“I don’t think it’s crazy at all,” he said of the cross-Canada journey he called the Big Ride. “I do stuff like this all the time.”
Evans said he loves the athleticism required for his expeditions, but more than that is the mental challenge.
“I try to work at the edge of my comfort zone – to figure out how to do a thing; how to get through a difficult task. I love doing that,” he said.
Evans said he and his wife Elizabeth had planned to go to Europe this summer but decided with international travel still in a state of flux, it would be better to stay home.
So, they plotted an Arctic to Atlantic cycling trip instead. And even that became truncated when they had to scrap the Arctic leg of trip due to COVID-19 outbreaks in and around Tuktoyaktuk.
But on July 12 Evans began his 8,000km ride while Elizabeth drove their camper van and took care of logistics.
“There were lots of challenges,” he said, listing forest fires and extreme heat in B.C. and headwinds across the Prairies among them.
But he called the trip along the TransCanada highway across northern Ontario, with all its truck traffic, a “traumatic experience.
“It was much more enjoyable once we hit eastern Ontario.”
It was both reward and relief to hoist his bike over his head in Cape Spear and mark the journey complete.
Evans said he chose CWCF as his beneficiary because it has a broad reach and the funds raised will benefit the greatest number of people
Raymond Soucey, executive director of Centre Wellington’s foundation, said the organization has distributed $192,000 from the COVID-19 Community Response Fund in two rounds since March 2020, with funds allocated to 43 different projects.
The agency closed a third round of grants on Nov. 1.
Soucey said in the early days of the pandemic the needs were around food and technology, allowing social service agencies to pivot to virtual services and to work from home.
“Now we’re seeing the impact of housing and the lingering impact on mental health,” he said.
“I think food, housing and mental wellbeing will be the needs for a while.”
Soucey said because the foundation was already set up to distribute grants, it received and distributed some federal funding to community agencies.
But normally it relies on fundraisers and donations, so Evans’ donation and the journey to raise it, is really meaningful.
“Ian’s contribution is not a regular thing for us,” Soucey said.
“And even though his trip is over, you should read his blog. It’s about perseverance and partnership and that’s a good message.”
Evans is about $1,000 shy of his $10,000 goal.
The blog can be found at www.ianevans.ca/thebigride, where donations can also be made.
For information about the Centre Wellington Community Foundation, visit cwcfoundation.ca.
