After four months on the road, Kevin Mills journey is coming to an end as he finishes his more than 7,000-kilometre trek in Victoria, British Columbia on Sept. 30.
Mills, who sustained a spinal cord injury in 2009, began hand-cycling across Canada on May 24 in Cape Spears, Newfoundland to establish and share an accessible route across the country while promoting accessibility, inclusivity, and activity after injury.
“There’s definitely a lot of emotions,” Mills said about the ride coming to an end. “It’s been a tough journey, but it’s also super exciting because we’ve been working toward this.”
Having been biking nearly every day for the last 120 days, there’s been numerous highlights for Mills and his team along the way, but the people are what has had the most impact.
“We’ve met so many kind people, I can’t even guess how many we’ve met,” he said. “The reaction from everyone in the campgrounds to going through Lion’s Head and having everyone cheering us on, that’s been really special. And when we tell people what’s going on, they get really excited and want to help out.”
On top of meeting many Canadians who have shown their support for Mills mission by donating to Pedaling Possibilities, he said seeing the country has been a once in a lifetime bonus of the ride.
“We’ve seen so many cool sites,” he said. “I feel like I’ve really seen Canada.”
On average, Mills thinks they’ve been riding about 100 kilometres per day, with the longest days being about 140 kilometres, and he says there have been some challenges along the way.
“One of our toughest days was in Newfoundland,” he said. “We came through 120 km/h winds. It was a pretty insane day. The prairies were the toughest part for me though, with the constant headwind and looking at the same thing for hours and hours. It was mentally tough.”
Feeling all of Newmarket’s support behind him during the journey has made the tough times feel easier, Mills said, and he can’t wait to get back.
“That reception when we passed through Newmarket was absolutely amazing,” he said. “It was such a big event and we hadn’t even finished yet. I’m just glad people are excited about what we’re trying to promote and that they care about this.”
Mills said a big part of going on this journey was to raise awareness about the need for a defined bike route across Canada and he thinks it’s impacting passersby who don’t even meet him because they still see him out there hand-cycling.
“There needs to be a continuous bike route across Canada that’s divided,” said Mills. “A lot of the time the shoulder is set up for a bike, but with a wider vehicle like my wheelchair, it doesn’t really work. I end up having to go into traffic.”
It was one of the main goals to share the bike route across Canada while highlighting ways accessibility needs to be improved throughout the country.
“If we didn’t have the RV, with accommodation across Canada, we’d be really stuck,” Mills said. “It’s very hard to find an accessible shower at a campground or hotel, even the bigger hotels really don’t have the facilities.”
Mills said Canada is great compared to other countries, but there are still ways it can improve accessibility.
“A lot of the time there will be an accessible trail and there will be one step up and right away that one step makes it not accessible,” he said. “There’s definitely improvements that need to be made and I think it’s really important to get people in wheelchairs on the advisory committees because they have a different perspective.”
Upon returning home, Mills doesn’t think he’ll bike as much for a few weeks as he recovers from the trek, but he plans to continue Pedaling Possibilities.
“I don’t want it to end there,” he said. “I want to keep building on this. One thing we’re doing is any of the money we’ve raised is going to go into helping people fund their adaptive equipment or participating in activity-based therapy. We’re not sure how it’s all going to look yet, but I want to keep it going.”
Knowing it’s just a few more days until he returns home, besides getting back to his accessible shower, Mills said he’s most excited to see his wife, Heather, and son Evan again.
“I really miss them,” he said. “It’ll be nice to be back with them.”
After seeing what the reception was like when he passed through Newmarket with still more than half the country to get through, Mills said he feels like he’ll actually be able to relax and celebrate when he’s finally back with the mission completed.
“I can really enjoy it now,” he said. “I’m just so excited to see everyone and continue to get our message out.”
Learn more about Pedaling Possibilities here.
