July’s just around the corner and with that comes GrandpasCan 2012, the double world record attempt across Canada. Parts of the crew are mobilizing and already moving towards Vancouver. The 15-seater van that will take the MCF group is on its way, Arvid is driving the follow vehicle and is almost at the BC border (or already past it), the MCF group will be arriving in Vancouver on Saturday, Ruth (Arvid’s wife) will be flying to Vancouver on Saturday, and myself (Paul, Arvid’s son) and Bernie will be flying out on Sunday. Paul Boge (author) and Dylan Watson (media) will be arriving sometime this weekend too (I’m not sure of the details). Somehow we’ll all end up there. And then it’s just a matter of getting the cyclist to the start point at 6am on Tuesday. Sometimes Arvid looks forward to the start of the ride because it means that he can finally stop worrying about logistics and ride his bike. I’m not sure about you, but I’d take the stress of logistics over riding my bike for 16 days straight pretty much any day.

See you all in Vancouver. Follow along on twitter at www.twitter.com/grandpascan, on Facebook search for Arvid Loewen, and get ready to hit refresh on this page – a lot.

Setting a new record had little to do with how good a cyclist I was or not…

Ottawa to Halifax Part #3

I had NOT done proper planning of a cycling route through Ottawa/Gatineau. I paid the price. It was raining and cold. The main highway was off limits to bikes. My crew did a great job of finding an alternate route, but it was frustrating to say the least. I saw more of Gatineau then I ever wanted to.

When I was riding, I was able to make up time on the record. The problem was the off bike time. I cut my 120 minutes of sleep per night down to 90 minutes. That helped, but I was aware of the upcoming hills in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. If I would get a stiff wind coming off the ocean, the record was far from certain. I was riding well again. The swelling in my legs was virtually gone. Charles Mulli was now part of my support crew. He was able to see firsthand what was involved.

My struggles west of Ottawa had created a bit of drama. The word spread about this old guy trying to become the fastest person to cross Canada. We had created a bit of a following on our website. We received countless emails and messages of encouragement and prayer support. My crew read most of them to me through the window of the support vehicle. It was huge motivation for me. Thank you. The media got a hold of the story and I was able to do a number of interviews while riding my bike. Things were happening. My daughter Stephanie (at home) had been tracking the on-line donations. We heard updates each and every day. What an encouragement each and every donation was to me. Thank you to all.

The St Lawrence River offers a spectacular view and Quebec is my favorite province to cycle through. They just seem to be the most bike-friendly province in Canada. They seem to get this whole biking thing.

We reached Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec about 800 km to go, at around 1:00 am. I informed my crew that this would be our last night (we would stop for a shower and a 90 minute sleep). After this my intentions would be to go straight through with no sleep, other than some 5-10 minute naps. By 3:30 am we were riding again. The next 40 hours were hard, but I was determined. Red Bull helped keep me stay awake, but soon that too was ineffective. Strong head/cross winds from Fredericton, NB to Truro slowed us down to a crawl at times. This record was far from certain. When we finally reached Truro, Nova Scotia, the cross winds became tail winds. I put the hammer down one last time for the last 90 km. With a wind pushing me, I cruised at 40 km per hour. Sweet deal! Rain, cold winds and rush hour traffic made the entry into Halifax a bit more challenging. We lost about 15 minutes, being gridlocked in traffic.

It was a great feeling to be welcomed by a few friends and family. The media did a fantastic job reporting on the record, but more importantly, they represented our mission with accuracy. I am very grateful for the way they treated us.

Frank and Agnes DeFehr were there to sign the $50,000 bonus cheque for MCF as a result of setting a new record.

Some time during my last 40 hours, I received a phone call from Ben and Dori Sawatzky. They wanted to make sure that I would earn the extra $50,000 bonus cheque for MCF. They pledged $200 for every minute I would break the record, capped at $30,000. What motivation. Breaking the record by two hours and 53 minutes meant I was able to cash in on every dollar pledged. To date, events and meetings built around Grandpas Can have raised $470,000 to help raise over 2000 rescued children at Mully Children’s Family. Praise God!

On my way to Marathon, Ontario at 2:30 am, and the next couple of days leading up to and including the 17 hours in the motel in Mattawa, the possibility of setting a new Guinness World cycling record had very little to do with how good a cyclist I was or was not. It did not matter if I was riding a cheap bike or an expensive bike. What mattered was if I had the courage in my heart to stay on the bike.

Likewise, today, millions of children worldwide are suffering. Many are dying. Organizations like MCF (and others)

have committed themselves to be on the ground or in the trenches to change that. For us to help make this happen, has little to do with money. It has to do with what is in our heart.

You see for me, ultra-marathon cycling is simply a classroom. The subject is character-building. Within a very defined time frame, I will experience physically, mentally and emotionally the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. In order to have success, I must be willing to accept adversity as the teacher and even a friend. The benefit, of course, only comes if I am willing to apply the lessons learned in real life where it matters. For me, real life is being a relentless ambassador for children who have been abandoned by society, but not by God. See you on the road in 2012.

Stats from Vancouver to Winnipeg (shown again for comparison)
Stats from Winnipeg to Ottawa (shown again for comparison)
Stats from Ottawa to Halifax
Summary Stats (Vancouver to Halifax)

Grandpas Can Part# 2: Winnipeg – Ottawa

*Part 1 Vancouver-Winnipeg:

*My support crew for this first leg, (2375 km) of my Guinness Record attempt consisted of my three nephews; Juergen, Wes and Kevin. I chose to go with one vehicle (RV) only for this first leg. The size of an RV following behind me disrupted the traffic too much, so they would drive ahead a few km and wait for me. In ultra-cycling we call this leap frog support. Since I had only one vehicle, they needed to be awake when I was. Juergen and Kevin had plenty of crewing experience. This crew would complete their responsibilities in Winnipeg, and since I expected to get there in under 5 days, I did not feel sorry for them one bit. Suck it up boys!

As we left Vancouver City Hall, my anxiety level was pretty high. The uncertainty of what lay ahead weighed heavy on my mind. Vince and his daughter escorted me for a few km and Matthew rode all the way to Mission with me. Thanks. We complain about too many traffic lights in Winnipeg, but by the time we reached Maple Ridge (50km) I had* stood still*waiting for green lights for close to 30 minutes already. I needed to be on the bike * riding *around 20 hours per day, so sitting at a red light this early into the event was not helping my state of mind.

Once you are on the Lougheed Highway between Mission and Hope, there is no alternate route. About an hour east of Mission, we ran into a traffic jam. A little red sports car was wrapped around a tree, and the highway was closed for 5 hours both ways. Traffic lined up for miles. What to do? I backtracked for about one km until I found my support vehicle also deadlocked in traffic. We decided I would try to get through by bike and they would go back to Mission, taking #1 Highway to Hope instead. This highway was off-limits for bikes in this part of BC. I did get through. The driver of the red car had been airlifted and the RCMP was busy measuring skidding distances, etc. I don’t think they ever saw me when I rode right past them. Three hours later, my support crew found me. I had mooched four bottles of water from some German tourists, so I was okay.

By 3:00 am, 19 hours in, I had reached Sicamous (515 km). I showered, ate and then slept for 120 minutes. By 5:30 am, I was back on the bike. Things were going great.

This pattern repeated itself over and over again. Day two had a lot of climbing, but for a prairie boy who considers the Disraeli overpass ‘a climb’, I held up well. We had great weather, with temps in the mid-twenties and no rain. In Alberta and Saskatchewan I had a lot of crosswinds, but little direct headwinds. Overall, wind direction was in my favor.

Sleep started to become a major factor for both my crew and me. Whenever I got a hand-off from the motor home, I could only see two guys now. The third one was sleeping in the back. I envied him. My worst need for sleep stretch was from Whitewood, Saskatchewan to Moosomin. It was getting late again and we did everything we could think of to stay awake. There was no traffic at 2:00 am, so the RV could drive beside me for stints. I asked my crew to tell jokes. They were not very funny at 2:00 am. We did math quizzes, we told stories, nothing helped. Juergen told the story about how Ruth, my wife, had to retrieve my teeth from the ditch in Alaska during my first ever ultra-bike race. I had to throw up so bad, that my dentures went flying out. We even did some live video streaming at 2 am, knowing that nobody was watching anyway. My two hours of sleep in Moosomin were appreciated and well- deserved.

Winnipeg was in sight and we had generated some media interest by now. I always find it interesting how I am expected to predict an exact arrival time by bike. When we went through Virden, MB, still some 300 km away from Winnipeg, people wanted to know when I would reach the Legislative Buildings in Winnipeg. I finally made a prediction of 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm. We got there at 6:30 pm. It was a lucky guess on my part.

After Moosomin things began to change. My legs started to retain fluid, and I had developed a boil about the size of one of those mini Easter eggs. It did not matter how much I shifted on my seat, that boil was in the wrong spot. The honeymoon was over and reality began to set in. I call this the beginning of the middle third syndrome. This is when I am too far into an event to turn back, yet there is no light at the end of the tunnel. I could not even imagine doing this for another 8 or 9 days. This is when a ‘Dream Big’ idea quickly turns into “What was I thinking” nightmare. In an event like this, this middle third syndrome can last days, and it did.

Just outside of Winnipeg I was joined by CMU, the 2010 Hot Pursuit team. We rode in together. Great stuff. Thanks guys.

Here are my Vancouver to Winnipeg stats.

*Vancouver to Winnipeg: Leg #1*

My average per 24 hours:           545 km
Record average per 24 hours:       452 km
My riding time avg per 24 hrs:      20 hrs 29 min

Things had gone very well. I was over 22 hours ahead of the calculated record pace. Since I did not have the actual time station splits from the record holder, I could only calculate the average split times and use that as my gauge. In order to have a chance at breaking the record, I knew I would need to be significantly ahead of pace in Winnipeg. *I was, but reality would set in… and did it ever. Continued in Part #2 *

Click on the link to read thoughts, reflections, fundraising summary and thank yous from Arvid Loewen.

Granpdas Can Recap and Thank you

Arvid has been invited to tell some of his story tonight and tomorrow on various media outlets.  Here is the schedule.

Sunday, July 17 10:08-10:30pm
CJOB 68, The Greg Glatz Show, www.gregglatz.com, www.cjob.com
Charles Mulli, founder of MCF will be a guest as well
Call in with your questions…780-6868 or 1-800-665-2202

Monday, July 18 7:05am CT
CTV Canada AM

Monday, July 18 after 8am CT
Global TV – Breakfast Television Winnipeg

I was filling up Arivd and Ruth’s VW Golf at a Winnipeg Co-op gas station early this morning, just back from the drive home from Ottawa as media crew.  The Grandpas Can decals are still on the car.  A woman came up to me and said, “I’d like to give you a donation” as she opened her wallet and handed me cash.  Wow… that truly captures the heart and soul of this event.  It’s going to take a groundswell of people who in the middle of their everyday lives open their hearts to the needs of others.  This woman did exactly that and it felt amazing!

Thank you Beckie for your donation at the Red River Co-op.  You just helped save a life.

– David Balzer

Arvid and Ruth, as well as members of the crew, including Charles Mulli, will be arriving via flight WS 659 at 10:18am at Winnipeg Airport on Saturday. If you would like to greet and congratulate them, this would be a good time.

There are too many to name, but from Vancouver to Halifax in large and small centers, radio stations, TV stations and newspapers told this story.  Thank you to each one for inspiring Canadians to care for the less fortunate in our world.  It speaks to the ongoing commitment of journalists to work on behalf of the good of society. – David Balzer, Volunteer Media Coordinator

When Ben and Dori Sawatzky of Spruceland Forest Products in Edmonton contacted Arvid yesterday (Wednesday) with an offer to donate $200 for every minute Arvid bests the current Guinness World Record time of 13 days, 9 hours and 6 minutes, I hope they were doing the math.  They were willing to contribute up to $30,000 with this formula.  I imagine Arvid spent some time on his bike calculating how many minutes he would need to achieve the full $30,000.  The answer is 150 minutes x $200 = $30,000, that’s 2 hours and 30 minutes.  Given that Arvid arrived with a 2 hour and 57 minute lead on the existing world record means… Ben and Dori will be sending the full amount.

Perhaps someone should have told them that mental math is one of the things Arvid does on the bike to pass the time.  Thanks Ben and Dori for your wonderful generosity beyond an earlier sizable gift!

On June 23, 2011 at a Winnipeg press conference, Frank and Agnes DeFehr presented Arvid with a $50,000 UNSIGNED cheque.  If Arvid arrived in Halifax in record time, the DeFehrs promised to fly to Halifax to sign the cheque in support of Mully Childrens Family.   Here’s the photo finish after the cheque was signed at Halifax City Hall.  If you think it through, there’s no way the DeFehrs could have been at the finish line in time to sign the cheque unless they booked flights and flew into Halifax early.  That’s some confidence they had!  These aren’t the only smiling faces today, to get the real picture you’ll need to add a couple thousand faces of Kenyan children.