In about three months, Ben Last hopes to be dipping his bicycle wheels into the Atlantic Ocean. But he has a lot of pedalling to do in the meantime.
The 24-year-old North Vancouver resident has taken on the challenge of riding his bike across North America to draw attention to a fundraising campaign in support of the 26 families who were put out of their homes after a fire tore through the River Woods Housing Co-op on May 7.
Last lives nearby on Dollarton Highway and works as a youth leader at Parkgate Community Centre. “Whenever I would walk or bike or skateboard to work, I would go through that complex and it’s just a cool place,” he says. “The people there are always outside chatting and laughing. They know their neighbours, which is pretty rare.”
A graduate of Seycove secondary, Last has had many friends who have lived in the housing complex. Some of the youth he works with at Parkgate have lived there too, so he feels a connection to the residential community.
He leaves on his trek July 4 and will be joined by a friend for the first leg of his journey through the Rockies to Calgary.
“It will be nice to have somebody with me for that first week because I imagine it’s going to be a really steep learning curve.”
Last will be camping along the way, carrying with him a tent and sleeping mat, some clothes, an iPad to update his blog and map his route, and tools to fix his custom-built Surly long-haul trucker in case of a breakdown. He also plans to use the hospitality exchange websites Couchsurfing.com and Warmshowers.org.
He estimates he’ll have to cover about 125 kilometres per day in order to meet his timeline. Most of his riding will be done in Canada, but once he hits Winnipeg he plans to dip down to Milwaukee and stop in Chicago where he’s arranged to take a proctored exam on Aug. 17 for one of his online university courses. After that, he’ll head back to Canada through Toronto and Montreal before continuing east to Newfoundland where he’ll catch a flight home.
Last is finishing up a degree in English and sociology at SFU and hopes to pursue a job in law enforcement once he graduates. While he’s using his cross-North America ride as a vehicle to raise money for the River Woods community, it’s also an opportunity for him to take one last big trip before settling into a career, he says.
“I felt like seeing my country should be a part of that.”
Last will be blogging about his journey at rideforriverwoods.wordpress.com. His website includes information on donating to the River Woods campaign.
