Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Exhausted charity rider off to bed after 8,000 km trek
KEN GIGLIOTTI WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enlarge Image
Arvid Loewen's Tour For Life raised about $155,000 for the more than 2,000 orphans at the Mully Children’s Family, an orphanage just outside Nairobi. He rode over 8,000 kilometres in the last 23 days.
WINNIPEG - After finishing a gruelling 8,000-kilometre bike ride for charity this morning, Winnipeg cyclist Arvid Loewen knew exactly where he was heading next.
"I’m going to bed!" an elated but exhausted Loewen, 52, said with a laugh after hopping off his bike at about 7:30 a.m. in the parking lot of North Kildonan Mennonite Brethren Church.
"I was just on the bike for 24 hours straight, but I’m doing OK. I’m tired but I’m quite amazed how well I do feel. I feel pretty satisfied with what we’ve accomplished."
On July 4, Loewen kicked off his Tour For Life, planning to ride 457 kilometres a day for 23 straight days to raise money for a Kenyan orphanage facing a drought and a looming food shortage.
The goal was to raise $100 per child for each of the more than 2,000 orphans at the Mully Children’s Family, a sprawling, self-sustaining orphanage 108 kilometres southeast of Nairobi.
"We’ve raised about $155,000 so far from this event," the marathon cyclist said of the pledges he has collected from a host of donors. "My last 24 hours was worth about $50,000.
"Their crops are drying up (at the orphanage). This money is absolutely vital to them right now."
Loewen said he was forced to battle the elements and a painful elbow infection during the ride, which saw him rise at 4 a.m. each day and collapse back in bed at about 11:30 p.m.
Inspired by Lance Armstrong and the Tour de France, he rode a continuous loop on Henderson Highway between Hoddinott and Lockport.
"It’s a 29-kilometre loop and that’s what I did all day long," he said, trying to catch his breath. "After 23 days, it becomes a mental thing. When you’re in the middle of this, you can’t see light at the end of the tunnel."
On Day 6 of his odyssey, he noted, the elbow inflammation forced him to suspend his Tour For Life for three days.
"It was to the point where Popeye the Sailor Man would have been proud to have had an elbow like that," he chuckled. "I rode with it for two days and then went to the Pan Am Clinic. I had to take three days off. I was on antibiotics and we got the swelling down."
Loewen said his main focus was to survive until the final day, during which he rode 24 hours straight from 7:30 a.m. Sunday until 7:30 a.m. Monday. Donors had pledged $69 per kilometre for every kilometre he rode in the last 24 hours.
"I was off the bike for only three minutes in that 24 hours to put on an extra sweater," he said. "In total, I’ve ridden over 8,000 kilometres in the last 23 days, including the three days when I couldn’t ride.
"I couldn’t ride 457 kilometres every day because of the elbow infection and we had some pretty bad weather with thunderstorms and windy conditions."
Loewen said this latest trek was part of his project, SpokeImpact, which he started in 2005 and so far has raised about $1 million for charity. "Cycling is just a platform," he explained.
The comment period for this story has ended.
-
Breaking News Alerts
Sign up for our new Breaking News Alerts
-
Editor's Bulletin
Sign up for daily bulletins
-
Winnipeg road closures
Check if your commute is affected
-
Blogs to Watch
We pick our favourite local blogs for you to follow
-
Breaking News Widget
Create and embed a Winnipeg Free Press breaking news widget on your site or blog
-
Twitter
Follow our reporters and news feeds on Twitter
Ads by Google
- Back to Top
- Return to Latest News
Poll
Most Popular
- Hells clubhouse seized
- Bombers stamp out fun: fans
- City family's return from vacation turns tragic
- Corydon bar employee charged in man's death
- Second son dies after Kenora crash
- Hydro picks its west side route
- Happy hubby loves wife's nudity
- Girl tries to kill self at MYC
- Cost jump could change stadium design
- River Rouge runs aground
- Victims of deadly crash are from Winnipeg
- Tornado touches down near Oakbank
- City family's return from vacation turns tragic
- Man killed in motorcycle crash with car
- Night storms jar Manitoba with tornado, washed out roads and hail
- Man drowns in Whiteshell
- Monarch migration mystery solved by Canadian researchers
- Ice Edge loses exclusivity edge in Coyote deal
- Meat Loaf taken off MTS Centre’s menu
- Grandparent scam becoming more common in city
- What's 2204355? It's the latest unexplainable web trend
- Lundar resident faces charges over 911 calls
- Victims of deadly crash are from Winnipeg
- Katz dating younger woman -- but that shouldn't matter
- Teen takes own life after alleged assault
- Have the province and city gone too far in naming a lake and community centre after Jonathan Toews?
- Body found at The Forks tentatively identified
- Human head found at The Forks
- Body found near Grant Park
- Churches crumble across U.S.
- Hells clubhouse seized
- Bombers stamp out fun: fans
- Hydro picks its west side route
- Cost jump could change stadium design
- Cost flap delays start on stadium
- Housing project future of infill
- Three dozen neglected dogs destroyed
- Winnipeg police unveil new decal, motto
- Hey, hey, my, my... why do some fans behave like boors?
- Montana officials trap grizzly, 2 of her 3 cubs, after campground mauling that killed man
- The Oxy dilemma
- Cruisers curse police checks
- Winnipeg police unveil new decal, motto
- Hells clubhouse seized
- Bombers stamp out fun: fans
- Hydro picks its west side route
- Nursing students' careers put on hold
- Program to train aboriginal railway conductors
- Cost jump could change stadium design
- Core chaos shuts eatery's doors
- Katz dating younger woman -- but that shouldn't matter
- The Oxy dilemma
- Bombers boot beer snake
- More than 100 motorists charged under cellphone law
- Cruisers curse police checks
- Winnipeggers demonstrate against G20 protesters' treatment
- Winnipeg police unveil new decal, motto
- Hells clubhouse seized
- 'Dream home' lost, family devastated
- Bombers stamp out fun: fans
- WWII Lancaster Bomber flies into Winnipeg today
- Hydro picks its west side route
- Girl tries to kill self at MYC
- School staffer faces charges for sex crimes
- Province cautious on trials for multiple sclerosis therapy
- Corydon bar employee charged in man's death
- Housing project future of infill
- River Rouge runs aground
- Unfair to students
- Montana officials trap grizzly, 2 of her 3 cubs, after campground mauling that killed man
- Nasty, poisonous plant causes burns, blindness
- Night storms jar Manitoba with tornado, washed out roads and hail
- Nursing students' careers put on hold
- Old, new songs forever Young
- Woman who survived bear attack in US says she played dead to get the animal to leave her
- Saskatchewan premier calls for clinical trials of controversial MS treatment
- Liquid calories
- Tornado touches down near Oakbank
- Computer wiz's alter ego: Sir Lance-a-Lot
- WWII Lancaster Bomber flies into Winnipeg today
- Lundar resident faces charges over 911 calls
- Protection or peril?
- Nasty, poisonous plant causes burns, blindness
- Night storms jar Manitoba with tornado, washed out roads and hail
- Osteoporosis Canada issues updated vitamin D guidelines for bone health
- Nursing students' careers put on hold
- Last Grapes restaurant out of business
- A Royal whirlwind: The Queen's day in Winnipeg
- Bombers boot beer snake
- Katz dating younger woman -- but that shouldn't matter
Events
July 30, 2010
Gavins Chance for Change
Golf Tournament Fundraiser includes 18 holes of golf, cart, smokie or hamburger for lunch and banquet dinner. Registration at 8:30 a.m. Shotgun start at 10 a.m. ......
1 Comments
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Posted by: IMHO
July 27, 2009 at 11:19 AM
Congratulations Arvid -- you are a true inspiration.