In Conversation with Arvid Loewen

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This article was published 16/07/2016 (3409 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg ultra-marathoner Arvid Loewen was embraced by grandchildren, children, relatives and supporters at the Manitoba Legislature July 8 during a brief stopover on his attempt to beat his own Guinness World Record for cycling across Canada.

In 2011, the 59-year-old grandfather shaved just under three hours off the previous record of 13 days, nine hours and six minutes for a trans-Canada bike crossing, set some 20 years earlier.

In that record-breaking ordeal, Loewen made the 6,055-kilometre journey from Vancouver to Halifax in 13 days, six hours and 13 minutes. To beat it this time, he must exceed his pace of nearly 500 kilometres a day. A devout Christian, Loewen has the support of Mennonites and Hutterites across the Prairies; many have gathered at pre-arranged locations on the Trans-Canada Highway to pray with him.

 Loewen has one artificial hip and is recovering from an accident that could have killed him. He rode up to the front steps of the legislature to cheers from supporters and not a little shock from his family when they saw the left side of his face grooved deep with road rash, a couple of stitches to the side of his left eye and bandages on his knee. 

“Hi, Jonah, Grandpa has an owie. That’s OK,” Loewen said to his grandson, reassuring one of seven grandchildren, all boys six years old and younger, after they took a first look at their grandfather. One boy silently handed him a Band-Aid, face solemn as stone, before they all took turns scrambling onto his lap.

The Free Press was able to get a quick conversation in with Loewen. The stop was barely an hour long, and Loewen’s answers were brief as he hugged grandkids, greeted supporters and grabbed the attention of his son, Paul Loewen, a tour organizer, to get him a water bottle. 

Free Press: You had a bad accident four hours into the start of your ride from Vancouver when you came up to 12 motorcyclists on a mountain curve in British Columbia. You had to reset your schedule, delaying the marathon by a day, we heard. What happened? 

Arvid Loewen: “I came down on an 11 per cent grade, took a left hand turn too speedy, and I couldn’t hold it. I had to make a decision: either run into a concrete embankment or ditch the bike, as we call it — lay the bike flat.”

Loewen chose the latter, which meant he deliberately crashed the bike on the pavement. He won’t hazard a guess on how far the dropoff would have been had he gone over the concrete barrier, but it likely would have proved deadly.

Friends and family waiting at the legislature said the fall was bad enough they initially thought the ride was over. But getting back on the road is just the way this man rolls. Loewen got medical help, checked to see there were no broken bones or internal damage and got a couple of stitches. Then he returned to Vancouver and started over again. That was July 3. His estimated arrival in Halifax is July 16.

FP: What are you doing to deal with your road rash?

AL: “It only happened a couple of days ago, so it’s got to heal. It will get better. It’s already a whole lot better, about 50 per cent better… it’s the least of my concerns.”

FP: Why do you feel the need to beat your own record, especially in the face of near-disaster setting out this time?

AL: “It’s about a platform. I raise funds and awareness for Mully Children’s Family, and there’s no better platform to do that.”

Mully Children’s Family is a charity for street kids in Kenya that has rescued more than 10,000 kids, including orphans of HIV and AIDS, child labourers, teen mothers and girls forced into the sex trade. Loewen has made it his year-round mission to fundraise for the charity, raising more than $1.5 million between 2006 and 2011, when he broke the Guinness World Record.

FP: How many times have you cycled across Canada?

AL: “This is my fourth time across Canada. The first time I took three children from Mully Children’s Family on a tandem bike across Canada. The second time, I set the record in 2011, and I attempted to break the record in 2012. I was 700 kilometres out (from the finish line) and five hours ahead but I failed, and so this is one more time. I’m turning 60 in a little while, so chances are this is my last one across the country.”

FP: You ride 20 hours a day; when do you sleep?

AL: “I sleep very little; that’s what makes marathons. That’s what gives you the platform to share your story, my story of why I do what I do.”

Loewen’s crew confided the guy is a master of power naps, falling into a deep slumber in an oversized fleece-lined bed in the back of the crew van. That only happens when he can’t push through anymore. He catnaps perhaps 10 minutes at a time, wakes himself up and climbs back on to the bike. Day or night. Being on this man’s crew is a recipe for sleep deprivation. 

FP: What’s your main message?

AL: “I just want to encourage people to get out there. We raise between $300,000 and $500,000 a year, and everything is built around this platform. I get a lot of speaking engagements, so it’s not only this event.”

Loewen is cycling with a dual goal in mind. He’s raising donations to help feed the 2,500 kids at Mully Children’s Family this year and another $50,000 in separate donations to be matched by an anonymous donor for the construction of a new 60-bed dormitory.

To follow Loewen on his journey check out his website at http://grandpascan.com.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca