Greg Van Tighem is getting back on the bike for charity.
Jasper’s fat biking Fire Chief has skirted the skinny shoulders of Route 93, traversed the transport truck-heavy Highway 16, eaten dust on Texas thoroughfares and chewed icicles on an arctic ice road, all in the name of fundraising for the fight against Multiple Sclerosis.
Now he’s staring down another ridiculous roadway from the seat of a fatbike—the ice road connecting Fort McMurray and Fort Smith, NT. Instead of raising money for MS, however, this time Van Tighem is riding for mental health—specifically, for the Sheepdog Lodge, a retreat centre near Wetaskawin, Alberta, catering specifically to first responders and military veterans.
“The Sheepdog Lodge helped my brother and a few other people I know,” Van Tighem said. “It’s extremely beneficial. It works. People come out of it feeling better.”
Van Tighem hopes he comes out of his week-long Great White North fundraiser feeling better—about the money he plans to raise, for one thing, but also about the increased profile he hopes to give to the Sheepdog Lodge.
“The bottom line is I’m trying to help them expand and help them make their services available to more people,” he said.
But first he has to bike 500 kilometres along a road made of ice.
“Once I plan these adventures, tie them into a fundraiser and put it out there to the public, there’s no turning back,” he said.
Van Tighem’s journey will begin in Fort Smith, a small community at the border of Alberta and the Northwest Territories. He plans to bike south to Alberta’s first settlement, Fort Chipewyan, and from there to the boom city of Fort McMurray. The journey will take him through a significant portion of Wood Buffalo National Park.
With the ice road’s melt-out beginning every year in mid to late March, Van Tighem hopes he isn’t starting his journey too late.
“The weather and road conditions are a bit unpredictable,” he said. “If the road’s closed and no one can come in, no one is coming to get you.”
After scoring a donated flight to Fort Smith from Northwestern Air, Van Tighem was on the phone last week talking with locals about the likelihood of ice bridges collapsing or wild bison approaching him.
“I’m not really sure what they’d do if they run into a guy on a bike,” he laughed.
As for his fellow bi-pedals who spy him while on his latest fat bike adventure, Van Tighem said he hopes people will support the cause. A fundraiser at Wood Buffalo Brewery is planned once the chief arrives safe and sound.
“If you know someone struggling with mental health issues who’s a first responder or a veteran, spread the word,” he said. “When you get to a place like the Sheepdog Lodge you can get away from the baggage, you can find a fresh voice.”
Donate to Van Tighem’s cause at www.sheepdoglodge.com/great-white-north-fundraiser or by contacting Van Tighem directly https://twitter.com/_gvt .
Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com
