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Fire chief to fat bike Alberta’s Ice Road
//Greg Van Tighem is getting back in the saddle, this time to fat bike 500 kms on Alberta’s Ice road, between Fort Smith, NT and Fort McMurray. The charity he is partnering with is the Sheepdog lodge, a mental health retreat for first responders and veterans. // Val Domaine
Biking, News, Peaks & Valleys, Sports
By andrea
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Fire chief to fat bike Alberta’s Ice Road

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.

Van Tighem half way through his End-to-End ride of Hwy 16 in 2014. // Bob Covey

 

Van Tighem arriving in Jasper with a support crew after biking appx 3,000 km from Wickenburg, Arizona to Jasper in 2013. // Bob Covey

 

 

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.

 

Van Tighem training for icy conditions near his home community of Jasper, AB. Credit: Valerie Domaine

“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 during Canmore’s 24 Hours of Adrenaline Race where he competed as a soloist in 2015. Credit: Valerie Domaine

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.”

Van Tighem just before setting out on the AB Rockies 700, a bike-packing race which took competitors along Alberta and BC’s gravelled forest service roads and which ended in Coleman, BC. // Bob Covey

 

David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, presents Van Tighem the Meritorious Service Decoration for Van Tighem’s charity work over the years in 2016. // Sgt Johanie Maheu, Rideau Hall, OSGG

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

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