CREDIT: SCOTT CHISHOLM
Vincent Long embarked on a journey to bike across Canada after his long-time friend was diagnosed with a rare stomach cancer. Long has been raising money for the Canadian Cancer Society since the beginning of his trip; so far he has biked 3400 kilometres.

Fanshawe alumnus Vincent Long embarked on the trip of a lifetime on Aug. 27 after his long-time friend Silvia was diagnosed with a rare form of stomach cancer.

“Silvia had treatments a year ago, got through it, but then it came back and it was much more aggressive,” Long said.

Long, 37, decided to take action in whatever way he could and combined his love of travel and his love for Silvia and bought a bike so he could ride across Canada in order to raise money for cancer research.

In order to go on this journey, Long had to put his life as a site manager for a home builder in London on hold.

“Silvia would do something equally crazy, probably not on a bike, but she would do something this crazy for me if I was in her position,” Long said.

Unfortunately, a week after Long began his journey, Silvia passed away.

“Silvia was a special person, very good-hearted, he is doing the right thing [continuing his journey],” said Adrianna MacDonald, professor of the Landscape Design Program at Fanshawe. She was Long’s professor before he graduated in 2011 and is one of Long’s good friends.

Long decided that he was going to finish his trip not only for Silvia, but also for everyone else who has been affected by cancer.

He began his journey in Nanaimo, BC and has since, at time of print, ridden 3400 kilometres.

“You have to approach everyday as an individual day, don’t look at the fact that I have to cover 6400 [more] kilometres because it’s so overwhelming,” Long said. “Believe and trust that after winning a series of small battles, you will get to your goal.”

And for Long, each day is a struggle as he bikes an average of 150 kilometres over a seven-hour period, burning an average of 6400 calories.

He said the key to being able to last a full day by yourself on the road without going crazy is to have a good playlist. But even that plan sometimes fails.

“I loved a couple of Australian artists and now [because they were repeated so frequently] I just hate them with a passion. I put my iPhone on shuffle and whenever I hear those two artists I get sick to my stomach.”

The straining amount of biking was not the only strenuous part of Long’s trip, there was also the task of planning a route.

In order to make a path that would be both doable and take the shortest amount of time, Long used the Canadian government’s website, which has a link to a recommended route.

He also used his brother and sister. “I am not an organized person by any means, but my siblings make up for me in every way; what I lack in planning, I make up for in ambition.”

His brother is in charge of suggesting a certain number of kilometres that Long must hit that day and his sister is in charge of making sure she finds him somewhere to stay every night.

“That’s the process, they are the ones that coordinate together and I tell them straight up what’s going on,” Long said.

As for seeing all of Canada, Long has one place that had him at a loss for words.

During a rainy, cloud-covered day through Yoho National Park, just west of Banff, Alta., Long was told by a guide at breakfast that the rain was going to clear.

“I turned a corner and I clued in and realized that it wasn’t white clouds that surrounded me anymore, it was mountains, it was shocking. I parked my bike for 20 minutes just to take it in.”

Although Long has since passed the mountains, he is excited to hit Gatineau Park in Quebec.

So far, Long has been given a lot of support, but has yet to realize exactly how big of a journey he is embarking on.

“The reality of what I’m doing has not hit me, I know that it is extraordinary, but I’m just an ordinary guy doing something extraordinary.”

Long’s adventure will end in St. John’s, NFLD at mile zero, as his adventure began at mile zero on the west coast.

Long believes he will be back in London on Oct. 24, when a homecoming party will be held downtown.

“We will be downtown and there will be a live band, so people can donate and celebrate with us,” Mac- Donald said.

“I want to make a recommendation that people need to get out of their comfort zone and do something that they may consider crazy,” Long said. “In my opinion, it allows you to see what you’re made of.”

If people wish to donate to the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) and support Long’s extraordinary journey they can visit Vincent Long’s fighter page on the CCS website or to the Oasis of Hope, where Silvia received treatment, a place that she truly believed in. Donations to the Oasis of Hope can be made at gofundme.com/ysebee6.