If it was easy, anyone could do it!

The story of the 2013 Craig Gives Back-2-Back

Cross-Canada Bicycle Tour

I want to try everything once and the fun stuff twice! - Craig Aucoin
Enjoy life, love your friends and relatives and never take anything or anyone for granted as life
can change so quickly. - Lloyd McLean

Many thanks to the following people, without whom this adventure would not have
been possible.
Warren Spires, Amelia Schofield and all the staff at CNIB Halifax, NS
Emily Cardwell, Kelly Picco and all the staff at CNIB St. Johns, NL
David Purdon and the staff at CNIB Kelowna, BC
Andre Gallant and all the staff at YMCA Sydney, NS
Pictou Scotiabank
Craig Aucoin and his parents Eileen & Phillip
Woodland Nurseries
Chris Roos and all the staff at YMCA St. Johns, NL
Hugh Miller
Don, Jenny and Jonas Cosh
Back to Basics Physiotherapy
Allan Slaunwhite
Pictou County Cycle
John MacMillan
Terry Curley
Diana Deakin-Thomas and YMCA Canada
Steve Doucette and Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind
Steve Goodwin and the Pictou Advocate
The Hanrahan/Hawkins family
Lisa & Briley Haughan
Andrea McLean
Dave Kazala (our Northern Ontario support vehicle)
Alicia & Chris Knock
MacArthurs Quality Flowers & Plants Inc.
All my fellow employees at Sobeys-Atlantic
Bruce Murray, Todd Lockhart and Vision Fire Commercial Photography
The Mahs
Bob & Laureen MacDonald
The entire New Glasgow YMCA staff
Kristin and Steven Zai
Jennie Smith (our NB-QC support vehicle) and the entire Smith family
Randy Sutherland
Louise & Wayne Thomas
Anton and Altena Bike
The Worman family
Dave & Kelly Zayonc and family
Crystal & Sean Murray
Jamie Playfair
Advocate Printing & Publishing
Advocate Communications Group
Jim Proudfoot
Home Hardware Canada
Jodi Matlock and the Monday & Wednesday Spin Class
All the citizens and business of Pictou County that encouraged and supported us!
My wonderful wife, my mother and my three sisters & their families

INTRODUCTION
In 2013 Craig, Bob and I biked across Canada from St. Johns, NL to Victoria, BC, a distance of
8,200kms. Incredibly we overcame many challenges and completed our ride in just under three
months and right on schedule.
It would not have started without Craig, and could not have been completed without Bob. They
are both amazing and I could not imagine doing it without them both.
We did this to help three charities. Why?
Why do something like this at all? It was a lot of hard work and took time away from our friends
and family.
I can tell you whybecause as Canadians we want the same for our friends and neighbors as we
would expect for ourselves and our families.
We do not want to prosper while our neighbor struggles, whether our neighbor is next door or
across the country. We are not a me first or may the strong survive society. We look after
each other!
Craig received assistance from three charities that helped him to turn his life around.
wanted these charities to continue to be able to help others.

Craig

Craig is not a rich man, but he loves to bike.

I am not a rich man, but I love to bike and had a dream to bike across Canada. I recognized the
opportunity to share Craigs story, and to also help him give back to the three terrific charities
that had changed his life.
What Craig could not do on his own we would do together.
We wanted to share Craigs story so others could be inspired and improve their own lives. We
wanted them to know that it is possible to have a great quality of life in spite of lifes challenges.
We wanted to raise awareness for the three charities that changed Craigs life and helped millions
of other Canadians. We wanted people to know these charities are there to help them too.
We also wanted to encourage those that could, to donate and those that could not donate to
give their time by becoming volunteers.
So three months later did we achieve our goal?
If we inspired one person to adopt an active and healthy lifestyle, it was worth it!
If we inspired one person to become a volunteer, it was worth it!
If we changed one persons life, it was worth it.
This is our story

SHARING A DREAM
When Craig Aucoin was eight years old, he did not know he was different than any other child.
He was active and enjoyed a variety of sports and hobbies. As far as he and his parents knew,
he was just a typical kid, however at the age of eight years old, his life was about to change
forever.
For me, I had been a jogger for most of my life when in 2004, while cheering for my wife who
was running her first half-marathon, I was inspired by the spirit and camaraderie of her running
group. Between 2004 and 2009 I trained and ran many races including full marathons. I was
never the fastest runner, but over time developed a smooth efficient stride that allowed me to
reach my personal goals. I was never a threat to win a race, however I competed against myself
and through training and researching the sport of running, I continued to improve each year.
Meanwhile Craig had been training with his friend John MacMillan who helped out as his guide
runner and guide cyclist. Over a number of years the pair had completed numerous 5km races
and a few sprint distance triathlons. They had done well considering his friend had a busy
personal life with work and family responsibilities, so training was not always as regular as they
would have liked.
In 2008 I had a change in my employment and now rather than an office in my home, I was to
commute to a head office in Stellarton, which was almost twenty kilometers away. I decided I
was not going to purchase a second vehicle and I would attempt to complete the daily commute
by bicyclewell electric bicycle.
I had my current mountain bike outfitted at the local bicycle shop with an electric motor in the
rear wheel and a rechargeable battery in a pack on the rear rack. A fully charged battery could
last for one round trip in good weather. I was still able to pedal, but could use the battery power
to assist on uphills and into the wind. Unfortunately there is no indoor bicycle storage at my
place of work and the electronics just could not survive the cold and dampness of being stored
outside through the winter. After numerous interruptions in my daily commute due to repeated
motor failures and delays in getting it replaced, in the summer of 2009 I decided I would try it
with no electric motor. I never did go back to an electric motor, as my legs grew stronger and by
fall I was confident I could continue through the winter. The only challenge I was having now
was my seat was literally a pain in the butt, so I started to look at bikes where you sat more in a
chair than on a seat.
In the fall of 2009 I purchased my first recumbent bike which I had found online, second hand
and in Halifax. The owner had found that riding a recumbent on the hills of Halifax was very
challenging, and now that I am well aware of the differences between a recumbent and a
standard upright bicycle I definitely understand his decision to stop. It is not easy to find used
recumbent in this area of the world as there are so few of them around, so I paid the asking
price and brought it home. It took me an entire afternoon to get used to riding it, and for the
first hour I thought I had just wasted my money and a day of driving to pick it up. Luckily I
possess the stubborn gene in good quantity and I stuck with it the entire afternoon. I eventually
was able to start, stop and ride it for more than a few feet before falling over. I had less than
two days to get confident and then on Monday I took it on my first commute and continued to
drive it back and forth to work well into the fall until snow started to fall. The bike was
comfortable, reasonably fast and I only continued to gain confidence and quickly became to
enjoy my recumbent bicycle more and more. In the fall I would make the change to my
mountain bike and studded winter tires, but I looked forward to the spring and my recumbent.

By 2009 I had been running for a number of years, and had reached what I felt may have been
my peak as I had stopped seeing any improvement in my race times. I was losing my motivation
to get out running as I was not seeing any results, and when I did push harder it often ended in
an injury, so my training runs became less and less frequent. Also I was biking back and forth to
work accumulating as much as 200kms weekly, so the motivation to go out in the evenings and
weekends to run had kind of gone away.
At a get together barbeque with the local running group and friends I met Craig and we talked
about his accomplishments and his desire to train more often. I committed to run with him once
every week to help him prepare for a 10km race June in 2010, which gave us almost a full year.
It was an offer I made part in an effort to re-motivate myself, so it was not simply to help Craig,
but I hoped we would actually help each other. It was a win-win situation as it would ensure I
would get out for a run at least once a week so I could maintain my fitness level, but also I could
assist Craig with improving his running techniques with the goal of making him a more efficient
and fit runner.
2004 was the first year that my wife and I began to take bicycle trips for our annual summer
vacation. These trips were typically self supported and lasted for a week or more in duration.
The last one we did was to the Magdalene Islands and back, carrying with us all camping and
cooking gear required, including to the amusement of fellow cyclists, a cast iron fry pan! It
became an annual event for us and we truly enjoyed the combination of the freedom and the
physical activity involved in bicycle touring. Secretly I began to contemplate a bicycle trip that
would take us across the country.
Starting the fall of 2009, Craig and I did get out and ran together almost every single weekend,
as we prepared him for his first 10km race in 2010. By the time June came around he was more
than ready and easily beat his goal time. We continued training for another year and in 2011
completed the same 10km race and this time taking over ten minutes off his time the previous
year. Our training had paid off and also had helped to reinvigorate my own interest in running.
In 2011 I had set a goal to run five full marathons in one year, starting with one in August, one
in September and then three in October within fourteen days of each other. My goal was also to
qualify for the Boston Marathon which I ended up doing not once, but twice. So my relationship
with Craig was truly a win-win situation as we were able to help each other and we each gained
a friend in the process. It was also during this time training with Craig I became aware of his
love of cycling.
Tandem cycling is certainly not for everyone as to begin with you must be a capable cyclist, and
willing to take on the additional responsibility of looking after the safety of a second person. My
first ride with Craig on his tandem mountain bike was a stressful experience and one that I hoped
I would never have to repeat. I found the bike heavy and awkward and we just could not master
the start which required both of us to coordinate our pedaling. We did however stubbornly
persevere and we did get out again and again. After just a few rides I had not only gotten used
to handling the long and heavier tandem, but we also developed our own technique for starting
off. We had become so proficient at it that in 2012 I was his guide cyclist during a sprint
distance triathlon in July, and we took over thirteen minutes off his previous best time for the
biking portion of the event! Craigs fitness level had improved significantly!
So now back to my secret intention of some day biking across Canada. I had asked my wife a
few times, well many times, however that was going nowhere and I resigned myself to the fact I
would be doing it by myself. Then I grew to know Craig better each week as we would run and
or bike together on his tandem mountain bike each weekend. He was always keen to stay active

and we got along well, which would be important if we were to spend almost three months
together on a bicycle trip across Canada!
After over a year of considering Craig as a bicycle partner to do a cross Canada trip, I finally
called him on the phone one evening after we had done a run together earlier in the day. I could
tell that Craig was excited about doing such an adventure as he very quickly accepted the
challenge, however he told me later he tried to contain his excitement over the phone until our
conversation was over. According to Craig as soon as he had hung up the phone after I called,
he began to cheer and jump in the air as this was a dream come true for him too! So the die
was cast, and Craig and I would begin to plan our trip with less than three years to our selected
start date of Sunday, August 4, 2013.
So back to how we got here in the first place. How did Craig go from being a normal active eight
year old, to at age thirty-six planning to be the first legally blind person to bicycle on a tandem
bicycle across Canada?
During Halloween night in 1983, Craigs dad Phillip was taking a car load of neighborhood
children out for Halloween trick and treating. They lived in a rural area, so Craigs dad would
drive them from house to house and the kids would emerge from the car and like ants heading to
a picnic, they would approach each house with hopes of yet another generous donation of sugary
treats. Craig was fine if he stayed close to the other children, however if he got separated he
was falling into ditches, pot holes, flower beds and sometimes even walking right off the end of
the front steps. Phillip noticed that Craig was struggling as if he could not see. Phillip would
holler directions to Craig as he made his way to and from from each house, but it was to no
avail. When the house to house visits came to an end and Craig arrived home with his father,
and Phillip exclaimed through frustration and concern to Craigs mother Eileen that their son was
as blind as a bat. What they would find out very soon was that what Craig had been suffering
with for some time, was night blindness where low levels of visible light at night caused him to
be blind. Craig had been living with this for a number of years, however had assumed it was the
same for everyone and therefore had never mentioned it to his parents.
The next day after Halloween had Craig and his parents in the optometrists office, and he was
immediately referred to a specialist as it was obvious he had a serious condition affecting his
vision. Unfortunately the visit to the specialist was to reveal what they had most feared and
Craig was gradually losing his vision to a hereditary disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa. Craig
was told by the vision specialist that he was different than the other children he had spent is
childhood playing with. Craig would gradually no longer be able to do the things he loved the
mostplaying baseball, playing hockey or even riding a bike.
When you are eight years old a term like Retinitis Pigmentosa does not really register, nor does
the term Choroideremia which is a more rare type of the disease attacking Craigs eyes. This
type of Retinitis Pigmentosa meant that Craig would not have the typical tunnel vision, but that
his eyesight would fail first from the central part of his vision, leaving him only with peripheral
vision until finally he would be completely blind by approximately forty years of age. Although he
may not of understood at age eight how his life was about to change, it began to gradually
happen and Craig stopped playing baseball, stopped skating and playing hockey and ultimately
could no longer ride his bike. At age sixteen when told that due to his deteriorating eyesight he
would never drive a car and never have the independence that his other friends would have, it
finally sunk home, and he now fully understood how his life was going be. As his friends finished
high school and left to pursue their dreams, Craig stayed behind and he gradually fell into
depression. Television and food became his crutch. The only thing keeping Craig going was he
had a hope that a cure would be discovered, his eyesight restored and he could return to the life
he loved.

Even now there is still no cure for Craigs eye disease, and in another two years he will be
completely blind, living in a world of nothing but darkness, just as the doctors had told him over
thirty years ago. Craig however had decided in his early twenties that he needed to change his
life or he was not going to live much longer. He was now nearly two hundred and fifty pounds
and in terrible physical condition. Step one for Craig was he finally accepted the disease that
was destroying his eyesight and made plans to learn how to live with this in his life, and not wait
on the couch for a cure which might never happen. The CNIB assisted Craig in learning life skills
to live on his own. He learned Braille, how to cook and clean for himself and do it safely. He
learned to use a cane to help him get around, and he met others like himself who had achieved
so much in their lives regardless of the challenge of living without their sight. Craig now had
hope!
Step two, Craig wanted to get back to the active lifestyle he used to have as a child. He wanted
to be fit and lean and started to work out almost daily at the local YMCA. He gradually lost
eighty pounds and the more he worked out the more he loved it and he was hooked. There was
no going back to the old habits now!
Step three was a guide dog as Craig had been told how this makes getting around outside so
much easier. It is great having a cane and it will always have its purpose, however a trained
guide dog made getting around not only quicker, but safer. The Canadian Guide Dogs for the
Blind provided Craig with training and a guide dog for the most reasonable cost of one dollar.
His current guide dog, Baldwin is his constant companion and there is a bond and trust between
the two as if they have spent their entire lives together.
Through his own initiative and drive Craig had taken the steps necessary to change his life. He
was now running and competing in triathlons. He had the support of his friends and relatives,
and had achieved the active healthy lifestyle he had longed for. This is when I met Craig and
why I chose to do a cross Canada bike trip with him, and why we wanted to share his story with
Canadians so that he could inspire others to change their lives too.

BACK-2-BACK BECOMES REALITY

So now we are planning an 8,200 km bike trip that would take us 85 days. Craig and I wanted
to use this bike trip to share the story of how he had chosen not to give up, but to change his life
for the better. We wanted to give back to the three charities that he credited with changing his
life. We also wanted our ride to stand out so that we could attract a sponsor, media and
donations.
There are so many people that each year bike, run, walk among other methods across Canada,
that to make our ride stand out we did three key things. First of all we decided we would bike
across Canada not once, but twice, doing it first indoors as a virtual tour, which we would do
each weekend starting one year out from the departure date of our real cross Canada bike trip.
This turned out to be a great decision as we would put in as much as ten hours every weekend in
the lobby of our local YMCA. Not only did it give us credibility as we piled up the hours and
kilometers week after week, it also helped us get in shape!
It began quietly and painfully as we launched ourselves into the challenge, starting right off the
bat with five hours of riding on our first day in the lobby of the old New Glasgow YMCA on
Frederick Street. It was not so much the physical challenge that taxed our muscles, but was the

intense pain we felt in our butts, and the closer we got to the end of each weekly session, the
more we would give our bottoms a break by standing up on the pedals. When we did do this it
felt like our bottoms were re-inflating after being squashed for the previous four hours! Ouch!
Ouch! Ouch! No one could really appreciate the suffering we endured for the first few weeks!
So all the planning began the winter of 2010-2011 when I first discussed with Craig the
possibility of biking across Canada to raise awareness and donations for what turned out to be
three charities, each attributed with contributing to helping Craig change his life. The first thing
we did was to contact all three charities, advising them of our plan and confirming their support.
We were clear from the beginning we wanted no money from our three charities, and we would
raise all we needed to complete the trip on our own. Any money donated over and above of our
expenses would go to the three charities divided equally three ways. This was key thing number
two, in that we were promoting not one, but three charities and this would give supporters the
option of donating to the charity that meant the most to them.
I am very fortunate to have a wonderful talented sister who I asked for help in creating a logo
for CraigGivesBack. I am also fortunate to have a friend who manages Vision Fire Commercial
Photography which produces professional quality videos and marketing imagery. Our first logo
appears in our first promotional video! We took this video with us to the YMCA each Sunday for
our five hours of spinning and it was also eventually posted to our website craiggivesback.ca and
Facebook page Facebook.com/craiggivesback.
In February of 2012 we met with Warren Spires from the CNIB at Taks Thai Restaurant in
Pictou. Warren was recently hired as Atlantic Director, Fund Development for the CNIB and
having significant experience in the marketing industry, saw this a great opportunity for both
Craig and the three charities. One task I had to complete in the near future would be with
Warrens assistance which was to prepare sponsorship packages, with the goal of submitting to
potential corporate sponsors for this event. We had estimated the cost of the trip including
equipment and expenses to be $20,000 to $25,000. We did complete a very comprehensive
sponsorship document with Warren leading the way, however not due to lack of effort or follow
up we never were able to secure a sponsor! Not one! But in reality who were we, not
celebrities, but just two average guys trying to bike across the country!
We did however generate a lot of interest and support in Pictou County and the donations we
were to eventually receive amazed and humbled us. We had met with the staff at the New
Glasgow YMCA to discuss our plan to complete a Virtual Cross Canada Bicycle Tour in the lobby
of the YMCA and received their approval and support. We would use this as an opportunity to
receive donations, but also as training to prepare our bodies for an 8,200km trip across Canada.
The first date of our virtual tour was Sunday, August 5, 2012. We arrived at the YMCA with a
tandem mountain bike, stationary trainer and all the additional paraphernalia we would need to
survive a five hour spinning session. We knew we would not be able use a standard stationary
trainer as we required one that would hold the weight of a tandem bicycle and also the weight of
its two riders. I do not even think the one we used was designed for such abuse! Pictou County
Cycle had a Kurt Kinetic Rockn Roll trainer available for us to borrow. It performed incredibly
well and simulated the feel of a bike on a flat paved road. The faster we pedaled, the harder it
got just like it would during our trip. It would last us almost 7,000kms before incident.
One thing we definitely learned after five hours of cycling is that your bottom tends to get very,
very sore! Being a recumbent rider, I did not have cycling shorts with a chamois pad, as it is just
not necessary. It was very quickly apparent we were going to need them, so we were very
grateful when Pictou County Cycle once again helped us out with a free pair. Our bottoms were
very grateful and we proudly showed off the Pictou County Cycle logo every weekend. I also

purchased tubes of chamois cream from the bike shop, and using this and the padded cycling
shorts made it almost bearable. We both did suffer from saddle sores which would partially heal
the period in between the spinning sessions, but then we would tear the scabs off the next
weekend. The final solution was chamois cream, liberally applied, a pair of padded cycling shorts
and then a second pair of shorts underneath. By the time we reached week fifty-two we had the
saddle sores under control.
The other challenge was to ensure we stayed hydrated and consumed sufficient calories to allow
us to pedal at a challenging pace for a full five hours. We would line up our water bottles,
energy bars and sugary treats alongside the bike. We would consume as much as 500-750mls of
fluid per hour and would start one hour in with our first energy bar and repeat every hour. After
three hours of pedaling we would switch from energy bars to honey waffles as we needed energy
in a more easily digestible format. Everyone is different and Craig and I perspire at different
rates. I sweat a lot and it causes me to lose excessive salts and electrolytes, so in order to avoid
painful muscle cramps I used electrolyte pills in my water bottles. I tried a few brands and
flavours, but eventually through the bike shop found a type that worked for me and the muscle
cramps ended.
We did not realize it at the time, but it turned out to be quite a commitment to put in our
kilometers every weekend for a full year. We tracked our kilometers, each day posting a map of
our weekly route and where we would end up. Craig was attending spinning classes and also
practicing on a stationary trainer in his house and I was commuting by bicycle, so I was not
worried about reaching our target distance during our weekend spinning session, as we more
than covered the distance every week. Between my daily commute to work and the weekend
training, I was covered over 15,000kms during the fifty-two weeks prior to our departure date.
We had great experiences during our virtual tour even though we never left the lobby! We
showed up every Sunday at the New Glasgow YMCA until Remembrance Day weekend as the
current YMCA was to close and then reopen the following week at their brand new facilities in the
Pictou County Wellness Centre. They had a lot of work to do in a short period of time to move all
necessary equipment from one building to the other which had been built and filled with mostly
new equipment, thanks to the generosity of the citizens and businesses of Pictou County. It is a
beautiful facility. So Craig and I did a double spinning session on the Remembrance Day
weekend, putting in five hours on Saturday, November 10th and again on the Monday, November
12th which was the holiday as Remembrance Day fell on the Sunday.
We actually did not have a YMCA to spin in again until November 24 th and the new location was
new, beautiful and best of all we were located in the central hallway between the two skating
rinks and the YMCA. We could not have asked for better as now we had a constant flow of
traffic passing by on their way to the YMCA or brining their child for a hockey game. Hockey
tournaments were our favourite, as the hallway was filled with crowds of people between games
and they had come from all over the Maritimes, and were very interested and amazed at what
we were doing and planning to do. They were also very generous and our weekly donation total
increased significantly. We would also bring Baldwin, Craigs guide dog and he would lie on the
floor by our bike and everyone loved him. He helped with donations too!
Everything was going as per usual right up to Week 26 of 52 when we reached our halfway point
of Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario. We had completed more than 4,000 kilometres in the lobby and to
celebrate the halfway point of our virtual tour we invited other cyclists to join us in the
gymnasium at the YMCA. We had both the Pictou County Tri Club and the local Pictou County
Road Riders join us for portions of our spinning session. We had media attend including CBC and
CTV television and we even ended up being featured in the Sault Star, the daily newspaper in
Sault Ste. Marie!

10

To prepare for our halfway celebration we also had the assistance of Advocate Printing who had
donated the cost of creating our new logo and banners. They also designed our new t-shirts and
we had both on hand for our halfway party. Funny now, but when we ordered our first hundred
t-shirts, I asked Craig if he was sure we could sell these. Well we ended up having to re-order
five times, selling nearly five hundred t-shirts from January to November!
Other great experiences happened every weekend as we had so many people stop to talk with us
to inquire about our adventure and donate to our trip. Some weekends we had incredible
response when there was a hockey tournament and teams from around the Maritimes attended.
The lobby will fill with people and the amount of donations we received and the people we talked
with was astounding.
We moved from summer to fall, from fall to winter. It was getting dark when we got up Sunday
morning to pack up the car with everything we needed. I grew a beard. Thanksgiving,
Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day, Easter all passed by. I shaved off my beard!
When we first started, it seemed we would never reach the end, but after the halfway point in
January, the time flew by and before we knew it we had some serious physical challenges
coming up that we had planned over a year previous.
Now there is Bob the trailer and Bob MacDonald, and both will play a critical role later on. One
will be loved and the other ends up in pieces. Prior to even starting our virtual tour I had
concerns as to what would happen if Craig or myself were to suffer an injury as cycling is not the
safest, especially on some of the roads we would be travelling. Still not sure who could have
filled my role, but Bob MacDonald suffers the same hereditary eye condition as Craig and his
employment in the seasonal tax return industry did give him some flexibility to cover for the short
term if Craig did suffer an injury either during training or during the actual trip.
Bob the brand name of our trailer is an acronym for Beast of Burden and a trailer I had used
for over ten years for numerous bike trips. It attaches to the rear axle of the bike and has only a
single wheel that follows behind the rear wheel of the bicycle. It is a great way to transport
heavy, but not bulky cargo. It is also easy to disassemble and send home if it becomes an
annoyance. Not the same with Bob MacDonald, he would be more difficult to switch in or out of
the trip!
Meanwhile Warren and I worked hard at pursuing potential sponsors, but met with continued
disappointment. Funny, I was so confident at first we would secure a sponsor, but looking back
can certainly understand the trepidation of giving two guys who had this crazy idea to bike across
Canada without a support vehicle, on a completely foreign bicycle and with a timeframe that had
us still cycling to the end of October. Yeah, looking back I am not surprised at all!
On the other hand, the people of Pictou County not only supported and encouraged us, but they
opened their wallets and donated. We were waiting to secure a corporate sponsor before we
committed to ordering our bike from Holland, as it was not a small investment. It eventually
reached the point where we had received sufficient donations that we could place the order and
after a number of emails back and forth, a down payment was made and the order was
confirmed. One big help was Jenny and Jonas Cosh, as Jonas had done something very similar
in 2010. Jonas, who has Cerebral Palsy had the opportunity to participate on a tall ship based in
England. The ship, Lord Nelson is adapted to meet the needs of people with disabilities and
through the generosity of Pictou County, he was able to train as a deck hand for a week. Jenny
and Jonas came to our aid armed with ideas, one of which was to approach the Pictou
Scotiabank to setup an account that anyone across Canada can deposit into with a donation.

11

Another great idea was a draw on a gift basket and Craig, Jonas and Jenny made the rounds to
local businesses for donations and this alone raised over $1,000.
The only thing we had to do prior to setting up a bank account was to incorporate as a Not for
Profit Society, so by the end of January we created The CraigGivesBack Association and soon
after opened the bank account and the Scotiabank was generous enough to waive all bank fees.
It was great as all donations could now be deposited and that also meant not have a few
thousand dollars in a bucket at my house! We were also able to write cheques for any expenses
and have an accurate record of any expenditures, which was especially important as we were
acting on behalf of three charities.
Warren and the CNIB were committed to supporting our adventure so much so that they retained
a graduate of Nova Scotia Community College, who had just finished a work term at the Halifax
CNIB office. Her education was Public Relations, so it was a perfect fit and she immediately
began work on media releases and our public media. We were so lucky to have Amelia and she
would be with us from first of May right up to the end of ride at the end of October. It was a
wonderful surprise.
The third and final decision we made to ensure our ride stood out from the many others, was we
had decided to do a ride on a bicycle which most Canadians had never heard of, let alone seen
before. Craig and I would cross the country on the same bicycle, but face in opposite directions
the entire distance!
Janus is a Roman god with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. He is
the guardian of gates and doorways as he can see persons approaching from either direction. As
you enter through a door or gate, you are entering a new environment, and Janus is also the god
of new beginnings. January the first month of the year was so named in his honour. This was
so appropriate a name for our bike as in the end it was the ability of Bob and I to see in both
directions that made our trip such a safe one. It would not be until almost the end of May that
our bike would finally arrive, but it was a thrilling moment to finally take that first ride. This was
the second of three key things we did to make our trip stand out from all others biking across
Canada. Our bike was essentially the only one in Canada on which the two riders faced in
opposite directions!
So while I biked back and forth to work each day piling up the kilometers of training, Craig was
doing what he could by participating in cycle fit spinning classes at the YMCA. One class he
became a regular at was the Monday and Wednesday class at noon at the New Glasgow YMCA.
Not only did this group donate, but they also purchased t-shirts and held a fundraiser at a local
pub with music provided by themselves! Craig who has been teaching himself to play harmonica
for years also had a starring role in more than just a few songs and everyone was very impressed
with his ability. I had not heard him play often previous, but now I started to encourage him to
start busking on the waterfront in Pictou during the summers!
Also by coincidence one person who attended the weekly spin classes is the President and CEO of
Empire Theatres, and he made a very generous offer to assist in promotion of our upcoming
adventure. If we could have a sixty second video submitted by the end of May, it would play at
all Empire Theatres across Canada for the month of July. This was very exciting news as we
could promote Craigs story and generate support for our three charities. I thought we could
simply edit and shorten our current video which was five minutes in duration, however
fortunately Warren from the CNIB had spent years in the advertising industry, and saw an
opportunity to create something new. Also lucky for us was Bruce at Visionfire Photography was
willing to prioritize creation of the video and already had a vision of the finished product.

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Just by luck our new bike the Janus had actually just arrived days previous to the taping of our
new video! It was still at Pictou County Cycle having been just assembled and I had only one
test drive! My next drive was to bike from the bike shop to Pictou where Bruce had chosen the
road to the PEI ferry which was straight and had an overpass. This was Friday evening after
work and we had just enough daylight to complete this shoot, and then Craig and I biked
together to the Visionfire photo studio where we would spend the next almost four hours
shooting indoor and recording script. The final product was completed, reviewed, edited and
approved by end of May and sent to Empire Theatres. It would now play the entire month of
July in advance of our departure and we would eventually meet people from across the country
that had seen the video.
May of 2013 was actually a very busy month, as along with the Janus arriving from Holland, the
Empire Theatre Video, we also had received good news that Home Hardware although not a
sponsor were offering the option to all their franchisees across Canada that followed our route,
the opportunity to create a fundraiser and we would stop at their store. We were excited as the
number of stores and fundraising potential would be significant.
Also in May, we were invited to speak at the YMCA Strong Song event at the Pictou County
Wellness Centre. It is a one day event which celebrates youth and includes speakers and music.
We were going to speak alongside internationally known celebrities such as Chris Keilburger,
Spencer West and Molly Burke! It was an honour to receive this invitation from Crystal Murray
who organized the event. We were given the opportunity to share Craigs story and speak about
our upcoming adventure to more than 1,200 children who had been bused in from around Pictou
County. One group of people I love to speak to is definitely children as they are so full of energy
and cheer at almost every sentence. They were so wound up it made it such a great experience,
and they inspired us to continue to work hard to achieve our dream. This event was actually the
debut of our new CraigGivesBack, video and everyone was so impressed with how good it looked
up on the big screen. Bruce and Todd at Visionfire had done an incredible job. It would receive
some additional editing to get it to the 60 second duration for Empire Theatres, but it looked
great!
Along with the good news and experiences in May, we also received bad news as we learned the
satellite location of the YMCA in the town of Pictou was to close. This of course is where Craig
had trained almost daily since it had first opened. Many in the town of Pictou and the
surrounding area were devastated, and you truly do not realize how important something is until
it is gone. As with most decisions this was a financial one, and the YMCA was unable to maintain
both the new location at the Pictou County Wellness Centre and the Pictou location too. The
challenge for Craig became the cost of getting to the New Glasgow location, as there is a bus
service for those with mobility challenges, however it still has a fee and for Craig who lives on a
subsidized income was unable to afford daily trips. The good news is that eventually a local
family would purchase the remaining workout equipment and re-open the Pictou location, but as
a private enterprise. They are unable to offer subsidized memberships for people with limited
income such as Craig as they needed to now make a profit or at least break even to cover the
costs of the facility and staff wages. Craig however places a high value and priority on being
physically active, and therefore has been able to budget the monthly membership cost as part of
his living expenses, and has been able to continue his workouts.
And we had more bad news, this time regarding our new back to back tandem bicycle, the Janus.
While filming the second video at the Visionfire studios in May, we took a pizza break from the
almost six hour total filming time between the road and the studio. The Janus was on its
kickstand on the set in front of the white background and while seated enjoying a piece of pizza,
I noticed a dark line along the end of the frame boom at Craigs end. My heart sank as I
immediately suspected a serious issue and it would soon be confirmed. Earlier in the evening on

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the road during filming when Craig would start pedaling the pedals, the crank and chain ring
were twisting. We would stop and I would tighten the two bolts that were there to clamp the
nose boom in place. It took a few tries to repeatedly tighten the bolts, but eventually seemed to
be holding in place on the road.
Now in the studio I had a sick feeling in my stomach as I put down my pizza and walked over to
the bike and ran my hand along the frame. I could feel the sharpness of the metal that had split
and I know we had a serious problem. I did not mention anything at the time as I did not want
to spread panic to the others as this was a critical structural failure on our new bicycle which had
just arrived from Holland, and we had just spent over $6,000 from the funds we had raised to
cover the costs of equipment and expenses for our trip. The unique bicycle, the only one in
Canada that was to make our trip stand out was potentially a failure!
The next day in the daylight I would take a picture of the damage and email the image to Anton
at Altena Bike in Holland. Altena Bike is essentially a one man operation, with Anton who has a
degree in Aeronautical Engineering not only designing the bikes but also assembling them. He
had originally changed careers to produce musical stringed instruments and eventually designed
and began to produce bicycles, of which all models were recumbent.
Anton was devastated at the damage and attributed it to stress failure of the aluminum boom.
The block with the tightening bolts is welded to the aluminum frame and when aluminum is
heated during the welding process it loses its strength, but as it cools it regains the original
strength. It was the first time he had this type of damage to one of his bikes, but that was little
comfort to us. For the immediate and short term he recommended stainless steel heavy duty
pipe clamps which my good friend Randy obtained for me, and they did work. We were able to
clamp the boom so no matter how hard you tried you could not twist the nose boom once the
clamps were tightened.
For the long term, Anton designed new heavy duty aluminum boom clamps and by the end of
June we had received and installed on the Janus. The new clamps looked good and they
worked. This was the first and only mechanical failure we would have on the Janus.
In June our back-to-back tandem recumbent was unveiled at the CNIB Halifax Annual Community
Meeting. I was unable to attend, however Craigs parents took Craig and Janus, and Dave
MacIntyre, CEO of the New Glasgow YMCA was also present at the meeting and assisted with the
unveiling of our very unique bicycle. The unveiling also included our new video!
Although I was not overly concerned with reaching a target distance each weekend as we were
covering more than required through the weekdays, we did take it serious and actually numerous
times surpassed a 162km (100 mile) century ride on our Sunday morning spinning sessions. It is
hard to appreciate how difficult this is until you have sat on a bike for the five hours it would take
to reach this goal.
We had worked hard to strengthen and condition our muscles and now it was time for a real test!
On Saturday, June 15th we did a ten hour spinning session at the registration and race kit pickup
for the Johnny Miles Marathon. We now had the Janus back-to-back tandem recumbent which
meant that Craig and I would now pedal independently of each other. To do this we required
two stationary trainers, one for Craigs wheel and one for mine. By the end of the ten hours we
would reach almost 400kms when our two distances were combined. It was a terrific physical
test and also great way to further promote our upcoming trip as well over 1,000 runners would
see us setup in the foyer in the Glasgow Square on the waterfront in New Glasgow. It was the
first public appearance for Janus and needless to say generated a lot of interest and questions.

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With the arrival of warmer temperatures and our new bike, we would begin outside training in
addition to indoor. I mapped a loop route around Pictou County that would take us over two
hours to complete and we would repeat it two to three times to prepare for life on the road.
The weekend following the Johnny Miles Marathon, Craigs hometown of Durham, Nova Scotia
invited us to include a stop at the Durham Community Hall. There was even music! When we
arrived we were joined by many local riders who then accompanied us from Durham to West
River, where we stopped at West River Greenhouses and received well wishes and generous
donations towards our trip.
Now having completed a ten hour spin session and completed kilometers and kilometers of on
the road training with Janus, we were now ready for our greatest challenge. We would attempt
to bicycle across Prince Edward Island on the Confederation Trail in one day. It was a total
distance of 273.4kms and our goal was to complete it in twelve hours.
We planned this for the long weekend of Canada Day and travelled over to Prince Edward Island
on Saturday. Our plan was to complete the ride in one day, however if things did not work out
we would finish the ride on Monday morning and then return home. Everything started on
schedule Sunday morning, except I was nervous of getting our ten foot bike through the gates
whenever the Trans Canada Trail crossed a road, which means there must be well over a
hundred of them from one end of the trail to the other. I made the last minute decision not to
start on the trail, but to start on the highway and we were off right on schedule.
Sometimes things do not work out as planned, and sometimes what happens just makes us
ready for what is yet to come. I had broken the trip into sections, each of which would take
approximately two hours to complete. We were fortunate to have my wife volunteer to drive our
support vehicle, and that allowed us to travel with a minimum of food and water and only a basic
repair kit.
Checkpoint number one we passed just ahead of schedule and we were now on our way to
Summerside and our second checkpoint. It was now that we drove over something that actually
stuck in the rear tire and struck the pavement every time the tire rotated. As soon as we heard it
and realized what it was we stopped, but the damage was done. Now this was actually the first
time I had to repair a tire on the Janus so it was a new experience. We had Rohloff internal
hubs front and rear, so removing a wheel is not the same as a standard bicycle. I was however
up to the task and by the time Andrea had doubled back to where we had stopped, we were up
and running again. Let me remind you with over five hundred kilometers on the Janus before we
went to Prince Edward Island, we had not had one flat tire. Well now we had our first and soon
we would have two more! I had packed a couple tube repair kits, one I had used recently for my
own bike and a second that was new, however both tubes of patch glue had dried and were
useless. With no backup tubes left and no way to repair any of the three with punctures, we
were out of options just on the outskirts of Summerside.
Andrea did her best to save the day by heading off to Canadian Tire for tubes and repair kits, but
it was Sunday and the store did not open until 10:00am. By the time Andrea had returned and
we had the bike repaired and back together, we were now three hours behind schedule! We
were feeling quite demoralized, but undaunted we were off to give it our best effort.
The kilometers slipped by quickly as we stuck to the Trans Canada Highway until Charlottetown
and thanks to some navigational errors on my part we actually decided to take the Confederation
Trail in spite of the metal gates. On the trail we quickly developed a system that would come in
handy later during our actual trip across Canada, but it allowed us to pass through each gate
without having to get off the bike and even better without having to stop.

15

Everything was going great until we had passed St. Peters and I become overconfident. We
approached a metal gate that had the gates pushed out further than normal and left a larger
opening through which to pass, so a less extreme serpentine path was required to pass through.
I normally take my feet out of the pedal clips and hang them down just off the ground just in
case, but this time chose to keep pedaling. When passing through the gate and as the Janus
turned, my seat caught against the edge of the gate and the bike went down hard. I was still
able to get my feet unclipped and on the ground, but I was unable to stop the momentum of the
bike as it twisted between my legs. I was left standing straddling Janus suffering a few bruises
to my legs, but it was Craig I thought I had killed as he had fallen with Janus into the metal gate!
Turns out he is much more durable than I had ever realized and we took a few minutes to collect
ourselves and check the bike over for any damage. With no serious or permanent injuries to
ourselves or Janus we departed once again, and having now been completely humbled we took
each gate much more seriously, sticking to the system that had gotten us through them safely
before until I had taken an unnecessary risk in the sake of saving time.
We actually reached our second last checkpoint in St. Peters and only had another estimated two
hours of cycling left to accomplish our goal of completing the trip in one day, however it was now
eight oclock and there was not enough daylight left. We were disappointed not being able to
finish in the one day as we still had the energy to complete it, however we knew that if only we
did not suffer a three hour delay earlier in the day, we would have finished and that was
comforting. We stayed with friends at their cottage near Stratford, and then returned on Monday
morning to finish the ride from St. Peters to Elmira. We had biked for eleven hours on Saturday
and covered well over two hundred kilometers, so we now knew we were physically ready for our
cross Canada trip which would start in just over a month!
One thing that is popular in Pictou County is parades. There are many local festivals each year
and many parades as well. The Pictou Lobster Carnival is the first weekend of June and we were
invited to participate. It turned out the biggest challenge was finding Craig on the day of the
parade. In usual Craig fashion he was late getting home and getting ready, so when I biked to
his house on Janus there was no Craig. At the time he did not have a cell phone, so I had no
way to determine his location. I did leave a message on his answering machine before I left
advising him I was on my way and fingers crossed he would be there when I arrived, but here I
was at his house and there was no Craig. Now he is not home, so I think he may have already
made his way over to the start of the parade and I bike over to the parade line-up. Luckily
Pictou is not a big town as he does arrive home shortly after I had left and calls my wife who lets
me know I have to go back and pick him up! We get back to the line-up with plenty of time to
spare and not far into the route we are joined by Craigs parents Eileen and Phillip along with
their friends, and of course my wife is along taking pictures. Craig received many shouts of
encouragement and I think I even received one or two. To celebrate we biked up Battery Hill,
the steepest hill in Pictou which is used for the soapbox derby competition during the Lobster
Carnival. To my amazement we made it without incident and without stopping.
The very next day, Sunday morning we again joined the Lobster Carnival festivities by setting up
a tent on the waterfront. We spent the morning pedaling on the lawn beside all the entries in
the antique car show. We had many people who came to check out the vintage cars, stopping
by to see the odd looking bicycle. We were also thrilled when the Pictou Lions Club stopped by
to present a donation of $3,000 to CraigGivesBack. We were getting very close now to covering
all our expected equipment and expenses to complete the trip. Things were definitely looking
up!
We had now been doing rides both indoors and out as we wanted as much experience on the
Janus out on the road as possible, so Saturday was typically outdoors depending on the weather

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and Sunday was back to the lobby of the Wellness Centre. The hockey rinks are not so busy in
July, so with the hockey crowds gone for the summer, the traffic and donations had dropped off
significantly during our Sunday spin session, however it was important to continue if not only for
the sake of continuing our training. The outdoor rides were also a great opportunity to gradually
add more weight and also the Bob trailer, so that over time we could test and grow comfortable
pedaling with the full weight of the bike, our clothing and all equipment necessary for camping
and cooking our own meals. We were to be fully self-supported for the nearly three months it
would take to travel across the country.
The July 21-22, 2013 weekend would be our first over-night on the Janus. On Saturday we
would fully load Janus, attach Bob (our trailer) and fully load it with all our gear just as it would
be during our trip across Canada. We would even stop along the route and cook and eat our
lunch, which of course was KD! It was just over ninety kilometers each way, so it was a modest
test of the equipment and our fitness. We departed from my house early Saturday morning and
the temperature rose quickly to the low 30s Celsius. Andrea along with our friends Hugh and
Jennifer would leave later by car and meet us at the campground just north of Pugwash. We
survived the trip out and back, however on the return I noticed a new noise which seemed to be
coming from the rear wheel. I assumed it was the hydraulic brake pads rubbing on the rotor and
made what adjustments I could. As we continued, the noise would disappear and then start
again and I could not identify the cause. It would eventually be discovered what the noise was,
however that would be in another two months and halfway across the country!
The first fully loaded trip was slower than expected and the bike felt heavy, so I reviewed all the
gear we were carrying and shortened the list, removing any and all luxuries. This included our
inflatable sleeping pads and we opted for lighter less comfortable thin foam. I can sleep
anywhere and on anything, but Craig was not excited!
Craig and I would spend the next week saying goodbye as we prepared ourselves to be away for
three months. Craig went to see all his relatives in the Cape Breton community of Belle Cte,
which coincided with Belle Cte Days celebrations and included fundraisers for CraigGivesBack. I
spent my final week at work and my fellow employees surprised me by organizing a fundraiser.
It was an exciting time, however I was anxious to start the trip. All the preparations were
finished and soon it would just be Craig and I out on the road.
On July 29th Craig and I both took a trip to Halifax. I had to visit MEC and purchase last minute
supplies, and Craig travelled down with his parents and we both ended up at the CNIB office at
the same time to meet the staff and say thank you and goodbye. I finished the day with a visit
to Back To Basics Physiotherapy as I had pressure points on both little toes that had been
aggravated by the ten hour spinning session at the Johnny Miles Marathon. Phillip had
recommended wedges in my shoes that would bring my foot back to level on the pedals and it
seemed to be working.
July 30th was a day to spend with family and work on packing and repacking the bike gear. I had
been planning on taking the Janus over with Craig and I on the plane, however Craigs parents
surprised us and decided to take their van to Newfoundland along with Craigs aunt and uncle.
They picked it up and we would see them and the bicycle in a few days in St. Johns.
Our final day before departing was July 31st and we visited Ann Macgregor at CKEC and did a live
interview that was replayed through the day. We also stopped at the New Glasgow News for an
interview with John Brannen. Lastly we stopped and signed documents at MacDonald, Trask
Chisholm Insurance, who thankfully had essentially donated the liability insurance for the
duration of our trip. The last thing we wanted was for something terrible to happen and our
three charities to be liable, so now we had taken care of this final detail. Now we had nothing to

17

do but relax until early the next morning, so I took Craig out to lunch in Pictou and while there
we were visited by Allan Slaunwhite our Investors Group local representative who dropped by to
present a donation. What great people live in Pictou County! Another great person in Pictou
County is Terry Curly who organizes the Johnny Miles Race Events each year and he presented
us with a donation of the proceeds left from the Johnny Miles. It was very generous and we
were very grateful. Amazingly Craig and I had now raise more than we needed to complete the
ride across Canada and the remaining funds along with all funds raised during our trip would be
divided equally to our three charities.
One final thing I did my final evening at my home was I printed hundreds of the CraigGivesBack
business cards. I had created them back in the spring and we had been handing them out at our
spinning sessions at the Wellness Centre. They were great as they gave just the critical
information, but also instructions for the Text to Donate! We would give out nearly five hundred
as we crossed the country!
The final weekend of July was our final weekend to test out the gear changes I had made. It
was to be the weekend of the Melmerby Beach Triathlon, however they were having challenges
getting the cycling route approved and for the first time in thirty years it was cancelled. We are
happy to report it did return in 2014 with higher than normal number of participants, so the
future looks good! In spite of the cancellation in 2013, a number of local triathletes decided to
have their own unofficial triathlon on the same date and Craig and I again loaded up the bike
and trailer and headed off to Melmberby Beach to meet up with them. This was over seventyfive kilometers round trip and the bike performed much, much better. We even took our new
passenger Flat Stanley and we miserably failed the parenting test, as we lost him on the
roadside on the way to Melmerby! We did not discover we had lost him until we had almost
arrived at Melmerby, however on the way back we stopped at the same location we had on the
way out and after a short search found him safe and sound on the gravel shoulder. I would later
lose him again, but we always found him, so I could be a worse parent! We also stopped by the
Pictou County Wellness Centre to say goodbye to the staff at the YMCA as we would not be
seeing them again for another four months.
The only issue during this trip was on the return ride from Melmerby Beach, the noise that had
started the previous weekend had returned. Through further examination of the rear wheel, I
discovered some of the spokes had loosened significantly! I always carry a repair kit, so was
able to tighten up the spokes for the short term and the noise was gone for the balance of the
trip. I would take the Janus to Pictou County Cycle for a full tune up the next day, and after that
hopefully any issues are fixed and it will be ready for the 8,200km journey!
Ready or not, the real challenge begins in just a few days!

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Top left: Craig and I complete his first ever 10km race in New Glasgow, NS, Top Right: Craig Gives Back
Logo #1, Middle left: Sunday, August 12, 2012 was the first of fifty-two weeks at the YMCA, Middle
right: Craig Gives Back Logo #2, Bottom left: On December 2, 2012 we moved to the new YMCA,
Bottom right: On January 27, 2013 we had a virtual halfway party.

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Top left: St. Patricks Day at the YMCA, Top Right: Easter at YMCA, Middle left: Janus arrives from
Holland, Middle right: On June 15, 2013 Craig and I train for 10 hours at the Johnny Miles Marathon
Registration, Bottom left: On June 22, 2013 the communities of Durham and Central West River give us a
send off, Bottom right: On June 30 & July 1, 2013, Craig and I bike across Prince Edward Island.

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