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Bicyclist rides into the sunset ark Schehex always M'anled to ride off - no the sllnxt'l. And this past Canada Hay. he did just that, ()n the nation), birthday. the PS-year-old packed up his belongings at his bruther's home in Campbell River, British Columbia. jumped on his bicycle and staruxl pedal- ing -His dest t lion? Waterloo. Ontario. "l had to come back for a friend's wedding. but I wasn't sure how I was going to do it." he said. sitting on his sister's deck after arriving in his home town last Thursday night. "This was the best, and the cheapest way I could think of traveling. “I khew I liked biking a lot, and this sort of took that inter- est to the next level." Schelter, who grew up in Waterloo. now lives outside Banff, Alberta, and works as a dog sled tour guide during the winter months With his summers free, nothingwas holding him back from tackling what he called his lang-tinte goal. "rfaiwafs talked about doing it." he said. "lust picking up and riding from west to "But this time I just up and decidedtodoilaboulaweek before I left. I didn't have time to talk myself out of it. "A lot of people told me it was a crazy idea, but it's some- thing I've wanted to do for a long time" But being temporarily out of work. he knew if he was going to make the trip, he'd have to plan it as cost efferr Wely as possible. Schelter attached a singie- wheel trailer to the back of his bike. In it, he stored a tent, camping gear, food and cloth- -"I was pretty self-sum cient," he said. "lt worked out to he about $10 per day. That’s cheaper than any vacation I've ever To his own surprise. Scher ter was able to travel about 150 kilometres a day, and tin- ished his 5,200-kilornetre journey in just over one month. "It was an amazing trip." he said. "The scenery I saw, thepeoplefmet.itwasallso unbelievable." Scheller especially got a kick out of the questions strangers ' him along the "Everyone wanted to know things like where I sleep and where I eat," he said. "When I told them I could hike 150 kilometres a day it shocked a kn ofpmsple." A common question Schelter fared was. why hike nearfy across the country? At ftit I really didn't know what to say. I really didn't haw a spccific reason," he said. "But the hike shop I took off from gave me this sticker when I left that read. l Inc less o-ar.' So I just smnvd telling By AMIGA Bum I 'hrrsntcie Naif] 928 Erb Street West, Waterloo (519) 885-2306