Two Cowichan Valley cyclists are going the distance to raise money and awareness for brain injuries.
In two weeks, Wayne Bourgeois and Ron Pachet will start a seven-thousand-kilometer ride from Newfoundland back to Duncan.
The goal of the ride is to raise funds for the Cowichan Brain Injury Society which provides services and advocacy for those living with brain injuries in the Cowichan Valley.
Brain injury is a complicated topic that affects people from all walks of life, and for Bourgeois, that means talking about related subjects like the opioid crisis and homelessness.
“There are people that have acquired brain injury through concussions or through accidents or whatever, who end up substance users and end up homeless and that’s the part that gets overlooked when we start talking about brain injury,” says Bourgeois
He hopes that the ride will help connect brain injury advocacy groups from all over the country.
Throughout the ride, Bourgeois and Pachet will stop in communities to give talks and meet with people living with brain injuries.
“I want to go right into the heart of issues of homeless and talk to people and find out how they got there and what you know what, what communities are doing to support people in their road to recovery,” says Bourgeois.
Their journey across the country will be documented on their social media page through photos and video.
As of right now, their Go Fund Me page has raised over 4-thousand dollars.