Pedalling for clean water

Three men rolled into Kelowna yesterday, 400 kilometres into a 1,000 kilometre bike trip to raise money for clean drinking water in Somalia.

David Custer, Brandon Jones and Mike Palichuk left Vancouver Aug. 26 and headed east for the third annual Wheels for Wells Vancouver to Calgary charity bike ride.

Wheels for Wells is an organization founded by a young Calgarian named Alex Weber. At age nine, Weber learned thousands of children die from water-related diseases around the world daily. He wanted to do something about it.

Five years later, Wheels for Wells has raised approximately $150,000 to provide clean drinking water for over 70,000 people in Africa.

Custer said the three of them biking this week hope to raise $5,000 for Somalia in particular.

The three men are not using any bottled or tap water on their five-day journey, opting instead to use only water found along the way. They've had no problems staying hydrated so far.

“Even at a time when water is scarce right now, in places like this especially, with fires happening and stuff, we still have an abundance,” Custer said. “We can ride from Vancouver to Calgary and collect water along the way from springs and stuff, and that’s amazing and I think sometimes we lose appreciation for that because we have such an abundance.”

Custer said the long hours on the bike over the last couple of days have given him time to contemplate how good people in Canada have it when it comes to water.

“People would kill for the water we boil our pasta in and pour down the drain,” Custer said. “Interesting thoughts.”

Custer participates in triathlons competitively, and will be representing Canada at the 2016 International Triathlon Union World Championships. Palichuk is an ultramarathon runner and while Jones is fairly new to biking, he’s “crushing it in the cycling world,” according to Custer.

Palichuk and Jones, from Abbotsford and Langley, knew each other before the ride, but Custer, from Calgary, was only recently put in contact with the other two through Weber.

The men plan on arriving in Calgary Sunday afternoon.

Custer said he expects Thursday will have been their toughest day, having climbed the mountains between Hope and Kelowna.

“No matter how tough our day was today, we were talking about this as we were coming across the bridge, it would never be as tough as trying to spend a day foraging to find a glass of water,” said Custer.