June 17, 1999
Retired cyclers brave prairie winds on trek
Couple passes through former home town on cross-Canada fund-raising trip for schizophrenia
by Brigette Jobin, The StarPhoenix
Marvin and Loretta Wideen are traveling a path forged by people such as Rick Hanson, Steve Fonyo and Terry Fox.
The married duo, both originally from Canwood, left Victoria, B.C., on May 19 on their touring bicycles, and are hoping to reach St. John’s, Nfld., by mid-September. They are trying to raise money to combat schizophrenia.
To date, the 65-year-olds have biked 1,595 kilometres, with many more ahead of them to complete the 7,725-kilometre trip.
“There are many days when I wonder what I’m doing on that hard seat,” said Loretta. “There are many challenges. If it’s not our bodies it’s the weather or the hills.
“We figured that once we were through with B.C. and Alberta we’d have easy riding in Saskatchewan, but now we’re dealing with the wind.
“We assumed the wind would come from the northwest and give us a push, but we’ve been fooled,” laughs Loretta.
The Wideens arrived in Saskatoon Tuesday, after biking 80 kilometres from Canwood and Blaine Lake.
The couple, who now live in Coquitlam, B.C., grew up in Canwood and met in their last years of high school. The couple married in 1955 and have had four children.
Marvin, a professor at Simon Fraser University, retires in August. Loretta started her nursing career at St. Paul’s Hospital, and retired in 1998.
The Wideens have been wanting to cross the country for a number of years, but because of work neither of them could do it. Until now.
“This has always been a dream,” said Loretta in a telephone interview from a friend’s house in Saskatoon. “When we retired we wanted to do this and to raise money at the same time, if it could work out that way.”
The couple is hoping to spread awareness about schizophrenia and raise some funds for the Schizophrenia Society of Canada.
“It’s something I knew about and felt was quite neglected,” said Loretta, who worked in psychiatric nursing for 17 years. “I know the suffering patients and their families have to go through.
“It seems when we stop and talk to people that everyone knows about schizophrenia because their grandmother, uncle or some family member had it,” she said.
The couple leave this morning to the next destination on the map, which is Yorkton, on Highway 16.
Funds can be donated to the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, 75 The Donway West, Suite 814, Don Mills, Ont., M3C 2E9.