June 27, 1999
Column – The Readers’ Reporter
Seniors take 8,000-km bicycle ride
Emma Poole, Staff Reporter
The Province, Vancouver
The last place most newly retired seniors see themselves is on a bicycle pedaling almost 8,000 kilometres clear across the country. This is exactly what Loretta and Marvin Wideen had in mind. They wanted to do it five years ago but decided retirement was the time. And the Wideens, both 65, decided that, if they were going to bike from Victoria to St. John’s, they might as well do it for a good cause. The money raised from sponsorship pledges will go to the Schizophrenia Society of Canada. “In 28 years as a caregiver in a hospital, [that] is the illness that touched me the most,” says Loretta. She was a psychiatric clinician at Royal Columbian Hospital.
“The acute suffering that is experienced by a patient and family is complicated by the societal stigma that still exists.” For the Coquitlam couple’s four children and six grandchildren, this is how life should be after 60.
“I’m just so proud of them,” says 37-year-old daughter Sandra Freeborn. “We knew they could do it.”
The couple, high-school sweethearts in their hometown of Canwood, Sask., departed from Mile 0 in Victoria on May 1 and have made it to Minnedosa, Man.
According to son Brian, 42, they usually do about 50 km a day: “They spend anywhere between four to eight hours on the bikes a day . . . they should arrive in Newfoundland some time in late September or early October.”
Marvin, who will retire from the faculty of education at Simon Fraser University this fall after more than 20 years as a professor, has a few words of wisdom for anyone thinking of following in their bike tracks. “Cycle uphill a lot,” he advises. “To prepare for the Coquahalla, cycle uphill for five hours at a time.”
If you have a story of tragedy or triumph or just plain good news, call me at (604) 605-2041 or e-mail epoole@pacpress.southam.ca.