A Journey Begins

A journey of a 7228 KM miles begins with just 1 KM

I have decided to undertake a journey ... a journey to some degree that already began when we started this blog May 31st, 2008 but this undertaking will be life altering for me. I'm tired of just reading about and uttering all the cliches like "Nothing changes if nothing changes", "A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step" and my favorite from the movie Shawshank Redemption, "Get busy living or get busy dying"!

I have decided that it is time for me to shake things up and to get back into the shape I once was in, care for myself more and in doing so, honor a very special loved one that is gone from my life.

My niece France-Anne died suddenly May 26, 2009. You may recall she was doing something she loved, riding a horse, fell off after a jump and was kicked in the head. Each February for the last few years France-Anne and her brother Chris stayed with Mare and I for a week while her parents, my brother Paul and Marie-Josee attended an annual trade show. On a Friday night in 2008 while Chris, Mare and I were upstairs watching a movie, France-Anne decided, out of the blue, that she wanted to go downstairs and use our exercise bike. I dusted it off, she borrowed Mare's ipod and off she went. She biked for 50 minutes .. and was so proud of herself. Below is a picture of her that evening. Interesting now but that was the last picture we took of those visits, visits that Mare and I so looked forward to and cherished.


A few weeks ago when I decided to embark on this undertaking of taking control of my life and getting into shape .. and really doing it this time, Mare and I were exchanging ideas .. and the idea that was an .. 'ah ha' moment came to us. I would bike the equivalent distance of crossing Canada from the East coast and Atlantic ocean to the west side of Vancouver Island and the Pacific ocean. I would travel from St. Johns, Newfoundland to Long Beach between the villages of Tofino and Ucluelet in beautiful British Columbia.

What the heck was I thinking? I can barely go up a flight of stairs without being winded. I'm 291 pounds and am 5 Foot 8 and a half inches tall, not exactly the poster boy for Fitness magazine!

"Get busy living or get busy dying! I'm going to be 55 this May 3rd and I'm sick and tired of wishing and dreaming and hoping for things that can't happen unless I am truly prepared to make the sacrifices and efforts required to make it happen.

I will use my almost new recumbent bike during the winter months and my almost new, hardly ridden 24 speed mountain bike during the summer. Mare will monitor me and we will keep track of my progress daily. My goal is to complete my journey by July 7th, 2011, a day which would have been France-Anne's 18th Birthday. For me this will be a life and health changing journey of 507 days and an average of 14.3 kilometers per day. I'm starting this evening, probably be lucky to do a couple of kilometers/day to start so I'll need to average much more than 14 once I get going!

I have always been a goal oriented person, so something like this would be perfect to keep me motivated.

France-Anne will be my inspiration, Mare my coach and cheer leader!

To start this journey now, we just bought a map of Canada to hang on the wall .. some map pins .. we have the bikes .. so all is in place.

As I said the route is 7,228 km's - I may alter it slightly as I go, but the route in the picture below will be the basic guide.


When I was 18 and finished high school I hitchhiked across Canada, back and forth and covered over 11,000 miles. I needed to decide what I would do with my future. My Mother wanted me to go to university and be a lawyer or write, my Father wanted me to join the family business. I opted for the latter. That was an incredible experience criss-crossing our beautiful country, that adventure is a book still in me, my imaginary travels this time will be along many of the same route, Highway #1, the Trans Canada Highway. It is, after all, the fastest way across the vast expanse we call Canada.

In the following year 1974, when I was all of 19 years old I visited a couple in Tennessee that I had met while hitchhiking. They were a lovely couple with twin sons who were also hitchhiking somewhere in Canada that summer. They picked me up outside of Winnipeg where I had been stuck for 10 days and drove me all the way to Detroit. On my way back from Tennessee via Greyhound I visited Washington, DC and New York City. Below is a picture of me on the Staten Island ferry, I wanted to have a shot of Manhattan Island. Note the Twin Trade Towers in the background, that was the year they were completed. I went up to the top of the north building and took pictures around all four sides, there wasn't even furniture set up yet. Sad that they are gone in such a horrific way! Someday I would like to re-visit the site.

That is the weight I want to be again, gosh i wish I could have just some of the hair back! it means losing about a hundred pounds.


It will be a trip of self discovery and also one of remembrance of a beautiful girl gone from our lives far too young and before she could fulfill her dreams.

It will be one that embraces living and learning and maybe even meeting some friends along the way. This journey in some small way can keep alive the dream that France-Anne had of "Making The World a Better Place".

France-Anne loved to laugh, she loved life, people and animals - she had a gentle kind heart ... just what we need more of in this world.

France-Anne's parents are in the process of setting up set up a memorial fund for their daughter - The France-Anne Sweeny Memorial Fund, there will be an official site which I will post as soon as it's up and running. It will be a beautiful way to help other children by way of scholarships and such. It will be informative and will have information to help and enlighten our younger generation.

Please visit the site and learn more. I will post the link as soon as it is available. If anyone would like to sponsor me on my journey that money will go to helping other teenagers fulfill their hopes and dreams of Making This World A Better Place. A penny a kilometer would be $72.28 and any other multiples thereof would be lovely and much appreciated.

Lots of updates coming on this trip and of course other entries made by Mare about our journey in life and of course updates on Tundie. I will post updates on where I am, weight, kilometers travelled, tidbits and maybe some pictures.

Thanks and talk to you soon!

Schwen