They say the first step is always the hardest. In the case of a group of teens from Drumheller, the first pedal was the hardest.
Eight teens enrolled in the Duke of Edinburgh program, and one other who is planning to join later, set out on a bike trip from Drumheller to Banff on Thursday, a little after 10 a.m.
Erik Olsen (back; l-r), Constable Craig Nelson, Colin Rioux, Raine McDougald, Josh Wolfe, Michael Zabrielski, Maria Patterson (front; l-r), Natalie Westman, Eric Westman, Sam Brown, Devon Ptashnik, Liam McDougald, and Kerry Maquire set out on Wednesday morning on a 300 kilometre bike ride to Banff. They return home on Tuesday, August 27.
The teens were excited to get underway on the adventure.
“I’m really excited to go on the trip, but I’m a little nervous as well. We have some great leaders, who have really helped us out. It’s going to be an awesome trip. I have a lot of friends with me here, so it’ll be great,” said Liam McDougald, who is working through the Duke of Edinburgh program and participating in the trip.
The trip will take the teens over 300 kilometres, through the prairies, into the foothills, concluding in the mountains. As of today (Friday, August 23) the group will be biking from Acme to Airdrie.
“We’re going to be averaging about 45 kilometres per day, totally unsupported. Everything we need, we’ll be carrying on our bikes. We’ll do our provisioning at a couple grocery stores along the way,” said Colin Rioux, with Two Wheel View, who is facilitating the trip.
“We take frequent breaks, we eat as much as we can, we teach how to hydrate properly, and make sure to have a good mix of on and off-bike activity.”
The trip will go towards fulfilling the requirements of the Duke of Edinburgh program.
“The biggest one they’ll be filling is the Adventurous Journey, which will count towards their silver and bronze awards. There’s also going to be skill development and physical activity, which are other criteria,” said Corporal Kevin Charles, an RCMP liaison with the program.
“There are half a dozen different areas you have to work on to get the awards, so, depending on what they require, a lot of them are pretty close to their next awards.”
Planning for the trip began in April. Over the summer, the teens fundraised to make the trip a reality.
The hope is the bike trip will become an annual event.
“This is the first year for it. We hope to spread the word to other youth. The day after they get back, they’re in school, so, hopefully the word spreads and other kids want to do it next year,” said Charles.
Two Wheel View, does similar tours for Canadian teens, but generally goes international.
“It’s a little different from what we usually do. We’ve taken kids to Argentina and Norway, so we really get them out of their comfort zone. It helps provide global citizenship, leadership, empowerment, and to see the world outside our borders and other cultures. The Drumheller to Banff trip is more local and there are such fantastic landscapes here in Alberta,” said Rioux.
They return home on Tuesday, August 27, just in time to go back to school.
“This goes into our Duke of Edinburgh program and it’s great exercise. We’ll be biking over 40 kilometres per day,” said McDougald. “I’ve never done anything like this, but I’m excited to try!”
