Lucknow's Jurjen Weerman completes cross-country journey

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

Jurjen Weerman of Lucknow completed his cross-country cycling adventure last week, reaching St. John’s, Newfoundland just under 100 days after beginning in Jordan River, British Columbia.

 

In an e-mail to The Citizen, Weerman detailed the statistics of his journey. He said he travelled 8,661.92 kilometres over the course of 98 days, 74 of which were spent cycling while the other 24 were set aside from resting, travelling and sight-seeing.
Along the way, he stayed with 40 different friends or “Warm Shower” stops, at 54 campgrounds, two motels and two nights of camping out in the wild.

 

Non-cycling travel included two plane rides and four ferry trips. During the second half of the trip, he lost over 15 pounds.
He used the same set of tires for the entire trip, adding that they likely have another 10,000 kilometres left on them, though he did suffer his first and only flat tire at the very end of his trip in St. John’s.

 

He went through two bike chains and had a few minor repairs made to his bike after all of that travel.

 

Weerman said he was generally impressed with most of the people he met out on the road. He said most gave him the space he needed to ride safely on the tour, though he partially credits his high-visibility clothing and a very bright flashing light on the back of his bike.

 

“My biggest wish is that local, provincial and federal governments are willing to work together to create [safer] cycling areas along roads so more people will be able to cycle safely in our beautiful country because Canada has so much to offer,” he said in an e-mail to The Citizen. “[My most remarkable memory] is the kindness of strangers, random people who opened their homes, gave food and shelter, donated to the foundations, helped out to repair the bicycle.

 

“[My] most annoying memory is all the junk and garbage that you see along the roads and trails in nature. People who do this should be ashamed of themselves. Specifically, I would encourage the junk food and bottle companies to take leadership in this matter by creating faster compostable packing materials.”

 

In his e-mail, Weerman said he wanted to thank everyone who helped him along the way, including those who have donated to the two local hospital foundations. He also thanked the team at Euro-Parts in Belgrave and his wife, his children and grandchildren, who were able to change their lives around, enabling Weerman to undertake the tour.