Chris Luff has fulfilled a lifelong dream of cycling across Canada, all while helping hungry kids in the process.
The 40-year-old West Kelowna man, who grew up in Enderby, had been pedalling across the country since the end of April, starting on the east coast and finally making it to B.C.
"I wanted to to challenge myself with something really big like this, but I wanted it to be about something bigger than just me," Luff told The Morning Star while stopping in Vernon June 19, which was day 45 of his journey, leaving him with just five days left to reach his final destination of Tofino on Vancouver Island.
Luff arrived in Tofino Monday, June 24, meeting his goal of crossing the country in exactly 50 days.
Luff said two of his passions are people and food, which led to his decision to provide food to people.
After his 8,000-kilometre journey, Luff has met his goal of raising $30,000 for Canadian Feed the Children, a charity that provides food security to families, particularly Indigenous, immigrant and other vulnerable families, in Canada.
The cycling journey gave Luff the chance to see parts of the country for the first time. He said some of his favourite stops on the mammoth bike ride were coastal communities in Newfoundland, as well as Quebec City.
"My rest day (in Quebec City) was like a whole tourist day, which wasn't very restful," Luff said with a laugh. "But it was amazing."
Despite the incredible amount of stamina it takes to cycle more than 160 kilometres a day for over a month and a half, Luff said he was "feeling great" at his Vernon stop.
He's had to eat food every hour to give his body enough energy for the cross-country trek. In between spending 10 hours on the bike per day, he eats about five full meals and 10 snacks.
"I have to eat lots of carbs and lots of protein," he said. "I had my mother-in-law make me dehydrated meals."
Luff is humbled by all the financial support his cycling has been able to generate for kids in need of food.
He had words of inspiration for anyone who followed his journey: "I would say dream big, because you never know what you might be able to accomplish, whether it be for personal gain or helping outside yourself."
People looking to support Luff's fundraising journey can do so on GoFundMe.
