2023 Mind Aid Bike Ride Across Canada

Hi, I'm Matthew Dickson of MindAid.ca, and I am attempting to be the first person with schizophrenia to bicycle across Canada this summer! I want to show people the disease isn't a death sentence, and to give hope to those suffering with it.

I want people to donate to:

1. the national and provincial Schizophrenia Societies in Canada*

2. the Mind Aid nonprofits helping people with mental illness in developing countries (learn more about Mind Aid at www.MindAid.ca)*

*More information about how you can donate to these charities can be found at the bike ride webpage at www.MindAid.ca/2023-bike-ride

This GoFundMe page is to help pay for the trip expenses, like food, camping fees, and ferry fees (about $5,000).

Food: I am hoping to raise at least $2000-$3000 for food. I will be eating roughly 6,000 calories/day (I bicycled across Canada when I was 20 and that's what I ate back then).

Camping fees: I could find places to sleep for free with ioverlander.com, warmshowers.org, couchsurfing.com, or even ask to sleep in people's backyards (two guys I met biked across Canada this way!).

I would prefer to stay in campgrounds (or hotels, really!), as it is just easier (in my opinion). Camping fees would be roughly $1000/month ($30-$35/night) for 2.5 months, so about $2,500.

Ferry fees: I will be taking the Manitoulin Island ferry, PEI bridge, PEI ferry, and NL ferry. These will be walk-on fees, so not too expensive.

I will be biking by myself, with no support vehicle, but people are welcome to bike with me for parts of the trip, or even all of the trip! I am challenging celebrities/athletes to bike with me! If you know anyone, please send them my way!

I leave Vancouver June 4, 2023, and get into Newfoundland in late August. A full itinerary for each day can be found at www.MindAid.ca/2023-bike-ride.

Events: I want to put on events along the way to meet the public, people with schizophrenia/mental illness, caregivers, mental health advocates, etc.

If anyone wants to help coordinate an event in your community while I'm there that night, please reach out to me! To find out if I'll be in your community, you can find the list of cities and towns I'll be in at www.MindAid.ca/2023-bike-ride.

Events could be outdoors for free in parks, on town hall front steps, or even in parking lots. Or community rooms could be rented in libraries, community centers, etc.