Cyclist prepares for epic trip
Only three years after a 7,000-km bike ride across Canada, Red Deer’s Fred Folkerts is getting back on the saddle for another epic journey.
Folkerts is planning to join about 220 other cyclists this summer for a 5,900-km cycle ride from Seattle, Wash. to Jersey City, New Jersey.
Jerry Loonstra, of Red Deer, and Hans Doef, of Lacombe, will also be in the group.
The Sea to Sea 2008 Bike Tour is organized by the Christian Reformed Church and is aimed at rising $1.5 million for programs aimed at stopping the spread of HIV and AIDS in Africa, and helping Central American farmers improve their crop yields.
Folkerts’ personal goal is to raise $10,000 and he already has just over $6,000.
His employer Nossack Fine Foods and Adviser Graphics have come on board as sponsors and he is busy looking for others before he goes.
Folkerts, who belongs to Red Deer’s New Life Fellowship Church, admits to a few butterflies.
“There’s a little bit of fear.
“We’re going to be going through Salt Lake,” he said of the Utah area known for intense heat and extreme dryness.
“It’s a whole different thing to have to deal with. It’s not fear, but apprehension I guess.”
Among the other challenges will be tackling a mountain pass in Colorado that will top 3,600 metres in elevation.
With the Canadian trek under his belt, the 58-year-old has a good idea of what to expect.
The first week of that cycle ride was the hardest, he said.
“Basically I had no idea what I was getting into.”
A 36-km climb in the Hope, B.C. area had him puffing pretty hard, he recalled.
But the fun increased as the journey progressed and his physical fitness improved. He described the experience as being part of a community of 100 that moved across the country.
“I was sad to see it over.”
Folkerts has taken a five-month leave of absence from Nossack to pursue his quest, which begins June 28 and is expected to wrap nine weeks later.
He is logging about 200 km a week in training. During the ride, the group is expected to cover about 117 km a day.
Folkerts said he has been interested in helping end the cycle of poverty for a decade, when he joined the steering committee that set up People’s Place.
He also sat on the first board of the city’s Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen.
To make donations to Folkerts go to www.SeatoSea.org and click on his profile.
Contact Paul Cowley at pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com
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