Dave MacKenzie left his home in Vancouver Island three months ago, pedaling from coast to coast, raising money to fight cancer.
After 90 days of cycling across the country, the New Brunswick native ended his personal journey at the Bay of Fundy.
“We want more survivors, we want less cancer and ultimately…no cancer,” says MacKenzie.
Along with his wife, Sherri MacKenzie, the two set off with the goal of raising $50,000 for cancer research.
After losing his mother, father in-law and two brother in-laws, the retired RCMP officer says he knew he had to do something to make a difference and honour his loved ones.
"Sadly our story is not unique, we've met incredible people all across Canada,” he says. “Everybody we talked to had been touched by cancer."
Sherri is a cancer survivor who says the journey was challenging at times. She says driving through weather conditions like thick fog and rain for hours on end was physically and mentally draining.
"I don't even enjoy driving from our home into Duncan which is twenty minutes,” she says.
Both say their sense of hope is what drove them to continue cycling.
"A little bit of a sore muscle, or a little bit of I’m tired, or I’m cold is pretty insufficient when you compare that to the difficulties of someone going through cancer,” he says.
On Saturday, a community of cyclists joined the two for the final moment of their journey in Saint John.
MacKenzie dumped out a jar of water from the Pacific Ocean as a promise he made to his four-year-old grandson.
“He gave it to us and said take it across the country and trade it off with some Atlantic water,” he says.
After the 7,500 kilometre journey, the couple says they are still $25,000 dollars short of their goal.
The two say they hope others will reach out with the same goal of helping those suffering from cancer.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mary Cranston.
