On June 3, Dan Paarsmarkt turned his road bike towards Cremona and began to pedal. He didn’t stop until he reached the northern Alberta border, then he turned around and went south, riding the backroads and country highways of his home province to the American border, and then finally, back home to Cochrane.
Paarsmarkt, a member of the Cochrane Rotary Club, began long distance cycling in 1987, He’s covered great distances on two wheels, but none greater than the 1,600 kilometres he traversed over two weeks for the campaign called Pedalling For Polio, a Rotary Club initiative bent on the eradication of Polio.
For the last two weeks Paarsmarkt has been cycling the length of the province, covering on average 130 to 140 kilometres a day. For six or seven hours a day he’d ride, burning about 6,500 to 7,000 calories a day.
Last October, Paarsmarkt was sitting with a fellow Rotarian when he decided to take part in the Pedalling For Polio campaign. It’s a cause he said is close to all Rotarians since Rotary International took on Polio eradication as a cause in the late 80’s.
On June 17, two weeks after he set out from Cochrane, Paarsmarkt officially ended his ride as he travelled the last kilometre from the Frank Wills Memorial Hall to the Cochrane Rotary Club where a big reception was held to mark the end of his journey. To commemorate Paarsmarkt’s odyssey, the Rotary Club held a lunch and Mayor Jeff Genung and MLA Peter Guthrie were in attendance to congratulate Paarsmarkt and the Club.
“Everybody rides across Canada,” Paarsmarkt said right before he pedalled away from the Frank Wills Hall. “I have never heard of somebody who rides the length of the province, so I thought, here is the chance.”
At the Rotary Club’s meeting at the Cochrane Lion’s Centre after Paarsmarkt wrapped up his ride, he told stories and detailed what his experience had been like for the last two weeks.
Paarsmarkt said of his journey, “some days were easier than others…as you get older it’s still a challenge, but it was a good experience.”
Paarsmarkt said it was a perfect time to undertake the Pedalling For Polio campaign. This month Rotary International is holding its convention in Alberta, and Paarsmarkt’s ride was able to highlight what Rotary is all about.
“Bringing Rotary to the forefront–what Rotary does–we’re trying to eradicate polio,” he said. “It’s a big journey that all Rotarians are on and I just decided to join and raise money.”
