After a months-long journey across Canada, Ontario man Kevin Mills, a quadriplegic person who has defied the odds, celebrates with cycling partner Nikki Davenport at the finish line at the Ogden Point Breakwater in Victoria, on Sept. 30.Chad Hipolito/The Globe and Mail
After pedalling more than 8,400 kilometres across Canada this summer, Kevin Mills was in British Columbia and approaching Mile 0 of the Trans-Canada Highway when he started to feel nervous.
Mr. Mills is the first quadriplegic person to cross the country by pedalling with his arms and shoulders.
On his journey, he endured hurricane-force winds, sketchy gravel roads, punishing climbs through the Rocky Mountains and near-misses with passing vehicles.
But as the Salish Sea came into view on Victoria’s waterfront, he knew a crowd of family, friends and well-wishers awaited him at the finish line for an emotional reunion.
“Coming down here to the ocean, it was pretty surreal. I had butterflies,” he said in an interview, his jacket still damp from a celebratory soaking of champagne. “It’s having all your loved ones here at once.”
Alongside his cycling partner and trainer, Nikki Davenport, Mr. Mills’s journey began on May 24 at Canada’s most easterly point of land, the Cape Spear Lighthouse in Newfoundland. By the time the pair reached Victoria’s Ogden Point Breakwater Lighthouse on Saturday, his customized bike was in rough shape.
“It’s pretty beat up. The brakes are just about done. But it made it,” said Mr. Mills, who is 43 and from Newmarket, Ont.
All along the route, they were met with unrelenting kindness – from roadside cheers and meals from strangers, to the private donors who helped get him back on the road when the devastating theft of his specially adapted bike in Quebec City almost derailed the endeavour.
His effort also attracted the support of a pair of A-list Hollywood movie stars. Kate Winslet sent “a really nice donation” after hearing about his journey on the BBC. “She’s super nice, and she told her friend Edward Norton about it and he also donated. So it was pretty amazing. It made the trip more secure.”
Having his bike stolen was demoralizing, but it wasn’t the only low point. There was the grind of crossing the Prairies against strong headwinds. “There was a point where it was just, ‘I don’t know if I can do this.’”
Ms. Davenport, left, joins Mr. Mills and his parents Barb and Ken Mills to celebrate the months-long journey across Canada.Chad Hipolito/The Globe and Mail
Then they hit the Rocky Mountains. This was the section he had dreaded because of the long, steep climbs. Instead, it proved to be the highlight. “They were so beautiful. There’s something to look at the whole time. I think the Rockies were probably my favourite part.”
Mr. Mills has used his journey to advocate for cycling trails that are more accessible to people with disabilities, and the team raised roughly $40,000 to help others get active with adaptive sports equipment and activity-based therapy for people with disabilities.
Mr. Mills was an athlete before a spinal-cord injury in 2009. Doctors initially gave him a bleak diagnosis of extremely limited mobility. After a year of rehabilitation therapy, however, he began competing in marathons using a wheelchair – often finishing dead last.
After years of trial and error, he found a hand cycle attachment for his wheelchair. He has limited hand and arm function, but using special grips, he can pull the cranks on his customized bike using the power in his shoulders and arms, with a power-assist option for steep climbs.
“This is what he needed to do,” said his wife, Heather Cairns-Mills. “He was a runner, an avid rock climber, a scuba diver, a rescue diver and a paramedic. His physicality was everything to him. … When he said he was going to go across Canada, I knew – of course he will.”
Mr. Mills said he’s ready for this adventure to be over, but he wants to keep the momentum going. His journey was tracked on the Pedaling Possibilities website, with a goal of mapping out an accessible trans-Canada bike route for others in the community.
His route, in the end, wasn’t ideal. Loose gravel roads, dead ends and rough trails forced the pair to stick mostly to pavement. And with that, they were contending with vehicle traffic. “Some of the cars almost skimmed me with their mirrors. There’s definitely been some very scary times in traffic.”
After a spinal-cord injury in 2009 left him quadriplegic, Mr. Mills has defied the odds by hand-cycling across Canada.Chad Hipolito/The Globe and Mail
What he’d like to see, one day, is a continuous bike lane across Canada, separated from cars and wide enough for a wheelchair. “And I think when that happens, you’re going to see a lot more people on it.”
The journey has changed him. He has learned to overcome his fear of public speaking in order to share his message – and he’s pleased with what it has done for his body.
“My body’s definitely changed,” he said. “I probably look slimmer and my shoulders have definitely grown. I had to get a larger shirt. So yeah, hopefully my shoulders stay as they are.”
People take photos of Mr. Mills and Ms. Davenport, cycling partner and neuro recovery specialist, at the Ogden Point Breakwater.Chad Hipolito/The Globe and Mail
Mr. Mills reaches the finish line at the Ogden Point Breakwater.Chad Hipolito/The Globe and Mail
Mr. Mills shares a long-awaited hug with his wife Heather as he reaches the end of his months-long journey.Chad Hipolito/The Globe and Mail
Mr. Mills and his team raised roughly $40,000 for adaptive sports equipment and activity-based therapy for people with disabilities.Chad Hipolito/The Globe and Mail