Cross-country drug awareness ride reaches Ontario

Having travelled over 2600 kilometres by bike from the outskirts of Vancouver to Dryden, Ont., Ida Maye Fiddler and Megan Anishinabie stopped briefly to speak with the media to publicly endorse their cause: Ride for Hope 211.
What is Ride for Hope? The two First Nations women, along with their crew, work to bring awareness to prescription drug abuse and how it negatively affects their community of Sandy Lake First Nation.
There are five cyclists in total with a road crew in a van that holds supplies for the trip.
“We want to give our people hope in their everyday struggle with Oxycontin – they need to know that there people out there who are willing to help,” said Anishinabie.
A good portion of their fundraising will go towards creating an aftercare program within the community.
“People get sent out for treatment and they come back, and there’s nothing to help them cope with their addictions,” said Anishinabie.
She said the undertaking has been successful, and they’ve received a lot of encouragement and support from community members and strangers, but it hasn’t been an easy ride.
“Sometimes you get frustrated with each other, and we almost ran out of money once,” said Anishinabie.
She recalled times of waking up with a dead mouse in her tent, being woken up by trains and traversing narrow bridges with tractor-trailers whipping by.
Ida Maye Fiddler said that the entire trip has been amazing.
“Whatever the land had to offer, be it mountains or prairies, we went through all the elements and it has been an awesome journey.”
She added that they would not be where they are had it not been for the road crew, consisting of family members from Sandy Lake and Deer Lake First Nation.
“They support us, they take care of our bikes, they make sure we have water,” said Fiddler.
Fiddler said she doesn’t like hills, but is prepared to conquer the rocky terrain past Thunder Bay.
“I’ll walk up the hill if I have to, but it’s something to look forward to… bring it on.”
Linda Fiddler, mother to Ida and Sandy Lake band member said she was proud of them for starting this journey.
“I’m pulling for them to succeed in what they’re doing,” said Linda. She added that the crew is working very well with each other.
“They’re doing pretty good with communicating with each other, so there hasn’t been any tension.”
Dryden Mayor Craig Nutall pledged $10 to the Ride for Hope cause and wished them the best on their journey to Ottawa.