A Nanaimo real estate agent went on a 2,600-kilometre off-road motorbiking adventure on another continent in order to raise money for his hometown women's shelter.
Colin Caryk of Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty was one of three British Columbia participants in the 27-person Colombia Ride for Shelter this summer.
"We were riding four hours a day on the most brutal terrain you can think of…" he said. "We were riding in shot rock and broken trails and goat trails and up mountains."
The riders started and finished their nine-day ride in Santa Marta, Colombia, following the coast up to the northern tip of South America, then looping back and up into the mountains.
"[You're] checking your boots for scorpions and snakes, sleeping under mosquito netting, everything Indiana Jones would do," Caryk said. "There was times I went, 'I'm 63 years old, what am I doing here?'"
A few riders suffered falls and broken bones, but Caryk didn't drop his bike or get hurt. He speaks Spanish and enjoyed meeting people along the way, and also built camaraderie with the other riders.
"The coolest thing for me I think was when we were coming back through the mountains and we were above the canopy, you wake up in the morning and all you're looking at is the sun rising over the canopy," he said. "It's unquestionably one of the greenest countries I've ever been to, it even beats the Island … This was a green of a different colour."
In total, the charity ride raised $191,000 in support of the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, which was then broken down into smaller amounts so that each participant could support their local women's shelter. Caryk said Haven Society's work is hugely important in the community, perhaps even more so since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that stressed domestic relationships everywhere. He was able to raise $5,000 for Haven.
