Journeys + Destinations

6,929 kms, 57 ride days, 80 days total, $25,656 raised for the Alzheimer’s society of B.C., 147 generous sponsors, 3 flat tires, 3 broken spokes, 3 chains, 63,000 vertical meters climbed. 

– August 12, 2013 blog post, adrenalens.ca

When Keith Fukushima reached St. John’s Newfoundland on August 9, he achieved his goal of riding his bike solo (mostly) from one coast to the other, in the process raising funds and awareness for the Alzheimer Society of B.C.

It’s truly a feat of determination and endurance made all the more admirable by the fact that he blogged about his journey the entire 7,000 kilometres using his iPhone to both write and take the many photos that grace the blog site. If you’ve ever tried typing out a simple text on an iPhone’s little screen you’ll have some appreciation of what it took to write those extensive blog posts – after having cycled all day carrying 100 pounds of gear. Check out Keith’s journey at adrenalens.ca. It’s well worth a visit.

Another journey that we celebrate this month is the one that led to the historic Redress Agreement, signed in Ottawa on September 22, 1988 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and NAJC President Art Miki. Make no mistake, it was a journey, one that took many years and many kilometres.

It is interesting to speculate, in hindsight, how the battle for Redress would have played out in the age of social media and the internet, which was only in its infancy when the journey reached its cathartic end on that September day. Crowdsourcing, blogging, tweeting, online petitions, Facebook, wikis, podcasts, youtube,  Skype – one can see how all these tools would have been useful as the fight for a just settlement played out 25 years ago. Instead, the small band of community activists had the phone, the news media, word of mouth, people’s homes, the airlines, The Bulletin and the Nikkei Voice as the tools at their disposal.

Would the outcome have been different if the battle was fought today? It’s impossible to know of course, but it’s fun to speculate.