THUNDER BAY — Coming from Port Coquitlam, B.C., the same home town as Terry Fox, Tyler J. Ashton said said he expected to "feel something" when he reached Thunder Bay on his first cross-country bicycle tour, " I don't think it's till this second time through that it is finally hitting me."
Ashton took a brief rest stop at the Terry Fox Lookout on Tuesday before hitting the road to complete his journey to back to British Columbia, on his return trip across Canada in support of research into Spondyloarthritis, a group of arthritis-related conditions that primarily affect the lower back.
"Taking the highway of courage and just knowing that I was rolling in the footsteps of someone who instilled hope in me for the first time — I'm just so grateful for this experience and everyone that's helped me along the way,” Ashton told Newswatch.
Beginning his journey on Vancouver Island, Ashton wasn't originally planning to return to Thunder Bay. But once he reached the TransCanada trail in Nova Scotia, Ashton said, he knew he had to go all the way home.
“I guess when I got to Cape Spirit, it kind of felt like that relay cone at the end of the track. And it was just like, I didn't have that full sense of accomplishment that I thought I would have. I knew in that moment that I had to ride back,” Ashton said.
Ashton is lives with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), an autoimmune disease that causes pain and stiffness in the back. It can also affect the knees, hips, eyes, skin, and gastrointestinal tract.
“More people have it than A.L.S., M.S., and R.A. combined, so that's more than half a million Canadians. Worst case, late-stage prognosis is spinal fusion. I have other daily symptoms like chronic fatigue, back pain, morning stiffness, and other things that I have to navigate as well,” Ashton said.
He said that having AS “can be very isolating,” so his message to people through his ride through Canada is “to let those know who have it, they're not alone, and they don't have to be.”
For those looking to learn more and help fund research on AS and spondyloarthritis, Ashton said people can go to his website, ElectrifyAS.ca. There is a also donation page where all proceeds go to the Canadian Spondyloarthritis Association.
Aston is also collecting donations through a GoFundMe page to support him directly as he makes his last 16,000 kilometres home.
