If you were travelling from Regina last week and happened to see a young man on a Unicycle peddling down the highway and thought it was some type of Prairie mirage, you were wrong, he was very much real.
Paul Abraham, 22, is known as The Unicycle Guy in Toronto and flew into Regina where he started his ride at City Hall and will make his way back to Toronto all in support of Crohn's disease.
"It's over 26,000 km, it's not a joke, I'm doing this for awareness and I'm doing it, so when it's all said and done I can say you know what, I put 110 per cent into this. I put everything I had, all my resources and energy, time and whatever comes out of it no matter what will be positive because of that," he said.
With any long trip one must make pit stops to recharge for the long road ahead and on Friday May 2, Abrahams did just that by stopping in Carlyle. In doing so the Observer had the opportunity to sit down with the cyclist and talk about his journey.
He said it all began last May when he decided to ride from Montreal to Toronto to raise money for the Sick Kids Hospital after visiting the hospital.
"What I saw was kids fighting there were fight various diseases and there was one kid in particular that was 9-years-old, his name was Mike. I never forget this, we're there and he was playing with Legoand I was saying 'let me show this guy some cool stuff and make him laugh.' I got the sense that he just wanted people around him and looking him the eye and anything could have gone wrong in that moment and it would have been cool," he said.
"The thing that got me was when we left, I was talking to one of the nurses and staff and they mentioned he was being prepped for surgery for a tumor in the back of his brain. I couldn't grasp the concept of clinging to life like that because your nine, your body is only so developed."
Abraham said a procedure like that would put an ample amount of stress on any adult and for this child to have such calm was an intense feeling which brought him to tears. Although he never found out what happened to Mike, it was the beginning of his dedication to charity.
The success of that trip sparked his current initiative of raising awareness for Crohn's disease.
It is an inflammatory bowel disease that can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus with varying symptoms. The exact cause of the disease is unclear and there has been continued research. With the success of his Montreal ride Abraham was now in search of a new charity to pedal for.
"The only reason why I picked Crohn's Disease was the influence of the people that were around me and the number of people that approached me within time I was planning the time to do it. The amount of people that came to me and said hey, I have Crohn's, my friend has Crohn's or my mom has Crohn's," he said.
"In about three months there was about 30 and 50 people that I had met just on the street that were like, 'I see you around Unicycling all around the city and it would just come up. I found I kept hearing Crohn's."
He then approached the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada in Toronto and offered to become third party fundraiser for the organization.
He also joined with a team of cyclists riding for the same cause and is scheduled to meet up at the Crohn's and Colitis office in Toronto. He said cycling can be a challenge, especially being alone, but when he meets people often times he is rejuvenated. He added that his drive grows even more when he meets people who identify with the disease, saying those are the moments he lives for.
"They basically just open up to me emotionally. Whether they cry or laugh in that moment it's really intense and it's those moments that I say 'This is what I am doing this for," he said.
"I believe that there are strange forces, bigger than we understand in this world and you can really manipulate them and maybe you don't really need to but they just kind of work in certain ways. Especially positive energy, it's a thing that's there and you can't deny it."
Abraham said Saskatchewan has been very good to him as he's heard stories of the prairie winds and storms, but said he has yet to see one. He also indicated that the topography of Saskatchewan has allowed his ride to be that much more enjoyable.
"I get in almost a dream state, everything that has relevance in my life or things people may say to me on the road or things people say to me before I embark on my next day, it sticks with me throughout the day," he said.
His next stop will be Virden, MB, and then two more towns before he has to a meet up with cyclists in Winnipeg. His blog, Tours4cause.com provides an update of his 25 day journey including all the stops and the interesting people he meets along the way.
