An Abbotsford man has returned home after cycling across Canada in 24 days, unofficially breaking the Guinness World Record by three days.
Corneliu Dobrin, 24, left Vancouver on Canada Day and headed east, ending his trip in Saint John, N.B.
“A few years ago I had the idea to go across Canada,” said Dobrin. “Out of curiosity I looked into the record just to see what it was and thought to myself ‘Hey, I think I can do that.’”
He departed from English Bay with his brother Alex driving behind him. However, he rode on his own from Calgary onward until his oldest brother Dan met up with him in Gander, N.L.
The trip was a mental and physical challenge.
“It gets really depressing when you’re by yourself all the time and you’re trying to bike 300 kilometres a day,” Dobrin said.
His knees and feet hurt and a pinched nerve caused him to lose some feeling in his right hand.
“(At) about 130 kilometres away I was thinking … that I wouldn’t be able to make it,” Dobrin said. “Then all of a sudden, (Alex’s) SUV pulls up next to me.”
Dobrin gave his brother his backpack and any extra weight he had on the bike.
“It was incredibly encouraging and relieving that I wouldn’t have to finish alone.”
He finished on July 24 and has sent photos and video of the trip to Guinness World Records for evaluation.
