Mat Fee was addicted to drugs and alcohol for more than half his life before he finally made a change. Now, he's pedalling across the country to inspire others.
Fee rolled into Kelowna Monday (Sept. 23) on his single-speed BMX bike, after riding 6,500 kilometres from Halifax on his Cycling For Sobriety tour.
“I'm just trying to inspire people,” Fee says. “I know what it's like to feel hopeless, but there is hope. I just want to encourage people to chase their dreams.”
The tour is in partnership with the John Volken Academy, a recovery facility in Surrey that Fee credits with saving his life. After attending seven different treatment centres, and going back to using drugs each time, Fee has been sober for almost four years since attending the Volken Academy.
“We've met countless people across Canada, in all different communities,” Fee says. “It breaks my heart seeing the addiction problem in the country, but there are lots of success stories. People have managed to turn their lives around.”
Fee, a longtime BMX rider, says the idea of a cross-country ride came to him when he was just seven years old, after watching an old BMX movie called Rad.
“It stuck with me throughout my life,” Fee tells Castanet. “When I was at the academy, I changed my life around. I was doing really good and all of a sudden that idea came back to me. Right away, I just knew that it was going to happen and I was like, 'Oh no, I'm going to have to do this.'”
As someone who has gone through the lows of addiction and come out the other side, Fee says many people's attitude towards those suffering from addiction is backward.
“There's a lot of shame and a lot of chastising, but it just has to start with everybody,” Fee says. “Love and kindness is the solution to what's going on.”
Fee says he believes he'll be the first to complete the cross-Canada journey on a single-speed bicycle. He expects to hit the 7,200-kilometre mark by the time he gets to his finish line in Victoria.
Fee will depart Kelowna today (Sept. 25) and head to the Coquihalla.
— Nicholas Johansen, Castanet
