Peace River man completes bike ride to Nanaimo to raise awareness for addictions

Around the beginning of August, Peace River resident, Dakota Mantai began his journey from Peace River to Nanaimo, B.C. to raise awareness about the impact of addiction and raise money for recovery centres.

“When you’re passionate about something, and you want to see change, then you’ll do whatever you have to do,” says Mantai. “For me, that was this ride.”

Mantai arrived in Nanaimo on Monday night after close to a month of bicycle riding. He set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for recovery centres, and so far his campaign has raised over $2,500. Mantai says his goal is to raise $30,000.

“Addiction is a huge problem, and it’s in the closet for most people,” says Mantai.

Mantai explains biking through B.C. with no electricity made his bike trip seem like a blur, but he says his most memorable moment on the road was when he made a stop in the town of Yale where he met a friendly woman who taught him how to can salmon.

“There was this lady in Yale, British Columbia, and I was at this little book shop on the side of the road,” says Mantai. “Somebody had set up $1 books on an honour system, and their dog came and barked me off.” Mantai says the woman who took him in noticed the dog barking at him, and offered him a place to stay. “She took me in and gave me her trailer to stay in for the night and cooked me dinner – and shown me how to can some salmon the old school way.”

Mantai says he’s blown away by the kindness of strangers. He says the hospitality shown by people that didn’t know who he was left him with an indescribable feeling.

As he was biking through B.C., Mantai had already decided he wants to do something like this again. “Before my journey was even over, I was thinking about ‘where am I going to go next?’ My goal of raising $30,000 is far from being reached, but I want to keep on riding.”

Mount Robson National Park and Jasper were mentioned as some of Mantai’s favourite places to bike through.

“Everything just kind of gets bigger,” says Mantai. “Once you get into the lower mainlaind of British Columbia – I can’t really describe it. It’s a vast beauty, I guess you could call it. It’s a dreamland out there.”

Now that Mantai is in Nanaimo, the next thing on the list for him to do is find some work, and do some surfing at Tofino. He adds another dream of his is to go to school for motorcycle mechanics.

“I think I’m going to stay out in B.C., I like it here. Tofino is still on the list, I’ll hopefully go out there and do some surfing – and just kind of go with the wind, but have a goal which is obviously going to school and putting myself on a good path to be on – and out here is where I think it is.”

Now that his journey is complete, Mantai says he’s overwhelmed with different emotions. “I’m happy that I went through it all, and I’m happy that I was able to stick through it. I’m so fortunate that there were so many people out there that were willing to listen, and just care. The feeling of support is just great.”

You can keep track of Dakota’s fundraising progress at his GoFundMe page here.

-JD