Imagine setting a world record as the first couple in history to cross the Mexico-US Border on a tandem bicycle.
Well, that is what Lady JB Owen, and her husband Peter Giesin have done as they are in the final leg of a 9,100-kilometre cycling journey from Cabo San Lucas to Homer, Alaska.
The Red Deer duo were in Prince George for a 24-hour period between Monday and Tuesday afternoon as they raise funds to help build classrooms to undeserved communities across the globe for Inspiration Classrooms.
Owen, who is a 26-time best-selling author says once this journey is done, they will have reached another milestone.
“What is really exciting about this is trip is that we are trying to set a world record because the entire cycle ride from Cabo to Homer is ten times the elevation of Mount Everest. So, we’ll basically cycle up and down Mount Everest ten times on this cross-continental journey.”
“We built two schools already in Indonesia, we have created this idea where we can create a school using a decommissioned cargo container and then we put all the blocks, windows, doors and everything to build it, we ship it anywhere around the world and in 11 days we can build a school.”
“It is an amazing opportunity to solve a problem where children need a safe environment. Kids can’t learn if they aren’t safe and secure. Now, we are helping institutions that already exist by giving them a building and create an environment for kids to learn in,” added Owen.
Giesin and Owen believes their journey is one of inspiration where it can show others you can accomplish what you set your mind too.
“The world needs inspiration these days. We feel that we can just bring that bye hanging out enjoying the world and showing people that anything you put your mind too can happen,” said Giesin.
“We really want to show people what is possible in their lives. At 55 and 57, we decided to go on this epic journey to cycle across the continent but the whole goal is to really unite humanity. Humanity is at a place now where we need inspiration and creativity and that if you have a dream, you can go out there and make it happen,” added Owen.
During the peak of the pandemic in 2020 is where the idea of cycling came into to play.
The first sojourn was from their home base in Red Deer with the end point the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.
The couple is on their 68th day of cycling with another three weeks left to go before they reach Alaska.
Owen and Giesin added the generosity of people bringing them food, inviting them into their home or parking the RV in a driveway still shows how strong humanity is.
“We had an accident in Mexico where our awning got ripped off our RV and a family of nationals stopped and helped us. We have had multiple experiences where people have just come and talk to us in the parking lot and ask what we are doing and every single day we met humanity in a beautiful way.”
“We had a family let us stay in their RV park for free and made us a beautiful dinner. We had a woman buy us some baked goods from a bakery and say we need some more food. We had people on the side of the road to see if we needed help. We had people knock on the doors of our RV – humanity is awesome, and we see it every single day and we want to keep telling these stories because what we see right now isn’t the representation on how beautiful people are.” said Owen.
“Not only do people help us along the way, but we also met the most incredible this year since we rode up the Pacific Coast Highway, we experienced a lot of other riders along the route. We met so many incredible riders that are out doing this thing – some of them are single, others are in pairs, and we saw a couple families that had young kids out cycling through the environment,” added Giesin.
They spent 26 days in California and needed 23 days to cycle through the Baja.
Owen added the northern capital was an important stop for them on their way to Alaska.
“Prince George is sort of the gateway up to Whitehorse, Dawson City and then on to Alaska. It is a great stop for us, and we had to do a repair here. We had trouble with our alternator on the RV and Prince George was the only place in Western Canada that had the part we needed to get our RV fixed.”
Once in Alaska, the plan is to enjoy the state for a few days before slowly making their way back to Red Deer.
“It really is one of the last frontiers. I have been there in the past but never had the time to experience it with the love of my life. We have talked about driving back the exact same route that we just rode so we can take more time to experience it. We had a day here in Prince George and am sure there are some amazing things to do so what could do to experience them on a deeper level,” said Giesin.
Giesin and Owen cycle roughly 100 to 150 kilometres per day, which is the equivalent of seven to eight hours on the bike.
“You are going at a fast enough pace that you can make some distance and see some things over a given day, but you are also going slow enough to really experience to stop and pick blackberries along the side of the road and all that. We are the ripple effect because we ride a tandem bike, we are the first ripple in the wind,” said Giesin.
A compilation book is also in the works called “Ignite Humanity” which is collecting the stories of other people who are doing amazing things in their lives.
It will be a 280-person single book, attempting to break another Guinness World Record for largest compilation book.
Owen and Giesin’s cycling journeys also consist of riding from Calgary to the Alaska Border in 2021, the year after was a cross-country sojourn from Vancouver to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Two years ago (2023), both cyclists also rode from Calgary to Cabo San Lucas.
The couple is exploring the idea of a criss-cross across America ride where the ride goes from Seattle to Miami to Los Angeles and then to New York.
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