Wallaceburg's Don Wells is gearing up for his longest trip yet.
For his 2017 Journey of Hope, he'll be riding an e-bike from Golden, British Columbia to Wallaceburg.
The trip will raise money and awareness for the Children's Health Foundation of Victoria Hospital in London and the Children's Make a Wish Foundation in Ottawa.
Wells, who will turn 68 shortly before he embarks on the journey, says he expects this be his last "hurrah."
"I will be calling it quits – I feel like it's time I take a rest," says Wells. "I'm hoping and praying that someone will take on the legacy and continue this thing down the road."
Over the last few years, Wells' personal health complications have slowed him down, including an ongoing battle with prostate cancer and several issues with his legs.
Those challenges prevented him from going on a trip this year, but he still managed to raise $16,000 for charity by canvassing local businesses and holding other fundraising events.
It's also because of those health challenges that Wells decided he would focus on raising money to help kids.
"When I go to London to see about my prostate cancer, I see these kids all the time," says Wells. "It's very heart-wrenching to see these kids, so I decided to go with the Children's Health Foundation and the Children's Make a Wish Foundation."
Wells knows next year's Journey of Hope will be quite a commitment, especially because this trip will be somewhere around 4,200kms – his longest trip to date was a 2,500km trip around Ontario.
"I've got three electric bikes going and a team of seven or eight going with me," says Wells. "It's going to take us about five or five and a half weeks to do this – we're hoping to do about 120km or 130km per day depending on what's going on."
Wells says he's planning to start his trip at the end of August 2017.