Lloyd Taylor has found a new life on the pedals of his bicycle.
Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2020, he found himself looking for answers. Joining a support group of people facing the disease called the Rigid Riders, he learned cycling was a powerful tool in slowing its progression.
"It was nice to find community and connect with people who have the disease," he said. "They held the first Spinning Wheels Relay that went west to east across the country.
"I had a chance to ride with them. It was supposed to be one day in Halifax and then it turned into three weeks. I loved it. I never got off the bike. I would call my wife at the end of each day and tell her 'I feel great' and she would say 'keep riding' and I ended up going all the way to the coast."
Parkinson's disease is the fastest growing neurological disease in the world and is growing fastest in Canada. To date, the cause of the illness is completely unknown and the only medication available was developed in the 1950s with a very limited success rate.
What appears to help slow the breakdown of physical movement is moving. Taylor said the best activities to buy patients more time are cycling, boxing and dancing.
"What people with Parkinson's need is access to exercise programs," he said. "Exercise is the best medicine we have. There's been all kinds of medical studies that show exercise can do more to slow the progression of the disease than anything else. The drugs we have just mask the symptoms, they don't slow it.
"Developing programs in communities that people with Parkinson's can access, getting people out and feeling comfortable exercising is really key."
Having found new freedom on his wheels, Taylor set about raising awareness about Parkinson's and fundraising to find a cure, which brought him to Inuvik as part of a nationwide campaign.
Taylor set out from Dawson City, Yukon and began peddling his way to the Arctic coast. Through his journey he made new friends and kindled hope in fellow patients.
"The beauty of the land is staggering, it's beyond anything I could have imagined," he said. "We stayed a night a in Eagle Plains. Staggered into the bar, there were some guys at the bar and we started to chat. One guy asks me what we were doing and I tell him. He turns to me and tells me he was just diagnosed three months ago. We ended up talking for two hours.
"Those are the kind of interactions we had over and over again. It lets you know you're on the right path."
It was a steady ride for Taylor along the Dempster and his support crew, but even with his determination and ability to move freely on a bicycle, Taylor said the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway was still the biggest test of the journey.
It was halfway from Inuvik to his destination he almost doubted he would make it, which made reaching the point and touching the Arctic Ocean all the more sweeter of a victory.
"It was a grind, I'll tell ya," he said. "We were going to do it in one day, we ended up taking two days. It feels incredible to finally get here. It's been in the works for so long, to actually arrive is unreal. We went right out to the point, pitched the tent and camped.
"If there wasn't a team of guys around me SA国际影视传媒� which includes one guy with Parkinson's and four guys kind enough to be here for support SA国际影视传媒� I don't I could have made it yesterday. We really were up against it."
The Spinning Wheels relay is a cross country marathon of 10,000 kilometres.
Having completed his end of the campaign, Taylor said the next step as for all the cyclists to converge in Toronto and make a final lap to Ottawa. The $46,000 and counting raised will go to fund cycling programs in communities Taylor and his fellow riders touched.
A degenerative disease, Parkinson's prevents its victims from moving through nervous tremors and shakes. It gets progressively worse as time goes on and people diagnosed with it can face mental health issues alongside physical disabilities.
"It's difficult to track," he said. "Someone with Parkinson's unfortunately is gradually getting worse every day, but you can't know how much worse you might have been if you hadn't taken steps.
"You look at yourself after a year of exercise and you are invariably worse, but not as worse as you would have been without."
Living with it can carry a stigma and Taylor noted a lot of people with Parkinson's attempt to hide it out of embarrassment. Because of the tremors, shakes and slow movements victims can be falsely accused of being intoxicated.
He said people need to remember that people with Parkinson's cannot help their symptoms but they're still the same person inside.
"You need community," he said. "Don't live with this disease on your own. It's a nasty disease, it's gonna tear you down. You need support.
"You need exercise but you need community as well. It was my little community that got me through."
