Who are these guys? What are they doing? Are they nuts?

Nathan Jonah Kai Winter and Collin Gelderman are good buddies who are embarking on the adventure of a lifetime. They are taking a long-distance, cycling tour around North America starting and ending in their hometown of Edmonton, Alberta. Their tour will take them first to Vancouver, BC and then South along the American West Coast as far as San Diego. Then, East through the Southern US to Florida, North along the American East Coast to the Canadian Maritimes, and finally, East through Canada back to Edmonton.

We will be riding around twenty thousand kilometres over the course of our entire trip. We are hoping that every single kilometre will hold good reason to treasure the moment, and to spur us onward.

Nathan Jonah Kai Winter, an ardent proponent of equality amongst all social classes, is a Warehouse Facilitator at The Mustard Seed, an organization that delivers basic services, housing and employment to those experiencing poverty and homelessness in Calgary and Edmonton. In this role, he assists in managing the Personal Assistance Centre, a retail-style store that offers free clothing, toiletries and household goods to those in poverty. Nathan believes that offering a great outfit to the homeless can restore dignity where it has been lost. For the last three years, he has been living, working and worshipping amongst those in extreme need in the inner city of Edmonton, Alberta.

As a cycling enthusiast, Nathan advocates for cyclist’s rights and healthy bicycle maintenance. He is an all-year-round bicycle commuter, long-distance touring cyclist and lover of fixed-gear road bikes. Nathan is a member of the Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society which offers workshops and volunteer bicycle mechanics to the community.

Nathan is a bit of music nerd. He has more than 19,000 songs in his iTunes from all sorts of genres. He loves live music and has seen 57 out of his top 100 listened-to artists. Nathan believes that music is one of the most beautiful parts of life and can most often be common ground between strangers.

Collin Gelderman met Nathan while working for The Mustard Seed. The two share similar values, vision and hope in the possibility of ending poverty. Nathan and Collin also share the same love of adventure and willingness to meet new people and share our live's stories.

Collin is devoted to living a healthy lifestyle. He is passionate about eating well and keeping active. He considers himself a movie buff. Collin is up for watching anything, but prefers films that cause him to think critically about life and the art of film-making. His favourite movie is Beauty and the Beast.