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In an era of multi-tasking, Ryan Brown is a cross-Canada cyclist, a musician, a personal trainer at World Gym and potentially a reality TV show star.
Even though his 8,000-kilometre cycling odyssey ended on Oct. 15, he‘s still working toward his goal of raising $10,000 for the Childhood Cancer Foundation of Canada.
Those efforts included a performance by his band, Melish, at Oasis Nightclub in Kelowna Friday, with all of the proceeds from the show and raffles going to the foundation.
Brown‘s other goal for his bicycle trek was raising awareness of cancer.
He did more than 20 musical performances and received donations for three foundations.
He appeared on television numerous times, did interviews with about 50 radio stations, stories and photos appeared in 15-20 newspapers, and 350,000 people followed his journey on Facebook and his websites: www.mrryanbrown.com and www.whoisryanbrown.com.
The trip was the result of his father, Mel, dying from a brain tumour in Medicine Hat five years ago while Ryan was an audio engineering student at Okanagan University College in Kelowna.
“I couldn‘t really do anything for him except talk to him on the phone. It was torture for me to listen to him,” he recalled.
After his father‘s death at the age of 51, Brown and his wife, Jenn, talked about doing something to honour Mel, in addition to naming their three-piece band, Melish, after him.
They decided on a cross-Canada cycling trip to raise money and awareness of cancer, combining that with a series of musical performances and filming their adventures for a reality TV show.
The trip began and ended with natural disasters.
Brown left Victoria on July 19, the same day they were told by text message to leave their Fintry home as a result of the Terrace Mountain forest fire.
Brown had only one day of rain until he arrived in Toronto. From that point on, it rained every day and he arrived in St. John‘s, N.L., at the same time as hurricane Isaac.
When asked how he felt when he arrived on Canada‘s east coast, he responded: “Honestly, I feel like I‘m just getting warmed up. I want to jump on that boat right there, go to Europe and keep going.”
A world tour is now being considered, but for that he would need major sponsors. This trip cost him personally more than $50,000.
Brown brought back 150 hours of video, which he hopes to turn into a reality TV show or documentary.
There was lots of drama from the threat of losing his first home in a forest fire to hospitalization for an Achilles tendon to semi-trailers jackknifing as the hurricane blew in.
However, “it was worthwhile. I‘d do it again in a heartbeat. It was life-changing. It woke me up, for sure,” he said.
“We‘d play these shows and people would take us aside after and they would pour their hearts out. They‘d give us pictures of people that have been touched by cancer, funeral pamphlets. We have about 50 pictures.”
In the meantime, the band is working on a live album, an acoustic album and planning a studio album. Copies of a five-song EP were handed out at Oasis Nightclub.
Brown has no doubt his dad would be proud of him and felt his presence on the trip more than once.
Brown used to shave his face but grew a beard on the journey. When family and friends saw him for the first time, several remarked they initially thought he was Mel, who had a beard.
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