A Nova Scotia group that aims to encourage outdoor activity had their bikes stolen just days after completing a charity ride around Lake Ontario.
Four members of A For Adventure had biked more than 850 kilometres over the course of 14 days to raise $27,000 for Amici Camping Charity, which sends children to summer camps.
READ MORE: 4 men cycling around Lake Ontario raising money for charity, encouraging youth to be active
“We wrapped up the trip on Tuesday and then we were making our way back to the East Coast. We overnighted in Kingston, pulled up to a hotel, had our bikes locked up at the back of our car and then woke up in the morning to find out they were gone,” said Jan LaPierre, a co-founder with A For Adventure.
Two bikes were taken — each worth about $2,500.
“We were pretty heartbroken. Certainly those bikes have more of a sentimental value to us than anything else. We just spent two weeks on them in the middle of winter riding around what is a very large lake, we come to find out,” LaPierre said.
WATCH: The cyclists set a goal of raising $10,000 to send underprivileged children to summer camp
The group filed a police report in Kingston but had to ultimately make their way home to the Maritimes without their bikes.
They say the silver lining in the story is that they had already completed their charity ride and met with schoolchildren along the way.
“We’re still filled up with tons of inspiration. It was an amazing trip and this won’t dampen our spirits,” LaPierre said.
“This really kind of reinforces why we did this trip in the first place. The more that we can hopefully get kids outside, experiencing nature, connecting with adventure, then the less this kind of thing is going to happen. The less kids are going to grow up and make decisions like this. So at the end of the day, it sucks but certainly keeps us motivated to want to keep going.”
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