A psychologist from the Lower Mainland is cycling across Canada to raise awareness and money for youth mental health services.

Dr. Alex DiGiacomo kicked off her over 6,000 km journey Saturday at Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver, with a goal of  showing solidarity with kids and teens struggling to access mental health care.

“I think there are so many parallels between the challenges that you face crossing the country by bike and what kids and families face in Canada when they’re trying to access care for their kids and their teens,” she said.

“I wanted it to be something very challenging… There’s so much uncertainty for me given that I’m an amateur cyclist when I’m cycling across the country, that’s a parallel to kids facing barriers to access.”

On Day 1, DiGiacomo says she made it to Agassiz, with Sunday — Day 2 — travels consisting of cycling along the Coquihalla Highway from Agassiz to Merritt.

“I knew that Day 2 was going to be the absolute hardest day, and not just because of the distance but the elevation, it was 1,933 meters in elevation, it was super hot, there are no shoulders, and the traffic is nuts,” she said.

“It’s so ironic because I thought the biggest challenge would be the elevation, but honestly, I didn’t even notice it because I was so terrified about all the other things that were going on…There’s just no shoulder at all, so on one side of me was a cliff and the other side of me were transport trucks just barreling by.”

After she made it to Merritt, DiGiacomo says she cycled to Kamloops for Day 3 on Monday before heading out to Salmon Arm on Tuesday for Day 4.

She says this is just the start of her journey cycling from coast to coast.

“I am trying to take this one day at a time because if you do not take it one day at a time, there’s just no way to do it. But roughly on average, it’s about 140 kilometers per day — four days on, one day off.”

Dr. DiGiacomo says she chose charities in each province, working specifically to fund mental health services & resources for kids, teens, and their families.

A link to donate to her fundraiser — #breakthecycle: Crossing Canada for Youth Mental Health — can be found here.