SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After spending the last few weeks in Yellowknife, a man dubbed the 'Bass Invader' and 'Arctic Jesus' is back on the road again, exploring Canada by bicycle.

Felipe Gomez takes a break at Old Town Glassworks. He was picking up some extra work to help fund his cross-Canada bicycle tour. Gomez, originally from Chile, has been towing his guitar and a video camera to record his adventures. He expects to post a film to his website in January including his bike ride from Tuktoyaktuk to Whitehorse in last March - Photo courtesy of Matthew Grogono

Felipe Gomez, 33, has been biking across the country, towing his bass guitar and supplies with a small trailer and documenting his travels with a video camera. The filming is done and the documentary is now is the post-production stage but that does not mean his travels are over. The born-and-raised Chilean is now in northern Saskatchewan, pedalling and playing his music along the way. Gomez has been in Canada for almost a decade.

"My mission statement says adventure, music and community. Music is what I know how to do. Community is I go to talk to kids in schools and hold social skills workshops for youth," Gomez said. "I want to make Canada a better place. I'm not from here but I love this place."

Gomez said he is able to appreciate all this country has to offer and he wants to make sure that people born and raised in Canada don't take the country for granted. He said the film will be an eye-opener, especially for Canadians who live in the south.

"The film is about the struggles of bicycling from Tuktoyaktuk to Whitehorse in March. Nothing went according to plan," Gomez said. "It was icy. I had everything I needed to sustain myself for a couple of days. The longest I went without seeing anyone or being able to re-supply was about 10 days."

Gomez said his longest single-day trek was almost 200 kilometres in Cape Breton. Some of the days in the North were limited to 20 kilometres and sometimes he had to push his bike rather than ride it because of the ice and slush. He was a one-man crew, filming and biking at the same time. He admitted the double duty can be a lot of work but he did get some help along the way.

"Everyone that met me on the streets or in the communities, all over Canada offered support," Gomez said. "I woke up in my tent one morning and there was cup of Tim Horton's and a sandwich outside my tent waiting for me. It was left by a random stranger."

People out on the roads have also been very helpful. His bike broke down on the Dempster Highway and someone gave him a ride 200 kilometres into Whitehorse to the nearest bicycle repair shop.

Three years of riding

He started the excursion in 2013 by riding from Tofino on Vancouver Island to Saskatchewan. In 2014, he biked from Saskatchewan to Newfoundland and in 2015 he did his Northern leg, from Tuktoyaktuk to Whitehorse. He will finish the latest part of his journey this fall in northern Saskatchewan, where he hopes to travel some ice roads by bicycle. The government of Saskatchewan gave him a grant for the north Saskatchewan trip where he intends to make a video web series.

Gomez said he has learned a lot about Canada during his journey.

"It's like many countries in one country. Happily people get along with each other," Gomez said. "It is so diverse. You can't compare Newfoundland with Tuktoyaktuk for instance."

He admits funding for the trip is always a challenge. Gomez said his budget is about $10 a day. One of those people helping out Gomez financially is Matthew Grogono who runs Old Town Glassworks.

"The whole concept of going from Tuk to Whitehorse - good luck - I'm not going to get in your way ... how can I help?" Grogono said. "This guy did it on nuts and berries. He's very energetic, he's very charismatic and he's very caring."

Gomez said his long-term plan is to eventually bike around the world.

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