EVENT
GET LOST... Find Yourself
GETTING LOST ON VANCOUVER ISLAND
Sometimes a dualsport motorcycle campout to clear your head is exactly what the doctor ordered
STORY BY MISTI HURST
Dr. John Ogrodniczuk (left) and Chris Bragg, founder of Get Lost, Find Yourself.
PHOTOS BY BRITTANY THIES & SUMMER HURST
To truly find yourselfagain, sometimes you just need to get lost in the rugged wilderness of Northern Vancouver Island — a reset you didn’t know you needed.
On Thursday, September 5 of last year I hopped on our 2015 KTM 1290 Super Duke and caught a BC Ferry to Vancouver Island for the second annual “Get Lost…Find Yourself” (GLFY) Dualsport Motorcycle Campout: a three-day self-guided ride and charity event supporting HeadsUpGuys.org
In 2023, I attended the inaugural GLFY campout and deeply enjoyed the destination, the riding, the people and the cause. I was looking forward to this one, which sold out its 100 tickets in less than 24 hours and has a waitlist of over 200 people. I was lucky to get a spot.
Through my sister, Summer, and her partner, Kevin — both avid dual-sport riders — I met the event’s organizer, Chris Bragg, a few years ago. Chris is also known as @Critter_motoon YouTube.
Chris started GLFY as a way to give back after surviving a deeply personal battle with depression, anxiety and a suicide attempt. He found help through HeadsUpGuys, an organization that provides resources to prevent mental health decline in men, led by Dr. John Ogrodniczuk, a UBC Psychiatry Professor and Psychotherapy Program Director, and Chris wanted to give back.
The 2023 event raised $3,800 for the cause.
ENROUTE
Sitting under the warm September sun on the ferry deck, I watched whales breaching and spouting. I was excited about this purposeful adventure.
At 465 km in length and 100 km in width at its widest point, Vancouver Island is the largest and most populous island along North America’s West Coast. With stunning west-coast scenery, rugged mountains, dense old-growth forests, lonely rural towns, abandoned mines, hidden caves, windswept beaches, endless ocean, abundant wildlife, extensive trails, and remote winding roads, it’s a hidden gem for dual-purpose riding, or “dualsploring” as my sister’s crew likes to call it.