Hundreds of well-wishers braved cold, wet weather on Saturday to ride the final kilometre with Michael Schratter on his around-the-world bike odyssey.

Schratter, a Vancouver school teacher who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, began his solo bicycle trek 469 days ago.

Starting in Vancouver on Aug. 1, 2010, he crossed six continents and rode 40,000 kilometres through 33 countries. With every push of the pedal, Schratter hoped to promote awareness of mental illness.

"I cannot think of another affliction where instead of getting empathy and understanding if you acknowledge it, you get complete ostracization," Schratter said.

Michael Schratter, who has bipolar disorder, rode 40,000 kilometres over 469 days to raise awareness of mental health issues. (CBC)

Bev Gutray of the Canadian Mental Health Association said Schratter is inspirational.

"What he's done is an absolute game-changer," she said.

"He's now in the business of changing people's attitudes toward mental health."

Schratter's welcome-home ceremony was held in Rogers Arena, the home ice for a hockey team that has known the pain of caring about someone who suffers from a mental illness.

Mike Gillis, general manager of the Vancouver Canucks, said the team's members were shaken to the core when former Canuck Rick Rypien took his own life earlier this year.

"What happened with Rick affected all of us, affected us all very deeply, so it's hard," Gillis said.

"Your profession or amount of money you make doesn't separate you from this illness. In fact, it may make it worse; maybe trying to protect the image or job depends on not disclosing [it]," he said.

And that is exactly why Michael Schratter called his campaign "Ride Don't Hide."

With files from the CBC's Deborah Goble