There wasn't a tread left on the tires of Lt.-Commander Jean Marcotte's bicycle as he rode onto Parliament Hill today fresh from his cross country tour.

Marcotte and his Oryx specialty racing bike spent the last two months riding across Canada in support of the National Defence Military Families Fund, which provides emergency money for needy families of soldiers.

A full 7,128.8 kilometres later, Marcotte had raised $1,435.

This morning, Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada's chief of defence staff, was on hand to accept the donation and offer his congratulations. Marcotte showed off his rather pronounced tan lines to Hillier and other military brass who had gathered to greet him.

He left Ottawa on June 2 and cycled first to Newfoundland. Then he flew to Victoria with his trusty bike and cycled back into Ottawa looking refreshed and excited about his accomplishments.

Marcotte has served in Somalia and Yugoslavia and he says he knew families who could have used the money that is now available through the fund.

Across Canada, Marcotte said people opened their homes and their kitchens to him. In Cape Breton, after an empty stretch of 100 kilometres, he stopped at the only restaurant in town. There, he said, the owner told him "not to look at the menu. 'You need food, real food. I'll cook you onions, liver and potato.'

"It was the best meal I ever had," he recalls.

What's next for the cycling soldier? In a day or so, Marcotte heads back to his desk job at National Defence headquarters.