How Endurance Sports Saved My Life
An introduction into my unique brain chemistry: October 6th was National Day Without Stigma. On that day I finally decided to be public about my unique brain chemistry. To hear my message click the link to my youtube video below: During college many people find their identity. My freshman year of college I had my first extremely major depressive episode. I spent over 3 months torturing my brain, struggling to succeed in school, masking my emotions, and dealing with what I thought was stress. In 2005, two weeks before my sophomore year started at the University of Michigan College of Engineering, I was self-admitted to an in-patient psychiatric facility. Why was I in a psychiatric facility? I had a major manic episode that caused me to be awake for approximately 3 days straight. I then ended up in the...
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Positive Monologues & Motivation
Positive Monologues & Motivation Athens, Ohio to Harrisburg, West Virginia Day 33 was one of my favorite days on our trip across America. The bike baths and back roads provided an amazing back drop for a challenging 80 mile ride from Athens, Ohio to Harrisburg West Virginia. We started the day on a nice winding bike path out of Athens for the first 10 miles. This was the last of a series of awesome bike paths in Ohio which make riding very pleasurable. The bike paths provide a vehicle free haven for cyclists to enjoy the scenery and be able to ride 2-3 abreast and converse with each other. From the bike paths we rode eagerly toward the state border crossing which took us on a bridge over the Ohio River to West Virginia. We stopped on the bridge...
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Ride for World Health Receives a Friendly Welcome to Oklahoma
R4WH Receives a Friendly Welcome to Oklahoma Oklahoma was by far the friendliest state we have rode through. We were approached at rest stops, restaurants, and stop lights by locals intrigued by our group of orange riders. I enjoy the chance to talk to locals about our journey and use our healthy activity of cycling as a vehicle for change in promoting global health. One local American Indian shared his story of losing over 70 pounds by cutting back on his alcohol use and eating healthier. He was ecstatic to show us the spacious room in his overalls that he cleared out his weight loss. We tend to come across many people who have started casually biking to enjoy healthier lifestyles. No matter the person, and their form of activity, they are drawn to our cause of biking across...
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R4WH – 3 Day Tour de Southwest – Arizona to New Mexico
3 Day Tour de Southwest Arizona < Pheonix – Payson – Snowflake – Zuni > New Mexico Ride for World Health April 2 – April 5, 2014 Enjoy every moment for it’s unique beauty. I currently writing with an adrenaline rush received from the finishing charge of a century ride (100 miles) from Snowflake, Arizona to Zuni, New Mexico. Today capped off 3 amazing days of scenic, challenging, and eventful cycling for the Ride for World Health team. The team came off of a rest day in Scottsdale, Arizona with refreshed bodies and energized souls. The first week of riding empowered us with a sense of camaraderie and by ride day 7 we felt like a well-oiled machine. We needed to be prepared because of the challenging 3 day tour de southwest which was ahead of us. Day 1 included...
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R4WH Day 2 – Julian to Westmoreland, CA
On morning 2 I scrambled around the church organizing breakfast and preparing the vans for the day of the travel with the rest of crew team Charlie. Our rambunctious Charlie crew consists of Jason, Erika, Nick, Sarah, and I. After we packed, I led our morning team cheer again to pump up the riders for a fun day of cycling. We than had another successful on time departure at 8:30. Erika made an awesome warning sign for the back of our van which read to have drivers proceed with caution. I began driving the back up support van to trail the riders and protect them during the winding downhill roads which locals warned us would be treacherous during the fog with trucks speeding by. We had our first run in with the cops as we were providing some extra...
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R4WH Day 1: San Diego to Julian, CA
Ride for World Health officially started our journey on Wednesday, March 26. We woke up in the darkness and scrambled to pack our luggage into the Budget truck and day bags into the support vans for the very first time. As the sun rose we donned our Ride for World Health kits (cycling jerseys and shorts) and headed for the Pacific Ocean with youthful enthusiasm. It is a tradition amongst cross country cyclists to dip your back tire at beginning of your journey and your front tire at the destination. Some cyclists will do this at state lines for cross-state rides. In our case, we ceremoniously lined up as a team and as a wave crashed in we all dipped are back tires in the salty Pacific ocean with the hope and dreams that in 52 days we...
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