Great American Bike Ride 2011

Seattle to San Francisco, 1600kms. 30 Days.

Camping every night. Cooking our own food. Carrying our own gear. Washington’s cold. Oregon’s rains. California’s heat. Beaches. Hills. Redwood forests. Bonfires. Bears. Rafting. Caught in the rain. Stranded on the road. Tanned as hell. One of the greatest adventures of my life at 15 years of age.

My motivation to sign-up was a girl. My parents was for this chubby boy to lose some weight. Neither of us could even fathom the impact a program such as this has one someone.

There are few things that I keep reiterating over the years that are absolutely necessary for us as individuals to grow:
- Indulging in something physical that pushes your limits
- Doing things that completely throw you out of your comfort zone
- Time away from all the distractions/chaos of life (social media, TV, work etc)

Exactly what this program exposed me too for the first time in my life. Biking 60kms average on the daily through rugged terrain. Waking up at 5am to cook our own breakfast, reaching campsite after a full day of biking through rain, sun, dirt to pitch our tents, lay our bed, cook our food. Not being able to shower for days straight. Falling, bleeding, bruising but having no option to get back up again. 30 days away from School, parents, Facebook/BBM (at that time).

While all this doesn’t sound pretty at all, it helped me discover strength to not stop. Being selfless when I was tired to give two shits. Stay positive and keep the morale up when things were going south. Gain confidence and voice that I never thought I had. And ofc losing weight (parents were happy but no luck on the girl end lol)

And I can go on and on but somethings are better experienced than heard. It’s for each one of you to experience on your own because it’ll be unique to you. So book your next adventure and embark on that journey. 😉