Day 40: The Finish

Day 40: November 7, 2021 (MacClenny FL to Jacksonville FL)

Day 40, my last day, was anticlimactic.  I was told that there were two reporters from Jacksonville TV stations that wanted to interview me.  The reporters wanted to know a specific time and place to meet.  So, I selected the east end of the Baldwin-Jacksonville rail trail at noon.  It was an old railroad track converted into a paved bike path. 

My new friend Leonard joined me for the rail trail ride.  It was only 15 miles long and it was a great ride.  Nice wide bike path, no traffic, pretty scenery, and good company.  We finished a little bit before noon.  At the “finish line” waiting for us to finish was Laura, Ron, my friend Dave, and Gary M, a friend of Leonard’s.  No press.  

My friend Dave M lives in Florida and drove 4 hours to meet up with me.  I was really touched; it meant a lot to me that he would drive that far just to see me.

Dave M and I have known each other for less a year.  Earlier this year Dave called me wanted to know more about Athalonz golf shoes.  Dave got my number through a mutual friend.  Dave and I talking for an hour and a half.  Dave is also a survivor of child abuse.   Dave has since told me that our conversation has helped him greatly and he is now a vocal advocate of child abuse prevention.

How my friendship with Dave M started is an example of why I did the ride.  The more victims of child abuse that talk about what happened to them and how they feel about themselves, the more healing that can occur.  The more healing that occurs, the better people feel about themselves.  The better people feel about themselves, the less destructive behaviors they’ll have towards themselves and, for a small percentage of people, towards others.  With less destructive behaviors towards others, the rate of child abuse and other forms of abuse will drop.  With less destructive behaviors towards themselves, the rate of suicides will drop, the rate of drug abuse will drop, the rate of alcoholism will drop, the rate of obesity and related health issues will drop, and the rate of other psychological and/or physiological issues will drop.

I will not be doing another bicycle ride across the country any time soon (most likely never again), but I’m just getting started on being an advocate for child abuse prevention and for helping victims of child abuse heal.  There will be more bicycling events next year for Cycle To End Abuse.  The bicycling events will involve the public and will be a day or less.  That’s all I have on that so far.