A Ride n' Write You're Really Gonna Wanna Get Behind!

Hey Bloggy friends, and happy Friday. Please meet my friend Rick Arnett and learn about his fantsastic adventure that's looming on the horizon. I hope you'll get to know him, follow him on Twitter or at his brand spankin' new blog HERE, and support him with good thoughts, prayers, and a few bucks if you can! He's got contacts at a major publishing company, and is talking with them about a book. Exciting, no?

Read below to find out about Rick's journey in his own words, except where I butt in with the yellow font. LOL
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I'm making a bicycle trip, solo, unsupported (no chase vehicle or crew) by bicycle from Virginia Beach, VA to San Francisco. I'll leave the first week in April, taking 9-10 weeks to cross the USA on two wheels. I'm setting up a website that will have interactive maps with way points tracking my progress in real time. My gps sensor will post a spot on the map anytime I hit the button and i'll attach photos and details specific to that point. It'll include an ongoing blog. Should be up in a week or so--we're making the maps now. [If anyone has a helmet/handlebar cam they're not using, wouldn't that be a wonderful addition to Rick's data gathering equipment?! :D]


It's not just a recreational ride. I'm in the process of making contacts in every planned overnight through AA (I'm in recovery). Most every night of the trip a fellow AA member will bring me to a meeting, give me a safe place to pitch my tent and wash up, and share a meal, then I'm off to the next day's riding. The idea is to demonstrate that with a little help from my friends, family and fellow AA members, I can achieve goals that would otherwise be impossible on my own, or at minimum, a daunting challenge. People in early recovery and those who think they may have a problem (by which time all your friends, family and co-workers already know you do) feel lonely and afraid. This ride will be an example that shows how people in recovery are only too happy to lend a little support to a fellow recovering alcoholic (or addict).

And I'll be writing about all of it. Besides being a mission to raise awareness for recovery, it's a Creative Nonfiction journey. I thought you might be interested for that reason.

I'm also begging for donations. Anything you could contribute will be greatly appreciated. I'll list all contributors and the amount they give on the website/blog. Funds above whatever expenses I incur on the trip will be donated to recovery centers in LA (Hope Center, Marksville and Red River Recovery in Pineville) and CA (Mad House in Sacramento.) If you send a check, make it out to Diane Gordon--she's going to take care of all that. Address is 4117 Seaforth Road, Chesapeake, VA 23321. [Hey Rick, you need to investigate getting a PayPal account for online donations!]


I'll be posting a lot about this on FB as we departure date gets closer and thereafter, too, as a supplement to the blog. [Friend Rick on FB HERE.]


I feel like Flounder in Animal House. "This is gonna be great!"


P.S. I must stress the BEGGING part--I am entirely dependent of funding from others for all aspects of the trip. Thanks again. This will be fun, scary, angst-ridden, exciting, boring, engaging, morale deflating and spiritually uplifting at various points along the way. I hope to impress those emotions on the readers. I'll be in touch!
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How cool is this? I can't wait to follow Rick's journey!!!