This is the first blog post to the site and I don’t even know if anyone will ever read it. I don’t know if I will actually take this Bike Cruisade across the country in 3 months, especially since I am having knee surgery next week. A cross-country journey has been on my heart for two years now but in January of 2014 I finally decided to take some action.

I started the planning process in December while at home in Arkansas visiting my super supportive family for Christmas. I then told my bosses I was thinking of riding across the country to spread the word about Street Soccer USA. The beautiful game can offer so much to people in need but it often goes unseen. My mission is to show the world the work we do at SSUSA in homeless shelters and at-risk communities across the country. Maybe this cruisade will even inspire a few people along the way to start a new SSUSA program.

The thought of doing an epic journey across the country on a bicycle with no funding, no support vehicle and no real bicycle touring experience seems impossible. For most of our players the journey out of the homeless shelter seems impossible but I have seen it happen again and again so I know I can achieve my goal of riding from New York City to San Francisco!

As I ride across the country my motivation will come from visiting our Street Soccer USA programs along the path hearing stories from players who are overcoming life’s most challenging obstacles. I hope to inspire our adult and youth participants to push forward in their goals as I push each day to reach a new city and get closer to the finish line. I have a feeling SF is just the beginning though!

I have been riding my bike all month in honor of National Bike Month so that I go into surgery as fit as possible. It has been such a great feeling not having spent a dime on a metro card for public transit. Here are some photos from the road: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.264270723756370.1073741831.253267681523341&type=1&l=9ebd475845