I’m so overwhelmed with the love, support and generosity of this community. This is a day I will never forget on so many levels. Thank you, thank you for your donations, for your messages, for your concerns of well being and for being part of this amazing community.
Let me give you a POV perspective from my 12 hours on the bike, we’ll take a deep dive into my mind, my experience and all thank you’s to people who I couldn’t have done this without.
I was up at 3:45 on Saturday Morning, about 15 mins earlier than usual so I could get dressed before the videographer Harrison showed up. I had breakfast and supplements all ready to go from the night before and a red light therapy lamp from Tom for my feet which were pretty messed up the week of the ride.
I got to the gym at 4:30 and started my warm up and made sure I had everything ready to go. Lots of carbs in the form of powders, gels, bars, fruits, rice cakes, candy and pitas. My heart rate monitor, 2 different sets of ear buds with chargers, tissues and a towel. did a nice thorough warm up and my Dad, brother and Jacob came for a prayer before I got started.
I felt prepared physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I spent the last 4 months preparing myself on all levels. I knew it would take all these things to come through on what I wanted to do and even then I didn’t know if the pace I had set out was too much for me to maintain for the 12 hours.
I learned a lot over those months about myself and I’ve grown as a person because of it. If you ever want to know what going on in the deepest parts of you, take yourself to a place physically where you’ve never been and see what lies beneath.
After the prayer, we had a little countdown to 6am and we were off! To be honest the first 6 hours were a formality, I’d done it before I knew I could do it again, it was just a mantra of relax, have patience and maintain the pace. I told myself I would greet every single person who came in that front door with a smile and hello and a thank you no matter how I felt. It was so great to see so many of you and your support.
Jacob started off with me which I wouldn’t want anyone else, he came on multiple Saturday morning to spend an hour to 2 with me on my long rides. Thats my homie and lil bro.
Mike Mirski was cooking a breakfast storm for anyone who was there and honestly thats was so cool but man that smell of bacon can make a man cycle a little too fast like I was chasing the smell. Thank you Mike! He also called me before I started and told me how I’d already won no matter what happened and that he was so proud of me and he loved me. I didn’t shed a tear, the gym was really dusty.
At the 3 hour mark I got a voice message from Patrick Bet David, who I love listening to his podcast and I respect tremendously. That was super cool and motivating.
Then Rach brought my boy Malachi and that will never ever fail to excite me, he hopped on his ittle bike and started pumping away.
I had a moment of feeling so much love as Rach was taking care of everything, Tyler and Alli were running people through the 500m Rows and Burpees and Hangs and people were on Bikes biking calories everywhere.
At 5.5 hours in Sevan texts me and says can you hop into my show, he was live on his podcast, sent me a link and I logged in. We chatted and he was super pumped and said some really nice things and put the donation link up. You can check it out HERE at 1:32:30
At that point Dave Hainish came in with his sick indoor bike setup and gear and got setup to ride it out with me and provide assistance and man did he save butt both figuratively and literally. I feel like Dave was a God send for me because if Im honest I wouldn’t have finished without him. More on that later.
My wife is the absolute greatest, there were Saturdays after 5 and 6 hour rides plus gym work plus PT’s on the same day plus a long hard week of work and training were I would come home crushed, no energy and no soul left in me and she kept it all together. Food, clean house, laundry… the list goes on. She’s my rock and without her nothing would happen. She also fed me an absurd amount of healthy calories throughout this process, that takes WORK.
Coming into the day I had dealt with a ton of over use issues. My knees, back, hips, neck, hands were all hurting at different points but the week of my feet were a mess. I was having trouble walking for more than 10 mins at a time without feeling like my feet had been burned in fire. Annie did such an amazing job taking care of me on a weekly basis and being kind when I would text her telling her my body was breaking down. My good friend Enoch also treated me when I needed some xtra TLC and I feel like they kept my body in one piece. It takes a village.
Back to the ride. There’s ups and down emotionally through everything. Thoughts of what have I got myself into to I’m the man I can do this all day back to Im never doing this again. Sometimes I would pray, sometimes I would sing, sometimes someone would say an encouraging word and I’d want to cry. Like a kid going through puberty I had all the feels and just kept the pace, kept hydrating and eating. You’d think eating sugar for 12 hours straight would be fun, nope nope nope, its gets old quick and you dont’ wanna eat anymore, your stomach starts to get bloated and its just gross.
At the 9 hour point I thought I was done when the sit bones in my butt got to a level 9 of pain, it was horrible. Dave saw I was starting to struggle and asked me what was up, this dude is the bike whisperer, every time I had an issue he knew, I didn’t say anything and he would ask what was wrong, it was incredible. He asked what was up and I said my sit bones were excruciating , he tossed me this medical grade numbing cream. That was the turning point. I put that “ish” on and all my sorrows went away and my pace sped up, it was the greatest thing ever.
My foot started to hurt really bad 30 mins later and BAM Dave throws me some ibprofen and we’re back at it. At 10.5 hours I hit a wall, I was starting to fall of pace slightly, then Dave had given me this drink the night before and said at some point you will need this. As I was thinking Daniel you have to pick it up and my legs were saying No sir what you are doing to us is not HUMANE! I look up Dave has his Magical Drink in hand and I nod and grab mine, we cheers and put that down, 3 mins later and my legs are kicked back to life and back on pace.
At one point my face must’ve said I hated my life cause he just said, “Smile” I smiled and honestly felt 100% better.
Dave you’re my guardian bike angel dude, without you there I would’ve been in trouble and I thanked God that night that you asked to join me for the last 7 hours. You’re a beast and Im thankful for you.
1 hour to go, at this point I dealt with everything, I had hit my pace and no way was I not finishing that 7000 calories before the 12 hour mark. I had my son beside me, JM my best athlete on the other Echo Bike, and Dave my guardian bike Angel. I picked up the pace and took in every single amazing person who was cheering me on with their HOPE T-shirt on. It was Beautiful!
30 mins left Femi comes out with a SIGN, it says “Remember Your Why-You’ve Already Won-This is Just a Formality” 30 minutes Man did that hit all the feels. Femi not only supplied me with Plantains from his Company DoDo Foods the whole time I was training, he cooked dinner for everyone that night, the man is the real deal.
10 mins to go, Now it was real, 4 months of training, a vision of helping provide for the Orphans in Haiti on a bigger level than we’ve ever done, my friends and family all around. So many emotions filling up.
6999 calories… 1 to go, tears in my eyes, my boy by my side, my twins next to me, my wide counting down, my gym family cheering.
7000 I’ll never forget that moment. All the training, all the effort, 12 hours of riding at 56-59 rpm the whole way. The last couple minutes were a victory lap and 11 more calories. Amazing, Wonderful, the feeling of accomplishment.
My brother Mike is the real hero. You’ll see in the documentary what he’s been through and what he’s done for those kids in Haiti over the last 12 years. He’s an inspiration and a one of a kind human.
He gave a speech to finish it off and he cried, overwhelmed by you all, your generosity and support.
You, this community, something in this crazy world we live in that has so many issues and so much hate, we here at Radix have love and support for one an another like no other place.
Thank you
Coach Dan