Why I Ride

I'm not sure why I decided to abandon my attempt at a stable life in favor of the open road. I like to think I'm doing it to better myself, to find out who I am and what my limits are. To see the world and understand its natural wealth and immensity. I like to think that this trip will make me a more humble person, will decrease my ego and fuse the mantra to my soul that I am here, that my life is happening right now and that it is the most beautiful thing to be alive right where I am.

And I hope that's true. But there is a far more important reason for this ride which goes beyond myself and my ego. If every mile I ride is an act of devotion, and every pedal I push is a prayer, then my devotion is solely for finding a cure for autism, and my every prayer is that we can eventually understand how autism happens, and prevent it.

Both my nephew and my cousin have autism. I have seen first-hand the frustration my nephew feels when he tries to understand why people act they way they do. I have seen inside his mind through his drawings, and it is fantastic. He is beautiful and creative and wonderful, and he deserves to share his thoughts and feelings with the world with fluency and grace. I have seen the confusion and angst my cousin feels trying to understand an unfamiliar world without the faculty of language. And it kills me that when he looks into my eyes, he can never see my soul.

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