A Passion for Connection presents an American Hero, Teddy Herrera.
Listen above, or here:
Do you believe in Magic? Teddy does, and he is making it happen. I had the pleasure of interviewing Teddy Herrera, who is currently in Hoxie, Kansas. Teddy has undertaken a monumental challenge to ride 11,000 miles across the United States and back to raise awareness and work to combat childhood obesity. As a cyclist, I can tell you how riding a hundred miles in one day can kick your ass.. Teddy is doing this amazing feat day after day.
Teddy started June 5th 2010, in Sacramento, California and has ridden over 1,700 miles so far Create opportunities for youth within inner cities to become physically active.
The Background:
I asked What prompted him to take this Challenge on ?
“It is funny how events lead us to where we are. I first went to South America to do some volunteer work. Before I went, I ran two marathons in a month and my legs were in shambles. I had tendonitis in both knees and couldn’t do any physical activity within the first 3 months of my stay in South America. I Stumbled on a bicycle shop in the Andes mountains and I just knew I had to be able to ride a bicycle. Its like riding a bicycle is like how they say. So I rented a bike and planed to take a couple hour ride. It ended up being a twelve hour ride, I got lost, ran out of water and hitchhiked back to the camp site. I was on a complete adrenaline high. I fell in love with the sport of cycling after that . I knew right then and there from then on I was going to be a cyclist. This was four months ago. I was meeting people from around the world who knew more about my own country then I did. So, I really wanted to get know all areas of my own country. So I made it a point that when I got back to the States that I would tour the country on my bicycle”
The Inspiration:
Fast forward to the day I arrived back .I fly in, I go to my grandmothers house where my 10 year old cousins were playing video games. It was a beautiful day, so I asked them if they wanted to go outside to the park and play some baseball. They looked at me with a blank stare and a quick shake of their heads. It made me realize that millions of kids across the country are in the same position as my cousins and they are being held back by technology. So.. the next day I started the organization Across America for Childhood Obesity. I wanted to make a difference in all areas of the nation.
So are you raising funds or doing this to raise awareness?
I’m not raising any money right now. I am raising awareness as well as forging partnerships between organizations across the nation to further strengthen our message on a larger scale,. I am also going around on a motivational speaking tour to let everyone know, especially youth that anything is possible. They told me this ride was going to be impossible. Me not being a cyclist prior to under taking it three weeks ago. To take on this tremendous feat my body and mind would not be prepared . My message is one pedal at a time. You take an impossible feat and break it down to its simplest task and when you repeat that task you look up and you’re in the middle of Kansas.
Oh my god, that is unbelievably inspirational. I mean, how many miles are you riding a day?
I’m riding 75 to 100 miles a day, going three days on and one day off.,one days rest. Today is my rest day, I am going to ride 10 miles back to my campsite do some stretching and prepare my body for tomorrow.
You must have a voracious appetite. I have done a few century rides myself and just doing a 100 miles in one day. I know what a tremendous toll it takes on your body.
That’s what they tell me. Fortunately for me I didn’t know what to expect going into it. If I had ridden a couple of centuries beforehand I probably would have been deterred away from doing this. But I had no idea . I went in blind and knew that my mind and physical capabilities would be able to conquer this feat.
That is unbelievable Teddy.. So hey do you have a website or someplace where people can hook up with you and follow you on this journey?
On on Facebook I’m Teddy Herrera. On my blog site it’s http://acrossamericaforchildhoodobesity.wordpress.com/ That’s a log of where I’ve been, who I’ve met,
and the journeys I’ve had and the people I’ve crossed who have inspired me. You can also follow me on Twitter http://Twitter.com/onepedalatatime I am currently working on a website. I wasn’t too sure about the website because I like the way I am able to relate to everybody that visits my Facebook and blog site. I am able to interact with them . The website would be a little to impersonal. But I am currently working on putting up a ticker with a map of the US and an up to date ticker of where I am at that point and where I’ve been.
Hey, If you need any help with that, Ill throw that out there Whatever help you need with the website, with graphics, or building the site, whatever you need. I’m happy to help there.
“Thank you very much. I appreciate that. I appreciate your eagerness to help and raise awareness for me.”
Yea, I just think that what you are doing is so inspirational and more people need to hear about it. That’s what prompted my phone call and we can start to do some writing about it and share your message with some people and start spreading the word a bit. I can’t tell you how inspired I am by your efforts.
“I appreciate that and I hope to see you riding next to me when I get to Connecticut.”
Definitely, I am following you and will greet you at the border.
“Oh, perfect.”
So please visit Teddy on Facebook, Twitter and especially his blog. His writing is inspirational.
