August 25, 2025 • 39 mins
When COVID-19 forced the world into isolation, four friends with beat-up bikes started riding around their neighborhood to escape cabin fever. Those simple rides evolved into something none of them expected – a movement that's changing how people talk about mental health and suicide prevention across Ohio.
"We just started riding bikes together," explains Josh Snead of Ride for Hope. "One trip turned into two trips, turned into 'let's do 20 miles'... and then this idea of 'what if we rode our bikes across Ohio?'" That wild thought, born during pandemic restrictions, has transformed into a registered nonprofit that hosts an annual 340-mile journey from Cleveland to Cincinnati, along with community rides throughout the year.
What makes Ride for Hope special isn't just the physical challenge. It's the conversations that happen along the way. Sam Woodward recalls a defining moment when a man pulled his work van over after seeing their jerseys: "He's holding back tears and says 'I want you to know that I lost my daughter to suicide. This means so much to me that you guys are willing to do this.'" These encounters happen regularly, revealing how many people carry silent grief related to suicide.
Beyond fundraising for suicide prevention organizations, the team creates spaces where people feel safe discussing mental health challenges. "Reducing the stigma, erasing it, getting it out of the way and saying we all have this shared human experience that includes struggle and hardship," says Mariah Woodward. "You are not alone in that."
Ready to join the movement? Visit rideforhope.org to learn about upcoming community rides, volunteer opportunities, or to register for their signature Cleveland-to-Cincinnati journey happening this September.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to our August episode of Voices for Suicide
Prevention.
As we like to say, ourconversations are real talk,
real honest, real life.
I'm Stephanie Bucher.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
And I'm Scott Light.
So, to our listeners, we aregoing to get you motivated by
this episode and by our threeguests today.
They have taken a passion forhelping people, for mental
health, suicide prevention, plushealth and wellness, and they
are making a terrific cause areal movement.
Let me introduce you to Sam andMariah Woodward and Josh Sneed,
(00:37):
all from Ride for Hope.
Welcome to all three of you.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Thank you, we're glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Thank you, yeah, thank you.
All right, where to begin herewith you guys?
Why don't we just do a littlerecent history We'll call it a
level set here for our listenerson how this whole thing got off
the ground.
Ride for Hope began five yearsago and it began during COVID
and, as you say on your website,you are dedicated to preventing
suicide, erasing the stigmasaround mental health and
building community throughcycling.
(01:04):
So who wants to start?
How did all this begin?
Speaker 4 (01:06):
I can start In 2020, our roommate, devin Gonzalez.
He's not with us today.
That sounded bad.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
He is alive.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
He's just not in the room.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
He's not in the room here, devin and I were just like
we were going on bike rides andwe were chatting and we're just
trying to like figure out, uh,what to do during covid and, um,
it was my wife and I and thendevin was our roommate and so
she's like you guys, just like Ineed some space, you guys need
to get out of here go dosomething.
(01:36):
And so him and I just startedriding bikes together and we
both had these like really likebeat up bikes and we would just
ride around the neighborhood orwe'd go a little longer, like,
oh, let's ride into downtown.
And then, kind of like, onetrip turned into two trips,
turned into like let's do 20miles.
Oh, we've never ridden 40 milesbefore, let's try that.
And uh, from there we just keptlike going.
(01:58):
And then this idea of like whatif we rode our bikes across
ohio?
Like that would be fun, just awild adventure that neither one
of us had ever like embarked onor done anything like.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
And.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Devin was friends with Sam, and so Dev pitched the
idea to Sam, and I'll let Samtake over.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
Yeah.
So it was 2019 or 2020, likethe start of COVID, and I wasn't
working a lot because stuff wasthe world was shutting down and
I was training, actually fortriathlon and all the races I
signed up for got canceled.
I was like, well, I've got allthis time.
I'm really loving riding mybike, I'll just keep riding.
And I kind of fell in love withcycling at that point, was
(02:38):
riding a ton and I kind of gotthe idea of, like I want to do
something like bigger thanmyself and bigger than just
cycling.
And I got on Facebook one dayand I saw that Devin had posted
on his story about this ridethat he was calling it the ride
for hope.
And so I reached out to him.
I had talked to him in a coupleof years.
We were close, kind of like inhigh school and college, hadn't
(02:59):
seen each other in a while.
I was like, hey, man, like longtime no talk.
What's this ride you're talkingabout?
And he shared with me the kindof the vision hey, we're going
to go from Cincinnati toCleveland.
The first year we did it wewent South to North.
It's like we're going to.
We're going to ride across Ohio.
There's like an establishedtrail.
We're going to be bike packing,camping along the way, and
we're doing it for a suicideprevention.
(03:19):
We're partnering with OSPF,we're going to raise some money
and you know, I mentioned it toMariah I was like hey, what do
you think about me doing this?
It kind of checks all theseboxes for me.
She was on board and the restwas kind of history from that
point on.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, so that's 2020?
2020.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
That was 2020, yeah.
So, Mariah, what did you thinkabout the idea?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Yeah to say I was on.
There was a lot going on, as weall know, in the country, in
our own lives, in the world, andso him getting on his bike with
friends, that I didn't knowsuper.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
I didn't know josh at all devon.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
I had met like on facetime and you know anyway.
So obviously the mission behindit, super cool.
But I I didn't.
I never heard of bikepackingbefore and I was like are you
guys gonna be safe?
Is this dangerous?
You're gonna be gone for four.
How long are you gonna be gonejust on your bike?
Are you sleeping on rocks?
What's going on?
So I didn't know a lot aboutwhat it was gonna look like,
(04:17):
which made me nervous.
But, like he said, it checked alot of boxes that he had been
talking about.
He had been falling in lovewith cycling but wanting to do
something bigger with it, and sothey all teamed up and it was
cool.
Once it, once it came along, Igot more on board, but I wasn't
just like, yeah, do it, babe,cool.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Actually, the first year there was four of us.
My good buddy Jake Jacob Joneshe still has participated every
year to some extent.
Um, he's doing the full thingthis year thing this year, which
he hasn't done since the firstyear.
But yeah, it was the four of us.
It was um four dudes ridingbikes that had no idea what we
were doing or where we weregoing.
We knew we were going north.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
It was like the the most complete, wildest adventure
.
I came from the background oflike long distance backpacking
and, uh, hiking, and so I wasvery familiar with like just
going out and followingsomething and seeing where it
goes and you'll just like figureit out, and being out in nature
and then kind of like ropingthese guys into it and I was
like, oh, it's fine, like I haveall the gear for like camping
(05:15):
and backpacking and like I can,we can figure it out it'll,
it'll be fun and turns out likewe didn't need any of that stuff
because as it wasn't like wewere backpacking in wilderness,
we were dry, or like riding ourbikes through towns like two or
three times a day and we hadpacked five days worth of meals
that we didn't need to carry,like all this food, water, extra
(05:37):
camping supplies and then tojust like stop at gas stations
the whole time and coffee shopsand just like grab whatever we
needed.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
So definitely a learning experience from that
first time.
Oh, yeah, oh definitely.
Speaker 5 (05:51):
Yeah, just a funny image.
My, in my mind I'm like oh,bike packing, I have a, I have a
backpack and I had a hikingbackpack that I loaded down with
about 50 pounds of gear and Iwore the whole, the whole five.
The first year was five days.
That was miserable.
It was All stuff I didn't eat.
Like Josh said, yeah, wow, wow.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
How did not to take a serious tone here, but we're
talking about when COVID kickedoff.
We all have our memories of allof that, back to 2020.
How did COVID affect yourrespective mental health?
Speaker 4 (06:27):
For me, covid.
It opened a lot of doors.
I didn't see it.
I mean I did as like the thingswere turning off in the world
and just kind of seeing likeeverything that was going on yes
, it was.
It was hard to like see andjust like know that people were
out there like hurting and dyingand kind of like suffering from
something that no one knew whatit was or how to handle it.
But on the other end I feltlike there was so much growth
(06:49):
from it because it opened upthis huge chunk of time that I
didn't have before.
Before I was, you know, in work,40 hours a week just doing day
to day.
But during COVID I had gottenfurloughed from my job as an
automotive technician and itjust opened up this time where I
was outside, I was taking mydog for walks every day and we
(07:11):
were just like hanging out,spending quality time together
and just being out in nature andkind of just like being able to
reflect and see and know likewhatever is going on right now,
this is only for like a moment,it's temporary, this isn't going
to be like life forever, andthrough that it just kind of I
(07:32):
got to see this new growth inmyself, just from being able to,
to be out in nature andself-reflect and just have a
more open mind and not be justway down from the stressors of
life and not be just weigheddown from the stressors of life.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Yeah, for me it was an interesting thing happening,
not necessarily for mespecifically, but also I had
probably four friends pregnantat the time, including my sister
, and then, along with just thepolitical, social, racial unrest
.
I am a very compassionateperson, very empathetic person,
(08:07):
and so I found myself in a placewhere I was just completely
fatigued just from caring, youknow, about all the things
happening to people.
I loved their anxieties aboutthe unknowns happening in the
world and then even my own fearsand anxieties about that.
So I think, for my mentalhealth, I was in a place where I
was very exhausted and notreally feeling like I knew what
(08:31):
to do about it.
But, to go off what Josh said,I also found myself with a ton
of free time, which it is verylife-giving for me to be outside
, and so there was a ton moretime to be outside, to be with
Sam, because again things wereshut down.
To be with Sam because againthings were shut down so he
wasn't working as much.
To be with family, which was agift.
(08:51):
So there was a lot of like bothand happening.
A lot of anxiety, a lot of fear, a lot of I don't know how to
help these people who are goingthrough really difficult, scary
times, and it's overwhelming toeven think about how to do
anything about that.
But then also, while the worldis kind of paused, there is an
opportunity to take a breathhere and be with people I care
(09:13):
about and be outside and, like,lay in the grass and ride my
bike, and so it was like for alot of people, it was just a
very weird, strange, difficulttime, with a lot of good in it
too, though, yeah, I kind ofagree with both of them in the
sense that there was so muchtime to not be working and to
(09:36):
kind of be outside and pausing,and I think learning to pause
and to meditate is reallybeneficial to mental health.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
And so we the world, was just sort of forced into
that and some people respondeddifferently than others, but I
think for me it was really goodto experience the benefit of
pausing.
I think another experience thatI had is I really grew, I think,
in empathy for other people,you know, having grown up, when
I did, I experienced severalinfluenza scares, you know Ebola
(10:06):
, and when COVID first came up,I, like a lot of people was like
, oh, it's just another one ofthose It'll pass.
And there was a, there was awhile where I kind of was like,
okay, this is like, why arepeople still taking this so
seriously?
And then when I finallyrealized, oh, this is real, like
the things that people areexperiencing, it's not just
propaganda, it's not just on thenews, it really opened my eyes
(10:28):
to wow, there really is like acrisis sweeping the nation, not
just with COVID, it also openedthe door on a lot of mental
health issues and, you know,realizing, like I said, some
people responded differently andsome people were feeling
isolated and stuck and alone andso I feel like it really helped
open my eyes to kind of whatthe Ride for Hope is is.
(10:48):
We're advocates for mentalhealth, specifically suicide
prevention, but understandingyou know you have to start at
the base, which are these othermental health issues.
So for me I'm really I'mgrateful for that experience for
COVID, because of how it openedmy eyes and kind of enlightened
me to the power of empathy andjust, I think, helped me kind of
(11:08):
see others more than I sawmyself.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
So, with the tie-in of mental health, mental
wellness and cycling, like, howdo you, what kind of release and
what do you feel when you'reout there cycling, when it comes
to the mental wellness, yourbrain health when you're out
there, For myself it feels kindof like a reset.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
So, whatever's going on in the day, I know that I can
get on my bike and I can justride and pedal and for however
long I'm out whether it's 30minutes or it's five hours it's
just cycling.
It's like one stroke after theother just keep going and kind
of you're slowing down to asense of maybe like 15 miles an
(11:58):
hour where you're seeing theworld at this different pace and
you know, in your cars and yourday-to-day you just drive by
everything so fast that youdon't pick up on the little
things.
And when you're on your bikeyou can really like check in not
only on yourself and like feeleverything from like your hands
to your feet, to your legs, yourknees, your back, like your
(12:19):
whole body.
You're doing this self-check asyou're riding and just
connecting and feeling theenvironment around you and then
also being able to see theinteractions of nature and life
and just like, oh, there's kidsin the front yard kicking this
ball, this person's over herefishing at a pond like just
seeing the world at a slowerpace than what you usually would
(12:40):
it is very grounding like whichis, you know, a tool in therapy
that you know my therapist willgive me name that five things.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
You can see five things.
You can hear five things, youcan smell five things.
You know that is very easy todo on a bike, you know, when you
, you can't be distracted reallyby anything else than what
you're doing.
Also, just to go back to covid,everything's happening.
You're hearing about everythinghappening on such a grand scale
, whether nationwide or globally.
(13:10):
When you're on your bike, it'sjust what's in front of you.
Like I said, you are seeingyour neighbor, you're seeing the
person riding next to you,you're seeing the stores, you
know's just.
It's a good way to be presentand I'm speaking about this.
Like you know, I was in lovewith cycling at the time.
I certainly was not.
So I don't I don't want to liebecause that was not what was
happening for me, but since then, now I'm kind of going on what
(13:33):
cycling has become for me.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
On what he was saying about, you know things you're
noticing, feeling, sensing,connecting with cycling is so
great for that, for me too.
Another benefit is it's a.
It's a really good opportunityfor me to get out some energy,
and sometimes that's like ananxious energy, you know you
just you kind of feel your bodystart to tense up, whether it's
the stress of relationship orwork or whatever it may be.
(13:57):
Getting your heart rate up,getting all your muscles
activated, getting a good sweaton and on top of all of that,
you know you put in a reallyhard effort.
There's a sense of pride oflike wow, I really accomplished
that.
I really pushed myself.
You know I fought against thenature of wanting to be
sedentary and just kind of sitand wear my situation.
I think there's a lot ofcorrelations between cycling and
(14:19):
life as far as mindset goes andperspective.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
And yeah, I feel like for me it's the cheapest form
of therapy that I have, and so Ilove being able to get the
wiggles out, as I like to say Onthat health note, we now know
that the sociologists, theanthropologists out there say if
we're closer to green space, ifwe're closer to nature and if
we're closer to blue space water, then our health, is better.
(14:46):
That's a fact.
That's just data that we nowhave.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
Yeah, I mean just kind of reiterating on what Josh
said to your point.
When you're on your bike younotice so many things that in a
car you just fly by.
He mentioned kids in the frontyard in a picture from the first
year he did the Ride for Hope.
We were out in Amish countryand we were going through these
rolling hills and it's beautifulout there.
People who don't say Ohio isbeautiful need to bike through
(15:12):
it, because it's reallybeautiful and it's Amish country
.
We're getting passed by horsesand buggies and we we came up
over this hill, we were comingdown and there were these Amish
kids playing baseball in thefront yard.
I'm like man, this is just a.
The sun was shining and therewas no clouds in the sky, the
grass was green.
I was like this is just acinematic moment and I just get
to experience it.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Yeah, I mean every year we go past it's it's in
amish country as well, kind oflike on the north side of ohio
and we pass this huge sunflowerfield and we're always really
late in the day when we're goingthrough it and so the sun's
kind of like hitting that goldenhour or else this or the sun's
starting to set and you justlook around and you're going
(15:53):
through these rolling hills andthen you look to your side and
there's, like you know, six footsunflowers and it's just acres
and acres as far as you can see,and they're all just facing one
direction, facing the sun, andyou're just out there.
There's no other cars, there'sno people, it's just like five
of us on our bikes just ridingby and taking it all in.
It's insane, that's great.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, that's really cool.
So how did the idea come upabout making this a nonprofit
movement, basically dedicated tomental health and suicide
prevention?
Speaker 5 (16:26):
Yeah.
So if you guys have ever metDevin Gonzalez you know he is
big picture to the moon kind ofguy, and so when Devin started I
think there was never a doubtin his mind that this was going
to like blow up and be anonprofit and I'm also pretty
big picture kind of guy, and sothere was always the idea of
becoming an official nonprofit.
(16:47):
But early on it was just kindof clear that we didn't really
have the time or the resourcesor the understanding of how to
make that happen.
And it's actually interestingbecause the beginning of this
year, end of last year, one ofthe ideas we had had for the
Ride for Hope was to start apodcast and our thought process
was this will give us contentthat we can kind of have more of
a presence throughout the year,because we were, for up until
(17:10):
the beginning of this year wewere an annual event.
That's what we were and wewanted to have more than that.
So I met with a friend of minein Cincinnati who runs a
nonprofit and has run multiplepodcasts, and I got together
with him to pick his brain onstarting a podcast and as I
began to share with him what theRide for Hope was and where we
wanted to go.
He straight up told me he'slike you guys need to table this
(17:33):
podcast idea and you need tofocus on becoming a nonprofit.
He kind of walked me throughthe steps of the paperwork and
getting registered and it kindof reignited the fire and the
passion for me and I came homeand shared with Mariah I will
let her kind of share herperspective because she is
definitely the Devin and I arethe big picture visionaries.
(17:53):
She is definitely the rock thatkeeps us on pace and keeps us
grounded and keeps us on thosebaby steps that help us get to
that.
So I shared the vision with herand she really came on board
and I'll let her share now.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
I think you're giving too much credit.
So Sam came home after talkingto his friend who runs a
nonprofit, and I had been seeingthe Ride for Hope growing and
could see the potential of itgrowing into a nonprofit, but we
wanted to pitch the idea toDevin and could see the
potential of it growing into anon-profit.
But we wanted to pitch the ideato Devin and our friends in
Columbus.
So I made a powerpoint and,just you know, developed a small
(18:26):
.
You know this is what ourmission, vision, statements,
core values.
This is why we would benefitfrom being a non-profit versus,
you know, just this annual event.
But it wasn't.
I mean, you may be giving metoo much credit here.
I I do, I do thrive in thesmall details and like
administrative tasks, but I meanDevon, josh, sam, this is their
(18:47):
, their vision, their passion.
That you know started back in2020 and you know I, I'm helpful
, but I'm not, I'm not, I'm notall that.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
But we're really excited about becoming a
nonprofit because it has givenus that thing that we've been
longing for, which is a constantpresence, not just in social
media, but in community.
And so, now that we kind ofhave this restructure and vision
of what the Ride for Hope is,we now have event calendars, we
now have a much better website,we have merchandise, and so all
(19:16):
of that is to help us achievethis idea of erasing the stigma
around suicide prevention andopening up the conversation
about suicide prevention.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Well, and Stephanie and I were on your website.
We also had a couple ofpre-recording conversations
between us here at the table,and you've already had some
events this year, right?
So give our listeners kind ofthe who, what, when, where and
how of the rides, and thenyou've also got another one
coming up in September, right?
Speaker 5 (19:44):
We are all about building community, and so one
of the things that we're reallytrying to be intentional about
as a nonprofit is hostingcommunity events, community bike
rides.
So we actually just on Saturdaymorning, this past Saturday, we
hosted our very firstCincinnati community group ride,
and we're just trying to getpeople involved.
We're trying to build a groupof people who are willing to not
(20:06):
only go out and enjoy time innature with each other and
exercise and experience all thebenefits of cycling the physical
benefits, but are also willingto have a conversation about
suicide prevention.
So these rides that we're doing,they're more than just a bike
ride.
We really want them to be aplace where people feel welcome,
that people feel safe, theyfeel like they can be vulnerable
(20:27):
and cared for.
And then the event in Septemberthat is the Ride for Hope.
That's the annual event thatkind of started this whole thing
.
That's the four-day ride fromCleveland to Cincinnati and it's
a's uh, it's a bike packingtrip, like we've said.
So we'll drive up to cleveland,we stay in a hotel the first
night and we have a nice littleboard meeting or a team meeting,
(20:47):
which is a good time, and thenwe wake up super early friday
morning, we do our back tire dipand lake erie and then we get
on our way, we camp at night, wepack all our our stuff up and
then, when we get to Cincinnati,we do the front tire dip.
It's kind of like an iconic youknow, but yeah, that's the
September event.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
I'm just curious.
So the first ride in 2020, fourof you, how many last year, and
how many do you expect thisyear?
Speaker 5 (21:12):
Yeah, so last year was a learning curve.
We went from four riders to Ithink we had 12.
So a lot of different dynamics,kind of figuring out okay, how
do we facilitate a group thisbig.
Also, there were riders that alot of us had never met before,
so new people joining the team.
That was super exciting.
This year we still have about aweek left of registration but
we already have, I think, 16people registered.
(21:34):
So, you know, still some morelogistical things to figure out,
but we're just super.
The dynamic, uh, between lastyear and years before was just
so much different.
It was there's so many morepersonalities, so many more
stories.
We kind of started thiscampfire the last night.
We were going to probablycontinue this, but the last
night of the ride we had a bigbonfire and everybody kind of
(21:56):
went around just shared likefunny stories or memories or
kind of like how theirexpectations were different than
reality when they got on theride.
And then we also got a littlemore serious about like what
have you guys learned?
How do you feel like this hashelped you in this conversation
about suicide prevention andmental health?
I mean, it was just reallyspecial because you spend three
(22:16):
or four days with thesestrangers riding bikes, you're
getting baked in the sun,getting rained on, eating gas
station meals, and then you kindof wrap it all up with that
just really heartfeltconversation and vulnerability
and it made that last day, thatlast like 60 or 70 mile push,
really special.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
That's amazing.
That is, yeah, you develop this.
I mean mean, it's more thanlike a team building, it's just
this kind of like camaraderie ofeveryone in the same mission,
kind of together you're, you'redoing the same purpose, you're
all riding from cleveland tocincy and in that moment,
everyone, you know whatever,whatever's going on in your life
(22:56):
, you're just like mariah wassaying earlier you get so
focused in on the ride and thejourney and what you're doing.
At that moment you're justliving it with everybody, and
everyone's so real you're ableto like break down these mental
walls, and physical walls too,because a lot of these people
are like I've never ridden over60 miles, and our first day we
did like a hundred miles and Iwere like whoa wow, like that's
(23:19):
insane.
I just did that yeah and you'rethere to like, we're there to
like.
Help lift people up, celebratethem.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
It's so much fun, I guarantee you.
We have listeners right now whoare thinking, all right, I'm
gonna, I'm gonna dust off thebike.
I'm going to the attic or tothe garage right now, but they
may be thinking this, so I wantyour perspectives here.
If they're going, you know what?
I'm not a great biker, I'm nota great cyclist.
Can I do this?
What's your answer to them?
Speaker 3 (23:47):
can I do this?
What's your answer to them?
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Definitely yes absolutely.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
I feel very strongly about this.
Hello, my friends, Again thisis Mariah.
I do not consider myself acyclist.
I would say now, okay, we'refive years.
She says that at this pointmore so.
But when I first did the ride,and even back in 2020, not a
cyclist love riding my bike,love doing things outside.
A cyclist love riding my bike,love doing things outside.
(24:10):
But what these guys?
Speaker 2 (24:10):
have been doing.
You hear me, it wasn't.
It wasn't happening for me um.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
So I would say absolutely you can do it.
But I would say you can doanything that you put your mind
to, and doing hard thingstogether is always maybe not
easier, like it doesn'tnecessarily make the hard task
less hard, but when you knowthat you have people supporting
you, you know, to push you, toencourage you, knowing that
you're not going to be leftbehind like we are.
(24:36):
We're going to finish together.
We're starting together, we'regoing to finish together.
Yes, absolutely you can do it.
Now, preparing is important.
You know there's somepreparation, but you got to have
a bike you know, dust it off orfind one at a Goodwill.
You know, it doesn't have to befancy.
That's another thing we'repassionate about.
Let's talk about that in asecond.
But of the list of things thatyou need, bike and the
(24:59):
determination to do it is really, is really it, that's it,
that's great.
Speaker 5 (25:04):
I'm very passionate about cycling is really it,
that's it, that's great.
I'm very passionate aboutcycling and one of my, one of
our at the Ride for Hope, one ofour sort of sub goals, if you
will, is to make cyclingaccessible, and I think we were
talking before the podcast thatthere's a certain stigma around
cycling, a certain likearrogance of, well, you got to
be super elite, you got to besuper fast, you got to have, you
(25:26):
know, a $300 Jersey and a$6,000 bike, and if you don't
have those things, you can'tride with us or you're not a
real rider.
And I just think that I reallyhate that mindset and that
mentality because it's sounaccessible.
And when you look at, when youtalk about the benefits of
cycling, this is something Ireally believe that that
everybody should be doing.
It's great exercise.
It that everybody should bedoing it's great exercise, it's
(25:46):
good for the environment, it'sgood for your mental health,
there's really no downside to it.
And so I'm very passionateabout encouraging people who
would come to me and say I'venever rode my bike more than 20
miles.
You know, here's kind of maybe,maybe, a hot take, but if you
can ride your bike 20 milesthree times in one week you can
ride it from Cincinnati to Ohio.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
There we go it really is, if you can do that.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
You can ride it and you can ask anybody that's done
the ride who went into it?
Apprehensive, oh, I haven'tbeen working out, I haven't been
riding.
This is my first time doingthis.
They get done and they're likewow, holy smokes, like I did
that, I really did that, and yetdid that.
Yeah, and yet it'suncomfortable.
Yeah, there's times when you'rein london, ohio, and there's no
shade and and the sun's justbaking down on you and you're
(26:29):
low on water and you're likewhat am I?
What have I gotten myself into?
Speaker 4 (26:32):
but it is 100 achievable you're more capable
than you think you are.
Yeah, um, that you will findout during this ride it.
It opens up this whole new likewindow in your brain and just
unlocks this new level of whatyou're actually capable of,
because a lot of people willhave that thought and they're
like there's no way I could everdo this.
(26:54):
The other thing too.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Again, I'll come back to a data point the physical
fitness folks and Mariah, I knowthat you have a sports medicine
background we know that if youare exercising with a buddy or
with a team, the data saysyou'll stick with it.
So you guys are creating a teamand a community and you're just
bringing more people in who, toyour point, are going.
(27:17):
I'm in, let's do this together.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
That's cool.
Yeah, last thought to thatbecause it's kind of a cool
little one-liner that I heardwhen I first got into
bikepacking.
If you look up online and youask the question what's the best
bike for bikepacking, thenumber one answer is the bike
you have.
Perfect.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Yeah, perfect, I can afford that one Exactly.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
And that's accessible and most people have a backpack
.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
It doesn't have to be a hiking backpack, right, it's
whatever Like.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
If you want to just do a quick overnight, which I've
taken some buddies on that havenever done bikepacking and I'm
like you've got this, it'll befun.
We're gonna do 40 miles, we'llleave at noon and we'll be back
home by noon the next day andit's like grab a backpack, a
change of clothes, sleeping bagyou can fit all that in there.
We'll share a tent and thenwe're off.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
That's really cool so how many miles are we talking
about?
I'm just curious, if you startin cleveland, you go through
columbus and then you end incincinnati, like what kind of in
four, in in four days, correct?
Speaker 5 (28:20):
yeah, in four days in total it ends up being right
around 340, but that all dependson how lost we get.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Some years it's been a little bit more than that.
Speaker 5 (28:31):
At this point, we are pretty good about not getting
lost, but there's always thingsyou can't account for, like
detours and stuff like that Roadconstruction.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
But it's right around 340.
A lot of road construction.
There's a little bit of that inOhio.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Yes, there's Ohio yes , so quick math 340-ish divided
by four, so around 80 miles aday.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
Yes, but no.
If it were a perfect world andwe had stops at every 80 miles,
we would love to do that, but itends up being the first two
days and this is actually areally cool.
Unique part about the ride isthat the first two days end up
being right around 95 miles,which means that people who have
never rode a hundred milesbefore we get into camp this
(29:11):
happens every year we get intocamp and someone's like wow, I'm
five miles away from a hundredmiles.
It's being able to say thatI've done a century, so they'll
go out and they'll roll around afew extra miles and they'll get
that hundred, and there aremany, many.
Every year we have somebody gettheir first century.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
It's really special, and then they get another one
the next time.
Then they refuel and do itagain.
Yeah, that's right.
So we're talking about raisingfunds.
Speaker 5 (29:35):
The money for this goes toward where when devin
started devin and josh startedthe ride, um, we partnered with
you guys here at ospf.
Um, you guys have been ourpartners from the beginning.
This year, we're actuallyexcited to announce that we will
also be partnering with OhioState University Suicide
Prevention Program, and so I'lllet Mariah kind of share about
that partnership.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
Yeah, that's been super exciting.
Our friend Laura Lewis over atOSU, she has been great.
I think something great aboutbecoming a nonprofit even before
that is just connecting withpeople who share the passion,
recognizing that we are notinventing the will here, you
know, in terms of trying toreduce the stigma around mental
(30:19):
health challenges and suicideprevention.
There are people who have beendoing it, who are really good at
it, who are really passionateabout it, who have a whole team
around them, and so we'relooking for people for those
people and you know, we've beenpartnered with OSPF for five
years now and so, and looking atthe different demographics that
you know suicide is affecting,looking at the college
(30:39):
population, that was somethingthat we were really passionate
about and wanting to find a wayto connect with that population.
And so we connected with OSU.
And again, laura Lewis, she'sbeen great that's just a shout
out because she's wonderful,such a kind, beautiful, bright
personality who's doing a lot ofreally good work at OSU.
So we partnered with them.
One of their events this year,the OSU Out of the Darkness Walk
(31:01):
, we were present at, which wasgreat.
They allowed us to have a tableand we got to meet a lot of
good people, hear stories.
So, yeah, that's been a reallyexciting part of this new year
is bringing them on as a partnerand again, what that means is
the funds that we're raising.
For the past five years it'sall been to OSPF and now we're
also going to be giving funds toOSU to help their initiatives
(31:23):
on campus.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Are there any deadlines coming up that our
listeners need to know about forregistration?
Or maybe they want to volunteeror anything.
What do they need to know asfar?
Speaker 5 (31:31):
as volunteers go, we are always looking to bring
people on to the team, whetherit be day of event volunteers or
people joining the team,anybody that has any kind of
skills that they feel would bebeneficial to a nonprofit, very
much so in the infant stagestrying to get its feet grounded.
We are always looking forpeople to reach out.
(31:53):
You can get a hold of usthrough Instagram, facebook, our
website, many ways to contactus.
But yeah, we're always lookingfor volunteers.
There's not really a deadlinefor volunteers.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Now that you've been doing this for five years, you
have your new nonprofit, the newfocus, not just the yearly
event, but smaller regionaltouch points for cycling
community.
You know bringing peopletogether on this, knowing what
you know now, what is the bestpart of this whole experience
(32:26):
for you or maybe it's fromsomeone who has participated in
a past ride that you heard from?
Speaker 5 (32:32):
I think for me something that started happening
the very first year you know,the first year we mentioned
earlier, it was just four dudesriding bikes.
We didn't know what the heck wewere doing.
We were not even 10, 15 milesinto our ride.
We're on the road and a workvan kind of flies by us and
they're honking at us and I'mlike, oh great, this guy's going
to yell at us for being on theroad and he pulls over and we're
(32:54):
thinking like, are we going tohave to fight this Like what's
going on here.
No clue what was going on andhe's like hey, I saw your guys'
story on the news, I heard aboutyou guys doing this, and he's
like holding back tears.
And he's like I want you toknow that I lost my daughter to
suicide.
And he's like this means somuch to me that you guys are
willing to do this for thiscause, to raise money, to get
(33:18):
the word out there.
And that moment was kind oflike if I wasn't convinced
before then, there was, therewas no going back after that
moment.
Because leading up to that, I'mlike is this seems kind of
silly?
Like we're riding bikes, likeis this really going to have any
kind of effect or impact onpeople?
And that now, like, as we'reonboarding new riders, part of
(33:39):
the onboarding process is theyhave to go through a QPR
training, they have to beprepared for these conversations
.
Because we tell them theseconversations are going to
happen on the ride.
You might not think, you mightthink this is just a bike ride,
but now you're wearing our merch, you're representing our brand,
you're representing our vision,our mission.
People are going to come up toyou out of nowhere and be like
(34:00):
I've lost somebody, I'vestruggled, I've been affected by
suicide and and that, right,there is part of erasing the
stigma, preparing people forthose conversations and letting
other people know that you'rethere for those conversations,
and so for me, that has beenlike the most profound,
impactful and inspiring part ofthis whole journey is getting to
(34:21):
hear people's stories.
Speaker 4 (34:23):
I would second that.
I mean every year we've hadencounters with people that have
walked up to us, whether we'rejust at a gas station outside
refilling our water bottles, orlast year we were at a fruit
stand, like getting some freshfruit just this little local
market and a lady walks up to usand tells us about her brother
and it's just insane how, howmany people are one affected by
(34:47):
it.
But to go off of what sam'ssaying, like this started as
just like an idea to have funand just kind of get outside and
and move our bodies and seewhat we were capable of.
And with devon's just uh,gumption and determination, he,
like full speed ahead, turnedthis into what it is today and
(35:08):
being able to have someone likethat in your corner that can
advocate for you and advocatefor, like, other people that
might not feel like they have avoice or they, or they have the
power to even, like, speak upfor themselves, because they're
in such a dark spot that thisthe purpose and the mission
behind this helps, you know,carry the load of all of that,
(35:32):
like you don't have to do thisalone.
And that also translates intothe ride.
You're not riding this ride byyourself alone, like we're all
there with you, doing it day in,day out.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
I want to say two things that have been really
impactful for me.
One, the dedication to reducingthe stigma.
It's like, why is that soimportant?
What I keep saying, reducingthe stigma.
The stigma is this like hush,hush, we don't talk about that
or it isolates you.
It makes you feel like you arethe only one going through this,
experiencing this.
(36:04):
And, as these two guys have justshared year, on the bike ride,
people come, say out of thewoodwork sounds dramatic, but
truly they see that 98 number orsuicide prevention on our
jerseys.
And there's this suddenly it'ssafe, suddenly it's not in the
dark anymore, it's in the lightand we can talk about this.
You approach a stranger andtell them that you lost your
brother to suicide a stranger,and that is what.
(36:25):
That is, something that just itlights a fire under me.
It's like if, if we can all bein the light together.
Right, reducing the stigma,erasing it, getting it out of
the way and saying we all havethis shared human experience
that includes struggle andhardship and trial and pain, and
you are not alone in that, andit may not be that you're
(36:46):
sharing that with a stranger.
But again, Devin, shout out ourcommunity builder, you, you
build these communities aroundyou, which takes energy and time
and effort, which is hard for alot of people.
But that is something we'rereally passionate about is
opening that door forconversation and having
curiosity Right Not puttingyourself in a seat of judgment
where you're just assumingthings about people, but asking
(37:08):
questions and really listeningto hear people's answers and
being honest yourself.
But another thing that is reallypowerful to me about this is
all of the parallels in lifethat you find in cycling.
We have to acknowledge that itis a privilege for us to.
The Ride for Hope is fun We'vetalked about obviously we want
(37:29):
people to do it.
It's so fun.
So you know we talk about itlike you're going to have a
great time, and that is true.
It is also.
It's difficult.
It is a huge accomplishment tobe able to ride your bike across
the state of Ohio 340 miles ina couple days and it's a
physical effort, a physicalchallenge, and it is a privilege
(37:55):
to be able to choose to putyourself in a place of
discomfort and there's so manytimes in life when you can't
choose that.
And I feel like one of the mostimpactful things for me is the
parallels that I see andexperience in the Ride for Hope
is like I'm choosing thisstruggle, I'm taking this upon
myself voluntarily, with people,and I'm finding myself every
day the more that I, if I justkeep pedaling with these people
(38:17):
next to me, I can get there.
Even though it's hard, itdoesn't mean my body's hurting
any less, but with these peopleunited in effort and in purpose
and in getting to the end, wecan do it.
And in life I feel like it'shelping you build resilience,
because you realize in timeswhere I don't get to choose my
struggle in life what thatparallel is, make getting to the
(38:43):
end of that like that mucheasier, that much more possible.
Or it helped me believe inmyself that much more that I can
get there if I will invitepeople into that struggle to do
with me.
So that's been reallymeaningful to me in
participating in the ride forhope.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
Sam, Mariah and Josh, thank you so much for being
here with us today and talkingabout the Ride for Hope.
We're so proud to call you apartner here at the Ohio Suicide
Prevention Foundation.
Your collective journey andindividual journeys as well
really truly an inspiration,Thank you.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
To our listeners.
Thank you as well.
When you listen to our episodes, you break stigmas, you break
barriers, you care about mentalhealth and saving lives.
This is Voices for SuicidePrevention, brought to you by
the Ohio Suicide PreventionFoundation.
Thank you.
Welcome to our August episode of Voices for Suicide
Prevention.
As we like to say, ourconversations are real talk,
real honest, real life.
I'm Stephanie Bucher.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
And I'm Scott Light.
So, to our listeners, we aregoing to get you motivated by
this episode and by our threeguests today.
They have taken a passion forhelping people, for mental
health, suicide prevention, plushealth and wellness, and they
are making a terrific cause areal movement.
Let me introduce you to Sam andMariah Woodward and Josh Sneed,
(00:37):
all from Ride for Hope.
Welcome to all three of you.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Thank you, we're glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Thank you, yeah, thank you.
All right, where to begin herewith you guys?
Why don't we just do a littlerecent history We'll call it a
level set here for our listenerson how this whole thing got off
the ground.
Ride for Hope began five yearsago and it began during COVID
and, as you say on your website,you are dedicated to preventing
suicide, erasing the stigmasaround mental health and
building community throughcycling.
(01:04):
So who wants to start?
How did all this begin?
Speaker 4 (01:06):
I can start In 2020, our roommate, devin Gonzalez.
He's not with us today.
That sounded bad.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
He is alive.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
He's just not in the room.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
He's not in the room here, devin and I were just like
we were going on bike rides andwe were chatting and we're just
trying to like figure out, uh,what to do during covid and, um,
it was my wife and I and thendevin was our roommate and so
she's like you guys, just like Ineed some space, you guys need
to get out of here go dosomething.
(01:36):
And so him and I just startedriding bikes together and we
both had these like really likebeat up bikes and we would just
ride around the neighborhood orwe'd go a little longer, like,
oh, let's ride into downtown.
And then, kind of like, onetrip turned into two trips,
turned into like let's do 20miles.
Oh, we've never ridden 40 milesbefore, let's try that.
And uh, from there we just keptlike going.
(01:58):
And then this idea of like whatif we rode our bikes across
ohio?
Like that would be fun, just awild adventure that neither one
of us had ever like embarked onor done anything like.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
And.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Devin was friends with Sam, and so Dev pitched the
idea to Sam, and I'll let Samtake over.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
Yeah.
So it was 2019 or 2020, likethe start of COVID, and I wasn't
working a lot because stuff wasthe world was shutting down and
I was training, actually fortriathlon and all the races I
signed up for got canceled.
I was like, well, I've got allthis time.
I'm really loving riding mybike, I'll just keep riding.
And I kind of fell in love withcycling at that point, was
(02:38):
riding a ton and I kind of gotthe idea of, like I want to do
something like bigger thanmyself and bigger than just
cycling.
And I got on Facebook one dayand I saw that Devin had posted
on his story about this ridethat he was calling it the ride
for hope.
And so I reached out to him.
I had talked to him in a coupleof years.
We were close, kind of like inhigh school and college, hadn't
(02:59):
seen each other in a while.
I was like, hey, man, like longtime no talk.
What's this ride you're talkingabout?
And he shared with me the kindof the vision hey, we're going
to go from Cincinnati toCleveland.
The first year we did it wewent South to North.
It's like we're going to.
We're going to ride across Ohio.
There's like an establishedtrail.
We're going to be bike packing,camping along the way, and
we're doing it for a suicideprevention.
(03:19):
We're partnering with OSPF,we're going to raise some money
and you know, I mentioned it toMariah I was like hey, what do
you think about me doing this?
It kind of checks all theseboxes for me.
She was on board and the restwas kind of history from that
point on.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, so that's 2020?
2020.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
That was 2020, yeah.
So, Mariah, what did you thinkabout the idea?
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Yeah to say I was on.
There was a lot going on, as weall know, in the country, in
our own lives, in the world, andso him getting on his bike with
friends, that I didn't knowsuper.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
I didn't know josh at all devon.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
I had met like on facetime and you know anyway.
So obviously the mission behindit, super cool.
But I I didn't.
I never heard of bikepackingbefore and I was like are you
guys gonna be safe?
Is this dangerous?
You're gonna be gone for four.
How long are you gonna be gonejust on your bike?
Are you sleeping on rocks?
What's going on?
So I didn't know a lot aboutwhat it was gonna look like,
(04:17):
which made me nervous.
But, like he said, it checked alot of boxes that he had been
talking about.
He had been falling in lovewith cycling but wanting to do
something bigger with it, and sothey all teamed up and it was
cool.
Once it, once it came along, Igot more on board, but I wasn't
just like, yeah, do it, babe,cool.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Actually, the first year there was four of us.
My good buddy Jake Jacob Joneshe still has participated every
year to some extent.
Um, he's doing the full thingthis year thing this year, which
he hasn't done since the firstyear.
But yeah, it was the four of us.
It was um four dudes ridingbikes that had no idea what we
were doing or where we weregoing.
We knew we were going north.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
It was like the the most complete, wildest adventure
.
I came from the background oflike long distance backpacking
and, uh, hiking, and so I wasvery familiar with like just
going out and followingsomething and seeing where it
goes and you'll just like figureit out, and being out in nature
and then kind of like ropingthese guys into it and I was
like, oh, it's fine, like I haveall the gear for like camping
(05:15):
and backpacking and like I can,we can figure it out it'll,
it'll be fun and turns out likewe didn't need any of that stuff
because as it wasn't like wewere backpacking in wilderness,
we were dry, or like riding ourbikes through towns like two or
three times a day and we hadpacked five days worth of meals
that we didn't need to carry,like all this food, water, extra
(05:37):
camping supplies and then tojust like stop at gas stations
the whole time and coffee shopsand just like grab whatever we
needed.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
So definitely a learning experience from that
first time.
Oh, yeah, oh definitely.
Speaker 5 (05:51):
Yeah, just a funny image.
My, in my mind I'm like oh,bike packing, I have a, I have a
backpack and I had a hikingbackpack that I loaded down with
about 50 pounds of gear and Iwore the whole, the whole five.
The first year was five days.
That was miserable.
It was All stuff I didn't eat.
Like Josh said, yeah, wow, wow.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
How did not to take a serious tone here, but we're
talking about when COVID kickedoff.
We all have our memories of allof that, back to 2020.
How did COVID affect yourrespective mental health?
Speaker 4 (06:27):
For me, covid.
It opened a lot of doors.
I didn't see it.
I mean I did as like the thingswere turning off in the world
and just kind of seeing likeeverything that was going on yes
, it was.
It was hard to like see andjust like know that people were
out there like hurting and dyingand kind of like suffering from
something that no one knew whatit was or how to handle it.
But on the other end I feltlike there was so much growth
(06:49):
from it because it opened upthis huge chunk of time that I
didn't have before.
Before I was, you know, in work,40 hours a week just doing day
to day.
But during COVID I had gottenfurloughed from my job as an
automotive technician and itjust opened up this time where I
was outside, I was taking mydog for walks every day and we
(07:11):
were just like hanging out,spending quality time together
and just being out in nature andkind of just like being able to
reflect and see and know likewhatever is going on right now,
this is only for like a moment,it's temporary, this isn't going
to be like life forever, andthrough that it just kind of I
(07:32):
got to see this new growth inmyself, just from being able to,
to be out in nature andself-reflect and just have a
more open mind and not be justway down from the stressors of
life and not be just weigheddown from the stressors of life.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Yeah, for me it was an interesting thing happening,
not necessarily for mespecifically, but also I had
probably four friends pregnantat the time, including my sister
, and then, along with just thepolitical, social, racial unrest
.
I am a very compassionateperson, very empathetic person,
(08:07):
and so I found myself in a placewhere I was just completely
fatigued just from caring, youknow, about all the things
happening to people.
I loved their anxieties aboutthe unknowns happening in the
world and then even my own fearsand anxieties about that.
So I think, for my mentalhealth, I was in a place where I
was very exhausted and notreally feeling like I knew what
(08:31):
to do about it.
But, to go off what Josh said,I also found myself with a ton
of free time, which it is verylife-giving for me to be outside
, and so there was a ton moretime to be outside, to be with
Sam, because again things wereshut down.
To be with Sam because againthings were shut down so he
wasn't working as much.
To be with family, which was agift.
(08:51):
So there was a lot of like bothand happening.
A lot of anxiety, a lot of fear, a lot of I don't know how to
help these people who are goingthrough really difficult, scary
times, and it's overwhelming toeven think about how to do
anything about that.
But then also, while the worldis kind of paused, there is an
opportunity to take a breathhere and be with people I care
(09:13):
about and be outside and, like,lay in the grass and ride my
bike, and so it was like for alot of people, it was just a
very weird, strange, difficulttime, with a lot of good in it
too, though, yeah, I kind ofagree with both of them in the
sense that there was so muchtime to not be working and to
(09:36):
kind of be outside and pausing,and I think learning to pause
and to meditate is reallybeneficial to mental health.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
And so we the world, was just sort of forced into
that and some people respondeddifferently than others, but I
think for me it was really goodto experience the benefit of
pausing.
I think another experience thatI had is I really grew, I think,
in empathy for other people,you know, having grown up, when
I did, I experienced severalinfluenza scares, you know Ebola
(10:06):
, and when COVID first came up,I, like a lot of people was like
, oh, it's just another one ofthose It'll pass.
And there was a, there was awhile where I kind of was like,
okay, this is like, why arepeople still taking this so
seriously?
And then when I finallyrealized, oh, this is real, like
the things that people areexperiencing, it's not just
propaganda, it's not just on thenews, it really opened my eyes
(10:28):
to wow, there really is like acrisis sweeping the nation, not
just with COVID, it also openedthe door on a lot of mental
health issues and, you know,realizing, like I said, some
people responded differently andsome people were feeling
isolated and stuck and alone andso I feel like it really helped
open my eyes to kind of whatthe Ride for Hope is is.
(10:48):
We're advocates for mentalhealth, specifically suicide
prevention, but understandingyou know you have to start at
the base, which are these othermental health issues.
So for me I'm really I'mgrateful for that experience for
COVID, because of how it openedmy eyes and kind of enlightened
me to the power of empathy andjust, I think, helped me kind of
(11:08):
see others more than I sawmyself.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
So, with the tie-in of mental health, mental
wellness and cycling, like, howdo you, what kind of release and
what do you feel when you'reout there cycling, when it comes
to the mental wellness, yourbrain health when you're out
there, For myself it feels kindof like a reset.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
So, whatever's going on in the day, I know that I can
get on my bike and I can justride and pedal and for however
long I'm out whether it's 30minutes or it's five hours it's
just cycling.
It's like one stroke after theother just keep going and kind
of you're slowing down to asense of maybe like 15 miles an
(11:58):
hour where you're seeing theworld at this different pace and
you know, in your cars and yourday-to-day you just drive by
everything so fast that youdon't pick up on the little
things.
And when you're on your bikeyou can really like check in not
only on yourself and like feeleverything from like your hands
to your feet, to your legs, yourknees, your back, like your
(12:19):
whole body.
You're doing this self-check asyou're riding and just
connecting and feeling theenvironment around you and then
also being able to see theinteractions of nature and life
and just like, oh, there's kidsin the front yard kicking this
ball, this person's over herefishing at a pond like just
seeing the world at a slowerpace than what you usually would
(12:40):
it is very grounding like whichis, you know, a tool in therapy
that you know my therapist willgive me name that five things.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
You can see five things.
You can hear five things, youcan smell five things.
You know that is very easy todo on a bike, you know, when you
, you can't be distracted reallyby anything else than what
you're doing.
Also, just to go back to covid,everything's happening.
You're hearing about everythinghappening on such a grand scale
, whether nationwide or globally.
(13:10):
When you're on your bike, it'sjust what's in front of you.
Like I said, you are seeingyour neighbor, you're seeing the
person riding next to you,you're seeing the stores, you
know's just.
It's a good way to be presentand I'm speaking about this.
Like you know, I was in lovewith cycling at the time.
I certainly was not.
So I don't I don't want to liebecause that was not what was
happening for me, but since then, now I'm kind of going on what
(13:33):
cycling has become for me.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
On what he was saying about, you know things you're
noticing, feeling, sensing,connecting with cycling is so
great for that, for me too.
Another benefit is it's a.
It's a really good opportunityfor me to get out some energy,
and sometimes that's like ananxious energy, you know you
just you kind of feel your bodystart to tense up, whether it's
the stress of relationship orwork or whatever it may be.
(13:57):
Getting your heart rate up,getting all your muscles
activated, getting a good sweaton and on top of all of that,
you know you put in a reallyhard effort.
There's a sense of pride oflike wow, I really accomplished
that.
I really pushed myself.
You know I fought against thenature of wanting to be
sedentary and just kind of sitand wear my situation.
I think there's a lot ofcorrelations between cycling and
(14:19):
life as far as mindset goes andperspective.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
And yeah, I feel like for me it's the cheapest form
of therapy that I have, and so Ilove being able to get the
wiggles out, as I like to say Onthat health note, we now know
that the sociologists, theanthropologists out there say if
we're closer to green space, ifwe're closer to nature and if
we're closer to blue space water, then our health, is better.
(14:46):
That's a fact.
That's just data that we nowhave.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
Yeah, I mean just kind of reiterating on what Josh
said to your point.
When you're on your bike younotice so many things that in a
car you just fly by.
He mentioned kids in the frontyard in a picture from the first
year he did the Ride for Hope.
We were out in Amish countryand we were going through these
rolling hills and it's beautifulout there.
People who don't say Ohio isbeautiful need to bike through
(15:12):
it, because it's reallybeautiful and it's Amish country
.
We're getting passed by horsesand buggies and we we came up
over this hill, we were comingdown and there were these Amish
kids playing baseball in thefront yard.
I'm like man, this is just a.
The sun was shining and therewas no clouds in the sky, the
grass was green.
I was like this is just acinematic moment and I just get
to experience it.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Yeah, I mean every year we go past it's it's in
amish country as well, kind oflike on the north side of ohio
and we pass this huge sunflowerfield and we're always really
late in the day when we're goingthrough it and so the sun's
kind of like hitting that goldenhour or else this or the sun's
starting to set and you justlook around and you're going
(15:53):
through these rolling hills andthen you look to your side and
there's, like you know, six footsunflowers and it's just acres
and acres as far as you can see,and they're all just facing one
direction, facing the sun, andyou're just out there.
There's no other cars, there'sno people, it's just like five
of us on our bikes just ridingby and taking it all in.
It's insane, that's great.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah, that's really cool.
So how did the idea come upabout making this a nonprofit
movement, basically dedicated tomental health and suicide
prevention?
Speaker 5 (16:26):
Yeah.
So if you guys have ever metDevin Gonzalez you know he is
big picture to the moon kind ofguy, and so when Devin started I
think there was never a doubtin his mind that this was going
to like blow up and be anonprofit and I'm also pretty
big picture kind of guy, and sothere was always the idea of
becoming an official nonprofit.
(16:47):
But early on it was just kindof clear that we didn't really
have the time or the resourcesor the understanding of how to
make that happen.
And it's actually interestingbecause the beginning of this
year, end of last year, one ofthe ideas we had had for the
Ride for Hope was to start apodcast and our thought process
was this will give us contentthat we can kind of have more of
a presence throughout the year,because we were, for up until
(17:10):
the beginning of this year wewere an annual event.
That's what we were and wewanted to have more than that.
So I met with a friend of minein Cincinnati who runs a
nonprofit and has run multiplepodcasts, and I got together
with him to pick his brain onstarting a podcast and as I
began to share with him what theRide for Hope was and where we
wanted to go.
He straight up told me he'slike you guys need to table this
(17:33):
podcast idea and you need tofocus on becoming a nonprofit.
He kind of walked me throughthe steps of the paperwork and
getting registered and it kindof reignited the fire and the
passion for me and I came homeand shared with Mariah I will
let her kind of share herperspective because she is
definitely the Devin and I arethe big picture visionaries.
(17:53):
She is definitely the rock thatkeeps us on pace and keeps us
grounded and keeps us on thosebaby steps that help us get to
that.
So I shared the vision with herand she really came on board
and I'll let her share now.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
I think you're giving too much credit.
So Sam came home after talkingto his friend who runs a
nonprofit, and I had been seeingthe Ride for Hope growing and
could see the potential of itgrowing into a nonprofit, but we
wanted to pitch the idea toDevin and could see the
potential of it growing into anon-profit.
But we wanted to pitch the ideato Devin and our friends in
Columbus.
So I made a powerpoint and,just you know, developed a small
(18:26):
.
You know this is what ourmission, vision, statements,
core values.
This is why we would benefitfrom being a non-profit versus,
you know, just this annual event.
But it wasn't.
I mean, you may be giving metoo much credit here.
I I do, I do thrive in thesmall details and like
administrative tasks, but I meanDevon, josh, sam, this is their
(18:47):
, their vision, their passion.
That you know started back in2020 and you know I, I'm helpful
, but I'm not, I'm not, I'm notall that.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
But we're really excited about becoming a
nonprofit because it has givenus that thing that we've been
longing for, which is a constantpresence, not just in social
media, but in community.
And so, now that we kind ofhave this restructure and vision
of what the Ride for Hope is,we now have event calendars, we
now have a much better website,we have merchandise, and so all
(19:16):
of that is to help us achievethis idea of erasing the stigma
around suicide prevention andopening up the conversation
about suicide prevention.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Well, and Stephanie and I were on your website.
We also had a couple ofpre-recording conversations
between us here at the table,and you've already had some
events this year, right?
So give our listeners kind ofthe who, what, when, where and
how of the rides, and thenyou've also got another one
coming up in September, right?
Speaker 5 (19:44):
We are all about building community, and so one
of the things that we're reallytrying to be intentional about
as a nonprofit is hostingcommunity events, community bike
rides.
So we actually just on Saturdaymorning, this past Saturday, we
hosted our very firstCincinnati community group ride,
and we're just trying to getpeople involved.
We're trying to build a groupof people who are willing to not
(20:06):
only go out and enjoy time innature with each other and
exercise and experience all thebenefits of cycling the physical
benefits, but are also willingto have a conversation about
suicide prevention.
So these rides that we're doing,they're more than just a bike
ride.
We really want them to be aplace where people feel welcome,
that people feel safe, theyfeel like they can be vulnerable
(20:27):
and cared for.
And then the event in Septemberthat is the Ride for Hope.
That's the annual event thatkind of started this whole thing
.
That's the four-day ride fromCleveland to Cincinnati and it's
a's uh, it's a bike packingtrip, like we've said.
So we'll drive up to cleveland,we stay in a hotel the first
night and we have a nice littleboard meeting or a team meeting,
(20:47):
which is a good time, and thenwe wake up super early friday
morning, we do our back tire dipand lake erie and then we get
on our way, we camp at night, wepack all our our stuff up and
then, when we get to Cincinnati,we do the front tire dip.
It's kind of like an iconic youknow, but yeah, that's the
September event.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
I'm just curious.
So the first ride in 2020, fourof you, how many last year, and
how many do you expect thisyear?
Speaker 5 (21:12):
Yeah, so last year was a learning curve.
We went from four riders to Ithink we had 12.
So a lot of different dynamics,kind of figuring out okay, how
do we facilitate a group thisbig.
Also, there were riders that alot of us had never met before,
so new people joining the team.
That was super exciting.
This year we still have about aweek left of registration but
we already have, I think, 16people registered.
(21:34):
So, you know, still some morelogistical things to figure out,
but we're just super.
The dynamic, uh, between lastyear and years before was just
so much different.
It was there's so many morepersonalities, so many more
stories.
We kind of started thiscampfire the last night.
We were going to probablycontinue this, but the last
night of the ride we had a bigbonfire and everybody kind of
(21:56):
went around just shared likefunny stories or memories or
kind of like how theirexpectations were different than
reality when they got on theride.
And then we also got a littlemore serious about like what
have you guys learned?
How do you feel like this hashelped you in this conversation
about suicide prevention andmental health?
I mean, it was just reallyspecial because you spend three
(22:16):
or four days with thesestrangers riding bikes, you're
getting baked in the sun,getting rained on, eating gas
station meals, and then you kindof wrap it all up with that
just really heartfeltconversation and vulnerability
and it made that last day, thatlast like 60 or 70 mile push,
really special.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
That's amazing.
That is, yeah, you develop this.
I mean mean, it's more thanlike a team building, it's just
this kind of like camaraderie ofeveryone in the same mission,
kind of together you're, you'redoing the same purpose, you're
all riding from cleveland tocincy and in that moment,
everyone, you know whatever,whatever's going on in your life
(22:56):
, you're just like mariah wassaying earlier you get so
focused in on the ride and thejourney and what you're doing.
At that moment you're justliving it with everybody, and
everyone's so real you're ableto like break down these mental
walls, and physical walls too,because a lot of these people
are like I've never ridden over60 miles, and our first day we
did like a hundred miles and Iwere like whoa wow, like that's
(23:19):
insane.
I just did that yeah and you'rethere to like, we're there to
like.
Help lift people up, celebratethem.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
It's so much fun, I guarantee you.
We have listeners right now whoare thinking, all right, I'm
gonna, I'm gonna dust off thebike.
I'm going to the attic or tothe garage right now, but they
may be thinking this, so I wantyour perspectives here.
If they're going, you know what?
I'm not a great biker, I'm nota great cyclist.
Can I do this?
What's your answer to them?
Speaker 3 (23:47):
can I do this?
What's your answer to them?
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Definitely yes absolutely.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
I feel very strongly about this.
Hello, my friends, Again thisis Mariah.
I do not consider myself acyclist.
I would say now, okay, we'refive years.
She says that at this pointmore so.
But when I first did the ride,and even back in 2020, not a
cyclist love riding my bike,love doing things outside.
A cyclist love riding my bike,love doing things outside.
(24:10):
But what these guys?
Speaker 2 (24:10):
have been doing.
You hear me, it wasn't.
It wasn't happening for me um.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
So I would say absolutely you can do it.
But I would say you can doanything that you put your mind
to, and doing hard thingstogether is always maybe not
easier, like it doesn'tnecessarily make the hard task
less hard, but when you knowthat you have people supporting
you, you know, to push you, toencourage you, knowing that
you're not going to be leftbehind like we are.
(24:36):
We're going to finish together.
We're starting together, we'regoing to finish together.
Yes, absolutely you can do it.
Now, preparing is important.
You know there's somepreparation, but you got to have
a bike you know, dust it off orfind one at a Goodwill.
You know, it doesn't have to befancy.
That's another thing we'repassionate about.
Let's talk about that in asecond.
But of the list of things thatyou need, bike and the
(24:59):
determination to do it is really, is really it, that's it,
that's great.
Speaker 5 (25:04):
I'm very passionate about cycling is really it,
that's it, that's great.
I'm very passionate aboutcycling and one of my, one of
our at the Ride for Hope, one ofour sort of sub goals, if you
will, is to make cyclingaccessible, and I think we were
talking before the podcast thatthere's a certain stigma around
cycling, a certain likearrogance of, well, you got to
be super elite, you got to besuper fast, you got to have, you
(25:26):
know, a $300 Jersey and a$6,000 bike, and if you don't
have those things, you can'tride with us or you're not a
real rider.
And I just think that I reallyhate that mindset and that
mentality because it's sounaccessible.
And when you look at, when youtalk about the benefits of
cycling, this is something Ireally believe that that
everybody should be doing.
It's great exercise.
It that everybody should bedoing it's great exercise, it's
(25:46):
good for the environment, it'sgood for your mental health,
there's really no downside to it.
And so I'm very passionateabout encouraging people who
would come to me and say I'venever rode my bike more than 20
miles.
You know, here's kind of maybe,maybe, a hot take, but if you
can ride your bike 20 milesthree times in one week you can
ride it from Cincinnati to Ohio.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
There we go it really is, if you can do that.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
You can ride it and you can ask anybody that's done
the ride who went into it?
Apprehensive, oh, I haven'tbeen working out, I haven't been
riding.
This is my first time doingthis.
They get done and they're likewow, holy smokes, like I did
that, I really did that, and yetdid that.
Yeah, and yet it'suncomfortable.
Yeah, there's times when you'rein london, ohio, and there's no
shade and and the sun's justbaking down on you and you're
(26:29):
low on water and you're likewhat am I?
What have I gotten myself into?
Speaker 4 (26:32):
but it is 100 achievable you're more capable
than you think you are.
Yeah, um, that you will findout during this ride it.
It opens up this whole new likewindow in your brain and just
unlocks this new level of whatyou're actually capable of,
because a lot of people willhave that thought and they're
like there's no way I could everdo this.
(26:54):
The other thing too.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Again, I'll come back to a data point the physical
fitness folks and Mariah, I knowthat you have a sports medicine
background we know that if youare exercising with a buddy or
with a team, the data saysyou'll stick with it.
So you guys are creating a teamand a community and you're just
bringing more people in who, toyour point, are going.
(27:17):
I'm in, let's do this together.
Speaker 5 (27:19):
That's cool.
Yeah, last thought to thatbecause it's kind of a cool
little one-liner that I heardwhen I first got into
bikepacking.
If you look up online and youask the question what's the best
bike for bikepacking, thenumber one answer is the bike
you have.
Perfect.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Yeah, perfect, I can afford that one Exactly.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
And that's accessible and most people have a backpack
.
Speaker 5 (27:41):
It doesn't have to be a hiking backpack, right, it's
whatever Like.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
If you want to just do a quick overnight, which I've
taken some buddies on that havenever done bikepacking and I'm
like you've got this, it'll befun.
We're gonna do 40 miles, we'llleave at noon and we'll be back
home by noon the next day andit's like grab a backpack, a
change of clothes, sleeping bagyou can fit all that in there.
We'll share a tent and thenwe're off.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
That's really cool so how many miles are we talking
about?
I'm just curious, if you startin cleveland, you go through
columbus and then you end incincinnati, like what kind of in
four, in in four days, correct?
Speaker 5 (28:20):
yeah, in four days in total it ends up being right
around 340, but that all dependson how lost we get.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Some years it's been a little bit more than that.
Speaker 5 (28:31):
At this point, we are pretty good about not getting
lost, but there's always thingsyou can't account for, like
detours and stuff like that Roadconstruction.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
But it's right around 340.
A lot of road construction.
There's a little bit of that inOhio.
Speaker 2 (28:42):
Yes, there's Ohio yes , so quick math 340-ish divided
by four, so around 80 miles aday.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
Yes, but no.
If it were a perfect world andwe had stops at every 80 miles,
we would love to do that, but itends up being the first two
days and this is actually areally cool.
Unique part about the ride isthat the first two days end up
being right around 95 miles,which means that people who have
never rode a hundred milesbefore we get into camp this
(29:11):
happens every year we get intocamp and someone's like wow, I'm
five miles away from a hundredmiles.
It's being able to say thatI've done a century, so they'll
go out and they'll roll around afew extra miles and they'll get
that hundred, and there aremany, many.
Every year we have somebody gettheir first century.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
It's really special, and then they get another one
the next time.
Then they refuel and do itagain.
Yeah, that's right.
So we're talking about raisingfunds.
Speaker 5 (29:35):
The money for this goes toward where when devin
started devin and josh startedthe ride, um, we partnered with
you guys here at ospf.
Um, you guys have been ourpartners from the beginning.
This year, we're actuallyexcited to announce that we will
also be partnering with OhioState University Suicide
Prevention Program, and so I'lllet Mariah kind of share about
that partnership.
Speaker 3 (29:56):
Yeah, that's been super exciting.
Our friend Laura Lewis over atOSU, she has been great.
I think something great aboutbecoming a nonprofit even before
that is just connecting withpeople who share the passion,
recognizing that we are notinventing the will here, you
know, in terms of trying toreduce the stigma around mental
(30:19):
health challenges and suicideprevention.
There are people who have beendoing it, who are really good at
it, who are really passionateabout it, who have a whole team
around them, and so we'relooking for people for those
people and you know, we've beenpartnered with OSPF for five
years now and so, and looking atthe different demographics that
you know suicide is affecting,looking at the college
(30:39):
population, that was somethingthat we were really passionate
about and wanting to find a wayto connect with that population.
And so we connected with OSU.
And again, laura Lewis, she'sbeen great that's just a shout
out because she's wonderful,such a kind, beautiful, bright
personality who's doing a lot ofreally good work at OSU.
So we partnered with them.
One of their events this year,the OSU Out of the Darkness Walk
(31:01):
, we were present at, which wasgreat.
They allowed us to have a tableand we got to meet a lot of
good people, hear stories.
So, yeah, that's been a reallyexciting part of this new year
is bringing them on as a partnerand again, what that means is
the funds that we're raising.
For the past five years it'sall been to OSPF and now we're
also going to be giving funds toOSU to help their initiatives
(31:23):
on campus.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Are there any deadlines coming up that our
listeners need to know about forregistration?
Or maybe they want to volunteeror anything.
What do they need to know asfar?
Speaker 5 (31:31):
as volunteers go, we are always looking to bring
people on to the team, whetherit be day of event volunteers or
people joining the team,anybody that has any kind of
skills that they feel would bebeneficial to a nonprofit, very
much so in the infant stagestrying to get its feet grounded.
We are always looking forpeople to reach out.
(31:53):
You can get a hold of usthrough Instagram, facebook, our
website, many ways to contactus.
But yeah, we're always lookingfor volunteers.
There's not really a deadlinefor volunteers.
Speaker 1 (32:03):
Now that you've been doing this for five years, you
have your new nonprofit, the newfocus, not just the yearly
event, but smaller regionaltouch points for cycling
community.
You know bringing peopletogether on this, knowing what
you know now, what is the bestpart of this whole experience
(32:26):
for you or maybe it's fromsomeone who has participated in
a past ride that you heard from?
Speaker 5 (32:32):
I think for me something that started happening
the very first year you know,the first year we mentioned
earlier, it was just four dudesriding bikes.
We didn't know what the heck wewere doing.
We were not even 10, 15 milesinto our ride.
We're on the road and a workvan kind of flies by us and
they're honking at us and I'mlike, oh great, this guy's going
to yell at us for being on theroad and he pulls over and we're
(32:54):
thinking like, are we going tohave to fight this Like what's
going on here.
No clue what was going on andhe's like hey, I saw your guys'
story on the news, I heard aboutyou guys doing this, and he's
like holding back tears.
And he's like I want you toknow that I lost my daughter to
suicide.
And he's like this means somuch to me that you guys are
willing to do this for thiscause, to raise money, to get
(33:18):
the word out there.
And that moment was kind oflike if I wasn't convinced
before then, there was, therewas no going back after that
moment.
Because leading up to that, I'mlike is this seems kind of
silly?
Like we're riding bikes, likeis this really going to have any
kind of effect or impact onpeople?
And that now, like, as we'reonboarding new riders, part of
(33:39):
the onboarding process is theyhave to go through a QPR
training, they have to beprepared for these conversations
.
Because we tell them theseconversations are going to
happen on the ride.
You might not think, you mightthink this is just a bike ride,
but now you're wearing our merch, you're representing our brand,
you're representing our vision,our mission.
People are going to come up toyou out of nowhere and be like
(34:00):
I've lost somebody, I'vestruggled, I've been affected by
suicide and and that, right,there is part of erasing the
stigma, preparing people forthose conversations and letting
other people know that you'rethere for those conversations,
and so for me, that has beenlike the most profound,
impactful and inspiring part ofthis whole journey is getting to
(34:21):
hear people's stories.
Speaker 4 (34:23):
I would second that.
I mean every year we've hadencounters with people that have
walked up to us, whether we'rejust at a gas station outside
refilling our water bottles, orlast year we were at a fruit
stand, like getting some freshfruit just this little local
market and a lady walks up to usand tells us about her brother
and it's just insane how, howmany people are one affected by
(34:47):
it.
But to go off of what sam'ssaying, like this started as
just like an idea to have funand just kind of get outside and
and move our bodies and seewhat we were capable of.
And with devon's just uh,gumption and determination, he,
like full speed ahead, turnedthis into what it is today and
(35:08):
being able to have someone likethat in your corner that can
advocate for you and advocatefor, like, other people that
might not feel like they have avoice or they, or they have the
power to even, like, speak upfor themselves, because they're
in such a dark spot that thisthe purpose and the mission
behind this helps, you know,carry the load of all of that,
(35:32):
like you don't have to do thisalone.
And that also translates intothe ride.
You're not riding this ride byyourself alone, like we're all
there with you, doing it day in,day out.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
I want to say two things that have been really
impactful for me.
One, the dedication to reducingthe stigma.
It's like, why is that soimportant?
What I keep saying, reducingthe stigma.
The stigma is this like hush,hush, we don't talk about that
or it isolates you.
It makes you feel like you arethe only one going through this,
experiencing this.
(36:04):
And, as these two guys have justshared year, on the bike ride,
people come, say out of thewoodwork sounds dramatic, but
truly they see that 98 number orsuicide prevention on our
jerseys.
And there's this suddenly it'ssafe, suddenly it's not in the
dark anymore, it's in the lightand we can talk about this.
You approach a stranger andtell them that you lost your
brother to suicide a stranger,and that is what.
(36:25):
That is, something that just itlights a fire under me.
It's like if, if we can all bein the light together.
Right, reducing the stigma,erasing it, getting it out of
the way and saying we all havethis shared human experience
that includes struggle andhardship and trial and pain, and
you are not alone in that, andit may not be that you're
(36:46):
sharing that with a stranger.
But again, Devin, shout out ourcommunity builder, you, you
build these communities aroundyou, which takes energy and time
and effort, which is hard for alot of people.
But that is something we'rereally passionate about is
opening that door forconversation and having
curiosity Right Not puttingyourself in a seat of judgment
where you're just assumingthings about people, but asking
(37:08):
questions and really listeningto hear people's answers and
being honest yourself.
But another thing that is reallypowerful to me about this is
all of the parallels in lifethat you find in cycling.
We have to acknowledge that itis a privilege for us to.
The Ride for Hope is fun We'vetalked about obviously we want
(37:29):
people to do it.
It's so fun.
So you know we talk about itlike you're going to have a
great time, and that is true.
It is also.
It's difficult.
It is a huge accomplishment tobe able to ride your bike across
the state of Ohio 340 miles ina couple days and it's a
physical effort, a physicalchallenge, and it is a privilege
(37:55):
to be able to choose to putyourself in a place of
discomfort and there's so manytimes in life when you can't
choose that.
And I feel like one of the mostimpactful things for me is the
parallels that I see andexperience in the Ride for Hope
is like I'm choosing thisstruggle, I'm taking this upon
myself voluntarily, with people,and I'm finding myself every
day the more that I, if I justkeep pedaling with these people
(38:17):
next to me, I can get there.
Even though it's hard, itdoesn't mean my body's hurting
any less, but with these peopleunited in effort and in purpose
and in getting to the end, wecan do it.
And in life I feel like it'shelping you build resilience,
because you realize in timeswhere I don't get to choose my
struggle in life what thatparallel is, make getting to the
(38:43):
end of that like that mucheasier, that much more possible.
Or it helped me believe inmyself that much more that I can
get there if I will invitepeople into that struggle to do
with me.
So that's been reallymeaningful to me in
participating in the ride forhope.
Speaker 1 (39:01):
Sam, Mariah and Josh, thank you so much for being
here with us today and talkingabout the Ride for Hope.
We're so proud to call you apartner here at the Ohio Suicide
Prevention Foundation.
Your collective journey andindividual journeys as well
really truly an inspiration,Thank you.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
To our listeners.
Thank you as well.
When you listen to our episodes, you break stigmas, you break
barriers, you care about mentalhealth and saving lives.
This is Voices for SuicidePrevention, brought to you by
the Ohio Suicide PreventionFoundation.
Thank you.
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