See
in June 2006, I set out from my home in the UK
on a journey that would change the course of my life.
I'm Dominic
and I pedaled from the top of Alaska
alone on a tandem bicycle, nearly 20,000 miles to the tip of South America,
inviting random strangers to take a seat and share the ride.
More than 270 people joined me on my two year journey.
One of them was Ernie Greenwald from Lompoc California. It
had always been his dream 40 years ago
to cycle
across the country across the States. Finding we had a dream in common.
We hatched a plan to cycle from Los Angeles, California
over 4000 miles to New York.
How many
men of my age get a chance to go out and have a great adventure
after my journey. Two years later, once I'd reached the bottom of Argentina,
I set about trying to make that dream come true.
Ernie was 73 years old and suffered from lymphocytic leukemia
so he couldn't just ride any bike over such a long distance.
So
I sourced and tested the perfect machine.
A semi
recumbent tandem bike that allowed him to travel in relative comfort
and me to take up the slack when necessary.
I'm looking forward to seeing the country that I've lived
in for 70 plus years and never really seen,
I've never been one to take vacations or car trips or travel.
And, uh,
you know, you've mentioned that we'll probably go through or by the Grand Canyon.
I've never seen the Grand Canyon.
Uh, it's, uh
so foolish.
Two weeks ago,
we visited Ernie in hospital and he'd taken a bit of a turn for the worse
after um a little dose of chemotherapy,
which was designed to set him right for the road.
He had not only contracted a respiratory illness,
they had found that he also had stage one prostate cancer
in order to have a chance at beating the cancer.
Ernie needed further treatment that would keep him at home
had every reason to believe we'd be able to do it.
The emergence of Ernie's second cancer
destroyed the dream we'd fostered together.
He was no longer strong enough to make the journey.
The last thing Ernie wanted
was for the cross country journey to die. A death.
We had a bike suitable for weak or impaired companions.
We had a support vehicle and crew.
I decided to hop on and be a publicist, a manager, co producer.
All we needed was someone to ride in Ernie's place.
What we did was divided the journey uh Drew a line
on a map and divided the journey into eight or 10 legs
and, uh,
started trawling the country for interested,
impaired or disabled people to jump on.
We had Ernie's blessing to start the journey without him.
But with so little time before our departure date,
it seemed unlikely that anyone let alone someone with an impairment
would want to step up for the challenge
we're really on for the pressure because we're supposed to
leave last week and we didn't do to Ernie's complications.
And now we set a deadline for the Saturday
and it's late afternoon, approximately five pm on Thursday
and we still don't have anybody.
Our dream is slowly fading away before our eyes. And so I literally
am on Facebook,
reaching out to anybody and everybody who might be interested
in taking up this first um leg of the journey
for everything we need Ziploc bags,
enough food to feed a small army.
All we're waiting for now is uh
he's our first companion,
but just as we were losing hope,
we received a phone call from 31 year old Ryan, maybe
willing to take a seat on the first leg of our journey to Las Vegas, Nevada. We found
my first companion,
Ryan
actually from Salt Lake City is coming down to get to L A tonight.
He doesn't really get the opportunity to go camping and do adventures,
uh which he loves apparently so says his mother,
uh who put him on a bus this morning armed with a, a
water bottle and a sleeping bag. We set off from Santa Monica pier
and head East.
Having never met Ryan before.
We found out from his mother that a car accident
in 2006 left him with a traumatic brain injury,
damage to the brain, hard wiring
makes it difficult for Ryan to do most things, including walk and talk.
As for cycling,
I had no idea what to expect.
I
think you're
in
for it.
Oh, I know I'm in for it.
I know I am
but it doesn't matter. I'm so excited.
My name is Ray. Maybe. I'm born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Uh
basically in nine or 2006, drove off the I five, California and uh
spent the next month in a coma in Mission V
Hill.
And
you know, when he came out of my coma, basically had to learn how to walk again.
I didn't want to be a gimp.
You know, the only way you can do it is you have to get up and move.
I got up and moved.
We are about to start our voyage. It is going to be cool. We're going to Vegas,
we're at Santa Monica Pier right now.
I'm riding in tandem on the coolest bike I'm on the front of that. It's going to go off.
I'm so excited, Dar.
But there was one element beyond our control that would make his journey complete.
I'm hoping while we're in the desert, we get to see some UFO S.
It is quarter to 10
on the fifth of July and we're heading out.
I'm amazed it's not already too hot to be standing out here, but as it is, it's cool
and drizzling.
So it's making this Englishman feel at home
48 hours after nearly losing all hope
with Ernie in our thoughts,
our dream was becoming a reality. Thanks to Ryan
who for the first time since his accident
was heading back out on the road.
So,
is your right side or your left side?
Right?
Your rights are more problematic.
I have a uh neurologic twitch on the right side of my body
and
basically affects everything. Um, writing,
uh typing
people immediately assume I'm intoxicated because
I have a double vision. I, I see two pictures
and,
and it makes it hard
and, you know, I do also talk with a little bit of a toxic
slur. I, I don't get it, but, you know, I, I had to learn how to talk again and it's
still hard.
The unique set up of my tandem
meant it was easy to talk and get to know each other while we peddled
in the years before Ryan's accident.
And before he had to learn how to walk and talk again,
he was no stranger to adventures closer to home.
I've spent a lot of time in the desert.
You know, in Salt Lake,
the west desert,
you know, go out there and shoot guns or go camping and look for UFO S
just stuff like that.
Only a few miles out from Santa Monica Pier.
We were joined by two more riders,
Scott who had lost his leg in a
logging accident and since become a paralympic athlete
and Aaron
who was defying the odds by fighting his way back from complete paralysis.
I, uh I broke my neck 11 years ago. I raced professional Motocross
and, uh,
you know, one day just had an accident
and I was paralyzed from the neck down. I broke C 456. Here's the scar
couldn't move a muscle from below my neck.
Doctors gave me a one in a million chance of ever feeding myself again
despite the odds being stacked heavily against him,
Aaron fought hard to recover.
How's this pace pretty
steady?
And fortunately, the recovery has progressed
and I started riding my own bike
in 2008, rode from San Francisco to DC.
So
we're on the same path, man.
We're, uh,
we're riding cross country and we're loving it and living it and, uh, sharing it,
Scott and Aaron left us that afternoon.
But thanks to their encouragement,
the first leg of our journey had well and truly grown wheels.
We escaped L A and headed into the desert
while Ryan got accustomed to life in the saddle.
I
feel so
amazing. Right now, my legs,
everything
I don't feel over exerted,
but I definitely had the best workout of my life.
And here we are in the desert and it is beautiful.
I shared Ryan's enthusiasm for the desert, but I was anxious about one thing.
July is not a good month to be in Death Valley.
Temperatures regularly hit 120
°F
and shade is sparse
so far though Ryan and I were making a good team
and Nadia and Alonso who took it in turns to
drive or peddle another bicycle were providing a vital supply line
to food and water in the support vehicle.
The leather seat in my car has gotten so boiling.
I was unable to sit on it for
a little
bit.
The first day was hard.
Second day was pretty tough too. By the third day, he was starting to
really
get the hang of it, but his knees had blown out a little bit
the fourth day. And today
he's actually been cooking on gas
pretty much and, uh, he
has a real problem with a, a neurological twitch on the right side of his body.
And,
uh,
I feel like he's controlling it better actually on the bike,
which is really good or he, you know, when he gets tired, it gets worse.
But,
um,
it really isn't getting as bad as it was despite the
absolutely suffocating heat out here.
It was 100 and five degrees today.
We've got two days of Death Valley desert.
And uh that's kind of what Ryan said he was looking forward to the most. So
let's hope it doesn't
burn us to a crisp.
What do I think of the day? I
think, man, what a day? I haven't had a day like this before in my life,
Ryan survived his first night in Death Valley,
albeit a little disappointed. He'd not seen a single UFO
I woke up saturated in
I sweat. You could have rung my sheets up.
They were that wet.
You were snoring quite, quite impressively. I'm sure it was.
That's what I do in the desert.
This is Death Valley.
Death Valley.
How are you feeling after five days on the road?
I tell you
this
by far,
easily has been the best camping trip of my life
without a doubt.
There aren't very many people
that
either get the opportunity or is stupid enough
to cycle through this valley. Death Valley
in the middle of summer
on a bicycle.
Welcome to the club.
That's a lot of temperature.
That better.
Oh.
What
about
the temperature peaked at 125
°F.
And although it didn't get much cooler,
it did feel like Death Valley was losing its grip on us.
Yeah, I didn't quite know what to expect,
you know, and from everybody
and, you know, as this trip slowly progressed,
I found
I have, you know, related with, you know,
each one of you in different ways at different times and it's become,
this is an experience. I will never forget. It's taught me so much about myself.
Excellent.
I'm very happy to hear it.
You know, the problem Dom is,
you know,
like with my Twitch and these are problems, I'm gonna have the rest of my life and
I do the best job I can at hiding them.
I find that
it's better to say
thank you before
you know, before the ride is over. So thank you.
Means a lot, a
lot.
Uh This is the last part of Death Valley.
You're getting hot.
Ryan's there. Uh
psyching himself up for the last hill
during our week's riding together.
Ryan let me into a small part of his world
from the moment in 2006 when he woke up from a coma.
His biggest challenge would not be to learn to
walk again or even to learn to talk again.
It would be the challenge of fitting in to society.
But with us for a few short days,
Ryan was just one of the team
working through challenges together
and making the most of everything that came our way. I
cannot believe I have lived
so close to this my entire life.
I have never seen it,
haven't felt it. I have not experienced.
This is
one of the most beautiful places on planet Earth.
Everything is perfect right now. Everything.
The first leg of this cross country adventure, put us both to the test.
But for Ryan, whose biggest challenge is everyday life.
This 400 mile journey was one of the best vacations ever.
How about some lemonade and homemade cake?
After a night out in Vegas together?
It was time for Ryan to return home. Feeling confident about the road ahead.
I pedaled across town to meet our second companion.
Ryan helped
help prove that this
idea
to take impaired
or disabled people across the States
actually can work
with Carlos. He'll be on the bike for,
I'd say about two weeks
to get us to Salt Lake City.
My name is Carlos Terrazas. I'm from Las Vegas, Nevada. Uh raised here.
I was actually born in Juarez, Mexico.
As far as my vision goes, I've been, uh I've had the same amount of vision
uh since I was born, I'm legally blind. I have no vision in my right eye whatsoever.
Partial on the left. And that's fine with me just because that's what I was born with.
And that's what I know.
I'm also right now, coincidentally doing some
uh some triathlon training of my own.
And it's been going great ever since January, I've been doing that.
And, um, that's kind of,
I guess one of the reasons I was also really eager to do this since I've been,
that's kind of got me into pretty good shape.
I would say he said he's gonna be sitting on a bike
he gonna be talking a mile a minute and having fun,
he's gonna enjoy himself.
I'm sure
it sounds like he's gonna be on a pedal a mile a minute too.
Oh, yeah,
he'll do, he'll do that.
I will say I'm a little, I'm just curious. I'm, uh,
I have been wondering like, um,
just how tough it's really gonna be.
Um, because throughout, ever since I've told my parents about this, like,
my dad especially has been
reminding me like,
like kind of,
I don't know, almost trying to psych me out, but
it seems like it, but probably, you know, I don't know.
Yeah, I was trying to uh
to put things in perspective
for him, but uh
I didn't scare him.
Carlos's father was right to be concerned
with the soaring heat of midsummer. We had a grueling trip ahead of us.
I know that
there's a little trepidation in it. He's a little bit uh
wondering how it's all going to turn out and how things are gonna work,
but he's not letting his fears stop him and uh he's persevering
and there's a lesson for all of us to learn on that.
That,
that, you know, we all have challenges.
We all face different things that can hold us back and
we just need to
plow ahead, push through our challenges and do the things that we need to do.
Carlos's Triathlon aspirations had got as far as swimming and running.
This was the beginning of his cycling training as we headed back out
into the desert to start the second leg of our cross country adventure.
Over 500 miles pedaling to Salt Lake City, Utah.
How's the bike shaping up for you? Very nice. Excellent. You're enjoying yourself.
Yes,
it's awesome.
While Carlos only has 10% vision and only in one eye
he was still able to take in the landscape around us.
I mean, I can see,
you know, all far out there, you know, that distant hill right about there.
I'm trying to like, you know,
yeah,
like outline it with my finger and then, you know,
up ahead, looks pretty flat right now, at least from where we're at. And then
I think like two more hills up there on the left, way, way up ahead on the left.
It didn't take long to realize that it was even hotter
here than it had been in Death Valley with Ryan.
We began to drink more water
and we were constantly on the lookout for somewhere to swim and cool off.
Carlos got very refreshed, which is a very, very good news for tomorrow.
Hopefully
we will
cycle well and hard
and for a long time
because it's gonna be hot again. I'm sure
I'm definitely gonna put in the, the effort just to
anything just to get the next like two or three days um,
to keep moving on our path just to, um, the closer we get to
Salt Lake. Um,
and the sooner we do it, the sooner we'll get out of this, this hot weather.
So that right there is kind of some pretty big motivation for me. I'd say
in the next episode,
Carlos and I keep Ernie's legacy alive.
Cycling through the hottest weather I had ever experienced first flat
tire in over 500 miles a record breaking 100 and 33
°F.
The smell of rotting animal.
No.
Uh.