My First Rider Blog

Writing the first blog of many is always an interesting thing. You have to figure out how to introduce yourself in such a way that is interesting enough to make people come back and read more without totally embarrassing yourself.

So without further adieu I will pull back the red curtain and introduce myself. My name is Chris and I am one of the riders on the Europe Riding to Break the Cycle. I also do some of the video work for Global Agents for Change and am currently spamming everyone on twitter on behalf of GlobalAFC. I currently live, work, and play, in Vancouver, and I am super stoked to be involved with Riding to Break the Cycle. There, now that wasn’t so bad was it?

So perhaps I should explain what I envision this blog becoming. Leading up to the ride I will talk about my training and just how scary it is to suddenly decide you are going to ride 4000km across Europe from Amsterdam to Istanbul. For those that want a Canadian equivalent it is basically like riding from Vancouver to Toronto. Once the ride is underway there will be hopefully weekly updates (ideally with videos as well) to let everyone know just how we are making out on this journey. And as for afterwards, well I’ll figure that out once we actually manage to complete the ride.

That thought actually pretty much sums up my thought process about the trip. What the heck have I actually gotten myself into? I mean I’m in pretty good shape, I play soccer twice a week and have to walk up big frigging hill to get home from work everyday, but am I really up for riding 100km each day? Then of courses there are the logistical elements. I have to raise $3000, which is no small task. Lauren pointed out to me that if I have 500 friends on facebook all I need to do is get $10 from half of them and I’d be fine, but it still seems like a lot of money. I also need to find a bike that I won’t hate riding by day 2, buy a plane ticket, and then of course actually ride a bike across Europe. Or did I mention that already?

Honestly though, despite all of those though crazy thoughts I am way more excited than I am nervous. I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge and an adventure and the idea of doing something crazy for an amazing cause is simply to incredible an opportunity not to ride. I was at Shawn’s house the other day and we were talking about possible routes and the excitement hasn’t worn off yet.

I think the thing I am looking forward to most is sharing this experience with everyone we met along the way. I love the idea of being an ambassador for a cause, and really there isn’t a better one I can think of than to change the world for the better. Alright, that’s all I’ve got for now as I think I’m starting to ramble, but if you want to stay in the loop follow myself and Global Agents for Change on twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/globalafc
http://www.twitter.com/chriswalts

Until next time!

Chris Walts

Riding to Break the Cycle Europe 2009