Marc Purslow got all he wanted and more out of his cross-country bike ride for charity.
While many might focus on the more than $13,000 the Columbus resident's ride has so far raised for the After School All-Stars organization, he also intends to use the lessons about himself he learned along the way to help the kids in the program and beyond. And there was certainly no shortage of lessons, be they about the human body or spirit.
From battling the remnants of a hurricane near the beginning of his journey in Maine to the winds he hit when leaving Ohio that got worse as he went west through the heat of the Arizona desert to a real-life sandstorm in California, Purslow saw a little bit of everything. There was brutal summer heat, more than one mechanical problem and even a dog chase or two.
Along the way, he also met plenty of people who helped him. That included the bike shop worker in Albuquerque who went out of his way to bring him a new wheel, the couple that picked him up in their truck when the sandstorm was approaching and a bike mechanic who happened to drive by after his bike was seriously damaged from a collision with a truck.
"Looking back, I'm totally psyched I got hit by a truck," he said. "I wouldn't undo that."
That might sound like a strange statement, but this was no ordinary journey. And he hopes to do extraordinary things with what he learned along the way.
"To me that's actually probably the most significant part of the ride, to understand that, one there wasn't anything that would stop me from doing it, but more importantly to be able to use that as a teaching tool to be able to talk to the After School All-Stars kids or anybody about it," Purslow said. "When you set a goal, you need to be determined enough to overcome this type of stuff."
All the adversity he faced served to help Purslow not only achieve his goal of picking up lessons to pass along but to learn more and more about the goodness of the human spirit and its ability to endure.
"I got really into this idea on the trip that your problems are what give you power," he said. "I noticed that I got mentally stronger and stronger as I went and a lot of it was as I went I could reference what I had done, like thinking, 'What kind of stuff can I handle?' The second day was hard (fighting the hurricane remnants in Maine), and I always asked if what happened next was as hard as that, and the answer was always no, so I knew I could do it. Even when I was really dehydrated I thought I don't feel anywhere near as bad as that second day. Even when I got hit by that truck,I thought, 'I can move all my limbs, so this is cool. Whatever.' So if you think about challenges that you have as a learning experience you can appreciate they really are what give you your strength.
"The other thing I want to talk about to the kids is I think it's important to convey that it wasn't easy at all and I didn't always feel great and I had lots of moments of self-doubt and I was able to push through them. If you say, 'Yeah this was hard but I got through it and I didn't have any self doubt,' then when they think about it they say, 'I want to do this thing, but I do have doubts and I want to give up, so we're not alike. I can't really reference you.' I think it's important to say there were times I wanted to give up and felt really discouraged."
He also pointed out the kids played no small part in his trip. While he was accumulating lessons to bring back to them, they were following his journey. They also sent notes and cards including inspiring photos to help keep his spirits up.
"There are all these cool photos of the kids holding up signs that say, 'You inspire us,' and there was a day they all went and rode bikes together and sent me a photo, so that stuff is really important to see, to know they care about it," he said. "That kind of stuff is really encouraging. And they actually made me a bunch of cards that are really cool."
Those gestures reinforced something else he learned along the way.
"Support is really crucial," Purslow said. "You are always going to have self-doubt, so a support system is important, and you need to make sure you believe the people who are supporting you."
In the big picture, Purslow said he feels privileged to be involved with such an activity, both from the perspective of helping the After School All-Stars financially and for all the experiences he gained and lessons he learned. He also received great support from his day job, where co-workers volunteered to give up paid vacation time to cover the unpaid leave he took to make the ride.
That was yet another act of human kindness that made Purslow feel empowered and another reminder that those who set big goals and work to pursue them will often find they will get the help they need along the way if they just continue along the path they have set.
And it made him feel like doing more.
"The end of the ride is not the end of this," Purslow said. "It's just the beginning. It unlocked an energy in me to want to do so much more, to see how else I can push myself to make a bigger impact on people around me."
Not surprisingly, Purslow's journey produced many breathtaking photos as he traversed the country. If the gallery does not immediately load, please refresh the page.
For part one of the Purslow story, click here. For more on the After School All-Stars organization, click here. To view the website for Purslow's nonprofit organization, click here.
