The "Why" behind the Ride

The long story, from Mike

I’ve written two pieces in the last year that shine a light on my past and the development of my mission involving this bike ride and mental health. The first was an observation of my own history of becoming and living as my synthetic self and the drive to transition into a more authentic self. I call it the Michael Slot Manifesto. Below is a brief excerpt...

"...One day it finally hit me. Being Normal Sucks!. It was right there the whole time. I was so focused on trying to be everyone else that I stopped being me. But who am I? I don’t remember. All I remember is that I was Different. And that I didn’t think I was supposed to be. And that I changed so I wouldn’t be. But now that I’ve done all the things I’m supposed to do and become the person I was supposed to be I know that wasn’t really what I wanted to be.

It was time to reevaluate my situation. If I didn’t want to be Normal anymore what did I want to be? Abnormal? Dissimilar? Unique? Different? What would it look like then to do the opposite of what I had always done (thanks Tim Ferriss). What would happen if I embraced my different? What if I reframed my perception to see different, well… Differently. As a blessing not a curse. As something to express not hide away. As a gift. Ah Ha!"

The second piece is a journal entry I posted following the death of someone I had formerly been close to. At the time I wrote it I was in the midst of once again planning this bike ride and looking for something bigger than myself to tie it to. As the details surrounding his passing became clearer so did the connection to my own struggles and story. Below is an excerpt from that journal entry...

"...I haven’t seen or heard from this person in almost 13 years. No one called us (Jackie knew him too). We saw it on Facebook and by the looks of what we read and what’s been posted he took his own life. I don’t know that for sure but it certainly reads that way. Putting the pieces together I felt like I was hit by a truck, gut punched. Nothing I was reading made sense. He was a cool dude, a good and solid guy. Always having a good time. Always having fun. That’s how I remember him. That’s how he was during the two years we worked together and that’s how he was for the four months we lived together. How could this happen? How much pain was he in? He told stupid jokes. Laughed a lot and wore a constant shit-eating grin. He was fun to hang out with and always great to be around. He was the life of the party and lifted up everyone in the room. It doesn’t make any sense. How could the world take someone like that and absolutely ruin him? Beat him down and destroy him."

In the months that have followed I’ve dove further into the research and statistics surrounding the mental health crisis. Learning of the need for a Restoration Movement and adding all the pieces together led to the why behind the Restoration Ride.

Here’s the thing. This ride is something that resonates with me. It calls me from somewhere deep inside. Honestly it scares the hell out of me, which, I interpret as meaning I have to do it. I believe we all have a proverbial bike ride deep within us. There is something we are each meant to do. A calling that we’ve ignored for far too long. I’m doing this ride not only because its called me but because I want to inspire others to dig in deep and find the thing they’ve all but forgotten about and encourage them to pursue it.

Brene Brown talks about vulnerability and someone needing to go first. That's what I’m doing. I'm putting myself out there to give others the space and the permission to give it a go themselves. You don’t have to bike across the country. Maybe for you its painting. Maybe its poetry. Or maybe you were meant to be a musician or a soccer player. Let’s release the authentic self. I believe if we all do that we can change the world. Maybe I’m wrong, but just imagine, what if I’m right?