I didn’t tell anyone I was applying for Pedal the Pacific. It felt like something I needed to do for myself first. So when I finally told my family and friends that I’d be biking from Seattle to San Diego, their reaction was pretty much what I expected: they thought I was completely crazy.
I wasn’t a cyclist. I had never even wanted to be one. But when I discovered Pedal the Pacific, something inside me said, Why not?
I first came across Pedal through a random TikTok of a past rider, Morgan McGehee, making energy bites before a ride. I was confused, uh why was this showing up on my feed? I clicked around, learned more, and realized that Pedal had been passing through my hometown every year since 2017 and I had never even heard of it. That stuck with me.
Before joining Pedal, I knew about trafficking in the vague, surface-level way most people do. But as I dove deeper, I realized how many misconceptions I had. It was uncomfortable at first unlearning false information always is but the more I learned, the more confident I became in speaking about the reality of domestic sex trafficking.
Growing up with a brother who has cerebral palsy, I spent much of my life in spaces that centered people with disabilities. I saw their strength, their challenges, and the ways society often overlooks their needs. As I began to learn more about sex trafficking, I was struck by how disproportionately it affects people with disabilities and how often they're left out of the conversation, despite being among the most vulnerable. That realization deepened my why.
And then came the riding. Training on a bike forced me to discover what my body is capable of. There were days I wanted to quit. Days when the hills felt endless, the headwinds unforgiving, and my legs had nothing left to give. But each time I pushed through, I remembered my why that this ride is about something so much bigger than myself.
Pedal the Pacific gave me a platform, a purpose, and a kind of strength I never knew I had. And that’s why I ride.
