Brittany Kelley
DRIPPING SPRINGS — Matt King’s body is about to be in an enormous amount of pain. For him, it’s worth it. His pain will last two weeks, but the people he’s helping along the way of his 2,000-mile bike ride have been in pain for far longer.
King’s inspiration struck after his friend ran across Texas to raise money for veterans. But after two ruptured Achilles tendons, this wasn’t a viable option.
“I was going to ride my bike across Texas and then, I thought to myself, ‘Well, my friend just ran across Texas, so it’s kind of a weak move to bike across,’” he recalled and biking 2,000 miles from Mexico to Canada “would be pretty badass.” So, theRide was born.
The goal is to raise $1 million to hand out to those in need throughout the trip.
“I have this belief that America was built on small communities and the hardworking people inside them — owning businesses, owning a small plumbing company, owning a small auto body shop — and those small communities are now overlooked because what’s happened is flyovers have been built. People are just 'too busy' and they go to the big, mainstream stuff,” explained King. “So, I just felt this calling for this desire to see people in these overlooked communities across the country and meet them where they’re at.”
After pitching his idea and creating a team, the Gobundance CEO began training a mere five-and-a-half months ago for this, having never been biking before. The training was grueling, he said, as he quickly learned that headwind — wind flowing against the rider — could be detrimental; it felt as if the bike was going backwards, King described.
Still, he persevered, going from small stretches to the eventual 150-mile day, which is what he will be enduring each of the 13-day trip.
The day he completed his ride from Dripping Springs to San Angelo was one that he wouldn’t forget, as he was able to help a struggling family.
This was the family of Cash, who, at the age of 1, fell in a pool and almost drowned to death, shared King. The parents had been fighting the hospital and insurance for a new bed to ensure the boy didn’t get bed sores. King didn’t know this family; he stumbled upon them on his ride in San Angelo, heard their story and bought them a new hospital bed.
“I said, ‘Here’s a new hospital bed. You don’t have to worry about this. Your son has so many challenges ahead of him at 2 years old. Why should bed sores be a problem? Don’t worry about this. Oh and by the way, don’t worry about your mortgage for six months and oh, here’s $1,000 for groceries,’” King said.
During his training, he also gave a woman he met at a laundromat $1,500 to help with outstanding bills and donated sports equipment to the Burke Center for Youth.
“[What] I’ve found from [training] is that my body doesn’t feel great, but what I keep telling people is, ‘My legs are sore, but my heart is full.’ When I hear what these people are up against … I realize that I have made this choice and so, my body hurting is irrelevant because these people hurt every day. Most of them never chose what they’ve been dealt,” emphasized King.
The 2,000-mile ride begins May 27, with King in Brownsville, dipping his back tire into Mexico to start his journey. From there, he will stop in more than 10 small towns that many have glossed over, such as: Ben Bolt, Texas; Chickasha, Okla.; Tecumseh, Neb.; Salix, Iowa; and more, ending in Canada June 13.
In these towns, his coworkers, friends and family will be flying in to join him on his journey for miles at a time to support him. Each day, he will spend nine to 10 hours biking 150 miles, with the rest of the day spent in the cities. They will also be staying at Airbnbs and hotels, eating at local restaurants and more to support the small cities, alongside speaking to community members to discover who may be in need of a donation.
As of May 12, King has raised more than $479,000. Donations will be accepted until June 7.
In preparation for the ride, King has also chosen to begin without any expectations, as “sometimes we miss some of the greatest moments in our life because we had expectations that it would look different or feel different.” This means that even if the trip is difficult and he can only bike 20 miles a day, extending the trip by weeks, then that’s what will happen because he made a promise.
The father also hopes that his three children see him embarking on this challenging task and find inspiration.
King shared, “If they watch their dad, who wasn’t a cyclist become a cyclist, who’s never raised anywhere near $1 million for anything in his life raise $1 million, then they will be like, ‘He never had permission to do that and he did it anyway. So, what am I capable of?”
He will be riding through Dripping Springs at approximately 10 a.m. Friday, May 29, at 195 Roger Hanks Parkway, so that his children and their friends — and others — can participate for a small portion.
“My hope is that people follow along the journey and go: If that knucklehead who wasn’t a cyclist did that, what can I do? How can I show up for the community? How can I go to Starbucks a little differently today and rather than just grabbing my coffee and running, how can I find the man sitting by himself with a veteran hat on and say, ‘Tell me your story,’” said King. “We brush over a lot of conversations because we’re all ‘too busy,’ but in reality, I think if we truly knew what people were up against and what people were facing, we would make much more of an effort to find time and make time for them. My hope is that this inspires people to make time for those they come across on a daily basis.”
King and his team will be hosting a send-off party from 8:30-10:30 a.m. May 26 at his ranch, located at 2705 Gatlin Creek Road, Austin, where community members can provide their support and enjoy breakfast and a performance from the Eddie Ray Band.
For more information, to donate or follow King’s journey on YouTube — where videos will be uploaded daily — visit www.gobundance.com/theride.
