11/23/2025
Thanks for the mention John! You are a remarkable human being, keep on pedaling. ❤️
What 26-year old me may not have anticipated however, was how long the plan would take to execute. It was nearly 2 years after committing to this thing before I actually began pedalling East on Interstate 90.
I made the most of this time to save money and get in shape by living as spartanly as possible. I sold my car and commuted everywhere by bike. Then I took employment with a telemarketing agency that specializes in fundraising for firefighters. Yes, I was one of those guys. It was the ideal job because it really honed my sales skills- and boy did it help build a thick skin! It's also where I met my buddy Brad, who kept me laughing at the office and tagged along on a lot of training rides.
When I wasn't in the call center selling Lee Greenwood tickets, I was riding all over town selling Pedal 4 Peace. I visited local schools, Lions Clubs, bike shops, TV stations, churches- any group or business who might be remotely interested in donating to the ride or spreading the word about it.
My pitch would go something like "Hi, I'm John- I've got a project you might be hearing about on the news pretty soon. It's an idea to get people thinking about world peace- I assume you support that! I'm planning to ride a bike around the world, talking to folks and creating pen pals, by hand-delivering messages between countries I visit..." As I got to the part about my planned itinerary, I would invariably hear questions like “So how are you gonna get across the Atlantic? Extra air in the tires? Hahaha!” or “You're not really pedaling 'around the world' if you fly to Europe... or will they let you ride a stationary bike on the plane?”
Slowly but surely though, it gained traction. Things really got going when I met Dave and Terri at Dove printing. They had a heart for service, and became very interested in sponsoring the project. With actual postcards in hand bearing the "Pedal 4 Peace" logo, people began to take me more seriously.
Within a few months, I'd gotten sponsorship for gear, T-shirt printing and a few free radio spots….
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Thank you to David Dysart Dove Printing & Graphics BSI Apparel