A 25 year-old who wasn’t supposed to live past his teenage years is getting ready to defy the odds once again. This time, Adam Biel plans to set a world record by cycling from the southern tip of Argentina to the northern tip of Alaska – and he plans to complete the 22,700 kilometre journey in just 100 days.
To put that into perspective, that’s the distance of 6 Tour de France races back to back, in about the time it takes most competitors to complete 4 – an impressive feat with many unknowns as well as inherent risks, including potential organ failure.
“I think it’s guaranteed to be the toughest thing that I will ever do in my life,” he says.
The trip will begin Thursday, March 15th.
It’s a challenge Biel feels lucky to be able to take on, though, considering that at the age of 2, he suffered from asthma so severe that he needed $200 worth of medication a month just to breathe. His mother says he was so sick that she thought he was going to die in her arms.
Fortunately, he overcame the condition, and went on to become an athlete in high school before receiving a $150,000 scholarship to the University of North Carolina.
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Then in 2009, Biel decided it was time to give back. His method of choice: breaking the Pan-American Highway speed record while raising money and awareness for autism.
Even though he didn’t know anybody who had the developmental disorder when he first chose to fundraise for it, Biel says he “just knew it was kind of the elephant in the closet internationally.”
“It’s a global phenomenon that affects almost 1 in 150 new births this year, so that’s about a million children this year who will develop autism,” he says, adding that it’s growing at the same rate cancer was when his parents were his age.
“We don’t know what causes it, we don’t know how to prevent it, we don’t know how to treat it and we don’t know why it’s growing either…if we don’t do anything it’s going to be the legacy for my children, and their children to deal with.”
Biel hopes to ultimately raise $2 million for autism research in North America.
“It’s been his dream for a number of years now,” says his mother, Lois Biel, “and to be able to help your children and supporting their dreams is very rewarding. It may not be my dream but it’s his, and we’re very happy to be able to help him with this one.”
Biel’s parents will be aiding his efforts by joining him with an RV in Panama, giving him a place to sleep on the trek north to Alaska.
“We’re a family that likes to give back – we just feel that life is too short to be so selfish. To live life selflessly is more rewarding,” she adds.
To find out more about Biel’s “Cycle Pan-America” trip, which is set to kick off in Ushuaia, Argentina on March 14th, or to donate to his cause, you can visit his website.
“If a lot of people just give a little bit, there will be a lot raised and a lot of lives positively affected,” his mom says.
Here’s a map of the journey Adam Biel will be making on his bike:
With files from Slav Kornik, Global News
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