The Kindness Bicycle is complete and ready for another 4,000 miles. I just couldn’t wait until Saturday to go for a ride on the new and improved Kindness Bicycle, so I took advantage of temperatures in the mid 60s, to test the subtleties of the handling abilities of this now-famous bicycle.
I must admit, there were, at times,  some challenging days on the Domestic Violence, Childhood Sexual abuse ride where it was difficult being the rider who was addressing these 2 issues during those 7+ months. This ride will be a ride of honor and a ride of gratefulness. It will be incredibly popular and hopefully healing to those who we meet along our travels.
Divine, a local resident, was the first to see The Kindness Bicycle as it hit the ground from the inside of The Kindness Bus. She came over to express her gratitude and shared her enthusiasm. Hundreds of people acknowledged positively, seeing me as I passed by during this 4 hour, 10 mile ride. I stopped to talk with dozens of people, many others waved, honked or applauded upon seeing such a sight.
Jonathan, JT, Greg and Rose were very supportive of what I am trying to accomplish these next 5 months. Thank you to one and all.

4,000 Mile Bicycle Ride

For The Real Heroes

Wounded Warriors

Police and Firefighters Killed in the Line of Duty

On the average, a Police Officer is killed in the line of duty every 53 hours. Many of these officers die by gun violence. These violent acts are performed by individuals who have no respect for most anyone. Families of these fallen officers need your help. Get involved in comforting these families in their time of need.

The heroics of Firefighters often times go unnoticed. These brave heroes risk their own lives to save those in harm’s way, many times without so much as a thanks. Schedule a visit to a firehouse in your neighborhood. Take as many children with you on your visit so they can learn at an early age just who the real heroes are.

Visit www.va.gov to find volunteer opportunities or locations of Veterans Hospitals in your area to visit heroes. The help you offer is so needed and important to the lives of those who have sacrificed to protect our freedoms. Donate your time to one of the charities that support Wounded Warriors in our country.

Thank all of these heroes in person, every opportunity you have.

Bogart, Bob, The Kindness Bicycle and The Kindness Bus of One Million Acts Of Kindness are riding fromSanta Monica, California to Jacksonville, Florida beginning on January 21st 2012 and ending on June 21st 2012, to raise awareness about the heroes who protect us and protect our freedoms, by putting their lives on the line everyday. Many of these heroes are coming back injured from war, needing life saving surgeries and life long assistance….many of these heroes are coming back with no one to care for them. 

Open your heart to these heroes and their families.

www.OneMillionActsOfKindness.com

Getting back to Los Angeles and seeing some familiar sites made me feel as if I had only left yesterday, not three weeks ago. Bogart has once again was pampered, in my absence, by two friends in California, Hays and Cheryl. Bogart made it through the holidays without gaining a pound, I certainly can’t say that. He looked like a  million bucks, he was obviously well cared for.
These past two days have been all about outfitting The Kindness Bicycle with new signs. The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes begins this Saturday morning, with the tire dip in the Pacific Ocean, near the Santa Monica Pier. To say I am extremely excited would be a huge understatement…I am stratospherically excited. I think I just coined a new word.
The interest for this ride is so strong. Getting the message of who the real heroes are in our society, needs to reach everyone.
This ride will NOT be a point A to point B type of ride. The Kindness Bus will be my transportation to population centers where I will ride The Kindness Bicycle for as little as a day or as long as a couple of weeks. The entire ride is for five months, during which time I will ride a minimum of 4,000 miles.

“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
1963 was a time in our nation’s history when there was much unrest in many of our cities, particularly the south. Many peaceful protests for freedoms started to become more physical. Some protests turned to riots. Our nation could have gone down a very frightening path. One seventeen minute speech changed all of that.
My favorite passage from the “I have a Dream” speech are the 19 words printed above. These beautiful words call for peace to a nation that could have taken that wrong path. These words are still very important today, not only for our nation but for the entire world as well.
In most of my in-classroom programs, I talk about what I like to call the “peaceful solutions” that Dr. King wanted for all people in our country to embrace. A new generation of children who need to know the importance of how differences can be settled by embracing peace in their own lives.
It has been nearly fifty years since these words have been spoken so eloquently. The short speech defused the “discontent” of the “sweltering summer” of 1963 in our country. These 19 words can also be used to defuse a disagreement between two individuals a well as creating “peaceful solutions” for nations around the world.

Kindness knows no boundaries. Geographic, political, religious, race, socio-economic, ethnicity, age or sex, whomever you are or no matter what group you represent, kindness is for you and for everyone else. I love the diverse melting pot of this planet. I love the prospect that someday we may all put aside our differences because of kindness. That day, I hope comes much sooner than later.
Kindness is truly up to the individual. It’s a choice. Being kind along socio-economic lines is a topic seldom addressed.
I was born into a very middle class family and in the first half of my life, I never felt like I was lacking anything. I spent the 2nd half of my life living among the top one thousandth of the 1% and felt the same. The past 3 years of living on The Kindness Bus, with nearly everything at a minimal level of habitation, I have found happiness I never knew existed.
During the two earlier lives I experienced, I know people who earn barely the poverty level of income and would literally give you the shirt off their back, I also know people of the same means who would never think to share a single cent with anyone. The greed was amazing to me, even at this level of income. I have also witnessed, first hand, people with stratospheric wealth who build wings on hospitals, give tirelessly to charities around the world and who help by donating tens of millions of dollars to fund research to find cures for diseases. I also know individuals with stratospheric wealth who seem to think only of themselves. The greed is amazing to me, especially at this level of income.
To me, there is no 1%, there is no 99%. There is only 100%. All of life’s choices are up to the individual, no matter the income.

With only two days left to my stay in the east before I head back to the west coast, I realized that I had precious, little time left to accomplish all of my goals. I have much to do in these couple of days. Yesterday I ventured out in the icy weather and visited the Veterans Hospital in Brecksville, Ohio. George, a proud decorated veteran was my VA connection. This facility which has been open for decades, is slated to be closed in late February. A skeleton crew is all that remains, but George was all I really needed today. He was instrumental in helping me to plan my Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes by giving me a booklet which gives specific details of every VA facility in the country and helping with other pertinent details.
Today I visited police and fire stations in Chagrin Falls and Gates Mills, a fire station in Mayfield Heights and a police station in Hunting Valley, Ohio. Matt a firefighter at the Mayfield station invited me in for a dinner and personnel at all the other facilities, where present, were pleased to learn of this ride. This ride, without a doubt, will be extremely impactful.

Four weeks from Monday marks the beginning of One Million Acts Of Kindness Week. I am in need of the message of this week to spread around the globe. Please spread word of this week to everyone you possibly can. Have your friends and family forward the link www.onemillionactsofkindness.com to all of their friends and click on the One Million Acts Of Kindness Week box to access the simple form.
Thank you,