In the exact location of The Kindness Bicycle tire dunk yesterday, a weekly memorial to honor those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan is installed in this same strip of beach by volunteers every Sunday. Soldiers who have lost their lives are represented by 6,370 crosses, the weekly memorial is aptly named Arlington of the West.
Max, Kurt and I visited this beach installation to pay our respects. The number of deaths from these two wars is astounding to say the least. We were told by Larry, who helps to organize this nearly 8 year tradition that the number of deaths does not include those take their life, sometime years after they have come back stateside.
With the number of those who are seriously injured both physically and mentally, not accurately reported, it can only be estimated that the number is in the tens of thousands. It is for them that I am riding on The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes.
This afternoon I made a brief stop at Santa Monica Fire Station 1. The men were testing out some new equipment but were all ears as I thanked them for the work they do for all of us.

Today was a very special day for One Million Acts Of Kindness. The ride to honor and express my gratitude to heroes, began this morning in Santa Monica, California. We got some great video of the tire dunk in the Pacific Ocean.
It was incredibly windy today, making the walk across the sand with The Kindness Bicycle a huge challenge and making the ride on the side streets of Santa Monica seem as if I had an open umbrella in a windstorm.
With the average of only 26 miles per day that I need to ride, I can have go as slowly as I wish, allowing me the luxury of having as many conversations as I desire.
I had the privilege of meeting Kurt from Vancouver, Canada and Max from LA, today. Kurt has started 52 Acts of Kindness and is doing incredible kind acts for every week of the year. Max is creating a documentary of this great goodness. Kurt, singlehandedly washed The Kindness Bus at a local self serve car wash and then filled the gas tank with as much kindness as he could fit. Kurt’s website launches in early February, look for a blog about this in the near future. Having One Million Acts Of Kindness and Fifty-two Acts of Kindness meet at the beginning of The Kindness Bicycle Ride for heroes, I just know that it is going to be the start of something very good.

A few of years ago, I tuned into Bill Bennett’s, Morning in America radio show. Knowing that he was formerly Secretary of Education, I knew that listening to this show would be great research, as I visit classrooms across the country. One item of interest for me was that he had a segment where over-the-road truck drivers call into his show and describe where in the United States they were currently driving. I thought having The Kindness Bus Tour call into his show on a regular basis, with an educational tie-in, would be a perfect fit. I tried to make this happen over the last few years, to no avail, that is, until today.
Seth Leibsohn is the host of Morning in America every Friday morning. I called last week to tell them of my Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes. I was instructed to call back this morning. Seth had me as his first guest caller. Talking on-air for a few minutes, Seth could hear the passion I have for getting the message of who the real heroes should be, in the minds of our youth. Seth asked me to call his show every Friday to give updates about The Kindness Bicycle Tour to Raise Awareness about Wounded Warriors & Police and Firefighters Killed in the Line of Duty.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you Seth for helping to get my message of One Million Acts Of Kindness across our nation’s airwaves, every Friday “Morning in America.”
***The 4,000 mile, 5 month long Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes begins tomorrow from Santa Monica, California.

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.