NEW ORLEANS – Christopher Sholes is from Austin, but his path so far has stretched 6,000 miles.
He’s riding across the country to share his vision of a nonprofit called Riding for Change.
“Kind of quixotic because I know that I’m tilting at windmills riding my squeaky bike around the country,” Sholes says. “I’m just kind of riding it and seeing where it goes.”
It all started when he was rescued himself from a dark place, with the introduction of a four-legged hero named Shadow.
“I was not in the market for a dog. I knew the place I was living in, I couldn’t have a dog,” he recalls. “I took him on. I already had the bike and the panniers, and I decided to get the trailor and become bicycle nomadic.
Now, Shadow and Sholes are riding for change.
“I started hearing about organizations like Paws for Boots down in Florida,” Sholes says. “”My idea is to do the same thing, but for people with manageable mental health issues.”
Life has brought the pair everywhere, with briefs stops in between for a game of fetch.
“When I finally hit the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia Beach, I’d probably done about a thousand miles by the point, and it was just a really powerful moment,” he says.
Now, he’s in New Orleans, and he loves it.
“Man its been great. I’ve met a lot of fantastic people,” he says.
If you want to keep up with Sholes and his mission, learn more here and here.