One blisteringly-hot day while I rode through the state of Wyoming during a heat wave, I was fighting teeth-and-nail to move forward. Headwinds, heat, and undulating-yet-flat landscape on US Route I-80 (with trucks passing just inches to my left) were attempting to steal my spirits and made me want to stop and lay down.
I didn’t stop. Instead, I decided that I needed a visual reminder of why I was riding the 3,256 miles – by myself – and facing very realistic danger from cars, animals, environment, and psyche.
Wyoming was the only state west of Pennsylvania that I had any support. While riding through the deserts and grasslands of WY, I had the unbelievably-powerful aid of Kathy Kirlin, the leader and founder of the Sweetwater County Brain Injury support group. Kathy knows what brain injury can do to people’s lives – and chose to make sure that my life wasn’t compromised in her neck of the woods.
On that day, she suggested that I write “This Beats a Coma” on my arm with my large permanent marker. If I could write messages on my arms every day, I would..
For the 2012 Philadelphia Marathon, my newest attempt at pushing boundaries, I wore ‘This Beats a Coma’ on my back. In an athletic-style tech-fiber, bright shirt, the TBAC shirt will be useful while connecting to my mission of brain injury awareness and support for survivors. You can wear it, too!
The Shirt:
Front reads,
‘dougtrails.wordpress.com
Beating TBI/ABI 1 Mile at a Time’
Back reads,
‘ This Beats a Coma.’
Cost: $25, add $5 if you are having me ship it to you.
How to Pay: Submit your $25/$30 payment to the DougTrails PayPal site: Click Here
Shirt Type: Martin Dri-Fit T, athletic moisture-wicking
Sizes available: S, M, L, XL – limited quantities
Fill out the form below to secure your shirt! Make sure you submit your payment as well, please.
Doug Markgraf
DougTrails! 