 I have big plans for 2020 and I hope you all have big plans as well, getting up off your couches and getting out there and whoops. At this time every year I make a year end roundup and I'm usually like this was the best year ever and I make a sweet montage of all my adventures and talk about how grateful I am. Well this year as we all know has been different that might be a nice way of saying this year has been a struggle not only for me but for a lot of people around the world. It's been a strange year, a hard year. When this first hit in March I lost a handful of jobs and it was scary. I felt like we were living in a sci-fi movie. Every day I'd read more news from around the world that was just mind-blowing. It was nuts. But thank you to Netflix for taking my mind off the doom and gloom. Banzai, Daniel LaRusso here for LaRusso Auto. Lockdown as a single guy was very lonely. It was just me in this little apartment eating a lot of cereal. But I'm not here to whine. My situation is pretty darn good and I'm incredibly grateful that I have a roof over my head and a kitchen full of beans and I'm very aware that there are people teetering on the edge of survival and my heart goes out to humanity as we navigate this challenging time. So I'm gonna take this opportunity to talk about all the good things that happened in 2020. First and foremost, it all starts with you. Yes, you. You sitting right there. That's you. I get messages every day from people all over the world who tell me about how biking or running or just getting outside has made your lives better. Hi, my name is Armando. I'm a Cuban immigrant living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin right now. Biking has made a great impact in my life because when I came here to the U.S. I didn't know a lot of people and through biking I got to meet a lot of new people who showed me the city and not only that but in the first couple years because the winters are pretty cold here I was just kind of hunkering down and kind of hibernating during the winter and they taught me how to go outside and have fun in the snow like I did a lot of biking in the snow with the fat bikes and skiing and all this stuff so they kind of taught me how to enjoy the outdoors during the winter time not just during the summertime when everything is nice so yeah it's just helped me make a lot of great friends in a place where I didn't really know anybody. Bike riding in 2020 changed my life by getting me off the couch and away from potato chips out the door and on the road. It allowed me to see more of my own backyard it gave me a chance to enjoy fresh air but it also stopped me from having really bad knees. I used to have bad knees when I ran on the pavement and even when I ran on dirt but then I rode the bike and my pain went away so it changed my life and allowed me to see so many more places in a shorter time with less pain. A few months back I switched my car for a bicycle and now I am one less car on the road. Cycling has allowed me to play a huge role on the environment. It has also showed me a new way to look at everyday life. On a bicycle I have the freedom to explore and discover new places in my city that would otherwise be overlooked in a car. Riding bikes quite literally saved my life. From being a former drug addict to now being a year sober when I first got on a bike again as not a child but as an adult on a bike it was extremely foreign but it gave me a high that I had never had in my life and since that day it's been nothing but bikes. And the support of the communities that ride bikes is one of the warmest communities I've ever found. My husband and I recently took a bike tour from southern Utah to Columbus Ohio to get married and for my wedding ring I asked for a bicycle. I didn't want something that I could wear on my finger I wanted something that I could put mileage and strength and movement under me. Running clears the mind it's like your internal therapy that you can deal with things you can run things through your mind how you may play things out better worse regardless but it's helped me climb the you know the professional ladder it's helped me personally with relationships. At the end of the day keeping the body in motion just clears the mind which makes you make better decisions. Pay attention to the little things out on the trail the trees the wind the bird the sky clouds all that and just kind of lose yourself in the soft sounds of the crunchy trail and that provides a kind of peace that not a whole lot of other outlets can can provide. I've run my first 100 mile ultra marathon this year I've seen it inspire my kids and now we get to go out and run the trails around my house together so ole ole ole. Cycling really helped me get through 2020. Whether I was riding to work riding to the shops or just out riding it meant I wasn't trapped in a car trapped at home trapped in traffic it's something my fiancee and I love doing together something my son and I love doing together it's quality time outside in nature. Cycling is fuel-free freedom of autonomy self-sufficiency a harmless freedom of choice agency adventure not a quick fix but a permanent solution it's focusing on what we have in common cycling is the definition of necessity the mother of invention innovation cycling is a timeless romance on a warm summer's night or frigid rainy chills rolling down my spine for the love of cycling cycling is love love cycles. It was about four years ago when I really really got into mountain biking and then from there I was able to get a job at a bike shop it's just the community of biking is really what's changed me. Finishing that first bike tour in October of 2019 changed my life it awakened a passion for bike travel it's given me confidence to work through my fears constantly testing myself on the bike has given me the gusto to try new adventures that I wouldn't even have thought of before. The bike has given me the life I always wanted but was just too scared to go after. My name is Barzine I'm a competitive powerlifter and for 10 years I lived for squat day that's all I cared about when a car accident injury took a chunk of bone from my knee I made it so I couldn't squat anymore I didn't know what to do with myself I gained a bunch of weight got pretty unhealthy and pretty down a friend of mine Luke Young so just I get on a mountain bike and he he's pretty pushy so I poured myself into that ended up loving it and now two or three times a week I'm in the trails it's the best I've felt in my adult life and kind of re-spark me going back to the gym I still compete in bench press now and from that I've taken my press to top five in the world all time and I owe the health to keep doing this and stay alive long enough to do this at my size to biking I'd all started for me back in college when I had a back injury and I could barely walk or move and my good friend Craig got me into cycling and helped me start moving in helped me heal and I really fell in love with it so I started riding to work every day I did that for eight years straight at the rain sleet snow everything and it became a huge part of who I am two years ago I helped my wife Janice by her first road bike and just for Christmas this year our son Allen got his first road bike we love to ride as a family and it brings us closer together throughout the quarantine your videos have inspired my good friend Bill and I to plan a ride almost 600 miles south to Key West in 2022 hello I'm Alan Rose and this is Hartman Rocks outside of Gunnison Colorado this is one of the places I love to ride my bike and hike you can see all the trails up here that people ride on in the summer ski on this time of year fat bike it's a lovely area I wanted to talk to you about why I love to ride my bike so much I'm a cancer survivor and it was instrumental physically and mentally in my recovery running is my coping mechanism when able to when I'm able to get out and run I'm able to clear my mind I'm able to work through issues that I've got going on think through everything quietly with myself only to listen to I come home and I have a new found strength to get through the rest of the day or the rest of the week bike packing has given me a sense of ownership of my own life before any trip really anxious taking risks I got to make sure I have all the right gear then you just hit the road and you keep paddling and paddling and somewhere along the way you're surrounded by incredible humans enjoying some beautiful scenery and you realize this is my life I chose this and now I know I'm ready for whatever life could throw at me I'm kind of excited biking has changed my life in three ways one more exercise I feel great moving my body it's really fun to explore new places check out the world that we live in and three it's brought me great friends and allowed me to travel to beautiful places cycling what it's done for my life is it just it's been something far cheaper than what therapy could ever buy and I've discovered that it's where I get the most quiet time with God and reflection in nature and just all creation and just miles and miles of a whole lot of me listening to to what my God wants for me when I was 13 I really got into cycling and when I was 14 I got the opportunity to do a 500 mile tour around Colorado through chilly Colorado camps I'm now 57 and still bike cycling is my main passion but cycling it's really done for me and now even through bike packing gravel biking is it just opens up a whole new world of exploration running has changed me in so many ways both in the physical and in the spiritual so to say or the the mental it's it's taking me to great places it's brought on so many good friendships not only here locally but across the entire world just being able to connect at the interpersonal level and more than anything taking me to great heights and kind of appreciating the world for what it is and on top of that it's made me a better person not only with people I work with but also being a husband and a father I run to keep myself grounded I noticed a difference in my life I learned how to be positive and inject that into my running and into life hey Ryan I went on my first bike trip a couple years ago and quickly learned it's the absolute best way to travel I love that you can smell and hear and sense everything going on around you it's just no greater way to experience traveling through the countryside I want to say that you inspire me to get on my bike every day and not only have you inspired me but also your buddies John and Mira they've inspired me to get our little get up here and this is my little buddy Lucky and I got my little rig here for him and you together with John and Mira have inspired me to start not only riding more but getting out and getting my dog out there with me thank you to everybody who sent in videos and they inspire me I'm constantly inspired by your stories of triumph I want this channel to be more than just you watching a guy riding a bike and singing Olay this is a community and I care about you and your goals and I want you to accomplish your wildest dreams it gives me an idea I want you all to think of something that scares you and then I want you to go out and do it it can be anything like climbing a really tall tree or running your first 5k or going on your first bike packing adventure after you complete your challenge send me a photo of you looking all tired sweaty and awesome okay let's talk about some of the great things that happened this year in January before we even knew what coronavirus was I traveled to Baja Mexico and rode the last half of the Baja divide it was there that I met John and Mira we became fast friends and had the time of our lives I mean come on how can you not love Mira it was love at first sight with that goofy dog you just want to lick it love that's you in March I convinced my mom to travel with me to one of my favorite places on the planet the copper canyons in northern Mexico I was really excited for my mom to experience the magic and although I didn't know it at the time this would be my only race of 2020 and another great thing happened in March my little brother Ethan and his wife Melissa welcomed a new dozer to the world that's right there's more of us now his name is sander and his favorite activity is swinging with his sister what you think gallery how's sander doing looks like it huh during lockdown I tried to put a smile on people's faces by riding bikes around town and blasting dance music happy Thursday happy happy Thursday Scott jurick and I ran a backyard marathon on the day that should have been the Boston marathon okay final six miles like this I went on a backyard bike packing trip to my mom's house on her birthday long-distance burrito cheers and I gave a virtual graduation speech to the class of 2020 yes this is weird oh and I can't forget this one Dan and I rode bikes to Denver to get a donut look at this amazing donut it was the little things that made life brighter this year in June I auctioned off my love cycles bike and with your help I donated $3,000 to black girls do bike and the bike packing routes by pock adventure grant which will fund bike adventures for people of color later that month I went on an amazing adventure around Lake Tahoe with my dear friend Dominic in July I set off on a dream trip down the great divide riding a bike that I helped create with my friends at priority and guess who came to join the fun John and Mira you all saw the stunning beauty in my videos but what really sticks with me are the people we met along the way it was trail magic every day we'd like to think that we have four acres of love right here in kindness and we just hope that any of that love and kindness we just spread out into the world so that's what that's why we do this in August Dana and I took advantage of a COVID road closure on Mount Evans and rode our bikes to the tippy top 14,000 feet I celebrated five years of being sober which is still the best decision I've ever made and Scott and I completed a local adventure called the Longs Peak duathlon biking 60 miles and running to the top of Longs Peak near oh and including this video I uploaded 82 videos this year that is a new record for me when I look back on all this I think right on this dumpster fire of a year turned out okay I learned a lot about patience and I'm even more grateful than ever for the things that I do have this year didn't go as planned for any of us but like with most adventures they never go exactly as planned and I've learned from a lifetime of doing hard things that everything is temporary and you got a role with the punches be grateful for the good times and when challenging times hit take a step back breathe deeply and work on a solution every day there's something new and magical nature is always putting on a show I'm gonna end by saying thank you creating videos on YouTube is a dream job and I couldn't do it without your support my goal since day one has always been to inspire people to get off their couches and with every year that passes I get to reach more people and that is so cool so keep on sharing liking and watching my videos and if you feel inspired you can join my patreon so I can keep this channel moving forward alright I don't jinx us but here's to a great 2021 I have a feeling that things are gonna be better and if they aren't while we learn some great coping mechanisms this year that will help us on our journey I'm wishing you all the best and here is a big safe COVID hug I'm sending to all of you now get out there