Profile

About: My name is Eric Marlowe, I am 25 years old and I live in Rochester, NY. I graduated from SUNY Fredonia in 2005 with a BA in English with the intent of becoming a journalist or English teacher. A month or two before graduation a friend of mine, Shawn Walker, informed me of a bicycle trip from Olympia, Washington to San Diego, California called the Plea for Peace. The purpose of the trip was to raise money for a youth center in San Jose, California. College was a huge achievement for me but I wanted another challenge. I wanted the chance to be involved in an organization that benefited someone other than myself. The Plea for Peace offered the perfect opportunity especially because the five years I spent away at school made me sluggish and lazy.
After returning home from the Plea for Peace I have tried to keep spirit of that trip alive by continuing to ride my bike as much as possible and by involving myself in other charitable organizations like the Texas 4000.
Although the trip is still another seven months away, I am crawling out of my skin with anxiety and excitement, ready to peddle my bike across the country for another worthy cause.

Why I Ride

After returing home from the Plea For Peace I fell into a routine of work and, for a while, I was okay with that. But it wasn't enough and soon I was looking for a way I could help someone beside myself. At first I was consumed with excitement at the idea of riding my bicycle 4,500 miles to Alaska but since then my perspective of the trip has expanded. The enthusiasm of my friends and family has made me even more aware that this event is about them as much as it is about me. It is about the all the people that, in one way or another, have been affected by cancer.