My chiropractic journey began in 1983 when I called Robert Berkowitz out of the yellow pages to find out about chiropractic as a career. Over a tuna melt sandwich, Dr. Berkowitz explained the philosophy of chiropractic — turning on life and health by removing nerve interference caused by vertebral subluxations in the spine. Finding out about chiropractic was like "coming home" for me because I had always lived a healthy lifestyle. I was ecstatic that I could make a living in a profession whose ideals were consistent with my own, and by its practice, I could help others to live healthier and more productive lives.
Within 3 months, I was attending Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic. "Dr. Bob" has been my friend and mentor ever since. There isn’t a week that goes by where we are not on the phone discussing chiropractic. I also have had the privilege of serving on several chiropractic boards with him; currently, we serve together on the Board of Trustees of Sherman College.
You could probably say that my passion for chiropractic is matched only by my passion for bicycling! About five years ago in my office, I was talking to a client about traveling and he recommended a book called
"Miles from Nowhere" by Barbara Savage. This fascinating book chronicles the two-year journey of Barbara and Larry Savage, who rode around the world on bicycles. I was hooked on this form of travel from the very first chapter, and I decided to find out more about bicycle touring.
It had been 21 years since my last big journey in 1979. I was in my twenties, and traveled from Florida to Nova Scotia over a two-month period by a combination of greyhound bus and hitchhiking. It was an experience filled with adventure and excitement, and it was my last trip before I had to "buckle down." I did, however, promise myself that my next big adventure would come before I turned 40. When forty came and went, I remembered my promise but I didn’t think it was practical to take an extended trip. Then my very close friend from high school, Brian Feuerlicht, died in March of 1999. He was fearless, inspiring, reckless, exhausting, exhilarating, and most of all, he was a great friend. His life was a testimony to living one’s life to the fullest, and his death was a wake-up call to me that I will not be living forever. It is Brian’s life and death that inspired me to make the time and go on this trip now.
If I was going to take an extended journey, I decided that I would make it count and accomplish something at the same time that I was enjoying myself. I had always been frustrated about being surrounded by numerous events involving disease awareness promotions when our own condition — Vertebral Subluxation, the condition that chiropractic identifies and corrects — is virtually unknown. With the exception of a very few, most of the entire world is ignorant of Vertebral Subluxation! It is unfortunate that after 105 years, Vertebral Subluxation is the best-kept secret on the planet.
I decided that I would ride for chiropractic to bring attention to Vertebral Subluxation and to raise funds for future scholarships. That is how "The Ride for Chiropractic" and its beneficiary, the Samuel and Sandra Berkowitz Memorial Scholarship came into existence. Samuel and Sandra Berkowitz are Bob Berkowitz’s late parents. I believed the way to honor the man who has done so much for chiropractic was to name a scholarship after his late parents; a scholarship that will continue to assist chiropractic students for many generations to come.
After we decided to embark on this journey, we had to decide how to do it. We had to make sure our business and home were taken care of, and determine the logistics of traveling across country by bicycle. This started with to-do lists for home, business, the fundraiser, and the trip itself. Without getting into lots of details, there were and are many specific tasks to handle, from what type of bicycle to get, to how will I get my bills paid. One source of information that has been invaluable to us has been the non-profit organization
Adventure Cycling. They are an organization dedicated to the promotion of bicycle touring. We decided to join their organization and to support their mission as well with this website and our journey. One of the purposes of this trip, in addition to promoting chiropractic, is to promote bicycle touring as an exciting way to travel.
I have been a backpacker for many years. I enjoy it because of the self-sufficiency, the sense of exploration, and traveling to new and different places; bicycle touring has all of the same benefits and therefore very much the same type of appeal for me. The advantage of bicycle touring is that one can move at a faster pace — much faster than walking but slow enough to literally stop and smell the roses. It also provides great exercise with minimum negative impact on the body or the environment. See more about bicycle touring in these pages and in our links.
Something that a number of people have asked me is how I was able to afford to take off for over three months. It is actually another purpose of this website — that is, to promote voluntary simplicity. What I mean by voluntary simplicity is allocating more of one’s resources to having time and experiences rather than to purchasing things and services. See more about voluntary simplicity in these pages and links.
