Riding for a Cause: Josh Danowsky's Personal Connection to Autism and Bike to the Beach
It’s only been four short years since Josh Danowsky first climbed onto his Trek FX2 and started cruising around New York, while looking for a way to stay active during the early days of the COVID pandemic. His usual outlet of playing basketball in the park, had become a no-go space when all of the rims were taken off the backboards throughout the city to prevent large gatherings. As someone who had always been athletic, he tried jogging, however, the combination of an old, serious knee he suffered while serving in the US Air Force flaring up along with the loss of what was one of his remaining outlets, found Josh looking for ways to improve his mental health and remain active. One day, in the middle of the pandemic, a friend of his sent him a bunch of pictures from a ride he had just completed, mainly of boarded up shops around the city. One of the pictures, however, was a screenshot of the ride summary from Strava and the calories his friend had burned jumped out the screen smacking Josh straight in the face. Right then and there, Josh knew he had found a solution to his workout problem.
After searching for a bike high and low through the five boroughs of New York and coming up empty-handed, Josh was finally able to get lucky finding a Trek FX2 for sale in the Hamptons. He started his rides off small, going for 8 miles the first time before bumping it up to 12-13 miles roundtrip rides. One day Josh decided that he was going to ride from his home in Manhattan to Battery Park and back, a 24 mile trip in total. He felt that this was the perfect distance to really test himself and stay fit on a constant basis. However, when Josh was halfway through one these 24 mile rides while taking a break at Battery Park, he was struck by a wave of self-doubt in everything that he was doing. All of a sudden, “I didn’t want to get back on the bike. I felt this surge of anxiety. The ride back was daunting and overwhelming. Who the hell did I think I was riding such a long distance on a bike? I decided I was going to ride back and sell the bike.” Josh explained. He decided to get back on the bike one last time and head home, and essentially blacked out, not remembering much at all of the 45-ish minute ride back to his house. It was after this experience that Josh realized that whatever physical benefits he got from riding, they were surpassed ten times by the amount of mental health benefits riding brought him. After that, Josh was more motivated than ever to get back on the bike and keep on riding. He began connecting with other riders in the cycling community, even signing up for a GFNY ride. As fun as that was, Josh knew that he wanted to do something more impactful than racing and began looking around for different charity rides.
It was during this search that Josh came across Bike to the Beach. It seemed like a great cause, but the fact that it was a 100 mile ride was a daunting proposition. He truly wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to get through the entire ride, but on ride day he found motivation in the energy of the day and knowing that the ride was benefiting those who truly needed it. He was able to finish that first B2B ride in 7 hours and 33 minutes, a pretty decent mark for someone who had never rode that far before. This year, Josh set a goal of 7 hours flat to get through the entire ride and ended up falling short by only 6 minutes.
There is no doubt in Josh’s mind that he will be participating in Bike to the Beach for many years to come. You can catch him out on the New York ride route next year, going down on September 8th, 2024! The registration for the ride is now open, so there is plenty of time to get yourself prepped and ready to cruise through your chosen distance as well as hitting your fundraising goals.
