Message from Rick:
With PTSD the healing never really stops, but it doesn’t have to stop you. I believe gravel riding provides an excellent way to get outside, explore, be active, reconnect with the world, and find peace.

My Story:
I joined the Army in 1989 as an enlisted infantryman and served from 1989 to 1995 on active duty. I participated in Operation Just Cause in Panama and served a tour in Korea during my time. After a break in service to start college, I joined the Connecticut Army National Guard in 1999 and attended Officer Candidate School receiving my commission as an infantry second lieutenant in August 2001.

I deployed to Iraq as an infantry platoon leader in 2004 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom II. During that 12 month tour our company had 3 soldiers killed in action. Sergeant First Class (SFC) William Labadie was killed in a rocket attack on April 7 th, 2004, less than 24 hours after we arrived at our forward operating base at Camp Taji. Two soldiers in my platoon were killed in combat operations. Sergeant Felix Delgreco was killed in an ambush on April 9 th  2004, only two days after SFC Labadie, and Specialist Robert Hoyt was killed by a roadside bomb on December 11 th , 2004.

This was my first step into the world of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In 2012 I lost my 18-year-old daughter Katelyn to a heroin overdose which turned my world upside down. I thought I could handle the grief after losing men in combat, but losing my
daughter sent me reeling. I was pushed to the brink mentally; between my PTSD and the profound grief I was feeling from losing Katelyn. I got to the point where I was left with a choice, drink myself to death or get help. I made a phone call to a military help
line that placed me with a therapist.

That phone call was the first step in my healing journey, and it saved my life. Over the next 12 months I met with a therapist once a week who used Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing or EMDR. The sessions were emotionally draining, but with each session I felt a step closer to healing and finding happiness in life again. PTSD and grief never fully go away.

Loss is something I will live with for the rest of my life, but therapy helped me to cope effectively and not be trapped in the darkness. I am grateful for gaining those emotional skills because I was still serving in the Army during that time, and I had one more deployment in my future. In 2015 I deployed to Afghanistan and oversaw security for the NATO Headquarters in Kabul. During my tour I witnessed a British Helicopter crash that killed 7 personnel. I was placed in charge of crash site security and assisted with aircraft recovery. Leaning on what I had learned in therapy helped me to understand how I was feeling and how my soldiers were feeling and not slip back into darkness.

In 2017 after 21 years of active service I retired from the Army and started a new chapter in Bend, Oregon.

Before I retired from the Army, I decided I would hike the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) to walk from my Army life into my new civilian life and continue my healing journey. My attempts to hike the PCT in 2017 and 2018 ended before reaching Canada. In 2019 I hiked my unfinished section from Elk Lake, Oregon to Canada to complete the trail. Unsatisfied, in 2021, I decided I would give the PCT one more try to finish from start to finish in one thru hike. This time I would be accompanied by my best friend Will, who I served with in the Army and 154 days later we arrived at the Canadian border to complete our epic journey.

After finishing the PCT I asked myself “what’s next?” I hadn’t owned a bike in almost 17 years. Growing up in Connecticut I loved riding my BMX bike and 10 speed all over my hometown, so I figured “why not a bike?” I purchased a Trek Checkpoint ALR5 in the fall of 2022 from Goodbike in Prinville, OR with the plan of riding it across the United States.

I bought it as a bikepacking rig. I didn’t even know what a “gravel bike” even meant. With no real clue what I was doing I started riding. At first riding 5 miles was a big deal, but I stuck with it and slowly my miles increased. When I bought my bike, I also picked up a booklet at the bike shop that had gravel routes all over Central Oregon. That was my introduction to Dirty Freehub.

Gravel riding sounded awesome and there were routes everywhere. I poured over the booklet and Dirty Freehub’s website looking at all the rides. My first ever gravel ride was Poke the Bear outside of Madras. It was a lot of fun, so I thought “This is easy.” I learned in my first lesson that not all routes are the same when I tried the Skydog route near the Prineville Reservoir.

I had no idea what elevation gain meant as it pertained to riding. I totally bonked and had to push my bike uphill the final three miles to my truck. Despite the learning curve, I was hooked on cycling and especially gravel riding. After a few months of training with my new bike I set off on my cross-country adventure in the summer of 2023. 74 days later I arrived at the Atlantic Ocean.

Cycling was a game changer for me. Faster than hiking and slower than driving to explore the world around me. I enjoy being out in the forest spaces and exploring so many parts of Oregon that I had never seen previously. Dirty Freehub opened a whole new world to me, and I am forever grateful I took that leap of faith and bought a bike.

Accomplishments Since Purchasing My First Bike in the Fall of 2022:
– 2023 Cross country ride 4,415 miles from Gearhart, OR to Eastham, MA.
– 2024 The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route 2,700 miles from Jasper, Alberta Canada
to Antelope Wells, NM
– 2025 Cross country ride 4,100 miles from Bath, ME to Dayville, OR

Hometown: Vernon, CT

Current town: Bend, OR

Bikes I ride:
– 2022 Trek Checkpoint ALR5 on both cross-country rides
– 2023 Salsa Cutthroat on the GDMBR

Favorite Dirty Freehub Routes:
– Milk & Honey
– Motown
– Keating with Love and Virtue
– Giants Throwing Stones

Links About Me:
Hiking to Heal: A CT Guardsman’s journey in overcoming Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Connecticut Veteran Hikes to Cope With PTSD
Veteran bikes from West Coast to East Coast to address PTSD

Organizations That I Support:
Project Hero

Social Media:
Instagram Rickmarshall587