The inspiration was two- fold: to attempt the biggest, most adventurous ride of my life and to explore my family history and "
find the piece of
myself that I had never known.
"
Preparing for the Trail The Ho Chi Minh Trail was the main supply route constructed and used by the North Vietnamese to move soldiers, equipment, and ammunition during the war. The trail started in Hanoi, the main city in the north, and stretched thousands of miles to Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City. As the war progressed, and in an effort to escape detection and disruption of the route by American and South Vietnamese forces, the network of trails grew across the Vietnamese border. My father was one of hundreds of U.S. Airmen who spent years making daily bombing raids in Laos and Cambodia. Before traveling to Southeast Asia to attempt the ride, we had mapped the most historically accurate route possible with the help of an American now living in Laos, Don Duvall.
Red Bull, the company that had sponsored me as an athlete for more than 15 years, embraced the idea. As Red Bull Media House and I dove into the research process, we began to see the depth of the story... and realized this was a story that needed to be uncovered and told. It was a story that spanned far beyond an endurance athlete looking to be the first to ride the entire length of the trail. (This project would become the award-winning documentary Blood Road , released in June.) For me, the inspiration was two fold: to attempt the biggest, most adventurous ride of my life and to explore my family history and find the piece of myself that I had never known.
American Consequences | 75
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