Love has motivated "America's fat guy" to take the 500-mile journey from the East Coast to the West Coast.
Eric Hites, 40, from Danville, Ind., works as an artist and a writer. He is also the author of Everybody Loves Ramen, which is about anything related to noodles, from recipes to fun anecdotes about them.
Over the years, he lived a sedentary and inactive life that soon he accumulated weight. By the time he realized the gravity of his health situation, he was already 560 pounds.
The extra weight also took a toll to his mental and emotional health. He became more depressed and angrier that eventually his marriage fell apart, and he and his wife, Angie, separated. Angie's first husband had already died, and given the kind of health Eric has, he also has an increased risk of dying, something she couldn't handle. He also lost his job.
Despite the losses, one thing was clear to him: he wanted to get his family back together. But he also believed that for him to be able to do it, he needed to take charge of his own life and regain his good health.
He thought he might not be able to walk for 500 miles, but he could ride a bike. That's when his new project came to be. By June, his father drove him from his home to Falmouth, Mass., where he began his trip.
However, less than a hundred miles on his journey, in Rhode Island, he met his first major challenge when the rims of his bike were damaged. Fortunately, a company, Newport Bicycle, heard about his predicament and story. As a way of support, they donated an entirely new bike to him.
According to Eric, he envisioned the journey to last only a couple of months, but with his speed, it may take him around a year. The task is also monumental sometimes he couldn't help but question his decision, he confessed. But he has the best cheerleaders with him to keep him going: his family, who's never been prouder for his determination.
Eric writes about his experience in the trip in his blog. He plans to release a book soon and use the funds to buy his much-needed supplies for the remainder of the trip.
