In short: the purpose of the Unity Ride is to spread love and tolerance by being an example to the rest of America.
Our riders live by a simple motto: "This is America at it's best". Jonathan and Andre have a platform from which they choose to lead by example - and they are not about to waste that opportunity.
As their popularity has grown through grassroots efforts (virtually no social media presence) the riders feel that this year they have an opportunity to spread their message of love even farther.
The efforts continue as they meet with community leaders, politicians and celebrities along their ride (some of them even hop on their bikes and ride with Jonathan and Andre in support of their mission.) But this year the riders are launching a multi-platform initiative to get as many eyes on the Unity Ride as possible, in order to enact change in our great country.
On the first ride, in 2017, Andre and Jonathan completed 3200 miles in 30 days. The first ride was completed in 2017. We rode 3200 miles in 35 days and the seminal journey was inspired by the "gray area" most of us fall into politically. Most of us believe in compromise and few of us are truly "far right" or "far left." This first ride was about accepting each other as equals and doing good work together!
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We are a land full of diverse people with lots in common, and yet the country is divided. Our differences of politics and religion are tearing us apart and we don't want to call this our reality. This ride illustrates that we're not divided as we seem and, no matter our differences, we are ALL still all part of the beautiful fabric of this nation.
On Memorial Day 2017 we pushed off from Oceanside, CA and headed to Washington, DC. The route was long and challenging, covering 3,200 miles of this beautiful country in 35 days. We traversed the mountains and deserts of California, rode up to the Grand Canyon through Monument Valley Utah, and climbed the Rockies at Wolf Creek Pass Colorado. We went on to the quiet plains and wheat fields of Kansas, over to the Ozarks in Missouri, down to Kentucky and the Hills of Tennessee, up through the Shenandoah Mountains in Virginia and finally, on to our final destination -- our Nation's capitol, on 4th of July, which we celebrated with an epic fireworks experience. Watch the journey here.
We did it again the following year! This time, we followed the trails of and learned stories about the Underground Railroad and the full film will be available soon. Watch the trailer here. In the film we share obscure stories of the places that hid secrets that still keep this country divided. We introduce you to the people, both enslaved and free, that risked it all with an unyielding and unwavering desire to change the course of history. This film unashamedly reveals what was, highlights what is, and inspires what could be.
Within every divide there is unity. Ride with us THIS summer as we film another educational documentary of a coast-to-coast ride, from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon. Stay tuned to hear stories of unity while we explore riding across a masked America.
Stay tuned and see you soon!!!