Every once in a while we meet people who inspire us. People who understand that life holds a deeper purpose than merely passing the time. People who recognize something in themselves and in the world, and then decide to do something about it.

Today, we sit down with PL and Kristen Meindertsma of Cycle 5 to Survive to talk about leaving the hustle mindset behind and building a five-continent cycling mission that funds real charity work. Along the way, we dig into what bikes reveal about people, why small acts matter, and how discomfort can become a path to growth.

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Highlights:

• How two-wheel travel changes perspective through slower, more human encounters
• How Cycle Five to Survive takes shape: five rides, five years, five charities, $2.5 million goal
• Burnout, midlife reset, and choosing purpose over endless work hours
• Meeting generosity in places the news rarely shows, and why their faith in humanity grows
• Visiting Nepal schools, welcoming villages, and speaking to young girls
• Charity accountability through vetting, impact reports, and seeing projects in person
• Faith, doubt, and the hard work of aligning head and heart
• Practical ways to help that feel doable, from local service to showing up for neighbors
• How to support the mission by expanding reach, following along, and donating if moved

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Tags: Distinguished Gentleman's Ride, DGR, Mindfulness, Motorcycle riding, mindful motorcycling, motorcycle therapy, nature connection, peace on two wheels, Rocky Mountain tours, rider self-discovery, spiritual journey, motorcycle community, open road philosophy.

Three feet of snow in early May and we still point the bikes toward Rocky Mountain National Park. With my buddy Jake, we leave Estes Park and climb Bear Lake Road toward 9,500 feet, watching temperatures, scanning shadowed corners, and keeping one rule front and center: no ego. If it gets sketchy, we turn back. That’s real motorcycle safety, not bravado.

Past the park gates, the fear evaporates. The Park Service has the road clear, and Colorado delivers that rare contrast of dry black asphalt framed by piles of pristine white snow. I trail Jake through careful corners while my camera rolls, and the Continental Divide rises over the handlebars like something ancient and quiet. Along the way we spot deer, elk, and even a moose settled into a snowy meadow, then we kill the engines at Bear Lake and let the mountain silence rush in.

But the ride is only half the story. Over coffee before the climb, we talk about friends carrying PTSD, people crushed by work stress, and how hard it is to find a moment of peace in a loud world. We land on why riding matters so much: it’s moving meditation. You can’t live in the past or the future on a motorcycle. You have to be here, now, and that focus opens the door to gratitude and to the kind of shared experience that sticks for a lifetime.

If this hits home, subscribe to Peace Love Moto, share this with a riding buddy, and leave a review. What’s your “can you believe this” ride, and who are you calling for coffee and a run up the canyon?

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Tags: Distinguished Gentleman's Ride, DGR, Mindfulness, Motorcycle riding, mindful motorcycling, motorcycle therapy, nature connection, peace on two wheels, Rocky Mountain tours, rider self-discovery, spiritual journey, motorcycle community, open road philosophy.

Suits, tweed, bow ties, polished boots and thousands of motorcycles rumbling through city streets might look like a Gatsby themed parade, but The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (DGR) is built for something much bigger. I’m digging into why this global event brings more than 125,000 riders together and how it turns style into meaningful action for men’s health through the Movember Foundation.

We talk about what the DGR is really doing beneath the photo ops: raising funds for prostate cancer research and suicide prevention, and making it easier for men to speak up before things get worse. I share why so many of us will obsess over tuning a bike while avoiding the simplest sentence we can say to a friend: “I’m struggling.” The DGR, at its best, becomes a public statement that men’s health matters and that community can be a bridge to getting help.

I also unpack “motorcycle therapy” the real calm that comes from presence, focus, and the way riding can quiet the noise of life. But I don’t let us off the hook: the motorcycle can be a rescue, yet it can’t be a hiding place. To bring it home, I tell a story about meeting a stranger at a gas station and how one small hello opened the door to a conversation about grief.

If you’ve ever felt how healing a ride can be, you’ll feel this one. Subscribe, share it with a riding buddy, and leave a review with one person you’re going to check in on this week.

EPISODE SPONSOR: Viking Bags https://www.vikingbags.com/

Support the show

Tags: Distinguished Gentleman's Ride, DGR, Mindfulness, Motorcycle riding, mindful motorcycling, motorcycle therapy, nature connection, peace on two wheels, Rocky Mountain tours, rider self-discovery, spiritual journey, motorcycle community, open road philosophy.