As a child Max Rojos was told he would never walk again after being hospitalized for one year following a major accident. Max promised his mother “If I ever get out of this bed, I’m never going to stop, I’m going to take my bike and ride it around the world.” Fortunately Max miraculously recovered and did what many said was impossible. He rode his bike from Caracas, Venezuela to Ushuaia, Argentina and back up to Fortaleza, Brazil, 24,000 miles in total.
Max’s dream is to help and support other people who don’t have the finances to participate in sports. He grew up with little money and now hopes to give others what he didn’t have as a child. Max’s face lit with joy as he told a story about a child he helped who was running the 800 meter in record time with no shoes and cut off jeans. Max gave him 5 pairs of shoes and now the child is a pro runner in Lima. Max not only supported the child financially but has also mentored him throughout his career.
Max is also an elite Iron Man and has completed races throughout South America and the Netherlands. During each race he inspires people to follow their dreams by telling them to never give up, never surrender. As you can imagine, his story has impacted the lives of many people around the world.
Max says, “When you travel by bike, you get to know the local food and culture.” In Ecuador, he ate monkey, in Peru cat, he tried ants in Colombia, and in Brazil he ate Anaconda. While riding he also learned about his own culture, specifically about the Andes people and how before the Incan Empire, they paid to the pachamama with live animals, candies, coca, wines, and chichi. He mentions, “These are things I would have never known without traveling on my bike.”
Next Max plans to travel from Alaska to Venezuela on his bike to discover the culture in North and Central America. Overall the trip will be 30,000 km. His plan is to start in September of 2012 and will take approximately 2 years.
In closing, Max states
“Nothing is impossible in this life and if you have a dream, nothing else matters like your dream.”
Travel with us to the Uros floating islands in Puno and watch our exclusive interview with Max Rojos:
To learn more about Max’s story, visit his website at http://travelonredbike.blogspot.com/
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