Wellness Ride across America kicks off in Canton

Richie Crowley, co-founder of Wild But Well and a former Canton hockey star, is passionate about promoting wellness for everyone. His commitment has inspired him to embark on a cross-country bike ride starting in Canton on Saturday, July 20.

Wild But Well founder Richie Crowley

The Wellness Ride will kick off at Copper City Espresso, located at the Canton Junction train station, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Usually open only on weekdays, the business will open that Saturday for the occasion.) Crowley said the event will be a community gathering for people to see the start of this 12-week undertaking. The event will include a podcast by Wild But Well co-founder Pat McAuley.

Crowley also hopes to inspire a community bike ride. He said any interested bike riders are invited to participate for any or all of the ride, which he described as “not too fast, but a slow roll, so anyone can do it.” The first day’s route calls for riders to head to Cobb Corner and then on to Providence, Rhode Island. Crowley said his father, Rich Crowley, may accompany him that first day.

SoulSpace Meditation will also be participating in the kick-off, with owner Sue Bonnano leading a short meditation session. Crowley said meditation has made a big difference for his own personal wellness and he hopes more Canton residents will give it a try if they haven’t done so already. He said he wanted to involve SoulSpace Meditation and Copper City Espresso because they were started around the same time as Wild But Well and so have “come up together.”

Crowley said the owner of Copper City, Kevin Vacca, is a valued friend from when he was first working on creating Wild But Well. Vacca provided both encouragement and informed marketing guidance.

One of the goals of The Wellness Ride is fundraising. Veestro, a plant-based, organic meal delivery service is sponsoring the ride, which includes hosting the website and doing some publicity. In addition, Crowley said, Veestro will assist with a charitable project. Followers of The Wellness Ride can donate food through Veestro, which will supply meals to organizations feeding hungry people in six cities on the bike route. Individuals can choose the number of meals they want to donate and then complete payment at veestro.com/pages/the-wellness-ride.

A second goal of the ride is to promote wellness as an accessible, affordable, and convenient option. Crowley said he wants to have conversations with people along the way about health and how “everyone can be more healthy if they have good resources and tools.” He will be working on an “athletic art installation” to encourage people to invest in wellness. The virtual installation will include a gallery of photograph portraits of people he meets, original writing, and videos of community dances and other activities.

Followers of The Wellness Ride will also be able to access weekly playlists curated by friends and acquaintances in the wellness and entertainment fields. Crowley said that each week will be a surprise, with a different theme chosen by each artist. He also has different activities planned for each city he will be stopping in. In New York he will host a public workout. Activities elsewhere include yoga, mural painting, and in St. Louis, a gathering celebrating sobriety with non-alcoholic beer.

Crowley’s passion for helping others discover the benefits of wellness and the means to attain it is obvious. He has made a strong commitment to wellness in general for himself and specifically to biking. “I bike a lot,” he said. “It’s my transportation and my most sustainable exercise. It’s low cost, convenient, and great for the environment.”

He’s scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles, his final destination, on October 10.

To donate meals and learn more about The Wellness Ride, go to wildbutwell.com/the-wellness-ride.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=58867

Posted by Candace Paris on Jul 19 2019. Filed under News. Both comments and pings are currently closed.