ROY, Utah – A Utah man is biking across the country, despite the fact he has a serious heart condition.
Bob Quick, 53, said he’s not letting his condition stop him from doing what he loves, and his ride is helping him spread an important message.
Quick said he will go from California to Florida by bike.
"It's called the Southern Tier Bicycle Route,” he said. “It was put together by the Adventure Cycling. I will start out in San Diego California bike park, and then I will end in St. Augustine, Florida."
Quick said he has the potential to make history with the trip.
"I got the heart problem,” he said. “I have 16 stints and a pacemaker defibrillator. I will be the first man to do a journey like this ever in my condition, and what I hope to do in my journey is actually to get other people off the couch. If Bob can do it, you can do it too."
The Roy City Fire Department responded when Quick had a heart emergency, and now Troy and Marla Easton are helping him make the journey.
"He's the one that gave me the shock,” Quick said. “He's the one that brought me back. He worked on me for three and a half minutes hard."
Doctor Jeremy Holt of McKay-Dee Hospital said Quick is an example.
"It's a huge feat for him to be able to come back from dying, having multiple stints put in over nine, 10 years of his life, finally come to the point where he has to get a pacemaker defibrillator in, and then making the comeback and saying, ‘I'm going to show people that it doesn't matter what's happened to you, you can live your life,’” he said.
The Eastons have helped arrange for Quick to stay at fire stations across the country, and he will also have a tent and sleeping bag with him.
"Each of his maps is set up in a 50-mile radius, so we have two spots,” Marla Easton said. “So if he can go 20 miles we have a spot for him to stay. If he goes 50 miles then we have a spot there to stay."
Quick’s son will accompany him on the trip. Quick also said that FOX 13 News’ Big Budah was one of the people who inspired him.
"We both do the Gold's Gym thing,” Quick said of Budah. "I'd be on the treadmill, I'd be on the elliptical, I’d watch you every morning. I mean, you're my hero… I'm absolutely proud of you for all the weight you've lost."
Big Budah has lost a tremendous amount of weight as part of his Losing for Life program.
Quick said he and his son plan to average 50 miles per day on the ride. They said water stops are sparse at first, so they will carry 500 ounces of water with them on the first part of the trip.
