25,000 miles and 48 states may sound like a big trip, but it’s not the most important journey for a man and his bicycle. Daniel Hurd is from Massachusetts. It was about two years ago when he decided to go for a bike ride across the country. On Monday, he was in South Dakota, his 31st state. Hurd is pedaling with a purpose, and he hopes to save lives.

Hurd isn’t looking back, but after putting about 14,000 miles behind him, his bike can be in rough shape.

“This rack broke off. This bracket snapped off,” Hurd said, pointing to various spots he’s had repaired.

Hurd was at Spoke-N-Sport for a tune-up. The cross-country biker knows when something is broken, and it feels like everything is falling apart, you have to keep going… and we’re not talking about his bike anymore.

“Initially when I started this journey, I had just gotten done, unfortunately, attempting suicide three times and was planning on a fourth,” Hurd said.

Everything kept piling up.

“Between being molested as a child, drug use, PTSD from the military and just longtime depression in general,” Hurd said.

A friend got Hurd on a bike, and that gave Hurd a purpose. He’s riding around the lower 48 states to talk with communities about suicide.

“It’s okay not to be okay. It’s okay to ask for help,” Hurd said.

Hurd has lost 34 of his friends to suicide, and hopes their stories and his own help prevent anymore deaths.

“I’m riding for them. I’m riding for people I don’t even know that lost their lives, lost family members and loved ones,” Hurd said.

When Hurd gets to a community, he sets up speaking engagements at various places, including churches. His next stops are Iowa and Nebraska, and he hopes to soon spread his story and suicide awareness around the globe.

“Do you guys have stickers? Cool, I’m going to get one of those. As you can tell, I sticker up my bike,” Hurd said.

It is possible to fix what’s broken. Hurd isn’t trying to leave his past behind. He’s taking it with him wherever he’s going, because where he’s been, and his bike, have helped him get to where he’s at right now.

“I want to reach as many people as I can so they realize they’re not alone. They just need to keep pushing forward, because tomorrow is a new day,” Hurd said. “There is hope tomorrow. You just got to make it through today.”

You can find Hurd and follow his One Pedal at a Time journey on his Facebook page, Ride with Dan USA.