SAN DIEGO -- Ask Jimmy Button how far he rode on his bike across America, and he'll show you his arm.
“It's just a nice reminder that we did something pretty big and did something pretty special,” he said.
Button tattooed the number 2475 on his left forearm to remind him of the miles he rode from San Diego to Daytona Beach, Florida starting Feb. 20 and ending April 17.
Button left from Qualcomm Stadium on his “Miles for Miracles” fund-raising campaign and as he rode, he endured rain, sleet, snow and a stiff head-wind most of the way.
All of which, he says, made the ride more fulfilling.
“All these different kind of climates, and the crashes and troubles we had, really made it all that much better,” Button said.
On his journey, Button had different people join him on bicycles. But one constant was his wife, Kristi, six months pregnant with the couple's first son, who drove along in a van.
“There was not one second that I wanted to miss,” Kristi said. “There was parts that I was homesick and wanted to be back at my house, and traveling just so slow across the country was a little hard, but I couldn`t not be there.“
Button planned to ride 60 miles per day, but when he got about half-way, outside Houston, Texas, he fell and broke his elbow. So he had to fly back to San Diego for surgery.
“I wish I could say it was really spectacular and grand and huge crash, but it was really small,” Button said of the fall that broke his left elbow. “I had just clipped in and I had to clip out of my pedal really quickly and I ended up just tipping over going zero miles per hour and I fell down. I just put my elbow down to block the fall and it just exploded.”
Button didn't let a little thing like elbow surgery keep him down. The former supercross rider who overcame paralysis from the neck down after a crash at Qualcomm Stadium on Jan. 22, 2000, flew back to Houston just five days after surgery and got back on the bike to continue the ride.
After 57 days, 14 hours, 52 minutes and 23 seconds, the Buttons finally arrived at their destination: the famed Daytona Speedway.
“I was just like,'Yes! Finally we made it! Let's go home. We're never doing this again,'” Kristi said. “But besides that it was amazing.”
“It was pretty cool,” Jimmy said. “Seeing the Welcome to Daytona Beach' sign, you`re like, 'Wow. I just pedaled a bicycle from San Diego all the way to Daytona. That's pretty cool.'”
“So it was a triumphant feeling as well as, at that time, you're just like, 'Man I'm glad this thing is over right now.'”
Though the ride has ended, Button's quest to raise money and awareness for spinal cord injuries has not. He raised over $200,000 on the ride, and still wants to get to $1,000,000.
After what he's accomplished, it appears Button can do anything.
Or as is his wife says:
“Miracles can happen.”
“It's just a nice reminder that we did something pretty big and did something pretty special,” he said.
Button tattooed the number 2475 on his left forearm to remind him of the miles he rode from San Diego to Daytona Beach, Florida starting Feb. 20 and ending April 17.
Button left from Qualcomm Stadium on his “Miles for Miracles” fund-raising campaign and as he rode, he endured rain, sleet, snow and a stiff head-wind most of the way.
All of which, he says, made the ride more fulfilling.
“All these different kind of climates, and the crashes and troubles we had, really made it all that much better,” Button said.
On his journey, Button had different people join him on bicycles. But one constant was his wife, Kristi, six months pregnant with the couple's first son, who drove along in a van.
“There was not one second that I wanted to miss,” Kristi said. “There was parts that I was homesick and wanted to be back at my house, and traveling just so slow across the country was a little hard, but I couldn`t not be there.“
Button planned to ride 60 miles per day, but when he got about half-way, outside Houston, Texas, he fell and broke his elbow. So he had to fly back to San Diego for surgery.
“I wish I could say it was really spectacular and grand and huge crash, but it was really small,” Button said of the fall that broke his left elbow. “I had just clipped in and I had to clip out of my pedal really quickly and I ended up just tipping over going zero miles per hour and I fell down. I just put my elbow down to block the fall and it just exploded.”
Button didn't let a little thing like elbow surgery keep him down. The former supercross rider who overcame paralysis from the neck down after a crash at Qualcomm Stadium on Jan. 22, 2000, flew back to Houston just five days after surgery and got back on the bike to continue the ride.
After 57 days, 14 hours, 52 minutes and 23 seconds, the Buttons finally arrived at their destination: the famed Daytona Speedway.
“I was just like,'Yes! Finally we made it! Let's go home. We're never doing this again,'” Kristi said. “But besides that it was amazing.”
“It was pretty cool,” Jimmy said. “Seeing the Welcome to Daytona Beach' sign, you`re like, 'Wow. I just pedaled a bicycle from San Diego all the way to Daytona. That's pretty cool.'”
“So it was a triumphant feeling as well as, at that time, you're just like, 'Man I'm glad this thing is over right now.'”
Though the ride has ended, Button's quest to raise money and awareness for spinal cord injuries has not. He raised over $200,000 on the ride, and still wants to get to $1,000,000.
After what he's accomplished, it appears Button can do anything.
Or as is his wife says:
“Miracles can happen.”
