My life as an adolescent was as normal as the next kid on the block. I had a great relationship with my parents, and they were genuine at heart and cared about their children more than themselves. I can honestly say through my experiences in my past relationship with my wife that your parents reflect on your decision-making, and parenting qualities. My dad always taught me to give as much as I can to others and he always wished that I would be alcohol free just like him. Unfortunately it didn’t happen that way for me.

I was the kind of twenty year old that when I was drinking I had to put-em down till the morning arrived. I didn’t know why I was drinking like this, was it my energy level, or were there other issues that I had going on. When I was 18 I began lifting weights, and then ventured into cycling. Cycling became a huge passion in my life; it gave me an outlet to think out on the road. After a while I finally gave up drinking after realizing the atrophy I was experiencing and all the training I was doing was a waste of time and energy. I began developing a passion for running, this type of discipline was awesome for me, and this is how I began to compete in duathlons (running and cycling) competitions. I remember earning my first trophy, I took it straight home and told my daughter Nina that I won this for her and placed it on her dresser. She would often tell people that the trophies were hers, so I think she was more proud of it more than I was! I’m now into swimming as well, I felt that I had to throw on one more discipline.

I am now a seasonal competitive Triathlete, and train 5-6 days per week in the off-season. During regular season my training increases as competition nears. I spend what free time I have with full time school (Massage Therapy) and doing my duties as a board member for an anti-drug Coalition (Oregon Community and Family Coalition)(OCFC). The Coalition puts forth efforts to combat underage drinking and drug use among the youth in our community. This is a great way for me to do what I have a passion for (keeping kids drug free). I actually get to fulfill this passion by volunteering at the police station and get a chance to talk to kids who have been arrested and are going through a diversion program. I’ll sit on the exit interview panel and talk to the kids and the parents and try to give advice, and try to promote how well exercise works for people.

The coalition and I organized a bike tour in the city to help people recognize the dangers of underage drinking. I’d like to say I am the founder of this event but it has taken the whole coalition team to put it all together. The bike tour is called "Petal to prevent substance abuse." The tour has a lot of things to do for people on site, we have prizes, food, entertainment, and a speaker who talks to youth all over the nation, the speaker is now a friend of mine, we met at a triathlon his name is Todd Crandall, he is the founder of Racing For Recovery and has a passion for triathlon. I really look up to Todd, his R4R has helped so many people to recover from substance abuse and remain drug free. He has done wonders for the local communities, he is genuine at heart! Thanks Bro!

In the past I’ve received letters from different anti-drug agencies keeping me involved with underage drinking prevention. My most proud letter was sent from the first lady of Ohio (Hope Taft). Hope at the time was Chairperson on underage drinking across the nation. On the letter she thanked me for my efforts for helping my community combat underage drinking, and thought my bike tour was a wonderful idea. She suggested we try to expand it throughout the state, said she would take some ideas I had to the board and hoped they would catch on at the national level. This was all to cool! During all this time I was working on a program I was trying to develop titled D.A.A.D (Dads Against Adolescent Drinking). I had some support from some agencies but it never got off the ground. This was a dream of mine for a while and still would love to pursue it! My goals now are to complete all of my schooling (all the way up to a grad student) HOPE! Complete an Iron-Man in the near future, and introduce triathlons to kids and try to keep them drug free!

The most important thing in my life is being a great dad to my 2 daughters (NINA and SOPHIA). I like to thank my mom (Aurora) she is simply the best! I can’t forget about my dad (Peter) he was the soberest and the happiest MAN in the world. Thanks pop for not putting yourself before your children. Your class act parenting image will carry on forever. I’ll make certain of that!!! Rich A Rodriguez