What a selfless act by Jacob!!!! Jacob experienced decline of hearing at age 8. Luckily, all his pain and self-pity ended when he received a cochlear implant at age 10 that filled his life with sounds. Hearing loss helped Jacob to mold himself into a strong, driven, and purposeful young man. He smartly combined his three passions - baseball, cycling, and helping the hearing impaired to come up with his praiseworthy mission “Jacob’s Ride” —by riding to all 30 U.S. Major League Baseball stadiums to raise money for those who will benefit from cochlear implants but cannot afford it. Jacob’s effort is commendable and special thanks to his family and all the volunteers in individual cities who have supported his cause and helped him fulfill his miraculous ride.

How did you get the idea for “Jacob’s Ride”? How many people have you helped so far?J: The ride's origins can be traced to a lot a culmination of three passions. I wanted to start bike touring, going to all 30 ballparks was a dream for me, and I've always wanted to be able to give others the gift of hearing; I knew that others were not as fortunate as I had been. I thought I was going to take an east coast tour, completely unsupported, and go all the stadiums on the east coast (Boston, New York, philly, Baltimore, DC, Atlanta, and the two Florida teams). When the early exploratory phone calls were met with such enthusiasm, and it was suggested that I have a support vehicle, I quickly expanded the ride to be one to all 30 parks. At the time, I did not know that would entail 10,000 miles, although I did know it would be quite significant.
We have helped out 8 individuals so far, which is the real miracle of Jacob's Ride. One of those 8 were from the cross-country trip completed this summer, and we have two more in the pipeline from the 2015 ride. We received a very sizeable donation of Legal and General Life Insurance this winter that will fund an additional 3. So once the candidates are all identified and implanted, the total will be 13.

How do you prepare yourself for the rides? What support do you have during your rides? What kind of difficulties do you face when you ride?J: The ride in 2013 was more than 10,500 miles, and I don't think there is any great way to prepare for that. The groundswell of support received from the HLAA and the AG Bell foundation figuratively pushed my pedals when the going got tough. The physical training was mostly dietary, I tried to add muscle and fat since my caloric needs were going to be so high that I needed to build a bit of a fat reserve. The mental side of it was more important. I had to get used to living one day at a time, or sometimes one mile at a time in order to keep going. It would be a much harder day if I had one foot in the future ("I have to lube the chain tonight... when we get to Oakland, we should probably change the cassette.... i hope we can find a laudromat tonight, all of my socks are wet")
The biggest challenges were the mental hurdle of the length of time and number of miles to cover. Also the daily struggles of wind, bad pavement, and terrain. Of those three conditional factors, I just did my best to be grateful for whichever one was good that day. You would never have good pavement, favorable wind, and a flat ride. Just one of the three would have me grateful. Of the three riding conditionals, the wind would always be the biggest demoralizer.

What was the impact of receiving a cochlear implant? Do you want to share any incidence before implant where you missed something important?J: Getting the implant gave me a return to my life. I was so full of self-pity as I experienced the decline in my hearing for 8 years. I couldn't hear things that I remembered hearing just a few months ago. It was very painful. The implant has given me not only a sense of hearing back, but also additional strength because I had to learn how to be my own self-advocate. The implant has also given me tolerance towards others, since I expect others to be tolerant of my own hearing difficulties. In that sense, I don't think I've missed anything important.

How do you feel when people admire your effort for the hearing-impaired? What is the best compliment you have received so far?J: I deflect compliments! There is so much credit to be given to my family for doing so much of the organization of the LLC. The volunteers in each city that actually turned "going to all 30 ballparks" into 30 very successful fund-raisers. While I was wrapped up in my head, wrestling with the wind in Montana, there were people in Seattle planning the night at the ballpark, contacting to team to get our group on the scoreboard, etc. I try to tell people that I just rode a bike. I can't give enough credit to everyone who has supported this and helped to make it happen. I got to see so much of the country, at a beautiful pace of 12-13 mph. That is a priceless experience, and it couldn't have happened without everyone's help.

How do you manage to balance your studies, rides, events and other social obligations?J: It's been a challenge! I don't think I'm actually doing it. I try to relax and know that it will all get done. First things first, get whatever is due done. Right now, I'm not writing that many recipes or doing too many "extracurricular" things at work, because school takes the priority.

Who is your favorite baseball player?J: The player I enjoy watching the most right now is probably Manny Machado. I love seeing him at third base, I've never seen a better fielder.

What are your other hobbies?J: I love playing cribbage! I've been going to the gym lately. I've been reading a lot more.I'm also always willing to throw a frisbee around.

What is your favorite place to visit and why?J: The desert, because of the beauty of it. It's hot, but when the sun begins to set ans all of the color starts emerging from the bleached out sky, it is breathtaking.

What do you like to do when you are with your family?J: I like to listen and just share things about what's going on it life.

Any special message for our community?J: Don't let hearing loss be a resentment in your life! Also, wear sunscreen. Hearing loss can define you to others, but only you can define yourself.