A person with a helmet and purple jacket standing next to two bicycles, facing a field with hay bales, trees, and mountains in the background during an overcast day.

BREAKING CYCLES: USA 2018

The Ride That Started It All

In 2018, BrittanyMarie set out on a 5,400-mile solo cycling journey across the United States to explore the realities of trauma, incarceration, and resilience in America.

Over four months, she cycled from New York to Mexico, using movement as a platform for connection. Along the way, she visited prisons, halfway houses, shelters, and transitional spaces, sitting with incarcerated men, women, and youth whose stories were too often silenced, overlooked, or reduced to statistics.


Breaking Cycles partnered with Sheltered Yoga, a nonprofit bringing trauma-informed wellness programs into underserved communities and correctional environments. Through movement, nervous-system education, and self-awareness practices, the work centered dignity, healing, and the possibility of rebuilding from within.

Logo with a stylized black arm and brown tree branch, and the text 'Sheltered Yoga'

PARTNERSHIP


THE RIDE

Became more than a physical journey. It became an act of witnessing. BrittanyMarie met teachers, advocates, facilitators, volunteers, and formerly incarcerated individuals whose lived experiences revealed the depth of trauma, the complexity of survival, and the quiet strength required to keep moving forward.

A bicycle with colorful panniers parked on a cobblestone street with shops and pedestrians in the background.

The journey changed her. It widened her heart, deepened her compassion, and strengthened her commitment to creating space for voices too often forgotten.

Two people riding bicycles at sunset, with one person pointing ahead, against a clear sky.

THE JOURNEY THAT CHANGED ME

THIS WAS THE BEGINNING.
THE RIDE THAT STARTED IT ALL.

Map of a cross-country journey across the USA in 2018, starting in New York City and ending in Tijuana, with stops at Columbus, Chicago, Sioux Falls, Yellowstone, Sawtooth, Florence, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego. The map indicates a travel distance of 5,400 miles, duration of 4 months, and a bike trip, with icons for each detail.

NOW THE 2027 JOURNEY BEGINS

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NOW THE 2027 JOURNEY BEGINS ·