Man Rides Bike from Salt Lake City to St. George in the Name of Addiction Recovery

A man was able to bike from Salt Lake City to St. George within two days over the weekend. Leonard “LT” Weaver made the trip in the name of those recovering from various forms of addiction, something he himself has dealt with in the past. 

Weaver began his journey during the early morning hours of Friday, September 20 at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City and finished about 28 hours later on Saturday, September 21 at Bloomington Park in St. George. 

Derick Fox and Yeonseung Kim from our news partners at ABC4 Utah spoke with Weaver about why he made such an arduous trip in the name addiction recovery. 

ABC4 said, “LT Weaver is no stranger to addiction. He explained to ABC4 that he was addicted to methamphetamine in his early 20s. In his 30s, after a tragic incident that almost took the life of his son, he fell into alcoholism. ‘It totally ruined my life,’ said Weaver. ‘I did a year in jail, not understanding addiction, I was scared straight because I almost went to prison for 15 years.’” 

The experience as well as the support Weaver received led him to create a non-profit organization called Recovering Addict which provides peer support to those combating addiction. 

Weaver told ABC4 Utah, “I want to do things that I’ve never done before and I want to show people that life can be turned around. That’s what peer support is. People that have been there, done that, helping people that are going through it.” 

Weaver trained for over a year in preparation for the 429-mile bike ride, and he knew that even with all the prep work, he was still going to have to fight to finish the ride. 

You can read the full article from ABC4 Utah by clicking here.