Valley man biking across the U.S. to raise money for child abuse prevention

Valley man biking across the country to raise money for child abuse prevention

Athalonz CEO Tim Markison is riding his bike from San Diego to Jacksonville in hopes of raising $1 million for nonprofits helping victims of child abuse. FOX 10's Ty Brennan reports.

PHOENIX - A Valley man is preparing to ride his bike from coast to coast across the United States for a very important cause to him: child abuse prevention.

On any given day, people can find local resident Tim Markison out on the open road training. He's set a grueling goal of riding his bike from San Diego, California, to Jacksonville, Florida.

Markison is doing this to raise money for nonprofits that focus on child abuse prevention - something he knows all too well about.

"From the time I was 5 until about 13, I was repeatedly raped," Markison said.

His abuse came at the hands of a family member.

That's why he and his team at Athalonz - a golf shoe technology company that he owns - have started the Interwoven Circles Foundation in hopes of raising $1 million to donate to nonprofits that help kids and adults dealing with childhood abuse.

"My focus with this ride is to really bring more awareness to it," Markison said. "Encourage victims of childhood sexual abuse, really any childhood abuse…to start processing it."

The bicyclist plans to ride 50 to 100 miles a day, and he expects the trip to take about 40 days once he leaves California at the end of September.

Markison says the hard work, training and physical exhaustion will be worth it, knowing that he's making a difference with every passing mile.

Follow and support his journey: https://www.interwovencircles.com/