100 Pedals

Recovery for Parents Dealing with Addiction in their Families

## Addicted2Spinning

February 27, 2025 by Dave Cooke Leave a Comment

It is 100Pedals mission to help family members and parents discover the educational and inspirational resources to help them deal with the chaos of a loved one’s addiction. As a loved one’s addictive behaviors escalates, living at home is not an option. Many parents struggle with the taking action of not allowing their child to live with them anymore. There are few great options for them.

Addicted2Spinning is 100Pedals’ National Campaign to raise funds and awareness about addiction in our country. It is our quest to use this platform to help BREAK the CYCLE of addiction in our communities.

It is our objective through this campaign to raise money for local sober and transitional living homes in at least 15 cities in 2015. We are going to be conducting these fund raising events at local Spin Cycling Clubs across the country. Our goals are:

- Raise at least $3,000 at each of our 15 Addicted2Spinning events
- The money raised at every event goes directly to a local sober/transitional living facility in the city where the event is held
- Raise over $50,000 in 2015 to support residences providing our addicted loved ones the affordable, accessible care and accommodations they need.
- 100% of the money we raise at these events and 50% of all other donations will go directly to our selected local sober living facilities.

Many of us are aware how powerful an addiction can be. Those who spin have a positive addiction to good health and exercise. They find joy and fulfillment in the accomplishment of these hard, challenging workouts. The spin community is an example of a wonderful, positively addicted community.

Not everyone is so positively addicted. Drug and alcohol addiction is an adverse addiction. It ruins lives, destroys families and is a growing problem in our society.

Through the collaborative support of the positively addicted spin community, we are going to help those with their adverse addictions find access the type of accommodations most beneficial for them as they transition out of rehab or jail. It is in this transition from a controlled environment that those battling an addiction are most at risk for a relapse, or even worse, an overdose.

Returning home is rarely an option and living on the street is not the answer.

You have the opportunity to participate in this event in three ways:

1. Join us for a local Addicted2Spinning Event near you. Contact Dave Cooke if you don’t see your city on our list. 100Pedals is in the process of finalizing the calendar for this campaign. Please let us know if you would like your city to be part of this program.
2. Donate to the Kick-Off Campaign.
3. Be a sponsor. Contact Dave Cooke

###### (Note: Your contributions to Addicted2Spinning are tax deductible. 100Pedals is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. IRS Code:501(c)(3) Tax ID Number: 47-1567141)

Your participation, donation, or sponsorship helps provides parents with the peace of mind that their child has a place to live as they proceed on their recovery journey. We are going to change lives one person, one family, one facility, and one city at a time.

Helping their loved ones find the proper resources to live is an incredible gift to those families. Your contribution makes a difference. I hope you will help us hit our goal. And, I hope to see you soon at a local spin club near you! Peace!

Filed Under: featured, Uncategorized Tagged With: addicted2spinning

## Addiction in the Family – Two Generations, Two Stories, One Giant Gift

February 26, 2025 by Dave Cooke Leave a Comment
http://traffic.libsyn.com/theaddictionconversation/Jeff_Bertolet.mp3

What happens when a father’s recovery journey is not enough to protect his daughter from following her own addiction path? In today’s conversation we hear the story of father who spent a good part of his life fighting to find his recovery to be the dad he knew he could be. And, the subsequent story of his life in recovery as his daughter fought her own addiction battle until she nearly died from an overdose.

It has been a long journey, the lessons, experiences and outcomes of their choices have had lasting impact; but, love is the victor in this battle.

In this podcast you will hear about the journey of addiction, how guilt and hopelessness can trigger more abuse, and how recovery can be found in very unique and special ways. My thanks to Jeff Bertolet for sharing his incredible story and committing to using his story to inspire others.

Filed Under: featured, Lessons In Addiction, Parenting, Parenting & Addiction, Uncategorized Tagged With: addiction, addiction and parenting, addiction and recovery, addiction conversation, addiction conversation podcast, addiction in the family

## Addiction in the Family – Two Generations, Two Stories, One Giant Gift

February 26, 2025 by Dave Cooke

What happens when a father’s recovery journey is not enough to protect his daughter from following her own addiction path? In today’s conversation we hear the story of father who spent a good part of his life fighting to find his recovery to be the dad he knew he could be. And, the subsequent story of his life in recovery as his daughter fought her own addiction battle until she nearly died from an overdose.

It has been a long journey, the lessons, experiences and outcomes of their choices have had lasting impact; but, love is the victor in this battle.

I n this podcast you will hear about the journey of addiction, how guilt and hopelessness can trigger more abuse, and how recovery can be found in very unique and special ways. My thanks to Jeff Bertolet for sharing his incredible story and committing to using his story to inspire others.

Check out this episode!

Filed Under: Addiction Conversation Podcast

## You are the Light

February 23, 2025 by Dave Cooke 2 Comments
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. ~ Edith Wharton

The lessons, experiences, and outcomes associated with my son’s addiction has been a long, difficult journey. Sometimes it seems I cannot take another step, fight another battle, or endure another challenge. Then I realize if I quit, how I can I declare victory?

More importantly, if I give up and surrender, what happens to those who draw their inspiration, courage, strength from me?

Whether you realize it or not, there is always someone, somewhere looking to you for hope, love and instruction. You may not see them, you may not hear from them, you may not even know how important you are to them; but, they are out there.

We are all being challenged, tested, pushed, and strained in many different and unique ways. Even though going forward is difficult, finding peace in the chaos is nearly impossible, and sustaining the effort is almost too much, we must persevere and endure.

You don’t know who you are inspiring or teaching.

You don’t know how close you are to a break through.

You don’t know the lesson you are about to learn and share through this difficult time.

Quitting, stopping, surrendering ends the journey before the gift can be delivered and received.

After all you have been through, how can you give up before the gift in the journey is revealed you?

Whatever you are going through, trust there is a blessing in it, a lesson from it, and a gift that will change you forever.

Find the courage to move forward and sustain your momentum, as slow as it may seem some days.

Look for every opportunity to be encouraged, to learn, to listen, and to celebrate progress. They are out there!

Remember, you are the light. Whether you are here to learn, to teach, or to inspire, your journey has a purpose.

Stay with it in trust, hope and faith. Peace!

Filed Under: featured, Inspirational Perspectives, Uncategorized Tagged With: addiction, inspiration, parenting, perseverance

## We can all be advocates

February 19, 2025 by Dave Cooke Leave a Comment
http://traffic.libsyn.com/theaddictionconversation/Judge_Jodi_Debbrecht_Switalski.mp3

Today’s guest is a very special advocate for our children and loved ones. Judge Jodi Debbrecht Switalski, is a district court judge in Michigan. More importantly, she is clearly leading the way to help change the way addiction is treated in the courts, in our criminal justice system, and in society. She is a voice of education, awareness, and change.

As parents dealing with this adversity in our family, we can all be grateful for the presence of those who think forwardly and proactively. More importantly, we cannot stand by and have others fight our battles on our behalf. We must join in the fight for increased awareness, for improved education, and for the change that helps our children and loved ones in their battles with addiction.

Please listen to this podcast and learn more about the resources and programs that can help us in our battle. Nothing changes until we stand tall and fight for change. I promise, you will fight hope and courage in this conversation! Peace!

Links of interest:

National Association of Drug Court Professionals

The Stutman Group

Dying to be Free

Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act

Judge Jodi’s Bio

Filed Under: Addiction Conversation Podcast, featured, Uncategorized Tagged With: addiction, addiction conversation, drug abuse, Dying to be Free, Judge Jodi Debbrecht Switalski, National Association of Drug Court Professionals. The Stutman Group, opioid abuse, opioid addiction, parenting, recovery

## We can all be advocates

February 18, 2025 by Dave Cooke

Today’s guest is a very special advocate for our children and loved ones. Judge Jodi Debbrecht Switalski, is a district court judge in Michigan. More importantly, she is clearly leading the way to help change the way addiction is managed in the courts, in our criminal justice system, and in society. She is a voice of education, awareness, and change.

As parents dealing with this adversity in our family, we can all be grateful for the presence of those who think forwardly and proactively. More importantly, we cannot stand by and have others fight our battles on our behalf. We must join in the fight for increased awareness, for improved education, and for the change that helps our children and loved ones in their battles with addiction.

Please listen to this podcast and learn more about the resources and programs that can help us in our battle. Nothing changes until we stand tall and fight for change. I promise, you will find hope and courage in this conversation! Peace!

Links of interest:

National Association of Drug Court Professionals

The Stutman Group

Dying to be Free

Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act

Judge Jodi’s Bio

Check out this episode!

Filed Under: Addiction Conversation Podcast

## 14 years and counting

February 16, 2025 by Dave Cooke 4 Comments

Sitting at the table that particular night, a beer in my hand as the family went out for an early Valentine’s Day meal, I shared this was going to be my last drink. That was on February 13, 2001. Little did I know or realize the significance of that decision.

For my family, it was an exciting declaration, a relief. It was a commitment they hoped I would honor.

For me, it was simply a decision I made in response to a challenge from my therapist, who told me she would not treat me if I was “self-medicating,” whatever that meant.

Fourteen years later and successfully alcohol free and sober, I realize now how significant that commitment was to me, to my family, for my journey. I didn’t really think that going through a gallon bottle of Tanqueray every week, plus routinely enjoying happy hours with co-workers was a big deal. I knew I like to drink more than most, so what?

I didn’t know that sober dad was different than drinking dad. I knew I was unhappy with myself and my life, I didn’t even stop to think that drinking was interrupting or blocking my ability to happy. I didn’t know how much I could grow and learn about myself if I didn’t numb my emotions with alcohol.

Recently someone asked me,”Dave, when did you realize you had a drinking problem?” Funny, I didn’t think I had a drinking problem. I just stopped drinking because I of my quest to be a better man, a happier man, and I was willing to accept a professional opinion that drinking didn’t serve me on this quest.

I was fortunate. My recovery took a single, solitary statement that successfully became a fourteen year accomplishment. I know I may be the unique exception regarding any recovery story. Regardless of the simplicity in my decision and ability to quit, I recognize and understand how challenging it is to honor any commitment like this. Fortunately, I also have discovered the powerful gift that comes being able to.

Since my recovery was so uncomplicated, I had to learn a great deal more about addiction and recovery from others. I know how much I craved a cold beer after golf, or a nice glass of red wine with that juicy steak, or a extra, extra dry double martini after a hard day. I also know that if I gave in to that urge, my life would change for the worse. I knew I had no desire to go backwards. I had worked way too hard to go forward.

The difference between my recovery and that of others is that somehow somewhere, my addiction didn’t own me enough. I had a clear vision of what my life could and needed to be. I was determined that it was possible for me to live and celebrate that kind of life and be that kind of person. I was blessed with a therapist who connected with me and helped me learn a great deal about myself in a very short time. Finally, I was blessed with the gift of making incredible, rapid progress and was able to tangibly celebrate a transformation without being distracted by alcohol. I was lucky. I was determined. I trusted my “sponsor.”

Regardless of my story, I know one thing - recovery is not easy. Based on my experience, I thought it was. I was wrong. It was simple for me. I was lucky, I am an exception.

I appreciate the tremendous gift that comes with being alcohol or drug free. I also know it comes with a daily commitment to stay that way, to believe that life can be better without my “drug,” and to find a way to keep moving when things go bad - even if bad is perceived and not necessarily real. More importantly, it challenges a person to find something else to believe in, to drive toward, to trust in, while embracing a truth that there is nothing in that reliable crutch of our “medication” that will help us.

Change is not easy. If it was easy, more people would embrace it. For those with the courage, desire, and hunger to embrace change - magic happens. I am grateful for my entire journey and all the lessons. I am even more grateful for the opportunities to continue to grow from the experiences placed before me. Little did I know my alcohol free commitment, which began fourteen years ago, would be one of the first of many lessons to prepare me for where I am and what I live today.

Life is a gift, it provides us with many lessons, tremendous opportunities, and very unique challenges - embrace them, be grateful for them, and learn from them. You will be stronger and wiser as a result. Peace!

Filed Under: featured, Inspirational Perspectives, Learning From Experience, Lessons In Addiction, Uncategorized Tagged With: lessons in recovery, lessons in sobriety, recovery, sobriety

## Answering the Recovery Wake-Up Call

February 12, 2026 by Dave Cooke Leave a Comment
http://traffic.libsyn.com/theaddictionconversation/Jim_Humphreys_Episode_20.mp3

Everyone has that moment in their life when they realize something is wrong and change is required. Today’s guest had that moment, acknowledged his reality, made a commitment and changed his life. As we learn in today’s conversation, we don’t realize how serious our problem is until it shows up and gives us a free, unsolicited demonstration.

While many of our previous guests have been parents of those with addictions, today’s guest Jim Humphreys is a mature adult, a parent, a man with a successful professional career. He also is in recovery from his addiction to alcohol and drugs.

Those who take time to listen to this conversation will find inspiration in his journey, education in his perspectives, and wonderful nuggets of quotable, repeatable words of wisdom.

Listen how hope, servitude, and commitment have transformed a broken life into a man reborn, rejuvenated in recovery.

Links of Interest:

Jim on Twitter @CyRecovery

Jim’s Blog: Cycle to Recovery

Positive Addiction (book)

Filed Under: Addiction Conversation Podcast Tagged With: addiction, addiction conversation, Jim Humphreys, recovery

## Answering the Recovery Wake-Up Call

February 11, 2026 by Dave Cooke

Everyone has that moment in their life when they realize something is wrong and change is required. Today’s guest had that moment, acknowledged his reality, made a commitment and changed his life. As we learn in this conversation, we don’t realize how serious our problem is until it shows up and gives us an unsolicited demonstration.

While many of our previous guests have been parents of those with addictions, today’s guest Jim Humphreys is a mature adult, a parent, a man with a successful professional career. He also is in recovery from his addiction to alcohol and drugs.

Those who take time to listen to this conversation will find inspiration in his journey, education in his perspectives, and wonderful nuggets of quotable, repeatable words of wisdom.

Listen how hope, servitude, and commitment have transformed a broken life into a man reborn, rejuvenated in recovery.

Links of Interest:

Jim on Twitter: @CyRecovery

Jim’s Blog: Cycle to Recovery

Positive Addiction (book)

Check out this episode!

Filed Under: Addiction Conversation Podcast

## On Environment, Connectedness, and Addiction

February 9, 2026 by Dave Cooke 5 Comments

There was recently a flurry of commentary around two articles discussing the causes for addiction. The article that started this wildfire conversation was “The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think” by Johann Hari. Relying heavily on a 1980 “Rat Park” experiment focused on morphine addictions, Hari presented a premise that addiction is caused by a lack of positive “bonding,” much of which is the result of the addicted person not feeling connected in their environment.

The Hari article triggered quite a discourse among parents of addicted children who read “disconnected in their environment” as implicating parents and heaping much responsibility on them for their child’s addiction. As these comments were pretty intense and emotionally charged, I opted to wait, step back, and provide a more thoughtful response once the fire died down. Contained in this article are my thoughts.

Quite honestly, there was nothing in the Hari article or in his conclusions that left me with the sense that I am responsible for my son’s addiction. I completely agreed with his premise about addiction, environment and disconnectedness. (please, read on before you react).

It is incredibly accurate and insightful to say my son felt disconnected from his world. As a result he sought to find something to feel better. It was a feeling of not being connected that started him on the road to his addiction. The “environment” my son was living in did not fulfill him and he felt empty and detached. It was that lack which sent him on a journey to a darker place, not a better place.

The point that was clearly missed by those condemning or criticizing the Hari article - My son’s environment was what he was struggling with, not the environment his parents created for him. While those environments are shared and overlap, they are two entirely different things.

My son’s environment is his school, home, family, friends, work, and the space between his ears! It was this environment and his lack of connection to it that drove him to look for something else, something better. Unfortunately, he found it in heroin and not in his parent’s love, his music, his athleticism, his friends, his faith or, most importantly, in himself. This is what I understood “environment” to be as I absorbed the premises in the Hari article; not some criticism for how I raised, educated, or loved him.

To help make these distressed parents feel better, a rebuttal article surfaced. This article was, “Looking for the likely cause of addiction won’t get you far” by Peg O’Connor. It didn’t take long for O’Connor to distance herself from any endorsement of the Hari article in saying “addiction is a highly complex set of phenomena that cannot be reduced to one cause, which means there is not one solution or treatment.” She also wisely posits, “as is always the case with articles and arguments (including my own right here), there is something right about them. And something wrong. It is always important to identify each.”

This past weekend I heard Dr. Drew Pinsky talk. When the Hari article was brought up in the Q&A session, Dr. Drew reiterated the same point, “I read the article. I agree with it. Is it accurate, yes! But, there is more to it than just that…”

Parents, your child’s addiction is not about you or how you raised your child or where you went wrong. Their addiction is a byproduct of many things, one of which is their environment and their sense of connectedness to it. This is not the result of a moral or parental failing.

What concerned me as I read all these defensive, angry comments is so many parents missed out on an opportunity to obtain a valuable insight. I understand the guilt and anguish we all feel at some point as we come face-to-face with addiction our family. Over time we all come to learn, that our children’s choices are theirs, not ours, and no matter how much we love, coach, inspire, or encourage they are still going to make their own decisions. The behaviors I observed in these responses reflected parents who were more afraid about having been bad parents, than they were in taking advantage of a lesson in how to be better parents.

Your child’s addiction is not about you!

No matter how normal, happy, perfect, or great the situation in the home environment, there is still a lot of external garbage that our children experience. Talking with them, listening to them, and paying attention to the perspective of educators relating to things we may not see or understand on our own provide us opportunities to be more attentive and proactive. We must be willing to understand and be sensitive to their world view. We often see what we want to believe. Sometimes what we see isn’t true reality, rather it is our definition of reality. The Hari article reminded us that the environment our children see and operate in, has real influence on their behaviors.

We learn best when we are presented with a perspective that makes us uncomfortable and challenges our way of thinking provided we engage in the learning process! Instead of finding a way to escape, denounce, dismiss or avoid the learning opportunity, lean in, explore, and find ways to understand and reflect on the information being shared. When you do this, you will always learn something in the process.

Parenting a child with an addiction is a difficult painful assignment. Raising, teaching, and loving an adolescent in this day is quite challenging. There is a lot of great information out there that can be of great value in this journey. Keep your eyes, your ears, your heart, and your mind open. Your child’s addiction is not your fault and it is not about you. It is a byproduct of their choices and decisions. No one is to blame and no one has the clear cut definitive answer to the problem. If you are suffering, hurting or confused remember there is a very large community looking to love, support, encourage, and learn from each other. Embrace all of it with an open mind and a forgiving heart and you will make great progress on your journey! Peace!

Filed Under: Addiction, Lessons In Addiction, Make A Commitment, Parenting, Parenting & Addiction, Uncategorized Tagged With: addicted and parenting, addiction and environment, addiction and love, addiction causes, addiction lessons, Dr. Drew, Dr. Drew Pinsky, drug abuse, drug abuse and love, Johann Hari, learning from addiction, Peg O'Connor, the cause of addiction