100 Pedals

Real solutions for the parents of addicted children

## Its been four years…

April 13, 2025 by Dave Cooke 3 Comments

> My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. ~ Maya Angelou

Celebrating the one hundredth consecutive bike ride on April 10, 2025

It is hard to believe that it has been four years since I completed my first 100Day Challenge. On Sunday, April 10, 2011, I completed a 24 mile bike ride. It was my one hundredth consecutive day riding my bike for at least one hour. My son joined me on the last four miles of the ride. It was a significant accomplishment.

The final statistics over those one hundred days: 2,360 miles and 141 hours riding.

Reflecting on the journey now known as 100Pedals, I have come a long way in four years. Though the sting and the pain of addiction is part of my world, I am at peace with my journey. While my son still has not embraced the recovery a parent so passionately desires for their addicted child, his addiction does not have control over my life. Regardless of the choices he makes in his life, I have come through this adversity a changed man - a better dad, a better husband, a better person, and a born again believer.

I never thought I would be that dad - the one whose son would be battling a drug addiction, nonetheless a heroin addiction. I would never have predicted that I would make a full-time commitment to such an important cause as addiction in our society. And, I never would have believed it possible to reflect back on all the trials and tribulations of this very dark, painful journey and call it one of life’s greatest gifts.

It’s been four years since I “crossed the finish line” of the one hundred day challenge. My addiction journey is nearly six years old. I am young in this battle. I have only just begun the fight to bring about the changes we need to get this addiction crisis in our communities under control. The four fronts of my mission are better treatment, affordable access to treatment, better laws, and better conversations about addiction.

I am here to assist those who struggle with the “broken path” in their life’s journey. I am here to stand tall with anyone who desires to bring changes to the issue of addiction in our communities. Let me know where you need me and I will be there! Peace!

******

Are you trying to cope with your child’s addiction? Are you weary of riding the frustrating rollercoaster of this addiction? Dave Cooke has the solution to your dilemma, and he’s happy to share it with you. In fact, it’s become his mission in life.

Dave Cooke is the father of a son addicted to heroin. Like you, he suddenly found himself thrust into a state of confusion, heartache, and despair. And like all parents of addicts, he scrambled to find solid ground when addiction turned his world upside down.

In the process, he created a way to help parents find peace in the midst of chaos. An internationally recognized speaker, Dave’s presentations inspire with energy, commitment, and real solutions for troubled parents. “Thought-provoking” and “powerful” are just two of the descriptions his audiences often apply to his talks.

Learn more about Dave Cooke’s speaking programs

Filed Under: featured, Live With Passion, Parenting, Parenting & Addiction, Uncategorized Tagged With: change, chnage and parenting, drug abuse, drug addiction, drug addiction and recovery, parenting, parenting and drug addiction, parenting and recovery

## There is still hope on the broken road

April 9, 2025 by Dave Cooke Leave a Comment
http://traffic.libsyn.com/theaddictionconversation/Arlene_Rice.mp3

Today’s featured guest brings her powerful perspective to a very painful, personal story. On April 12, 2013, Arlene Rice lost her youngest son, Gabriel, to his addiction. Through her extended addiction journey, Arlene has lived, learned, and experienced a great deal. From the moment she held her son Gabriel in her arms for the last time, nearly two years ago, she embarked on a passionate journey of faith, advocacy and education.

On today’s conversation she shares very moving and comforting perspectives for parents who are dealing with the addiction of child and for parents who have lost a child to their addiction. Arlene reminds each of us there is incredible power and peace to be discovered and accessed in the resources around us.

Arlene’s message of faith, hope, love and restoration are quite compelling. She brings wisdom, drawn from reflections from the past and the knowledge of the present, to the addiction and parenting discussion. Those who take the time to listen to this podcast will be truly blessed for having done so.

Learn more about Arlene’s work through the Gabriel Project.

Filed Under: Addiction, featured, Giving Love, Inspirational Perspectives, Parenting, Parenting & Addiction, Uncategorized Tagged With: drug addiction, Gabriel Project, overdose and drug addiction, parenting and drug addiction, parenting and drug overdose

## The resourceful power of effective Communication in dealing with Addiction

February 5, 2026 by Dave Cooke 6 Comments
http://traffic.libsyn.com/theaddictionconversation/Denise_Mariano_Episode_19.mp3

Today’s guest, Denise Mariano, shares the story of her family’s journey with her son’s addiction. While the conversation covered a wide range of topics like recovery, parenting, stigma, treatment, and community, the theme of our conversation centered around the power of communication as a tool to inspire, educate, coach, and encourage.. Everyone battling with their addiction or struggling with the addiction of a loved one. While this fight may not yet be as successful as one would desire, the one certainty is that everyone involved is listening, learning, experiencing, and searching.

Listen to this podcast. The perspectives shared about how we communicate with ourselves, our loved ones, with others in similar situations is very, very powerful. Talking is healing, healing is listening, listening is understanding, and understanding is the gift you cannot live without or withhold from others. Please take time to listen to this conversation and be prepared share the gift of better communication.

Links of interest:

Denise Mariano (Twitter)

Denise Mariano (Facebook)

CRAFT (about)

SMART Recovery (website)

Partnership for Drug Free Kids (website)

Partnership for Drug Free Kids (coaching helpline)

Filed Under: Addiction Tagged With: addiction conversation, addiction podcast, parenting, parenting and addiction, parenting and communication, parenting and drug addiction, parenting and recovery

## Love and Disappointment

February 2, 2026 by Dave Cooke Leave a Comment

“Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.” ~ Yehuda Berg

Over the course of your addiction journey, you will have, or have had, many difficult and challenging conversations with your children. Whether it is in the heat of battle or in a tranquil time, the words you choose and the tone you use linger in ways you may not realize.

Several months ago, I gave a talk at a single mom’s recovery center. I took advantage of a question from the audience to share my perspective regarding two words that have more power than any other. At the end of my reflection, I was taken by their response and overwhelming affirmation to what I shared. I share this information with you today in the hopes that you will be mindful of what you say means a lot, even when our loved ones don’t seem to care or listen. They do and they are.

LOVE. Love is the most powerful word in any language. When you share with someone the gift of your unconditional love, you are committing that no matter what they’ve done, who they’ve become, or how they are living - you LOVE them. Love cannot be conditional. If we truly love someone, we cannot withhold it. Love is selfless, generous, kind, patient, understanding, eternal, and, most of all, it is unconditional.

> I remember listening to the story of a woman, a good friend, who was in the middle of the worst aspects of her crystal meth addiction. Somehow her mom searched her out and found her in this wasteland of a hotel room. All her mom desired was to see her daughter. As she tells this story of this meeting with her mom, the only part she truly remembers is her mom saying to her, “I want you to know, I love you. I don’t love this (looking a the visual mess of her life) but I love you!” She was blown away. Despite all she had done, where she was, and what she was doing her mom simply looked at her and said, “I love you!” That was the day this woman began her road to recovery. She was moved by that powerful exchange, knowing her mom loved her no matter what!

DISAPPOINTMENT. If you are ever looking for a word to take out of your vocabulary, disappointment is the one, especially if your authentic power word is LOVE. Nobody ever wants to disappoint someone we love or who loves us. Telling a loved one they have disappointed them is more hurtful than a knife to the heart. A person battling an addiction is already struggling with an internal sense of failing, emptiness, guilt and loss. They do not enjoy being addicted, they constantly battle with their addiction, and it is difficult to find hope in the middle of their chaos. The last thing they need to hear from anyone is a hurtful reminder of how much they have failed those they love.

> When I shared my philosophy on the adverse power of disappointment with the single mom’s recovery center, I had two women react immediately. One of them shared, “I know. I remember the day my dad said he was disappointed in me. It is fresh in my mind, as though it was yesterday. It hurt me more than anything.”

Addiction is frustrating. The choices, decisions, and outcomes destroy lives and dreams. Your child or loved one knows the loss they and you are already feeling. They do not need a reminder from you how disappointed you are in what they have done to their life or are doing to yours. If you are disappointed in their situation relative to your expectations for them it is best to keeps those thoughts to yourself.

I have been on my journey with my son’s addiction for nearly six years. While this may be short by many standards and long by others, I have appreciated the opportunity to learn. I would never have signed up for this educational journey; but, I am on it nonetheless.

I have been blessed with many lessons and continue to receive education, encouragement, and insights from this community of parents on their addiction journey. The one thing I have learned more than anything else is the only gift I can truly give my son at this point in his journey is the gift of unconditional love and unrelenting hope. As long as we are both alive, that will be my commitment to him. It is his addiction, his life, his choice, and his path. I am committed to never be disappointed in him. He has enough of a load on his shoulders fighting his battle, he doesn’t need to be carrying the weight of my expectations or my approval. Please keep this in mind next time you get into the word game with your addicted loved one. What you say makes a huge difference even if you don’t know it. Peace!

Filed Under: Giving Love, Parenting, Parenting & Addiction, Uncategorized Tagged With: addiction, drug abuse, drug addiction, parenting, parenting and drug addiction, parenting and love, parenting and recovery, recovery, unconditional love

## Parents, what you say matters more than you realize

November 13, 2025 by Dave Cooke Leave a Comment

Are you in a battle to communicate effectively with your addicted child?

Are you struggling to understand their choices and responses despite your best efforts?

Are you frustrated to find the words to offer encouragement and support in moments of conflict and pain?

You are not alone. Every parent faces a difficult, challenging learning curve when dealing with a child’s addiction.

The information in this podcast can and will help you…

Listen to this episode…

Subscribe via I-Tunes…

Every parent feels a sense of responsibility for their child’s addiction.

Every one eventually comes to understand that guilt is part of the process; but, we are not to blame for the choices our children make.

A child’s recovery from their addiction is a parent’s highest priority.

Just as we are not responsible for the choices that brought our child to their addictive situation, we are not responsible for their decisions in recovery.

How we communicate and interact with them can have a significant influence on how they manage their recovery.

Today’s guest, Jill D. Cox, is a professional counselor specializing in treatment therapy. I connected with her through several professional groups on LinkedIn.

I found her writings and comments particularly insightful and accurate.

She has a great perspective for parents and a calming, steady approach in a very chaotic emotional environment.

Listen to this episode…

Subscribe via I-Tunes…

> 100Pedals has just released a FREE audio program for parents. “Addiction and the Family: Four Guidelines to Embrace” is an audio program that provides parents perspective for dealing with addiction in the family. To obtain your digital download click here.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: addiction conversation, parenting and addiction, parenting and communication, parenting and drug addiction, parenting and love, parenting and recovery, podcast addiction conversation