BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — It's almost 6 a.m. at Beach Park but Frankie Torres has been awake since 2 a.m. Why? It's part of his mission to ride 100 miles every day in July. He’s not just crazy, he’s doing this to prove a point not just to himself, but to others.
“First year I failed. First year I wasn’t able to do it consistently.”
Torres said he wanted to challenge himself to see how much he could ride in a month but wasn’t able to achieve what he hoped. That didn’t deter him from trying again.
"The next following year was like 'Okay, what can I do here? Can I do 100?' I know I failed. I can come back. I know I can come back. Let's come back bigger."
And come back he did. Last year he rode a century on his bike every single day in the month of July.
"I got COVID day 13. I got COVID and that was rough. I almost wanted to quit. I didn’t. I didn't quit. I kept on pushing through."
Torres is no stranger to comebacks. He says he struggled with addiction to both drugs and alcohol in the past.
"Since I stopped doing drugs and alcohol I tend to get a new addiction. And so what I did is I knew that I sacrificed a lot to do drugs and alcohol, why can’t I do it with cycling?"
Torres said when he first started cycling, he was given encouragement by a local bike owner named Fernando Gonzales.
"He handed me this bike and he told me in three months from now, everybody is going to know who you are."
Soon, the cyclists around him crowned him a new title: Fast Frankie.
Now, he wants to give others encouragement and inspiration to achieve their goals. Waving hi to those on the bike trails, encouraging some, and even striking up a conversation with a man while biking who said he cycles because he suffered an injury to his leg while he was in the Army. Torres ended the conversation by saying they should ride sometime.
"I think that people will think Frank is crazy but if you get to know Frank you know that his mentality is such that he will just knock it out," said Tim West. "Once he puts his mind to it he is just determined to get it done. So it's just really cool to watch him accomplish that and finish it and be part of that every day."
Torres also goes on lunch rides with his coworkers who he introduced to cycling. Friends and strangers both join him on sections of his daily ride.
"He's a person who inspires others, uplifts others. He's a person of community and at heart, he’s a mentor. What he does in this community to help other people like I helped him get into cycling and believe in himself to accomplish things. He does that to people now," said one friend.
Torres said he’s booked up for the rest of July, and that he couldn’t do what he does without the support of his wife.
"I have a real strong wife that is really supportive in my riding and if it wasn’t for her to keep pushing me, I wouldn't be here today."
If you want to follow along with Frankie's journey you can search "Fast Frankie on Strava.
