BIKING THE ATLANTICexploring inspiring revisiting RECOVERY

WINTER 2013-14

• One man – and his specially designed pedal boat

• A journey across the Atlantic to the edge of the humanly possible

• An exploration of the inner strength of man – how the body af-fects the mind, and the mind affects the individual

• A journey into the mind – to shift people’s prejudices and to ex-pand our perception of mental control

• A 3000 miles passage of the Atlantic – driven only by leg power and sheer will

• A two month struggle against isolation, storms and burning sun

• An adventure to inspire faith in yourself

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface 2

Introduction - a modern adventure 3

About Mads Fabricius 4

Background for Biking the Atlantic 6

The expedition 8

WiTHiN 10

Safety measures 11

For the benefit of psychiatry 12

Research 13

Documentary 14

We support Mads 14

Become a partner 16

Our suggestions for PR 17

BIKING THE ATLANTICexploring inspiring revisiting RECOVERY

WINTER 2013-14

Introduction - a modern adventure

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Biking the Atlantic is an extreme sport adventure driven by one clear message: nobody can or should be reduced to a diagnosis. We are never an mental illness, we are ourselves.

Biking the Atlantic is therefore a journey and a story which aims to inspire the individual person to pursue their own idea of a meaningful life – whether or not they have mental vulnerabilities.

The main character is Mads Fabricius, a young man with a unique past, who dared to face passivity and the stigmatization as helpless. Today, after living through his own recovery process, he yearns to pass on the hope that drove him to never give up on himself.

Biking the Atlantic is also a personal tale – the tale of a former schizophrenia patient, who defies the public conception of the treatment of mental illness and the prejudices that comes with the diagnosis.

The story’s setting is one of the world’s most fascinating and beautiful territories as well as one of the roughest. Biking the Atlantic will take Mads 3000 miles across the Atlantic, from La Gomera, Gran Canary, to Antigua in the Caribbean Sea. All alone and only powered by pedals. For two months the specially designed pedal boat WiTHiN will be his home and only protection against storms, sharks and burning sun.

The expedition will be a remarkable sports adventure, which the world will have ample opportunity to follow closely through social media, blogs and radio – and experience afterwards in the documentary.

And finally, Biking the Atlantic is a psychological experiment, as the journey gives ample opportunity to collecting data and thus help to shed light on how human beings think, act and manage their mental resources in extreme environments.

Preface by Mads Fabricius - Initiator of Biking the Atlantic

“As a child I dreamt of becoming an explorer. I wanted to explore the world. But when I started school, I was told that “the entire world was already discovered.” Every country had been mapped, every border crossed. Over the years a huge disappointment sent my dream into oblivion. But little did I know that my burning desire for knowledge, my yearning to explore, would one day become crucial in my life.

At sixteen I became affected with schizophrenia. It felt like everything came to a stop, and for several years I was isolated in a diffuse and unreal world. I was trapped in thoughts so remote from the world that under-standing seemed impossible to regain.

So I went in quest of knowledge of myself and my illness. And here, sport became central, because doing that I learned to control my thoughts. Sport took me far and wide, and I covered thousands of miles on the road. And I was cured.

But the journey did not end there. I had beaten schizophrenia, but I con-tinued my treatment, so to speak – I continued to challenge myself, to search for greater knowledge of my body and mind. For sport was not just treatment to me, it was personal growth. And it continues to be so today as the focal point of everything I do.

The whole world might have been discovered and mapped, but we barely glimpse the contours of the mind’s expanses, despite all our research and reflection. We have so much left to learn about ourselves, our limitations, our potential, our strengths. That is why the mind is the destination of my future exploration, and that is why Biking the Atlantic is the project that will realize my childhood dream of becoming an explorer.”

Mads Fabricius

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About Mads FabriciusMads Fabricius made a lightning fast career for himself in extreme sports. He had his debut in the world of sports at the 2008 Hawaii Ironman, the Ironman world championships, and in the following years participated in competitions all over the world before deciding to focus on ultra cycling in 2010.

In his first 24 hour bicycle race, he drove 663 km, and in the same year set his first record for the fastest crossing of Denmark on a bike. That gave him enough points to secure the title of winner of the European Cup, thereby making him the European champion of ultra cycling already in his first season.

He is the most experienced Dane in the world’s most extreme bicycle race, Race Across America, where he has participated as crew several times. He is the youngest person ever to complete Ultraman Canada, a three day triathlon competition in the Rocky Mountains.

The journey across the Atlantic will be Mads’ longest, hardest and most spec-tacular struggle with the pedals so far.

”The thought of the ultimate human achievement fascinates me. Not least the mental achievement. As boundaries are pushed back, you unconsciously set a new goal, and that is why I am always looking for a new challenge. Crossing the Atlantic does not make sense to me as a goal in itself. The struggle with the waves, just as the struggle on the tarmac, is an opportunity for personal development. The outer circumstances are just tools – great results come from within.”

Mads Fabricius

Highlights from Mads’ career

• Debut at the 2008 Hawaii Ironman, the Ironman World Championships

• Ironman Florida 2008• Ironman 70.3 World Championships 2009, Half Ironman

world championships• Xterra World Championships 2010, off-road triathlon

world championships• Ultraman Canada 2010, qualified for Ultraman World

Championships, Hawaii• Double Danish record for fastest crossing of Denmark on

a bike, certified by Ultra Marathon Cycling Association USA

• Winner of the 2010 Ultra Cycling European Cup

The background for Biking the AtlanticLecturesMads Fabricius is a popular public speaker, who with his story gives inspi-ration and hope to thousands of young people with mental illnesses, their relatives and mental health professionals. Giving 40-50 lectures a year, Mads gets around all over Denmark – and abroad, for the story of Mads’ recovery has reached other countries as well.

Among others, Mads has spoken at The Danish Mental Health Foundation, Mental Health Centre St. Hans Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital, Aarhus University, the University of Southern Denmark, Haukeland Univer-sity Hospital in Norway, as well as at a large number of local departments of both The Danish Association for Mental Health and the Better Psychiatry Association, many institutions for the mentally ill and countless seminars and conferences.

The conditions and rights of the mentally ill are Mads’ life blood. He has turned it into his key issue to stamp out the myths about the mind and the ta-boos surrounding mental illness. Among others, he has worked with PsykInfo information and counseling centre, The Social Network, and has been active in the EN AF OS (One of Us) campaign against stigmatization as well as set sail on his own campaign, The Right to Recover. He has also started a cycle group for mentally vulnerable people in cooperation with the City of Odense, Denmark, and is involved in several resource groups and steering committees across the country.

Along with his lectures, Mads has also told his story on Aftenshowet (The Evening Show) on Danish public television, the TV2 News, local news TV2 Funen, radio stations Radio 24/7 and P4 Funen, and in a wide array of written media. He works for several online information portals, for instance www.ungmedskizofreni.dk for young people with schizophrenia.

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Mads’ personal motivation for Biking the Atlantic has indeed an unusual background.

In 2002, when he was sixteen, Mads was suddenly struck with severe schizo-phrenia. The serious mental illness meant an everyday life of psychoses, ob-sessions, excessive thoughts and anxiety. He was hospitalized twice and was offered a lifelong disability pension already at 18. His life virtually stopped, all happiness was lost, education and friendships fell apart, and for the next five years, Mads lived a life of isolation.

In 2007, after years of futile treatment, Mads dared venture outside to try exercise. Very quickly, he discovered something new – a sense of well-being, greater strength and control over his thoughts – and this drove him so force-fully that just ten weeks later he run his first marathon.

From hereon, sport became a full-time job as he went for runs of up to 45 miles, and only a year later, he competed at the Ironman World Champion-ship on Hawaii and the Ironman Florida just three weeks apart. This was followed by a long line of ultra-sport events, and Mads kept getting better and better. In 2010, his medical journal reads ”complete remission” - he was declared free of his illness, and medication was history.

Mads discovered that the mental work demanded of him in his sport, helped him tame his thoughts and take control over his illness and thereby his life. He discovered that he was not his diagnosis – he was himself. ”Living life and shaping yourself as a person, is a

continuous process that must never end. You must keep pushing yourself to the limit, learn, experi-ence, and develop.”

Mads Fabricius

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Mads’ recovery

Mads in the media

The expeditionMads Fabricius will be crossing the Atlantic along the traditional trade route from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean Sea

The expedition goes from the harbor of San Sebastián de La Gomera to Antigua in the Caribbe-an Sea, and spans approx. 2.600 nautical miles or 4.800 km. This is a classic route in boat racing and is used by many sailing and rowing boats every year.

He will depart in the beginning of December 2014 or as soon as possible afterwards, depend-ing on weather conditions. Mads expects to cross the finish line around February 1st 2015.

Mads has established partnerships with a lot of experienced sailors and uses the experiences gathered from previous rowing expeditions across the Atlantic, making the trip as safe as pos-sible.

• More people have been in space, stood on the South Pole or climbed Mount Everest than those who have crossed the Atlantic sailing solo under their own power.

• The expedition length of about 2.600 nautical miles beats the Tour de France by 1.000 miles.

• During the race, Mads risks waves of up to 70 ft in height. The storms might reach strength of 90 mph.

• The physical labor necessary in the race demands that Mads eats 10.000 calories – equalizing app. 41 Mars Bars – every single day.

• The high temperatures and humidity on the Atlantic Ocean will turn the boat into an ex-ercise bike in a sauna. Mads therefore has to drink 3 gal. of fluid a day in order not to dehydrate.

• Once a week, Mads has to jump into the ocean to clean the bottom of the boat.

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WiTHiNWiTHiN is the world’s most advanced pedal boat – a specially designed pedal powered craft of 30 feet in length, carefully designed for the open ocean. She is built in strong carbon fiber materials, sleek and fast, closed like a rescue pod and constructed to right herself in case of capsizing. She is equipped with the newest technology in safety, navigation and communication.

Propulsion

• Propelled only by pedal power• The pedals power a two-bladed propeller with a gear

ratio of 4:1• Speed: 3.0 knots at 80 rpm and 100-130 watt

Construction

• Cockpit with seat, pedals and navigational instruments• Separate compartments for food, water, tools and spare

parts• Techniques compartment with batteries and electronics• Sleeping cabin

Safety

• VHF ship’s radio• Satellite phone• AIS (automatic identification system)• EPIRB- emergency transmitter• Satellite tracking system • Self-inflatable life raft

Navigation

• Autopilot• Navigation lights• Chart plotter• Onboard PC with internet access

Supplies

• Desalination device for drinking water• Provisions for up to 100 days• Specially designed solar panels• 2 units 80 amp. batteries

Design

• WiTHiN is designed by Naval architect Stuart Bloomfield & Engineer Rick Willoughby

SafetyMads Fabricius’ closed, self-righting boat offers maximum protection against the elements compared to the other contestants’ open, regular rowing boats. However he has no illusions about Atlantic Challenge being risk free. Safety is therefore of prime concern in the preparation, and WiTHiN has not only all the relevant technology, rescue equipment and navigational instruments. She will also be modified into a so-called trimaran, which with its outriggers made of foam will be almost unsinkable. Even if the hull is pierced, she will still stay afloat.

WiTHiN will be modified according to CAD-calculations, computer simulations and capsizing tests in col-laboration with naval architects and engineers – and the boat will have its final approval from the Spanish port authorities as well as the Atlantic Campaigns independent safetyinspector, so every detail is perfectly checked.

Mads has also teamed up with Marstal Navigational School, which makes their expertise and technical know-how available, and he will complete four advanced maritime courses, including courses in naviga-tion and safety.

In this connection, it is also important to emphasize that while Mads might be alone aboard he is not alone on the ocean. The ship traffic is at its highest in the winter season. All necessary insurance has been taken out for both Mads and WiTHiN, including rescue insurance.

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A journey across the Atlantic involves a large number of features comparable to living with a schizophrenia illness.

The keywords for the expedition are isolation, monotony and insurmount-able circumstances – the exact same challenges you face in the struggle with a mental illness. This is why the project offers a unique opportunity for us to learn more about which processes and techniques a person has to muster to handle an inopportune environment.

Exercise became Mads’ rescue out of schizophrenia, and that is why physical activity is a key part of the project. The research part of the project will un-cover the effect of exercise on the ability to maintain mental control. By tam-ing mental control and integrating the results into psychiatric care through research, a crucial difference can be made for psychiatric patients.

Biking The Atlantic also has as its purpose to motivate people with mental vulnerabilities to exercise more, and inspire them to get started on living a limitless, meaningful life by themselves. Through this project, Mads wants to start a movement that can open up and bring focus on how far one can go through strength of will and passion and not to let oneself be beaten.

At the same time, Biking The Atlantic offers a unique opportunity to show that mental vulnerability need not to be a limitation, and that people with a diagnosis should not be pigeonholed because of their illness, but should be thought of in terms of their personality, accomplishments and passions – just like everyone else.

For the benefit of psychiatry

”To understand and overcome a problem you need to confront it. It’s no use trying to run away. You have to attack, to face it – only that way can you attain the insight to move on.”

Mads Fabricius

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Research

The Centre for Adapted Physical Activity Participation Studies, APAPS, at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense will be carrying out the sci-entific work in cooperation with Biking The Atlantic.

Research is a central part of the project, and has as its purpose to shed light on the influence the outside environment will have on Mads and to uncover the psychological processes he has to employ to be able to handle the situation – before, during and after the journey itself.

Particular emphasis will be put on the subjective angle of the project, and, employing a phenomenological approach, a scientific publication will be

produced. This will examine the previous development Mads has undergone to get to the point where Biking The Atlantic can become reality, and not least how the expedition will affect his further existential development.

The research aims to clarify the importance of self-realisation and outer circumstances to an individual with a mental illness, and how this affects existential perception. It can demonstrate the problems created by stigma-tization and substantiate the importance of an unlimited faith in continuous mental development as essential to increasing the chance of recovery.

”Mads Fabricius appears as a unique example of recovery through the body, and we have agreed a partnership with emphasis on the course of his illness and his (self) healing through participation in sports and physical activities.”

Ejgil Jespersen, centre leader and associate professor, MSc in psychology, Centre for Adapted Physical Activity Participation Studies,

Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics (ISSCB)University of Southern Denmark

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DocumentaryEver since the idea emerged, Biking The Atlantic has been filmed by the award winning documentary maker Jeppe Gaardboe, who will follow the project to the end. The film will closely follow the process behind the project, including the challenges Mads faces in getting the project underway, the many things he needs to consider, and of course the journey across the Atlantic itself.

Since Biking The Atlantic is about completing the 3000 miles voy-age across the Atlantic in isolation, the camera crew will of course not participate in that part of the long journey. When Jeppe Gaardboe waves goodbye to Mads off the Canary Islands, Mads will continue filming on his own using the several surveillance cameras installed in the boat. A significant part of the documentation will consist of Mads’video log about everything he experiences along the way, phys-ically as well as mental-ly. In addition, he will be interviewed during the voyage through radio and telephone. The film will be edited continual-ly, so it can be released shortly after Mads arrive in Antigua. It will be 60-90 minutes long, and will be shown on Danish television and also be prepared for showing at conferences in and out-side Denmark.

Jeppe Gaardboe is a journalist at DR, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation and has for a number of years worked as a reporter, scheduler and documentary maker.

We support Mads

“I heartily recommend Mads Fabricius’ Atlantic voyage. Partly for his aim with the journey – to create a story which can help motivate and inspire mentally vulnerable people to a more committed and event-ful life – partly because the project is unique and exciting, and there is no doubt that it will cause wide-spread interest and help enrich the psychiatric debate.

I met Mads through my work for the rights of people with mental vulnerabilities, and I know that he is tireless in his fight for the re-covery movement. With his personal story, he is in a unique position to strengthen the faith that it is possible to get back on track in your life. The Social Network is looking forward to follow Mads’ expedition across the Atlantic.”

Poul Nyrup RasmussenFormer Prime Minister

of Denmarkand president of

The Social Network

“With this project, Mads Fabricius dives into his own recovery process and offers us a rare insight into the recovery process, improvement per-spectives and possibilities of the individual, as well as opportunity to gather valuable knowledge about them. This knowledge will benefit others with mental illnesses, and help point us towards new strategies in treatments. Therefore, the nation-wide campaign EN AF OS (One Of Us) offers its full support and endorsement to Mads Fabricius and Proj-ect Biking The Atlantic. We are looking forward to following the proj-ect, and to collaborating with its partners on communicating the results of Mads Fabricius’ study in recovery.”

Johanne BratboPsychologist and project leader

EN AF OS de-stigmatisation campaign

“Mads is a good example of the fact that a psychiatric diagnosis does not in future define who you are and what kind of life you might live. Mads’ spectacular story breaks down prejudices and gives hope to peo-ple with a mental illness. It is a story about great vulnerability, but most of all, it is a story about personal strength and resilience which can in-spire many people. That is why the Danish Mental Health Foundation is a collaborator on the project.”

Vibe Klarup VoetmannCEO, The Danish Mental Health Foundation

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“Mads is not just inspirational and a role model to all of us. He has a rare approach to everything that he does – an authenticity which means that he is always listened to, and should be listened to. An engagement and belief in that justice must be done, and this is also reflected to a large degree in his struggle to have his diagnosis officially removed.”

Else Amdi KirkHead of PIO

Psychiatric Info Odense

Become a partnerA unique information project. A spectacular sports adventure. An inspiring personal story. Mads Fabricius’ journey across the Atlantic has it all in one good story – and as a partner, you will be a central part of it.

Biking The Atlantic provides your business with many opportunities for media exposure.

As a partner, you will take part in telling the story. We will do our best to make it possible to integrate the project into your branding strategies, for instance with custom-made media kits, photo opportunities with WiTHiN or co-ordinating your presence in social media with Mads Fabricius’ online communication during the voyage. Or something else – we are happy to listen to your wishes and ideas.

We are not merely looking for one large business partner for Biking The Atlantic. There is ample opportunity for cooperation at all levels, and even the small-est sponsors are offered advantageous quid pro quo adapted to your individual needs.

A selection of opportunities offered to our partners

• Renaming the boat as you desire• A prominent logo on the boat• Your logo on all promotional clothing• Free use of all published photos and videos for use in your marketing• Your own partner page on BikingTheAtlantic.com• A prominent logo in the front page menu, on every page footer, and your

logo with text on the website’s sponsor page • Your logo on the site’s downloadable promotional material and press kit• Text and logo on the boat during every exhibition, including exhibition at

the Marstal Maritime Museum• Photo opportunities, including imaginative appearances with the boat • Exhibition of the boat after the expedition at a location of your wish • Free use of the exclusive promotion video featuring clips from the docu-

mentary by Jeppe Gaardboe• Publicity in connection with the project’s press coverage, including TV

interviews (depending on purpose and circumstances)• Free use of Mads Fabricius’ story, quotes and utterances for press state-

ments

• An exclusive presentation to your company’s employees about the project and its background in psychiatry, the many preparations and the struggle at sea

• And of course a heartfelt invitation to the celebration on Antigua!

Our suggestions for PR

Media coverage generated during the 2011 TALISKER Whisky Atlantic Challenge which is a simmilar event:

• The race and its 17 contestants generated 726 individual reports in 27 countries, which meant around 1 billion opportunities to see through TV, radio, in printed media and on Internet news sites.

• Sports news in particular were keen to cover the race, including BBC News, ITV News, and Sky Sport; Eurosport broadcasted a 30 minute special during prime time.

• The race generated more than 37 million website hits from 350.000 visitors from more than 100 coun-tries.

• Over 4.000 “Likes” on the race page on Facebook, which reached more than 12 million people.

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ExhibitionIt is possible to display WiTHiN at different arrangements. She will be displayed in Denmark at the Skanderborg Music Festival, where the 50.000 visitors will admire her, and she will also be presented at various boat shows all over Europe. It is possible to ship her to foreign countries where she can feature in every kind of events.

Christmas on the AtlanticWhat to give the man who is all alone in a boat the size of a phone booth in the middle of the Atlan-tic Ocean? We will ask Mads Fabricius’ Facebook followers that question in October, and Mads will find out the best, funniest or most considerate answer when he opens his present on Christmas Day.

Media coverage at seaDuring the entire expedition, the project will be aggressively pitched to international news stations, newspapers, and speciality magazines, which through radio will have ample opportunity to make interviews with Mads. In cooperation with Jeppe Gaardboe, the media will also be provided with sound, images and film for features on everything in Mads’ preparations, his training and his cooperation with you.

Facebook, Twitter and blog at BikingTheAtlantic.comBiking The Atlantic is two months of extreme, emotional, scenic, larger-than-life events – and images and videos are at the forefront of viral communication. Mads is very aware of this, and during the entire journey, he will be filming and telling us about his everyday victories and challenges in social media.

Blog at en-af-os.dkDuring the expedition Mads will also be blogging at en-af-os.dk, which is the website of the Danish national campaign against stigma and prejudice in psychiatry. He will write about his experienc-es at sea and thoughts about loneliness, isolation and the taming of the mind.

ResearchMads Fabricius’ Atlantic crossing will reach a wide audience – also in research journals. All data, tests and video diaries will be passed on to the University of Southern Denmark to benefit researchers, instructors and students of physical education and psychiatry.

HUMAN ENDURANCE

BIKING THE ATLANTICexploring inspiring revisiting RECOVERY

WINTER 2013-14

Contact information

Simon Boas JensenProject ManagerMail: sbj@humanendurance.dkTelephone: (+45) 60 15 03 20

Mads FabriciusInitiatorMail: mf@humanendurance.dkTelephone: (+45) 24 61 38 31

www.bikingtheatlantic.com

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