Phiravit "Win" Phataraprasit, a sleek and laid-back looking 17 year old, isn't your average high school student. He left the City of Angels three years ago to board the prestigious St Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire _ and while many other students were geeking out on social media and video games, Win took up a charitable cause that took him 48 days and more than 5,600km. Now back in Bangkok on holiday after graduating, Win speaks to Brunch about his cycling trip for Ride2Recovery, a US-based charity dedicated to recovering war veterans, "making a difference in the lives of healing heroes", according to its mission statement. He has honourable achievements to boast about _ Win and his seven high school friends crossed the finish line of their student-run fundraising cycling trip for Ride2Recovery just two weeks ago.
"It was the best summer of my life," Win says of the race. "We would be on our bikes for eight hours and we would just talk, sing songs, play games and listen to the three hundred songs that were shuffling through the speakers attached to my bike."
Win moved to Concord after he completed middle school at the International School of Bangkok. He heard of the charity challenge just a few months in at his new school.
"I heard about it from the prefect of my dorm. The stories he told me, the way he explained the experience and the way he described it was just very interesting," Win says.
St Paul's, in cooperation with Ride2Recovery, began organising the races from New Hampshire to Oregon every two years to raise funds for improving the lives of American veterans' mental and physical health.
After an accident, however, the school stopped funding the charity bike races _ but zeal for the challenge prevailed and the Ride2Recovery race became a student-funded event instead.
"Whoever wants to go, can go. There is no application to fill out. There are usually two students that make an announcement and if you want to go you can talk to them," Win says.
Although the ride may be free, it's still a challenge _ and not for everyone, Win adds. Fitness and physical preparation are vital. While the pressures of studying for final exams and practicing for other team sports mount on students, they still have to "ride a lot a month or two before".
"Most of us were doing other sports. The distance you ride in the challenge is really hard to prepare for unless you really commit to it. It's go hard or go home."
In a strange twist _ and in spite of their success _ most of the race's participants weren't prepared.
"Only one kid actually trained and prepared properly," Win admits. And for that "kid", Charlie, it paid off _ he led the pack at the finish line.
Win, whose lack of training was no fault of his own, pulled through remarkable circumstances to make it to the race. Having been in a plaster cast for a month after a gruelling sports injury, he had it removed just days before the start of the race.
"I didn't think I was going to make it ... my muscles were out of shape and I was cramping everywhere. On the first day, the founder of Ride2Recovery, John Wordin, came to ride with us. He helped push me up the hill because I couldn't do it," Win says.
"The second day was even worse because I was really sore, and every stroke was painful."
Despite Win's difficult start, he never thought of giving up _ nor did the others who hadn't properly trained. They all carried on with the mantra: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger."
Win, who honed in on his willpower and let go of physical pain through the race, tells Brunch: "I knew that after I got through the first day, I could do the rest. It doesn't matter how slow you go, you know you'll get there.
"I kept thinking about all the support I had from my friends and family. And I saw all of my friends biking _ if they can do it, so can I."
Win adds that support from his parents, who went to the US during the last leg of the race, fuelled his determination to finish.
"My parents came to the support vehicle during the last week ... they flew all the way from Bangkok and they wanted to see me on the finish line," he says. "Each kid is usually spoilt by their own parents when they are on duty in the support vehicle.
TRAIL’S END: Win, fourth from left, with other cyclists at the finish line of the 5,600km cross-country ride.
"It's nice to sleep in your parents' room for the last week, instead of having four or five crammed into one motel room."
Win shows a sweet smile when recalling his fellow cyclists. Despite some near-nervous breakdowns _ Win remembers some girl students talking to cows alongside the road and falling into a grumpy slump _ the team ended up having the time of their lives, joking from beginning to end on the road.
"Along the way, I learned a bunch of things from different people. Cycling has definitely changed who I am," Win proudly says.
Win says he is inspired by Ride2Recovery's founder Wordin, who cycled with recovering war veterans. He is especially struck by the story of a solder who served in Iraq and who overcame crippling post-traumatic stress disorder through cycling.
"It has changed his life," Win says.
For now, Win is not sure whether he wants to stay in Thailand or return to the US for his studies. But unlike many other returnees, Win hasn't just come back with an impeccable American accent _ but with a valuable lesson in perseverance and success.
