Man bikes thousands of miles with message, 'Veterans are a national treasure'

In 2012, Bob Votruba took his longest ride - a 4,000-mile trek from California to New York.

His mission was inspired by the Virginia Tech tragedy in 2007. Vortruba said that while watching horror unfold on his TV, he realized something was missing in the world. He wanted to show people, especially children, that people still have goodness in them.

Votruba is pedaling with a passion, paving his own road of kindness. This time, he's biking 1,600 miles around the state of Florida, stopping in 35 cities in 27 days.

"I'm a one-man show, if you will," Votruba told Action News Jax. "Trying to raise awareness about kindness."

The 60-year-old has been biking around the country for almost 8 1/2 years. The mission of each trip is different. The focus of his Florida trip is to raise awareness for those who served America.

“Trying to help as many veterans as we possibly can,” Votruba said.

On Thursday, Votruba spent time volunteering at the Clara White Mission, an organization dedicated to serving the needs of individuals, including veterans, in the Jacksonville, Florida community.

Votruba traded his home, car and most of his possessions for a bike and the "kindness bus," where he sleeps.

The bus is filled with hundreds of messages of kindness in 52 languages written by people he’s met across the country.

“The kindness bus tour is dedicated to all the children of the world. May they only know love,” Votruba said.

The bus follows him on the long bike rides he's been taking for the past eight years and he said he's nowhere close to chaining up his bike.

“We all, I think, in our lives can take a little bit of our day and help one another,” Votruba said.