Awake Again: All the Way Back from Head Injury - Foreword by Wayne Dyer, Phd

By Martin Krieg

When I worked at "Bicycling", I regularly sifted through piles of unsolicited manuscripts. Most people didn't have much of a story to tell ("We toured through Colorado and got four flat tires") and a non-lyrical way of telling it.

Martin's story wasn't like that.

Martin wrote about his traumatic brain injury, his rehab, and his stubborn-yet-cheerful determination to do a cross country ride to celebrate the success of his rehab. Martin really jolted my notion of how meaningful it could be to push on pedals and go for a bike ride. So I made damn sure that Martin's story got into the magazine. I wasn't doing Martin a favor. I wasn't looking for anything from him. I was doing my job, making a professional judgment call as an editor.

The manuscript was so breathtakingly excellent that it was an E-A-S-Y judgment call to make.

John Schubert, former senior editor of "Bicycling" magazine, May 2014

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Just finished reading "Awake Again". I was quite pleasantly surprised by how well-written, engaging, touching and inspiring it is. Very impressive (of all the memoirs I've read, it is by far the most emotionally and spiritually rich)!

Lorna Robles
Admin, July 2015
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I downloaded AWAKE AGAIN as an e-book and started reading it. This is an extraordinary memoir, and I cannot put it down. Everyone should read this book, especially if they're going through hard times, facing obstacles, starting to feel they can't make it. Thank you, Martin Krieg, for never giving up and for showing the rest of us how to do the impossible!

Susan Gee Rumsey,
University Of California Office Of The President, Principal Publications Coordinator
May 2014
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"I loved your book...so illuminating and amazing! You are a true Hero!!!!!! I have such admiration for what you are doing . You are on a Mission!!!!! "

Mary Ann Blackwell, Director of the Bay Area Easy Riders Touring Group, Oct 13, 2014

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I just finished your book and feel a new rush of inspiration for the goals I have set for myself. Of course I am also inspired by new ambitions like contributing to the efforts of NBG to create a coast to coast right of way for non-motored touring. I guess my biggest challenge right now is to figure out how to go after some goals without having to shelve others.

Thank you for sharing your story with me by writing Awake Again. I admire everything you have done and will keep you in mind whenever I catch myself backing down from the challenges I find before me.

Chip Christmas, San Pedro, CA

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Following seven weeks in a coma,AWAKE AGAIN is the story of one man's incredible journey from "total unconcsiousness" through fully conscious recovery to a position of elevated mental, physical, spiritual and emotional consciousness from which Martin Kreig currently lives and operates. The book is a celebration of the power of the human spirit to not only survive or overcome, but to excell. I totally love this book! I was immediately drawn in and could not put it down. Powerfully written, AWAKE AGAIN is honest, real, gutsy, poignant, tender, courageous, candid and inspired. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It changed the way I look at life forever. A must read for head injury survivors, those who love us and anyone who is mentally, physically, and/or emotionally challenged who truly believes in life without limitations, either self or other-imposed. AWAKE AGAIN will awaken you from the complacency of a " normal " existence and empower you to elevate your own consciousness on your personal journey to realizing your dreams. A powerful book!!!

Gayle A. Michael
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Very touching and personal story. Extremely well written.

Mount Rainier MD Mayor, Fred Sissine

• Language: English
• Publisher: Martin Krieg
• Release date: Jan 19, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458074089

Martin Krieg

I am Martin Krieg, a business school graduate of Cal State Hayward and former accountant. I have crossed the country twice on a bicycle after first rehabilitating myself from paralysis, clinical death and a seven-week coma as a result of a car wreck.In 1979, I rode across America on a standard upright bicycle. On my second trip across America in 1986 I rode a recumbent bike and organized media events, public speaking and fund raising for the National Head Injury Foundation. That ride reached 40 million people amongst my newspaper, public speaking and TV and radio appearances. Upon its completion, to spread the word for the interconnected network of safely bikeable roads and paths I envision called the National Bicycle Greenway (NBG - it became a nonprofit in 1993), from 1987 to 1994, I published 60,000 Cycle America Regional Directories in four different parts of California.In 1994, WRS Publishing published the book about the experiences described above. Building the National Bicycle Greenway into the story line, I had written and rewritten it for 14 years. Called "Awake Again, All the Way back from Head Injury", it gives credibility to my vision and opens lots of doors for me.Once “Awake Again” became an attractive hardback book, complete with pictures, I alternated between traveling the country to promote it and learning the excitement of the all new World Wide Web. During this time, I built the first web sites for well over a hundred small and large bike companies. In 1997, from Santa Cruz, CA, I began a campaign to send hundreds of cyclists to Washington, DC, all of which ended with a widely known bike celebration called Cycle America 2000. We brought that excitement back to the West Coast with two large cross-country relay rides both of which ended in the Surf City with huge festivals attended by thousands of people. During this time, I also personally inspired, coached and consulted on over a dozen other successful transcontinental bikes rides.From Palo Alto, CA, we kept producing our annual National Mayors' Rides and in 2003, we began the Mountain Movers Podcast series. In addition, I also finished “How to Bike America”, kept working on a business plan for the NBG, and poured hours of research and writing into what amounts to the sequel to "Awake Again' called “How America can Bike and Grow Rich, The National Bicycle Greenway in Action” (HBGR).I took the 2007 Mayors' Ride season off to devise a fully interactive Google mapping system that ran like a game while building community to let users calculate, request, plan, utilize, store, display and vote on bike routes. I did this all toward the end of showing how, in our increasingly crowded world, the internet can now make the bicycle the superior way to move one's self about. My internet service provider, which was based in India, however, scrambled all of our files and lost hundreds of maps people had input to our system.Refusing to surrender to adversity, in the summer of 2009, in an attempt to call attention to the NBG, in what became a test run because of all the horrific weather (the deserts were water logged), I rode the Eagle HiWheel (http://bikeroute.com/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews/2013/02/23/chapter-excerpt-why-i-ride-an-eagle) the only one like it in active use in the world, from San Francisco to Salt Lake City. In 2010, my Mayors' Ride/Author Tour on the amazing Eagle was put on hold by a car that ruined my bike when it turned left in front of us.At which point I moved to Ireland, married my wife Virginia, had Baby Cayo, finished HBGR and studied Europe's top Greenway system, the Great Western Greenway (GWG). The GWG was made possible by a joint partnership between the National Tourist Bureau and 14 other public and private stakeholders as led by the Irish National Road Authority.Forced out of the mapping game when Google started mapping bike routes, in merging their bike travelways with the work of our NBG Scouts, in 2014 we put our full-featured coast-to-coast map on the main page at BikeRoute.com. In the summer of 2015, I returned to America, sans Cayo and Virginia, for our CA Mayors' Rides and landed in what used to be America's top bike city, Davis, CA. After a year of learning the local lay of the land in this small city of 65,000 people (when you don't include its 30,000 students), we determined to make Davis the new home of the National Bicycle Greenway. Toward that end, in early 2016, we began working to create our first Davis NBG Fest. A worthy success, it was held on October 22.In the build up to our event, Sinead Santich, made me one of the stars in her excellent UC Davis sponsored video about the two-wheel way of life there - https://vimeo.com/158869106.From Davis, CA, I also worked to celebrate the 20 cities that serve as waypoints to anchor our route from San Francisco to Washington, DC at http://bikeroute.com/SF-DCNBGAnchorCities.php. Some of this work included Virtual Tours that show cyclists where to ride, eat, shop, recreate and sightsee. Here, for example, from the massive Harrahs Casino and Resort, is what we did for Reno, NV - http://bikeroute.com/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews/category/Reno .The most recent news feature about myself and the NBG appeared in a beautiful 2 minute video that Sacramento based ABC-10 got on to the air waves on Nov 3, 2016 per this link http://www.abc10.com/mb/news/local/davis/big-story-behind-the-big-wheel/346584864In October of 2017, I landed in Indianapolis, a city with the bike friendliest downtown in America. You can see why this was an easy decision to make here - http://bikeroute.com/NationalBicycleGreenwayNews/2018/01/30/why-has-the-nbg-moved-to-indianapolisOn Feb 11, 2019 my new book "How Indianapolis Built America and How it will Rebuild it with the National Bicycle Greenway" publishes. You can see ii here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/917460It is not how many times you get knocked down that countbut how times you get back up.George Armstrong CusterTHX 4 all of U!!

Book preview

Awake Again

All the way back from head injury.

By Martin Krieg

Published by Smashwords

Copyright 2012 Martin Krieg

Front Inside Flap

After being pronounced clinically dead and wavering between life and death from a head injury, Martin Krieg regained consciousness but was paralyzed and completely helpless. This book tells what it feels like to be in this state and how a victim of head injury reacts to strange and terrifying surroundings—powerful, seductive forces which pull the patient from the outside world into nothingness. As he began to recover, the bicycle became Martin’s favorite rehabilitation tool. His tremendous comeback efforts are chronicled including his much publicized transAmerica ride sponsored by National Head Injury Foundation. Finally Martin shows his goal for a more fit and healthy America by describing his plans for a national bicycle highway, which are now underway.

Rear Inside Flap

Martin Krieg is a public speaker and a prominent voice for head injury. His efforts to promote fitness have made him a popular national figure and have earned him national citations including two nominations for the Healthy American Fitness Leader award.

Currently he is focusing his attention on the creation of a national bicycle highway and is planning to make a third cross country ride to help promote this concept. Martin resides in both Ireland and Palo Alto, California, and under the name Cycle America he publishes www.bikeroute.com which promotes the dream of the across America network of bicycle highways and of bicycling as an alternative form of transportation.

To inquire about having Martin speak at your convention, association or meeting, write to Martin Krieg at mailto:[e-mail]

Table of Contents

Testimonials – The Long Journey of Appreciation

Foreword by Wayne Dyer

Introduction by Denis Waitley

Chapter 1 The Old Marty

Chapter 2 Tossing the Weasel

Chapter 3 Coming Home

Chapter 4 Learning to Walk

Chapter 5 Alone

Chapter 6 The Wall

Chapter 7 Top of the World

Chapter 8 Close Encounters

Chapter 9 Uncle Jam

Chapter 10 Another Crossing

Chapter 11 A Single Step

Afterword

Suggested Affirmations

A Proper Mental Diet

Acknowledgements - The Long Journey of Thanks

About the Author

Testimonials

This last weekend I poured myself into your book and finished it on Monday morn...what a joy to read. It's a lovely little book and reminds me of lots of issues that we face in life, even without the tremendous trauma that you experienced and said you have benefited from. Hurray for you - for coming thru it all and writing the book...and heading down the path (bikepath) that led to your becoming part of so many folks lives. Thank you.

Someday there might a sequel?

Bob Ornelas, Arcata, CA Mayor 1996-2004

Awake Again gave me the courage to do the California Aids Ride. I tell all my friends about it.

Susan Roark Credit Officer

Very touching and personal story. Extremely well written.

Mayor Fred Sissine-Mount Rainier MD

Thanks for the book and the bigger gift of sharing your experience in it. What a story! What a great book. I couldn't put it down. I had a 3 1/2 hour flight delay getting home from Vegas and was glad I did, It gave me time to read most of your book and made the trip very enjoyable. (I think I was the only one on the plane enjoying the flight.) Should have had a copy of your book for all those who were grumbling about being delayed. It should be required reading under those circumstances. Thank you. Keep the dream alive.

Your friend, Buzz Feldman-HIGEARBIKE

I just finished your book and feel a new rush of inspiration for the goals I have set for myself. Of course I am also inspired by new ambitions like contributing to the efforts of NBG to create a coast-to-coast right of way for non-motored touring. I guess my biggest challenge right now is to figure out how to go after some goals without having to shelve others.

Thank you for sharing your story with me by writing Awake Again. I admire everything you have done and will keep you in mind whenever I catch myself backing down from the challenges I find before me.

Chip Christmas, San Pedro, CA

Part of the inspiration I receive from you has to do with the delicate balance that is personal motivation. Just like most folks I am not the most motivated person in the world and leave a lot of things undone that should be done. Your book and your efforts toward the NBG goal have caused me to reconsider many aspects of my life. I didn't even dream that I could ride an HPV from coast to coast on my own prior discovering NBG2000. Now I know I can do it, without hesitation.

Yes. Read it within two weeks of hearing about/signing up for the ride. Then I read it out loud to my then 7-year-old (Bryce). We both loved it. Powerful story for all to hear. I am thinking about giving it to my 80-year-old grandfather who just took a tumble over a railing and down two flights of stairs. Kurt Kleinschmidt

In this engaging and inspiring book, Martin Krieg shares his heartbreaking experience of waking up in a hospital to discover that he was paralyzed, unable to speak or perform the most basic tasks. This book, though, is not about how to deal with paralysis. It's about how to achieve the impossible. The reader is impelled to examine his own perceived limitations and wonder if they actually exist.

Sandy Armstrong from Los Gatos CA

Following seven weeks in a coma, AWAKE AGAIN is the story of one man's incredible journey from total unconsciousness through fully conscious recovery to a position of elevated mental, physical, spiritual and emotional consciousness from which Martin Krieg currently lives and operates. The book is a celebration of the power of the human spirit to not only survive or overcome, but to excel. I totally love this book! I was immediately drawn in and could not put it down. Powerfully written, AWAKE AGAIN is honest, real, gutsy, poignant, tender, courageous, candid and inspired. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It changed the way I look at life forever. A must read for head injury survivors, those who love us and anyone who is mentally, physically, and/or emotionally challenged who truly believes in life without limitations, either self or other-imposed. AWAKE AGAIN will awaken you from the complacency of a normal existence and empower you to elevate your own consciousness on your personal journey to realizing your dreams. A powerful book.

Thanks for you, Martin!!!

Gayle A. Michael from Santa Cruz, CA USA

I think people really need to read Martin's book. It is extremely well written and real. It will change your life.

Kathy Erken, Real Estate Broker

The extreme challenges and discouragement that Mr. Krieg overcame to assert his Spirit's vision and determination are lovingly and compassionately portrayed in his marvelous book. All of us at some time in our lives feel dejected and at odds with the problem cards that we are dealt. I am the survivor of an accident with a automobile and my bicycle in which I was badly injured, so I could relate directly to how difficult it must have been for him. Fortunately I was wearing a helmet! I realized how much worse it could have been had I sustained a head injury.

He alludes to how important good attitude and courage are to everyone in life, and how important it is to give your best attitude and determination to everything you do. I particularly enjoyed the list of helpful and meaningful affirmations listed in the back of the book. This book is a must-read for anyone, especially those who think that life is rough for them. It is thoroughly encouraging and full of Love and Joy for Life - as is Martin. I have had the pleasure of meeting him on occasion. I most heartily recommend this book.

Joseph Leight , [e-mail] from Santa Cruz, California

I just finished one of the most incredible journeys I've ever been on. I want to thank Martin for his Love, strength, and willingness to show all of us other T.B.I. recipients that we can do it! I cried through the whole first chapter and after that I cried a few more chapters down the road because I knew what he was feeling.

I think the last chapter though really touched on something in my aching soul. I liked his candidness and I loved the fact that he shared so much of himself with me. I almost felt as if he wrote the book for me! The reason for my emotions I can't find words to describe, and I'm pretty good at being descriptive!

This is a book that should be read, digested, and re- read! It will take one through love, anger, and emotions beyond! And I should know cause I sustained a head injury two and a half years ago and I went to every single library in Gainesville and all the surrounding counties looking for a book written by someone who also shared my same challenge but there was nothing. And then there was Martins book and it does that very thing. It shows me how limitless I truly am!

Tracy Barber, Writer, Massage Therapist, [e-mail] from Florida)

Martin Krieg proves with the rehabilitation and TransAm bike rides that he describes in his new book that he knows how to take on large tasks and come away a winner.

I know you'll be inspired.

Michael Shermer, PhD

Author/Publisher/Professor/Marathon racing cyclist/Co-founder Race Across America

Having experienced my own minor head injury at the '93 NORBA Nationals, I am truly awed by the successes Martin Krieg details in his new book. In Awake Again, a true hero emerges.

John Howard

Author/PanAm gold medalist/3-time Olympian/Winner of the Ironman/World bicycle speed record holder (152 mph)

I couldn't put it down. No book has consumed me like this one did.

Cindy Savage, Author/Editor

Through this odyssey, you will begin to understand the all powerful nature of thought and its effect on the body.

Wayne Dyer, PhD

Author Your Erroneous Zones, Real Magic, You’ll See it when You Believe It, etc

So many books come through here, I just skim most of them. I couldn't stop reading Awake Again".

Cynthia Banuelos, Ohlone College Bookstore

Awake Again gave me hope and strength. It was the most inspiring book I have ever read.…. Susan Swanda, Social Worker

I'm excited at the prospect of extending to my family the experiences and insights from your book.

Judy Pigget/Swenson, Investor

Great book!

Pat McVeigh, Registered Nurse

Thanks for your book and all the inspiration it has given me.

Leslie Engel, Student

I super appreciate the book and the inspiration it has given me.

Brett Taylor, Firefighter

Fastest Book I ever Read

Greg Davis, Consultant

Your book makes me proud to have been involved with a man of your stature.

Dr Kirk Huang, MD, Cardiologist

My work as a motivational speaker feels so rewarding when I can read a book like Awake Again.

Denis Waitley, PhD

Author Psychology Winning

"I am pleased to have been the instructor who allowed Martin the opportunity to regrasp the God-given skills we all too often take for granted. With his new book, Martin shows you how he has used these gifts to truly make a

celebration out of life."

Don Chu, PhD, RPT

Author/Olympic trainer/celebrated Father of Plyometrics

Martin Krieg has become a living inspiration for people with head injuries. We encourage your support of his new book.

George Zitnay, PhD

Former President and CEO, National Brain Injury Association

Foreword

The day of the accident, Martin Krieg lost his ability to think—to know who or what he or his family was, to know that he’d been hurt, or even to know that he had an identity separate from a hospital environment. From somewhere deep within, however, a voice asked if he wanted to live—and live a life that would inspire others. He responded to that question by coming back and showing us what any of us can do to improve our own lives.

As you read these pages, you will see how Martin learned the significance of James Allen’s words—Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him—as he traces through the events that lead up to, and follow, his car wreck. Suddenly forced to overcome tremendous mental and physical obstacles, he begins to understand how his every action fits into the bigger picture of his life. For example, the book you are reading now began fifteen years ago as Martin wrote to formulate his thoughts and feelings—to record and understand what had happened to him and the ways in which he was changed. Wanting to make the most of his new lease on life, he learned how to read again by reading and rereading the words of wise men and women, acknowledging the mysterious connectedness of us all and our influence on each other.

From his odyssey, you will begin to understand how thought affects the body. Martin tells how he learned to walk again by focusing his thought like a laser beam on the desired result. Always embracing the next challenge, he set goals for himself. He would not be satisfied until he became a better person than he’d ever been.

It seems that Martin will never be completely satisfied that his rehabilitation is complete, and for that we can all be thankful. His desire to prove that his life was worth saving has resulted in his work toward the creation of the National Bicycle Greenway, which is now well underway. If this book is any indication of the strength of his determination, I feel that soon enough, many people across this nation will rally to his crusade. Martin’s long journey back, of which I feel privileged to have been a part, proves that there really are no limits to what we can achieve with the right attitude.

--Wayne Dyer, Ph.D.

Author Your Erroneous Zones, Real Magic

Introduction

It has been my privilege to have been one of Martin Krieg’s teachers on his road to wholeness. In Awake Again, Martin Krieg gives life to the words that motivational speakers and authors have used for years. In his book, he shows how any of us, when faced with what may seem to be insurmountable odds, can arise triumphant with the right mental tools.

Faced with a bleak prognosis for wellness, Martin got out there, made mistakes, went back to the drawing board of his books and tapes and learned and grew. He kept going until he started to get a few things right. His confidence started to build. Redefining himself as an injured athlete, instead of the sickly cripple he was, Martin started to have success. And he kept building on his successes until he reached his goal of being able to help those who had helped him.

Throughout the grand adventure that this book details, the reader will no doubt take inspiration from the success principles that Martin Krieg has made so much a part of his life. After you’re done with this book, if you’re like me, you’ll begin to understand how real Martin’s dream for the coast-to-coast bicycle highway he calls the National Bicycle Greenway really is.

My work as a motivational speaker feels so rewarding when I can read a book like Awake Again. Watching what one man has done to rebuild himself and what he continues to do for mankind, makes me feel honored to have been any part of it. I know the experience will truly inspire you as well.

--Denis Waitley, Ph.D.

Author, Psychology Winning

Chapter 1 The Old Marty

The bell signaling the end of P.E. rang. While others walked off the soccer field, I sprinted for the locker room. If I hurried, maybe I could get a shower before anyone saw me.

Look at Krieg, he’s hurrying so we won’t see his little baby wienie, yelled Church.

Damn, I thought to myself. Busted. Very carefully, I slowed down.

By the time I got to be a senior, the rule, All boys must take a shower after P.E., was obnoxiously enforced by my peers. If I wrapped a towel around myself as I walked to or from the showers, a wisecracker would always point out that I was hiding my lack of body hair.

I tried different strategies. For a few weeks, I just got my hair wet with my comb and splashed water on my face to make it look like I had complied with the appropriate code of conduct. But when Mastro complained to one of the coaches about my scheme, everyone began to keep a close eye on me whenever I was near a sink. I tried walking to the shower stalls with my street pants on. If I stayed very close to the overlooking window of the coaches’ office, no one inside could see that I was still partly dressed.

Once I made it to the showers, I stalled. I acted like I had left something behind, then headed back to my locker. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.

I couldn’t seem to escape the persecution caused by my classmates’ fascination with hair—or the lack of it. I was only five feet, two inches and weighed a slight 108 pounds. I was insecure enough as it was. Having the body hair of a newborn baby didn’t help my confidence one bit.

I began to lie awake wondering when God would grant me passage into manhood. I was eighteen years old and a senior, after all. It was 1971 and I would graduate from Moreau High School, an all-boys Catholic school in my hometown of Hayward, California, that spring. I wanted to grow tall, acquire a deep voice, and have lots of body hair. Running out of ways to disguise my physical immaturity, I refined the science of proper towel- holding. I developed a strict set of rules—

Krieg’s Humiliation-Avoidance Techniques.

One, always dress or undress facing your locker.

Two, don’t, for any reason, turn sideways.

Three, don’t be caught off guard by anyone trying to get your attention.

Four, use a shower nozzle against a corner. (If a nozzle that satisfies this criteria is not available, stall until one is.)

Five, walk (don’t run) to or from the showers, always keeping a wall about a foot away. This method keeps advancing onlookers from overtaking you on the exposed side.

Six, on your exposed side, drape your towel over your clutched hand and hold it near your hip, six to eight inches in front of your body as you walk. Try to play cool—don’t make it look like you’re holding a bullfighter’s cape.

and

Seven, if a head-on encounter threatens, quickly shift both your towel and body to the appropriate side.

To lower my odds of being seen, I always waited until the last moment to take a shower. I watched the clock. I rearranged my locker. I tied my shoes. I combed my hair. Very slowly. All the while, I kept my peers distracted from the fact that I was not undressing by following another set of rules—Krieg’s Keep-Them-Off-Guard Stall. One, crack jokes about Father Near’s history class. Two, loudly debate which team would have won if the bell hadn’t ended class. Three, tell stories about your wild bicycle camping trips. And four make opinionated comments about the Oakland Raiders’ latest draft selections.

Then, when almost everyone had filtered out of the