It’s been more than five years since Ian Michaud and his brother lost their dad, Walter, to suicide.

“It presents a lot of questions. You question yourself. You question the history you had with that person. What was going through their mind?” he said. “There is resentment towards them. There is resentment towards yourself.”

The Michauds are from Valatie, where Walter was known by his family and friends as the guy who would give the shirt off his back to help others and was heavily involved in coaching soccer and basketball.

“The thing is he was sick,” he said. “He needed help and he didn’t know how to access help.”

Which is why, with his father’s giving nature instilled in him, Ian hit the road in March for a coast-to-coast journey on his bike.

“Seeing this stretch of the country on two wheels is completely different than anything I could have imagined,” he said.

Following the TransAmerica Trail from Yorktown, Va., Ian and his uncle DJ have ridden along the Appalachian Trail, through the Ozark Mountains and Yellowstone National Park.

“You get to learn something about yourself, really, every day, because you have this goal you have to reach,” he said. “All kinds of things go wrong; you have flat tires; we’ve gone the wrong way multiple times.”

The pair are riding against suicide, raising awareness to the preventative tools available 24/7 along the way.

“There are ways to get help. There are numbers to call,” he said. “There are people who will go out of their way to be with you, to help you, to talk to you.”

They’re also trying to break down some of the most common misconceptions with suicide. Ian says there needs to be more communication, understanding and love.

“The stigma is perpetuated that these people are crazy, that they’re cowards,” he said. “That helps nobody.”

Something that’s been somewhat unexpected are the conversations Ian’s had with complete strangers, talking about their experiences with suicide.

“I do know that it impacted me and gave me a lot of strength to be like, all right, this means something; this is important to people I haven’t even met,” he said.

It’s a 4,200-mile mission Ian says his dad would be all about.

“I know he’s proud no matter what,” he said. “He’s rocking with me. He’s riding.”

Ian and his uncle are due in Astoria, Ore., their finish line, on June 17. They’ve raised more than $12,000, which will be donated to Integral Care, a mental health advocacy organization based in Austin, Texas, where Ian now lives.