Not more than two years ago, Peter Allen, 39, was a man so wrought with depression he could hardly stand to leave the house.

"There was a time when the biggest thing I would do for a month was just leave to visit the doctor," Allen recalled Wednesday.

Between suffering from the physical ailment of diabetes and the mental illness of schizophrenia, Allen explained, the prospect of going out was simply overwhelming.

"Not being able to get out in the world threw me into a deep depression," he said, adding that the depression was so severe he did little more than sit in a chair in his home for a period of nearly three years.

"I was taking a lot of heavy medication to prevent anxiety attacks."

The best medicine Allen found, however, ended up being a free bicycle he received last year from Community Cycles, a Boulder nonprofit organization committed to the education and awareness of bikes as a form of alternative transportation.

"We don't usually give bikes away," said Gary Gingras, shop manager at Community Cycles. "We have a Earn-A-Bike program where people can earn them by doing 15 hours of volunteering, but we ended up floating (Allen) a bike because he didn't think he could complete the program at his capacity."

For a while, Allen's capacity was incredibly low. Diabetes had slowly eaten away most of the feeling in his feet and legs, and his prolonged period of home confinement limited his ability to be social.

But after such a long period of extreme depression, he said, he finally knew what he had to do.

"Something inside of me was all of the sudden telling me to get up and get going," Allen said. "One morning I woke up and thought, 'Let's give it a try.'

"Next thing you know, I'm walking to the bus stop."

Allen explained that, for the first month, the concept of riding a bike hadn't even entered his mind. He started out slowly, going to Pearl Street on the weekends and walking short distances of 50 feet before having to stop and rest.

As he regained his strength and confidence over the next month, Allen also became more involved in the Chinook Clubhouse, a Boulder organization designed to help people with mental illnesses find community ties. Through Chinook, he began speaking to students in nearby schools about living with mental illness.

It was at one of these school addresses that he was given the number to a contact at Community Cycles, and soon after he had a cycle of his own. Handling one again after so many years, however, proved to be a bit difficult.

"I crashed a lot," Allen said, "but I just kept getting back on it and riding."

Allen said that when he first got the bike, he couldn't even ride it the entire way back home without having to stop and rest -- a much different picture than the miles and miles he regularly rides now. It's not just his physical condition that has changed, either, Allen said.

"I'm 100 percent more happier," he said. "I mean, I wake up in the morning and I just go riding. It's my love right now."

Between the newfound physical energy and zest for life, Allen also has gone on to put in his time volunteering with Community Cycles -- and then some.

"He is one of our most active volunteers," Gingras said. "I feel like the shop has been really good for him. He gets to meet a lot of people and has a real passion for bikes that he's established in himself."

Allen has been volunteering at Community Cycles for more than a year and continues to speak about mental illness at local schools. He currently is planning a group ride to visit the New Belgium Brewery's Fat Tire beer-themed Tour de Fat, when it makes its final stop in Fort Collins next month.

The group ride begins Sept. 5 and includes an overnight camp-out, followed by Tour de Fat festivities on Sept. 6 and a bus ride back home that evening. The $10 participation fee will go toward the Center for People with Disabilities, and additional donations are encouraged.

FYI

For more information about Peter Allen's group ride to the Tour de Fat, or to sign up, e-mail him at petetomato80303@yahoo.com.