Episode #31 The Mixed-Up Matrix of Concussions with Dave Zabriskie & Scott Thomson

Lies Between Us - Roger Ray Bird

Time and again I am blessed with the gift of support. This being friends who guide me, lift me, and comfort me when I need it most. These people did not owe me anything, nor did I ask for their assistance. Yet still they showed up on my doorstep when I was entirely unable or disinterested in helping myself. Quite literally without these humans, I would not be alive today. One such person is Scott Thomson who, unprovoked, suggested I begin a routine including a plethora of supplements to help combat my increasing and worrisome collection of brain injuries. I raced mountainbikes for 17 years including nine seasons as a professional. I also raced off-road motorcycles for 15 years. My two-wheel competitive career initiated in earnest after a 13-year drug addiction.

Was I trading one addiction for another? Absolutely.

Did I consider racing a step-up improvement from drug abuse? Yes.

Did I believe this to be a safer and more sustainable life path? Of course I did.

But maybe the route to ease, peace and tranquility is not so rosy.

As an ambassador for Cognitive Protocol, I am thankful for Scott Thomson and Dave Zabriskie who have helped to improve my quality life and honestly, have helped to save my life. ~ Roger Ray Bird

You Can’t Pedal Through a Concussion. Dave Zabriskie Tried. Now, He’s Helping Others Do Better.

"When you’re in the thick of it, survival feels like progress. But sometimes, the most dangerous thing is the illusion that you’re okay."
— inspired by Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

Dave Zabriskie knows what it takes to go all in. He spent over a decade on the World Tour, earning his reputation as one of the strongest time trialists the U.S. has ever produced. He won stages at the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, and Vuelta a España - the first American to do so - and stood atop more than a few podiums. His focus was total. His discipline, relentless.
But pro cycling isn’t just about victory—it’s about endurance in all its forms. The kind the cameras capture, and the kind they don’t.
In the early days of his career, during a crash at Redlands, Zabriskie was knocked unconscious for 15 minutes. He woke up in a helicopter, disoriented and alone. There were no protocols, no guidance—just a vague notion that if nothing was broken, you got back on the bike. Like most athletes, he did what he was told. Or more accurately, he did what no one told him not to.
“It wasn’t that we ignored head injuries,” he says now. “It’s that nobody really knew what to do with them.”
That moment didn’t define his career—but it did plant the seed for what would come after. Years later, when the lights of competition had dimmed and the adrenaline wore off, the fog rolled in: memory gaps, mood swings, a dull, persistent feeling that something just wasn’t right. And no roadmap for how to fix it.
That helplessness—the sense of being a passenger in his own recovery—became the force behind Cognitive Protocol.
Founded by Zabriskie and wellness innovator Scott Thomson, Cognitive Protocol is more than a supplement line. It’s a system designed to give people agency over their cognitive health—especially in the critical window after head trauma, when most ar

Look for my books on Amazon, my memoir LIES BETWEEN US, and the addict book:
Daddy, Why Were You A Drug Addict?: Winning the War Amid My Angel and Devil Within
by Roger Ray Bird
ISBN 979-8218286651
Available on Amazon for $11
Roger's social directory: HERE