Biscuits & Grace: The Man Who Flushed the Pills and Found His Pace

🎙️ ABOUT THIS EPISODE The Plague and co-host Stripes sit down at The Nomad with Brett "Biscuits" Ritter — Riptide Site Q, Wolfden veteran, girl dad of two, and one of the most quietly resilient stories in F3 Omaha. What looks like a confident, community-building leader on the other side of a site launch is actually a man who spent his first year of college hooked on opioids after major foot surgery, carrying the shame largely alone until a single advisor's ultimatum sent him home to make the hardest decision of his life. Biscuits unpacks the playground EH that pulled him back after 18 months away, the January 5th beatdown that hooked him for good, and the frustration with "open to all men" not being fully lived out that didn't produce a complaint — it produced Riptide. ✅ HIGHLIGHTS 🍪 EH'd by KOA, showed up once at Paradise, then vanished for 18 months 🏃 Completed a one-mile-a-day streak for a full year — and still stepped off the scale unhappy ⛸️ Ice skating accident at his daughter's birthday party wrecked his knee and Achilles 💊 College foot surgery led to opioid dependence, depression, and a year of silence 🚽 One advisor's ultimatum sent him home to flush every pill — cold turkey, never looked back 🏋️ A sweaty T-Swift hug in eight-degree weather on January 5th sealed the deal 🌊 Launched Riptide with Zamboni: lean into the current, don't fight it 🤝 A hard pre-run with Toto broke them open and built a brotherhood across opposite sides ⛪ Minister's kid who did bike church in California and came home to the church his dad planted 🧻 Organized a Hope Lodge paper and water drive that rolled in nearly $1,000 in supplies 🦶 Toga: reactivating toe strength and foot mechanics — the plantar fasciitis answer nobody talks about 💬 KEY QUOTES 🗣️ "I was so numb that I didn't care." 🗣️ "I flushed the pills and never looked back." 🗣️ "I'll prove you wrong." 🗣️ "We just gotta lean in and love on day one, no matter where they're coming from." 🗣️ "If you keep fighting, that's when you lose." 🗣️ "Going with it and just giving in to where God is pulling me is how I can actually make it through." 🗣️ "We want nothing but the best for each other." 🗣️ "The church is not a building. The church is the fellowship." 🗣️ "You should be pretty proud of yourself." 🗣️ "Before you quit, talk about it." ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 — Cold Open & Mic Banter at The Nomad 02:09 — Meet Biscuits: KOA, Paradise, and 18 Months Gone 04:00 — The Playground EH & The One-Mile-A-Day Journey 05:50 — The Ice Skating Injury, the Achilles, and the Name Origin 10:12 — The Surgery, The Pills, and The Cold Turkey Turning Point 12:22 — Proving the Doctor Wrong: Two Marathons and a Reframed Identity 14:32 — From Observer to VQ: The Path Into F3 Leadership 18:15 — The Frustration That Built a Site: Tater Todd and "Do Something About It" 20:19 — Launching Riptide: Open to All Men and Swimming With the Current 23:35 — Co-Q With Zamboni: Logistics, Energy, and Earning Trust on the Road 25:41 — Pre-Runs, Vulnerability, and the Hard Conversation With Toto 29:44 — Family Fellowship: Jelly, Bear, Gravy, and the Wife Who Always Knows 37:26 — Faith Roots: The Right Reverend Ritter and Coming Home 41:04 — Third F: The Hope Lodge Paper and Water Drive 43:17 — Grace, Ownership, and the Story Still Being Written 45:21 — "You Should Be Pretty Proud of Yourself" 47:23 — Final Lesson: Before You Quit, Talk About It 48:00 — Rapid Fire with Stripes & Toga Explained 53:15 — Current State: New Job, In-Laws, and Prayer Requests 55:36 — Final Affirmations and Sign-Off