Peter Conti has a message.

“My hope is, someday, I'll be better,” the 55-year-old retired Annapolis resident said. “I'm not sitting around complaining.”

Instead, he's out hiking and planning the next place to find a stream for fresh water or a place to rest.

Conti, the husband of Joanna Conti, a former candidate for county executive, has broken several bones racing motorcycles.

Three years ago, he assumed he'd be safe just participating as a rider during a scramble race on a trail in southern New Jersey. He had a new dirt bike.

As bike after bike zipped past Conti on the 11-mile looping trail, his competitive juices surged. He began racing to catch up.

Suddenly, his handlebar clipped a tree. He was flung over the front of the bike as it hit the tree. In the crash, his left hip was broken in 23 places.

Doctors repaired the hip, placing 15 pins and four plates. But his left foot was paralyzed in an attempt to place the femur back into its socket, he said.

Both the leg and foot are afflicted with sudden sharp pains, numbness and tingling. He walks with a limp.

A year after the accident, Conti closed his real estate investment and education company, Mentor Financial Group, and retired. He continues to consult part time.

Another year went by.

“After two years of sitting on my butt, I decided to do something,” Conti said.

He'd read a few hiking books and saw movies on the Appalachian Trail, which stretches 2,189 miles between Springer Mountain, Ga., and Mount Katahdin, Maine.

The hiking season for northbound through-hikers begins at Springer Mountain in late winter. It ends in Maine, where the path to Mount Katahdin is closed in mid-October.

Confident a hike would help his damaged leg, Conti tried to hike in his neighborhood. He only made it a mile.

He had to call his wife for a ride home.

Conti ramped up his exercise routine on an elliptical machine at 24 Hour Fitness, master swim classes at the Arundel Olympic Swim Center on Riva Road and daily physical therapy exercises at home.

He bought a backpack, a tent and essential supplies.

In February 2015, Conti practiced overnight on a trail in Western Maryland and spent the night in a shelter.

His family was concerned about him being out on the woodland trail.

Conti's research revealed most people can hike the trail from Georgia to Maine, in season, within about 31/2 months. The fastest hiker, who didn't carry gear, made it in 461/2 days.

Conti figured it will take a year for him to complete the hike.

On March 3, he managed to walk 2.6 miles. In the days that followed, he walked an average of 1 mph, usually covering a daily distance of 12 miles.

He discovered a community on the footpath. Often the last person to arrive at an open shelter in the evening, he'd join a group clustered around a campfire. Food would be shared, other hikers helped him set up his tent if there was no room in the shelter.

Also along the trial, he discovered, are a few generous souls who set up cooking stations to prepare food and hand it out to passing hikers.

People had trail nicknames like “Slipknot.” Conti's nickname is “Flash 52.”

As he's hiked farther, he's spotted five bears, including a mother with two cubs. Unlike others who ran toward the protective mom with their cameras, he watched from a safe distance.

Loaded with audio books, Conti rarely turned them on. He listened to the sounds of nature.

He climbed Standing Indian Mountain in North Carolina. With an elevation of 5,499 feet, it's the highest point on the trail.

“At the top of the mountain, I saw the most gorgeous sunset I'd ever seen. I sat down and enjoyed it,” Conti said. “Video and photos don't capture the radiance of the colors. They can't capture the emotional part of being there.”

Three out of four people, he noted, usually quit the trail after the first 30 miles. He stayed on the trail for 317 miles last year, reaching Erin, a spot 30 miles inside the Tennessee border. There, he became ill and had complications from his injuries.

He took a break to regain his strength.

Conti returned to hiking in the fall, walking a 185-mile section in Northern Virginia and Maryland.

On Feb. 5, he restarted his through-hike. He took a bus to Erin and picked up where he left off in May. After 10 days, he stopped and returned home to celebrate his 22nd wedding anniversary and to visit his doctors.

“I'm thrilled for Peter,” his wife said. “It's been a tough three years for him, and it's great to see him so excited about his new adventure.”

His goal is to hike all the way to Maine. Conti expects to reach Mount Katahdin in September. People can follow Conti on his blog, Flash-52.com.

“If others are inspired by what I'm doing, that would be great,” he said.