Stick and Lizzie's Big Pedal

The Maine Event

2006-10-22T19:38:00.001-07:00

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Laydees and Gentlemen, we are alive and well and we have since reached our landing point of Bar Harbor, Maine and returned to sunny California since my last posting. As a matter of fact I'm the biggest lagger in the world and I haven't posted for the last three states of the trip. Maybe it was the the vibe of Vermont and New Hampshire that just made me feel so irie that I just totally forgot to sit in front of the brain melter and update my blog. No seriously though, Our New England leg was nearly the most impressive and visually splendiforous. The trees as we expected were exploding with color and energy, the people were just as colorful and willing to say hello and chat nearly wherever we went. I know this sounds ridiculous but the most welcomed privelage of our New England leg was the abundance of organic food co-ops and killer little organic cafes littered throughout the region. After a long long stretch through grease country in the midwest and upstate New York we were really jonesing for some wholesomeness in our grub. Along with the glorious presence of awesome foods we also got extremely lucky or blessed maybe with the weather. Not overexaggerating, we took the ferry ride from New York across Lake Champlain and into Vermont and as soon as we took our first two pedals off the ferry the sky opened up and sunshine was delivered from that moment all the way until the day we got on the plane in Portland, Maine. This was nearly a phenomenon in my book, since we had been constantly in touch with rain through the whole damn country at least every couple days. For us to get to our most anticipated part of the trip and have stupidly clear crisp sunny weather for the last two weeks straight made us feely like pretty lucky little pedalers. Even in the locals regard they were bragging about what a wonderful fall they were having, reinforcing my notion that that doesn't happen for everyone and that folksonspokes are the coolest bike tourers of all time. Ok alright maybe just in this century. Just as the rest of our tour we were consistently provided delightful accomodations in private residences throughout our New Englandism. People of all walks of life, our age, old age, unexpected personalities and tranquil souls. In all walks of life we were treated wilh nothing but respect and care. The Adirondack Mountains are a hikers paradise or rather a mountain biker's. Vermont and New Hampshire are really like their own little worlds. 99% of the businesses are locally run and owned and it seemed to me like all the food and materials were self produced and sustained, kind of like they didn't need the rest of the world and it's sophistaction to survive or even thrive as a community.
Our Maine experience and expectations were nothing short of what we had hoped for. With the most coastline in the United States and only roughly a Million people in the whole state, the place just seems so mystical and enchanting, like you could run away in the woods and drink moonshine with Falcore and Willow while playing dijeridoos and cooking mindblowing seafood feasts and not have a care in the world except for when the seasons were changing so you could knit yourself some sweet new socks for the frigid winter. With that said we spent our final days of the trip in a ridiculously huge penthouse overlooking Bar Harbor and it's multiple little island friends out to sea. Champagne soaked private balcony hot tub sessions were oh too common and nightly lobster engorgements resembling the last supper seamed surreal. We couldn't have asked for one speck more of spoiling thanks to Liz's Mom and her confidant Dennis. You really made our trip's end butter sweet (Lobster and butter) gosh i'm such a cheez. I wish I could plunk away at this keyboard with all my stories but I have decided to save them all for my first post collegiate writing project. I will be making a compilation of our most memorable stories and photos from our four month journey. More detailed and strikingly more sarcastic and humorous i like to envision it. To all who have spent tiny fragments of their life looking at our blog and sharing our experiences with us I thank you so much. Believe it or not it was one of the most exiting things for us to share our stories with you all and hopefully give you hope in our nation's general public, most of all we looked so forward to seeing comments from yooz all. We love you all and you really kept us going. Folksonspokes dedicates this blog to our viewers for their interest in knowing what we were up to, it means a lot to us... Thanks again.

In with the New.....York

2006-09-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

Buffalo, so tasty, so big, I'm getting hungry just thinking of her.

Is my butt getting bigger?

Buffalo Brew Fest. More Grog and Grub than your gut can gargle.

The festival we held inside the old central terminal train station. Makes beer drinkers feel important and refined. Like history majors, more like beverage minors.

Mugshot. No Comment. Ok, is that LiZ?

Drink up, there's thirsty fat asses all over the city who would love to be in your shoes........

My new best sort of not even related cousin sort of and I. Seriously though thanks for everything Brian. You made us feel like familia.

You would think this photo was taken after the festival but it wasn't. I just have the natural gift of looking blown.

The Buffalo Central Terminal. Scene of the crime.

Monroeville Indiana, sweet digs for a rainy windy night. Small town, big props on the hospitality.

Indiana's not all corn fields, just 99.9% of it. The rest is worth the drive, or pedal i should say.

Indiandadockcampspotonthelakeareyoustillreadingthis?

Corpsy Toes meet Lilly Pads. Lilly Pads meet Corpsy Toes.

He's alive and shakin in Illinois....Should've seen the rest of the band, must have flew in on the haggardship for the show.

Richard and Iris took care of us and let us leave our bikes in thier garage while we went to Chicago. Richard owns a bar called Pour Richards. He has the most amazing mesh hat collection ever. The whole bar's wall space is covered with the sickest meshies you've ever seen. Thanks for the stay and the frosty sips guys.......

The folksonspokes are still cruizin, floating across the great oosa. Since Illinios we have had some most excellent times as I'm sure we've all come to expect, but the most awesome thing is that Liz and I got a call from the Police department in Ashkum (where our stuff was stolen) letting us know that a farmer had found lizzie's drum, the backpack and the journal in a ditch about three miles outside of town near a cornfield. It pays to have great friends I'll tell ya. Thanks Ashkum Lions Club and all who helped with the investigation of the century.
Our continuation of the midwest and our expectation of more corn field monotany was pleasently interrupted by killer river camp sites. Secret little bass lakes and oodles of crazy thunderstorms which made our rides a little more action packed naturally. Heh Heh... Get it Naturally. Geez i'm a dork. So onward we went conquering the rest of Illinois and Indiana, that last day in Indiana we stayed in a huge community hall with showers, kitchen, laundry, T.V. , the whole nine. The town of Monroeville hosts cross country cyclists in their town Rec hall for free. It's almost worth pedaling your heiny across the country just to rest your head there and see how dedicated and gracious the township is. Ok, nuff about our lodging. Two weekends ago we spent four days in Cleveland shwillin and lurking around with our friend Megan from San DIego. Cleveland is most bodacious and should not be overlooked as a cool ass city to consider visiting or committing liver abuse in. Folksonspokes got Cleveland's back. Thanks for the fun Megs we miss you already. Leaving Cleveland the next two weeks of the expedition took place right alongside mystical Lake Erie. It was so nice and refreshing to ride and sleep next to a lake every night. We have gotten blasted by some random lake effect thunderstorms unexpectedly which are always great to pack up your gear in. Lake Erie i'm glad to report is definitely surfable and the water is warm warm warm, for now. I can't really explain the sweetchiousness of this area, it's really striking and history rich country. It's like one history lesson after another for us maden voyagers of the great lakes area. Tons of War of 1812 battlesites and Indian reservations. Lots has gone down out here, it's wierd to be places with some real american history behind them.
Hoy estamos en Buffalo, este cuidad es muy bonita y muy divertido. Mas interesante que expectado. We are staying with my cousin(sort of) and they have shown us a great time. Buffalo is definitely way bigger and way better than I expected. I feel like it's like America's forgotten city or something, most people are like me, they don't even know it's a huge metropolis with a skyline, museaums, ball parks, tons of history(probably close to the most important of the 20th century) and the most bestest food out there. Two thumbs up for Buffalo. Thanks to our hosts Brian and Amy, they took us to a ass kicking beer fest at this old train terminal, we tasted oh so much lovely grog. Cheers Kids! That's about all my little sausages can pound on the keyboard to day so I say bye now. We go to Canada tomorrow you hosers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

News Break!!!!

2006-08-30T12:21:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Rachel Johnson. The big 25!!!! I can't seem to find your new email address or new phone #. So when you get this post (hopefully today) drop me some info so I can reach ya. Can't wait to see how you're doing. We love you and we hope you have a totally awesome birthday baby!

ALSO................. To all of the great people we have met along the way, we need to retrieve some new information from you. We pretty much lost everyones information when our journal was taken.So let us know again what your address and phone numbers are so we can keep in touch. We love you all!!!! Thanks.

STILLINILLINOIS!!!!

2006-08-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

ThE cRaZieSt tHinG, LiZzIe's aRm doESn'T shOW uP In HeR ShADoW... I kNEw tHaT aRm wAS a ghOSt.

CHICAGOHHHH!

FoLkSoNSpOkeS over HerE.

I'vE BeEn ReFlecTing ON tHis PicTuRe FoR soMe tIme noW.... InTereSting.

UrBaN yoU KnOw? LikE CiTy, LIkE ChICaGO AnD StUfF.

ThE MonItOr LOoks LiKe We'Re iN JaPAn buT it'S ReAllY JusT ChI-tOwn.
FRienDs frOm tHe RoAd, OrMand (left) Is riDIng thE whOle boRder oF tHe U.S., thE coUplE oN ThE rIGHT is FRom GerMaNy. ThEy FleW HeRE tO RiDE aCROss thE StaTEs. Top NoTch folKS.

MoRnING On tHe IllInoiS River. Da Birds.... Da Bridge.....

FriEnds frOm BiSHop HiLL, ThEy tooK GreAt CaRe of Us. FoOd, BeD, AC. Mi Me guSta... GRaciAs LiNda and CrYstal.

ThIs Is JiM aNd BrENDa fRom MusCatIne. CLAsSic AwEsomEness. ThEy maDe Us lauGH Non stOp. ThAnkS foR dInneR BreNda...MaSter oF yOur CrAft, tHe QuEen oF PaTiencE.

JiM and F.O.S., I wOUld HAve tO takE tHe rEst oF tHe dAy OfF tO WrIte aBout Jim, He'S JoN CanDy, tHe guY iS EfFinG hiLarIous aNd He'S GoT a HeArt oF gOld. ThE guY's GoT a PEz cOlleCtioN anD a LeGO wAtch AnD He's WorKS aT the JaIl as A ceLL guArd. A TruE ChaRactEr YoU aRe JiM. We LOve Ya....

Yep, we are still in the great state of Illinios today, we are about thirty miles from the Indiana border. Liz and I have had some great times since Iowa. We left Muscatine after an awesome weekend with our friends Jim, Brenda,Steve, Mike, Davey, and Jamie. Jim and Brenda put us up at their house for a couple nights while Davey took us out to Mike and Jamie's house out in the country to hang out on their farm for the night. They grow all their own organic veggies, they got chickens, rabbits, roosters, and doggies. It was a darn cool experience hanging out with them down to earth folks. Sometimes stuff would just fall out of my mouth which may have sounded rude to them( My uncontrollable hick accent) but hey, they were all so awesome. Whatever, as we proceeded in to the state of Illinois again we couldn't help but notice how perfect looking all the houses and little towns are here. This state truly is the epitomy of classic America in my opinion.One small community after another with no fences and endless interconnecting lawns, all of them having ridiculously nice and generous people. So many people have helped us out in Illinois. We have been here for like ten days now and only camped twice! Everyone offers us a place to stay, a car to drive, dinner at thier house..... It's gotten to the point where we've had multiple offers and we've had to turn people down. What a great bunch of people we got here in the Old Midwest I'll tell ya... So we stopped in another great town called Bishop Hill, which is a historical landmark town of a 100 people, we were considering our first Bed & Breakfast experience here because we were kind of haggard from the partying all night long at the SMall Taters farm in Iowa. Literally moments before we were headed over to check in this lady pulls up in front of me, jumps out of her car and introduces herself. Linda was her name, she insisted that we come stay at her guest house and have dinner with them instead of pay for the pricey supposedly haunted B&B. Well hot damn you can guess what we did. We layed in the air conditioned guest house all day briefly waking up in between naps to catch Oprah babbling on about something on the T.V. Pork Chops, peaches, and oh so many tasty cervezas were supplied for dinner and we met some other really super peoples. Thanks all you Guys. So great you are. So I guess the experiences go on and on in this state. We left our bikes in Some other great newly aquirred friends Robert and Iris's garage and shot up to CHICAGO for the weekend. CHI-Town is BLOWOUT, best city ever...... But what do I know. We had great times, Robert and Iris felt like relatives by the time we left on tuesday morning. Thanks for everything Guys... See you in March. Well that about puts us up to date, vaguely. We're in Ashkum, Illinois at the moment on an unplanned layover. While we were camping in the park the night before last someone stole our guitar, backpack, drum, and journal. Obviously this was freaking devastating and really draining for us. This town of 700 people has become nearly half close friends in the two days we've been here and there is a full on man hunt going on as we speak. It's really amazing, the community has made flyers, the rumors are spreading throughout; the kids, the sheriff, the mayor, and the lions club are all out looking for our stuff. The lions club guys who we met at the park the night of the incident are putting up a reward for our stuff in hopes of getting it back. As shitty as the whole ordeal is it really feels awesome to have so much help and consideration from everyone. SO we stayed yesterday playing detective all around town asking questions, peeking in car windows and rooting around in trash cans. We're gonna stay today as well in hopes of some victory but who knows. Either way we've made some damn good friends here in Ashkum. Thanks to everyone. So that's about it for now, here's some photos of new friends, new places, and folksonspokes. Love you all, Stick and Liz

Oh corn can you see........

2006-08-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

Like heaven huh???

The lovely Miss Iowa. Get it, Mississippi in Iowa.

Representing water drinkers from all around the world. Liz Dogg straight shwillin'.

These are mini horses, the one in the middle is seriously 18 inches tall. Maybe they're actually a midget horse colony.

These two photos are in the town of Nauvoo, Illinois. We pulled into town just barely outrunning the loudest most violent thunderstorm to find ourselves in what felt like the setting of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Everyone was walking around like robots with the same clothes and these little bookbags staring at us like we were robots. Well this town is like the capital of Mormonism. Its like Jerusalem for mormons. This is where Joseph Smith started his mormon colony and was eventually persecuted and pushed out to Utah. The whole town has major church buildings, monuments etc. All mormon temples and Joseph Smith comemorations. Anyway we had a brief layover here and it was a kind of odd feeling place. The facials capture the feeling.

Tent site in Illinois, I got freaking eaten alive by chiggers in the tent all night long. I look like Annie right now. So Harsh.....

Hot and miserable yet anticipating the Family Diner so much. Midewest food, not so hot right now.

Pretty corny picture eh?

Ahhh the sites...... Breathtaking really.

My great uncle Bob and Aunt Loretta. First time I've ever visited them. Makes me wish it was the hundredth.

Train, water, bridge. Good stuff.

The defeated and the defeat. We had to walk our bikes twice. It wasn't worth zapping our legs to ride slower than we could walk. Missouri was tough.

He knows the task before him.........

Now that's an eyefull.

Are you scared? Me too.

What's eating Stick and Liz?

Sunrise on Miss Missouri. Damn she's hot!

Julia and Alex, they gave us a bed, AC, good food and most of all great laughs. Darn good people I reckon.

Low and behold we're still out here pedaling our carcasses through the country. Fresh off of our luxurious ride in our Chevy SUV across Kansas and on into St. Louis and a two night marination in a fancy Marriot hotel downtown. Lizzie and I had a most excellent time in Colorado with our great friends Nysa and Pete and of course all of their awesome pals. Breckinridge for the record Is Bitchen. Enough said. So we've been out here in the Midwest for 10 days now, eight of which have been sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hot and humid with get this, THE STEEPEST GRADES IN THE COUNTRY. This past week has definitely been the most trying and annoying part of the trip. Lizzie and I actually almost got mad at eachother. Almost. The heat drives us both insane as Im sure it does to most, we were given a couple great nights of R&R at my great uncle BOB's house in Hannibal Missouri as well as a night in Clarksville with a great older couple we met at the local restaurant while we were shwilling well earned beers. Alex and Julia took great care of us. Thanks BOB, Loretta, Alex and Julia. You saved our lives. Ha Ha. Aside from the agony of the hills and the heat Missouri is pretty freaking sweet. And the em eye ess ess eye ess ess eye pee pee eye is crazy. We like Missouri, kind of. We're in Iowa today at some great house with some great people who took us in off the street while we were desparately seeking Mexican food solice. We're headed to a farm outside Iowa City tonight to party with a bunch of Hippies. Well yall, Gotta go cause we have a lot of important things to do and a very tight schedule to maintain. Hey, we love you and gosh darn do we miss you all. Pat, Judy and Lilly we love you so much. Thanks for your time, it was great seeing you. It's off to see the wizard for us? Whatever..... I suck today. Bye.

We're in ColoRADoh!!!!!!!!

2006-07-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

Hebgen Lake, Breaching the Cusp of Yellowstone. We raced those thunder heads all day. I sqeeked into town with a flat tire literally fifteen seconds before all hell broke loose and the rain was out to get someone. Not us!!! Yahooo!
This is Earthquake Lake. There was a major earthquake in 56 that collapsed the whole side of that far mountain which slid to the bottom of the basin. The earth that slid blocked off the existing flow of the river in turn making a natural damn and creating the lake. The trees were on the river banks originally but since have been drowned due to the rise in water level. It was really neat to see something so geologically transforming and astounding that has happened in such a recent time period.
Like totally far out man.....
Atmospheric Refraction at its finest.
This is what happens when you ride for six hours and only make it 18 miles, and then get completey engulfed in a thunderstorm of doom. You get blown completely off your bike from the cross wind(no Joke) and you have to scramble to the ditch on the side of the road and take cover from the 40 mile an hour wind and pounding rain under your janky tarp. It does something to one's sanity I think. This may be evidence.......

Lizzie's new official symbol. Self proclaimed.
Hmmmmmm????
Stupid tree was in the way of my sweet shot.
This is Warren and Katie, they invited us to their cabin for a sleepover. Fed us elk burgers, brownies, and cereal. Gave us a great place to sleep and shared thier great personalities and warmth along with their amazing property. I caught a trout in their pond and we ate it for dinner ten minutes later. THank you so much guys.

Some lake, somewhere.
Well its time for another update kids. While entering Yellowstone my bike decided it wanted some time off so it went ahead and stopped working for me. Such a nice honorable lad. So Liz and I stuck out our thumbs and caught some rides through the rest of the park. Lucky for us the great people who gave us rides let us stop at most of the geysers and sites for our viewing enjoyment. We camped a couple nights on Yellowstone Lake and as usual we were blessed with the invitation and company of a great couple from Chicago who gave us some good laughs and great grub and grog. Proceeding our camp leisure we had to find more transportation into Tetons National Park and on to Jackson Wyoming. We again scored a killer ride from an awesome couple thanks to lizzies masterful sign design that she made to help attract vehicular passerbys. So we had a killer time in Jackson but I needed to order some parts for old faithful and it seemed to be more and more of a hassle as I tried to find out what to order and where to have it sent. Even to this very day I'm still playing detective trying to figure out this fiasco. In the meantime we were able to rent a killer car and drive across the heat laden, desert strewn, what would have been a nightmare of a bike ride expanse of Wyoming. We stopped and visited some very special people in Casper for a couple hours and then trekked on into Colorado. So here we are in the most bitchenest of bitchen towns, Breckenridge. We are going to hang here for a minute and spend some time with some great and generous friends of ours. We'll be heading out soon but for next couple days we will be riding incredible mountain bike trails, shredding astronomical skateparks and waiting for my mystical little ball bearings to arrive at the bike shop. Adios, we talks to yooz soon. Much love.

Waiting to Exhale???

2006-07-13T18:29:00.000-07:00

Adventure Cyling Association 30th Anniversary Party, Missoula. Happy Kids, Good Beer, Great People...

Evening camping behind elementary school in Jackson, Montana. Big Hole Valley. Surreal!!!
This is Gracy, she is Unicycling across the U.S. barefoot!!!! She is flat out the Gnarliest person traveling across the states this year. Gracy doesn't have brakes or gears. She controls her descents with her legs. She does 60 - 80 miles a day. SHe is the first woman to unicycle the U.S. We're not worthy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Check her out. WWW.ONEWHEELFORLIFE.COM

These dudes were rad. They were from Florida and we intermitantly met up with them a couple times. The guy in front said Liz looks like Nancy Kerrigan. Ha Ha......

Kootenai Falls. Flat out the most powerful natural thing I have ever seen in my life. The week we saw it was the fullest and fastest it has been since 76.
Coolest family in America?? Thank you Renee, Tom, Allie, T.J.

Ross Creek Cedars.
Liz and the Jibs. Allie actually seriously thought that she was going to ride her bike with us the rest of the trip. She asked her parents and they sacrastically said yes not thinking she was serious. When we left she was crying she wanted to go so bad. We love you Allie. Maybe someday we can team up!!!!
Just outside Lake Pend Orielle.
Flower Power.
City of East Hope. Lake Pend Orielle.
Yep, its me again, this is like a new record, updating the site two times in a week. I had and opportunity so I took it. We're sitting in this place called Strozzi's Pizza weezing free net again,lucky for us this guy named Rudy who has been pedaling with us for the past three days has a laptop which we can use at specified wireless spot like this one. So we're in the village of West Yellowstone and we decided to take the day off here cause there was some good stuff to do and we were tired after 340 miles this week.We watched two IMAX movies today and ate way too much crappy food but hey we earned it right? WIMPS! So I feel like this whole first quarter of our trip has been just MEGA, meaning amazing, awesome and sweet. Did I mention we are about a quarter of the way deep into our mission? We have gone 1,300 miles so far and we figured out we still have 3,700 to go!!!!! JUMPERS......So the title of this article reflects the fact that we feel like the whole trip was essentially based on the next 1,000 miles or so because it is supposedly the most drastic and mystical land in the US. We feel like we're about to enter this insane thrillride that we're not going to be able to believe. Yellowstone Park and the Grand Tetons national parks followed by the low deserts of southern Wyoming and then into the Colorado Rockies near Steamboat Springs and Breckenridge. From what we've heard this stretch is breathtaking....hence the cheezy title of my update. So we thought we had climbed all these bad ass passes up to this point, come to find out we have a 17 mile 6% grade climb up to 10,000 feet this week followed by a climb in Colorado that will take us up to 11,590 feet. Someone send me an oxygon tank........So along with the major sites we have some major work to do. Ok i can't take it anymore I have a confession to make, because we want to focus our attention in the upcoming areas and the Mississipi area as well as New England we have decided to hopefully bypass eastern Colorado and Kansas so that we can have more time in the eventful areas. Kansas has the tendency to produce serious south winds and head winds which can make a 10 hour day of riding only reward you 35-45 miles!!!!! So I hate to say it cause I feel like a cheater but we will be hitch hiking through Kansas. So I Guess our total mileage left is more like 3,000 miles. Real Pansys we are!!!! That's it, I've blabbed enough. Here's some more photos for your visual enjoyment. Bye Bye turkeys, Love you all and miss you soo much.......

Photographical Evidence.........

2006-07-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

Folks not on spokes.......
Sweet crustache guy!!!!!
Good thing we had a guardrail!!!!!!
Lake Pend Oreille. (Pronounced Pond A-Ray, I prounounce it wrong for a week and all the locals didn't know what the heck I was talking about. I'm from Californduh!!!!!!)
Photo Incentives??? Corporate Sponsorship????
Idaho panhandle.
Pend Orielle river, the posts were used to guide logs down the river into port. ( I learn stuff occasionally.)
POW!!! Put that in your pipe and choke on it!!!!
Beaver Lake Camping. THis great family fed us smores and bailey's. Thanks Guys.
This is just regular land in the panhandle. Where can you buy those lakes like that?
Day off =guitar and beer.
Just met this guy on the side of the road, said he was headed to Maine on his bicycle. Freak!!!!!
Lunch time at 6,800 feet. Innocent until proven guilty...
GO TEAM!
Hello again Misters and Misses, we are sitting in a subway weezing free internet service(doing it like it supposed to be done..) Well the past week has just been bitchin, we have continued to have our faces melted by amazing scenery and the extraordinary vastness that makes up the Montanaland. We have been pirating free campsites lately and its seeming to make the adventure that much more awesome. Its like a scavenger hunt to find the sweetest spot in town without anyone knowing we're camping there. So Im not gonna type away today cause I gots lots of pictures to show yooz. We will be in Jellystone tommorrow, we called Yogi and he said it was kosher to stay at his pad. Right on Right On!!!! Love you all. Nick and Liz

Montanawesome!!!!

2006-07-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

Hey there porcupines, we're in Missoula Montana today, we have actually been here for a couple days. We were a bit weary of riding on the roads during this boozey time of the year so we decided to spend some time here. This city is really really cool, seems really liberal and there are so many awesome programs and organizations supporting everything that is totally sweet!! Like bicycle groups, skateboard parks donation orgs., organic farmers markets and co-ops etc. Anywho it seems like a really cool community committed to outdoor activities, nature consvervatories,especially the cool ones. Well the last time I think we spoke was in Sandpoint, it's been about a week and a half since then and we have traveled through the Glacier Park area and down through the Swan Range past Swan Lake and Seeley lake. These areas have just been ridiculous, the massive jagged peaks that we paralleled daily were so huge and so surreal looking it was hard to take in. We met a few other cyclists traveling across the states, one of the people we met was named Scotty who was riding the great divide route alone. Let me just explain how gnarly this is...... Over 3,000 miles of dirt roads and single track trails running along the great divide from Banff, B.C. to Mexico. Scotty rides alone in the middle of effing nowhere for days sometimes without seeing anyone. Up here all we here about are Grizzly Bears this and grizzlies that, well Scotty rides through more than a 1,000 miles of heavily infested grizzly country solo with only a little jingle bell so that the bears will hear him and hopefully won't eat him. While riding through Canada Scotty encountered a couple of people on four wheelers with bear spray, and rifles, they told Scotty he was in bear restricted country and that there were heavy numbers of grizzlys. Well scotty's got the bell, he made it with the bell, don't need no stinking bear spray man! So I guess the point is that Scotty is bad ass, by the way he's doing the whole thing on a cross bike with NO Suspension. So basically we feel like complete weenuses riding on the roadways near civilization the whole time. Good luck Scotty.......
Well I have another good story I think. The first day we enter Montana we stop at a market for some food before we head into the mountains and set up camp. Not having enough cash to pay for our groceries and no Atm in site, we're scraping for change and putting things back to get what we could. During this crusting the lady behind us is watching us kind of look like poor traveling kids. So after we head out of the market we're standing there packing up our bikes and she pulls up with her husband and they try to hand us a wad of money saying we look like we could use it. Ha..Ha... Well we deny the money but it turns out they are the camp hosts at the campground we were headed to that night. They give us free camping. We likey free campy!!!!!! We pull into our site and start washing our cycling shorts at this faucet and can't help but strike up a conversation with the lady in the site next to us. These two cute little munchkins are running all around camp acting hilarious. We introduce ourselves and talk about our trip for a minute. The muchkins are her kids, their dad is down at the lake fishing. So we walk back to camp and no more than five minutes later the little boy TJ runs up and says "Wanna Beew?" So damn cute. We say yes and he and his sister return with some frosty goodness. Five minutes later Allie the little girls rides up on her bike and asks us to come over for dinner. Liz and I agree enthusiastically. SO we enjoy an amazing steak dinner with Tom, Rene and their kids, they are committed to giving us hangovers. Tom and I strum out some almost like music sounding things on our guitars while lizzy gives drum lessons to the jibs. So we get the invite for breakfast the next morning which was just as amazing as dinner. The campsite was about four miles from one of Montana's amazing landmarks called the Ross Creek Cedars. A massive ancient grove of cedar trees at the base of the huge mountainous gully. Since its four miles up a steep windy road our ambition to pedal up there is nill. Well Tim and Rene give us the keys to their truck and their kids. So Liz and I drive up to this amazing place in a random truck with two of the raddest little squirts imaginable. SO damn random and cool... That was a great stay. Thanks Tom, Renee, Allie, TJ.
Well I hope I haven't over typed but those are just a few of the numerous encounters with great, entertaining and overly hospitable people we've encountered everyday. Montana is not to be fathomed. Everything you've heard or imagined is just that but on the big screen, with high definition and 3D glasses. We're still doing well and we're healthy and happy. Liz's mom Cynthia mailed me my skateboard because I was started to show signs of L.O.S.S. (lack of shredding syndrome) So I got my stick yesterday and got to ride an insane four foot indoor mini ramp alone within an hour of picking it up at the post office. Life is complete. We love you guys. Lily and Juday and Pat I will call you momentarily. We should be to West Yellowstone by Monday. I miss allz yooz guys so much. Go ride your bicycle somewhere, spend the night and ride back, I promise you it will change something in you. Adios, Nick and Liz. Loads of pics will be present as soon as I find a pinche computadora with a cd rom drive. Yargghhhh!

WOWshington!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-06-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

Well hello there again. We have officially exited the state of washington and we are in Sandpoint Idaho. THis place is unbelievable, the town sits right on a Lake Pend Orielle which seems to me that it's bigger and deeper than Tahoe and just about as clear. The lake funnels into the huge river which we rode along for the past two days. Sandpoint has been some good fun. We're staying at a campground right on the city beach at the lake and we get to use all the amenities of the hotel on the water. Consequently Liz and I sat at the pool and hot tub all day yesterday and proceeded to get quite sauced....Heh heh heh....Following our three Pabst pitcher stint poolside we went to hang out with our camp neighbor at the local pizza joint. Ian is his name and he lives in Orange county now but he's here for the summer. Ian paid for our pizza and beer last night. THanks Ian!!!! Our stay here has been so darn nice, we're actually supposed to be on the road today but we liked it here so much we hadta stay another glorious day and relax. Plus I think we both kinda agreed that two days rest would help in the long run. (excuses, excuses). Anyway this place rules, awsome ski resort, crazy rad lake, and killer mountain biking, it's super peaceful and quaint and you can buy a house!!!!!!!!!! Imagine that..........

SO anyway this was supposed to be a synopsis of Washington. Since Omak liz and I had to ride a couple more mountain passes heading east out of the state. Seriously the scenery was ridiculous, like almost to pretty to take in. While descending down from Wacounda Pass we got to see a real live beaver in pond roadside, we were hyped. I know it doesn't sound that cool but damn.....beavers are sweet. The very next day while descending into the town of Republic after climbing the tallest year round open pass (Sherman Pass) in the state liz pointed out two huge golden eagles!!!!!!!! Holy Shatner. Eagles are pretty damn sweet too. We'd both never really seen eagles before either. Ok so ummmmmmm..... Like three minutes later we're flying down the winding highway and POW right in the middle of the road a black bear is standing there looking at us. What a trip, we were amped. Aint never really seen one a dem either. Hot Damn!!! So anywho aside from the wildlife the little towns have all been really friendly and almost all of them have kick-ass organic food markets. And we think small towns are living in the past.... Can't think of a good one to speak of were I live. We've come to learn that this is the wettest and greeenest June for Washington in a long time and we feel so lucky to have traveled through it during this time because everything was at it's peak..Green and flourishing.Oh the stories and the people we've met so far, it's crazy to think it's only been two weeks. All I have to say is Washington was way more than I expected and I likey. We are starting a new state tomorrow which will be Montana. Oh Snap!!! It's only going to be two days of riding for us to pass through the Idaho Panhandle but we put in some good time in the Spud State.

Liz and I are doing great and we feel healthy and energetic, damn I feel like I have no sense of humor today sorry if this is a bit dry. But here's are General Itinerary for the next week or so. Tommorow we're riding around the lake over to Clark Fork, Id. then onto Libby, Whitefish, West Glacier, and Colombia falls, Montanta. We're planning on spending the early part of next week in Glacier National Park molding and seeing the sites. Our expectation is to be in Jellystone for the 4th of July. Heck Yes!!!!!!! We love and miss all yooz guys.

We're on the Road!!! Yessireee!!

2006-06-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

Week One: Western Washington and the Cascades
Hello there everyone, we hit the road last week in Anacortes Washington on Tuesday 6-6-06(spooky)... Anyway we have been pedaling for a week now and it has been nothing but wonderful. Lots of hospitable people and great campgrounds. We have camped alongside a river every night since we left. We rode along the Skagit river toward the Cascade mountains for the first two days winding through some awesome ranches and open forest lands. The third day we were in the base of the Cascades
{tHIS Is tHE daY BEfoRe dEpARturE iN AnACORtEs wASHinGTon, wE sPENt a coUPlE HOurS EAtINg ANd OrGANiZING oUR gEAR. tHaNKS FOR thE gREAT triP Up AND a WOndeRfUL PIcNic AT thE hARbOR mOm ANd dAD}
which we learned have the greatest concentration of glaciers in the lower 48 states...FACTOID. We spent the night on Thursday on Diablo Lake. The craziest most vibrant emerald green water color we have ever seen. We had intended on staying there for a day off but we had no cash to pay for the second day at the site so we got the boot from the crusty old ranger. We hit the road around noon thinking we had about a thirty five mile ride over the pass(mind you this was our first uphill experience)but it turned out to be just thirty five miles of mountain climbing up to 5,600 feet. The day started with some sunshine and then we just got pissed on for about an hour. Soggy and cold we had been riding for a good five hours and still no end in sight of the harsh climb. Rookies as we are we did not bring enough water because we did not intend on going uphill for{LEAVING ANACORTES 6-6-06} at least seven hours. We were forced to stop at the very top of the pass just before dark. There was a good three feet of snow on the ground and we needed to get some sleep and get warm as well as boil some snow for water. We found a janky ass awning at an outhouse at the base of a trailhead. We set up the tent under the awning and stashed all of our wet stuff in the bathroom...(Crusters.....) We shivered ourselves to sleep as the rain poured down on us all night, wasn't more than fourty degrees. This was definitely our roughest coldest and most adventurous day yet. It made for a great memory though. So that was the Cascades, so damn beautiful and huge, truly some of the most amazing peaks in the country. Saturday and Sunday we spent in a cabin at a KOA on the river on the eastern valley of the
{LIzZiE On OUR FiRsT DAy OF pEDALING, cRUISinG
aLONg THe SOUNd}

Cascades in the town of Winthrop, which by the way is a really darn cool town ( a place to raise kids I reckon). So lets see, yesterday we rode more east over another mountain range called LOUP LOUP Pass which was about 4,500 feet. Another tough climb cause we aren't in shape yet. So here we are in Omak Washington, kind of crappy bit kind of cool at the same time(Industrial town with lots of haggard native american burnouts) Right on a river once again. Gotta go now cause we're getting kicked of the library computer but we love all of our friends and family so much and it would not be possible to have this experience
{hEAdING EaST OUtsIDE NewHaLEM ON dAY TWO tOWARD tHE cASCaDES AnD OUR dAy Of DOoM..... yARRGHH!
without all of your support and help. Thanks guys. Stick and Liz { NOrTHeRN WaSHiNgTon SqUATTING wIz MOnSTEr (nEARLY eXTINcT)

dIAbLO lAkE...nUF SaID
{yEAH iM WEaRING fLOREscENT.... anYBODy CAn Do IT rEALLy It jUSt TaKEs A liTTle pRACticE}
wIz moNStER.... cHARgiNG

oUr LItTLe HoME fOR A coUPLE niGHtS... bOWNT CHICA wOW wOW. WiNThROp.

rAiN, RAiN, aND mORe RAin, HEaDED eASt TOwARD OMAk. sEE yOU sOOn.

Latest news!!!!

2006-05-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

Hey there y'all. We're two weeks away from leaving on our mission and we're getting just a little exited..... Yeah right, we're shatting our pants! I can't believe it's here, we've been preparing and changing up our equipment trying to work out all the kinks. Naturally we haven't been riding as much as we should due to like hanging with all of our friends that we're gonna miss so much and our parents who have been visiting the past couple weeks. Last week we rode to Ventura from San Diego for three days. We camped in Dana Point the first night, Long Beach the second and Malibu the third night. This trip was great, it was awesome to test all our gear in the way we will be using it daily. We decided to change our tent cause it was to cave-ish. We got something bigger and lighter which worked out beautifully. Initially I had thought I was going to use panniers( bags that attatch to racks on the bike) but I have decided to pull a trailer as well as lizzie. The trailers allow for more freedom as well as letting us bring the guitar and drum. We have just finally finished getting all the final things we need for the trip...THanks MoM! We're trying to get some sponsors from Rei and Clif bar right now which hopefully works out cause then we'll have lots of energy bars the whole way. YEEEhAA! Well I kinds of donts gots much left to type at the moment. Keep you updated when I get some more to talk about. THanks for your interest guys. LOVE YA>.

What We're Doing... Where We're Pedaling...

2006-04-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

Hey there all of you out there who happen to be viewing this, I'm sure you are all friends or family of ours so thank you for your interest in keeping track of us and wondering just what the heck we're up to. As of May the 20th we will be headed up north toward Seattle from San Diego to embark on an over 4,000 mile bicycle journey of doom. Heh...Heh...Heh... Anywho Liz and I will take the easy ride up north with our parent's in a car and spend some time hanging with them in the city for a few days. On June the 1st we will hopefully saddle up and say goodbye to all the luxuries and conveniences we have consistantly known for our whole lives, oh yeah and our parents too. We will be pulling all of our camping equipment, clothes, food, cameras, guitar, drum, and amenities with us on small tow trailers designed for bicycle touring. Since we decided to give up our house, our cars, and our jobs this means that we have no real time limit, no real idea what is going to happen nor an agenda to return too. Yeeehaaa!

We imagined up this idea together one day while dorking around in Rei as nerdy as that sounds. Liz and I had wanted to embark on something big and adventurous for as long as possible maximizing all the financial means we could scrounge up. I have had the urge to do a cross country trip since middle school and to be able to have someone like my girlfriend to do it with is just super duper!!!!!!!!!!! So as difficult as this ride is going to be it is going to be much more devastating for us to say goodbye to the ocean and our wave sliding boards. NO SURFING FOR FOUR MONTHS!!!!! It sounds like it could be the title of a horror movie or something. Jeepers...... So with that in mind it will be interesting to see how we handle ourselves being landlocked on two wheels for such a long period of time.

Our journey begins just north of Seattle on around the first of June. We will pedal our carcasses accross Washington; Northern Idaho, into Montana's Glacier National Park, then downward from there into Yellowstone Park Wyoming. We will then shoot ( you can't really shoot on a bike with fourty pounds of gear behind you but you get the jist) into Colorado to visit friends in Breckenridge. After a brief stint of some possible skateboarding and alcohol abuse we will once again saddle up and head east out of Colorado through Kansas and into Missouri joining up with the Mississippi River. We will follow her north for a week or so stopping in Missoula(the home of Mark Twain) to visit some people I should have visited a long long time ago. After an outing with Bob and Loretta we will divert east once again into Illinois, Indiana and then on to Ohio to possibly see another beloved friend of ours. More riding will take us northeast up along Lake Erie squeaking through Pennsylvania and into New York. Our time here will I'm sure be crazy and explanatory for we will be landing in Buffalo for a few days. My mom grew up there and I have heard oh so many stories of the Buff town. There is also an enormous population of the McGuires still residing there, all of whom I have never met. Hmmm??? Think we'll drink some beer with those guys???? Into a hungover next few days on our bikes we will trek the rest of the state of New York reaching Vermont hopefully during the beginning of fall season change which should prove to be most excellent. New Hampshire and Maine will be our next two regions and will most likely blow our minds with beauty.. Did I just write that??? Intersting.... So that about does it, thats our route. We will end in Bar Harbor, Maine with a some serious molding in the finest bed and breakfast our maxed out credit cards will get us. Cheers.