Day 9: New Orleans

Today we had our first rest day, a full day without driving the bikes (well we put a few miles on the bikes driving from our small house to the backpackers).

We woke up fairly early and upon checking out the weather channel we realized there wasn't much point in trying to leave New Orleans today. A large storm was crawling towards us with area of "red" showing on the weather map signifying severe weather. Then they said something about a tornado warning so we just chilled out at our amazing little place. It is the perfect size, small kitchen through the front door, small living room with attached small bathroom and a small loft above the living room.

We did some gear research, specifically looking at tires to replace our worn down ones. We have put over 2000 miles on the bikes this trip alone and by the time we get to Austin I will have put well over 6500 miles on the stock tires and the bike will be well overdue for new ones. After reading for hours and checking out online fourms we have decided to get some German imports if we can find them, the MEFO MFE 99 Sport Explorer Tires. They are suppose to last 16,000 miles if you treat them right (whatever that means).

So we took showers, relaxed for a few hours, and then we did our laundry, finally. With the clothes in the wash, we headed down to Johnny Whites to find Robert drinking his beer and reading his news paper. Over our beers (how could we say no?) we dropped the idea of having a meal to which Robert said "ah ha! I know the perrrfect place." After moving the laundry over to the dryer we headed up the street to find this "perfect place."

A beautiful french style cafe with fresh baked goods and hot cafe au lait was our destination, mmm...

James is the king of the candid photos...

With our bellies full we parted ways with Robert as we had to get our stuff packed up so we could move across town to India House, the backpackers here in New Orleans. With our things ready we walked the 5 blocks down Rampart to get the lot where we had left the bikes; they were still there.

Riding across town took us past many buildings and houses that were claimed by Katrina and have not been renovated. Broken windows, discolored walls, boarded up doors and storefronts; pretty much everything was deserted.

One beacon of light in the bleakness was the street trolly which is running, although on an abreviated network. A funny thing about the trolly we saw is that it was one the original trollys that were put into service back in the 1920s. New trollys had been put into service shortly before Katrina with all the bells and whistles including air conditioning and windows that could not be opened. What is a street trolly without the sounds and smells of the street? Well those trollys were claimed by Katrina and now they have been refurbishing the original ones that were untouched by the hurricane. Long live the street cars!

We found our way to the backpackers where we put the motorcycles in the bicycle corral and got set up in the bunk house.

Day 8: Broadway Motel, Hattiesburg, Mississippi to New Orleans

We took our time this morning in the Broadway Motel, using the internet and sleeping in. What a shitty beginning to an amazing day. We packed up and headed south on rt. 11 on long straight roads. Our plan was to drive on 11 to 607 through the John C. Stennis NASA test site to 604 to 90 and on in to New Orleans.

As we were driving down 607 we saw a security checkpoint and I started to just crack up because we had come so far down this road and we were stopped by the gate attendants. You can't get there this way, a cyclist tried the same thing and they turned him around as well. He was doing a similar trip to Mexico. So we drove back the way we came to a road we noticed on the way in and took a right onto this "dirt interstate."



It was the reddest dirt and seemed as if we were in another part of the world, and the road was about 100 feet wide, enough for 4 tractor trailer trucks to drive side by side. The road was also in the NASA blast buffer zone, whatever that means... It was very strange to me, the whole situation with the guards being so chill and not really knowing what is going on in the government test facility and not really caring. It also seemed as if they had been working their for 30 years. On either side of the dirt road was tree farms of massive amounts of pine trees stretching as far as the eye could see, it was Saturday so no one should have been working on the road but there were a few sketchy pickups around not really doing much. It was a very beautiful event though.





We made it off the road and into a breakfast joint, ordered and then witnessed a van catch fire outside the window right in front of us. I tried to use one of the fire extinguishers but it had expired and didn't work one bit. We finally put out the fire with the help of the "chef." The funny thing is that this was the third fire today in front of the gas station/restaurant.

Driving into New Orleans on Rt. 10 was a trip. We had been warned that the city is dangerous and is not a great place to be traveling, we listened but still made our journey. The first sign that the there is something wrong with the city was a billboard that was still on the massive steal post but blown sideways. Also, all of the rest areas and weight stations that we opened (I think there was one) had a new sign saying that it provided security to users. The welcome center was closed for renovations and there was construction going on along all of the interstate. There was even an exit which was barricaded off... no where to go there.

The bridges were another major sign that something was wrong. The majority of the sides of the bridges were non-existent and parts of the bridge had been blown out and temporary steel sections had been put in their place. A new bridge was being built alongside the old one.

Once we passed over the bridges and entered New Orleans the air became thicker and had a stench to it. The houses along the highway looked as though there had been a zombie invasion, actually the entire day felt like that, that we were entering an area where a recovery effort was underway to rid New Orleans of zombies. Neighborhoods had been fenced off with broken windows and ripped roofs.

Just a very strange feeling...

After a few times around the streets of the French Quarter, we homed in on the corner of Bourbon and Orleans and finally met up with Robert. Beer in hand, Robert directed us to our accommodations a few blocks away, We unloaded the bikes and shed some layers of riding gear before we all (yes Robert included) hopped back on the bikes to go find the place to park them where for $40 we apparently can count on them being there when we go looking for them tomorrow.

We first stopped at Johnny White's Sports Bar, the only bar that didn't close during Katrina in all of New Orleans! There we met some interesting characters and had a couple cold Abita Ambers (Robert's choice brew). Then walked around the French Quarter passing by some amazing architecture (Robert of course had the skinny on pretty much every building we passed).
This place pictured here is the oldest building in the city built in 1788.


We eventually ended up at a little joint called d.b.a. to listen to some Jazz, the most phenomenal live music I have ever herd. We sat on the floor right in front of the musicians while enjoying a half dozen more Abitas.



I could go on and on about the politics of the whole situation and the inequality and lack of government support for the New Orleans community, but I won't now cause I am to tired. What I will say is that this city looks and feels like a nuclear bomb was dropped on a zombie invasion and the only thing that is keeping the city's heart beating is the Jazz. This city has a future and has an amazing history but just needs a little help from its friends to rebuild the city stronger and better and more sustainable. It was very interesting to see the impact of global warming and the possibility of this same scene happening all over the world. We need to help these people and we need to put on our thinking caps and make non-political solutions to the real world problems of poverty, inequality, crime, disparity, health, family, love...

I might be rambling...

We are staying in a little cottage that used to be slaves quarters behind the main house of a friend of Robert. Totally adequate living space if you ask me. From the way life goes here, you don't really spend much time at home anyhow.

Goodnight and let the music set you free!

Day 7 Talladega National Forrest to Broadway Motel, Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Oh how time changes where your on the road.

We did a lot of driving today around 400 miles, crazy amount.

There was clear cutting all over the place and it really struck me that Alabama would have so much deforestation. I have also been reading Collapse by Jared Diamond and have been making similarities between the book and what I have been seeing.

Today was amazing to see the amount of poverty throughout the entire state, the roads were bumpy, the people seemed distressed and in need of some love. There were also churches every 100 yards, mostly Baptist.

Our plan was to stop in DeSoto National Forrest but it was impossible to get into the forest from the road that we were on.

So now we are is some run-down motel sharing a queen size bed, the head board is crooked, the bathroom fan is not a fan at all but a hole in the ceiling going straight to the roof, and the ash tray is upside down on the bed side table. Basically we are camping in the room for fear of being overrun by "the elements". For dinner we set up the camp stove on the toilet (to utilize the "bathroom fan") and cooked up some turkey chili. We have been writing for a while now because this is the first time we have had an internet connection since Philadelphia.

Here is a picture of us right now...


One last thing, how is it that we have ridden over 2000 miles in a southerly direction and yet the temperature is still in the freakin' 40's? I think Robert has been taking us for a ride with all his talk about the warm weather in New Orleans.

Day 6: Mount Pisgah Campground to Talladega National Forrest.

What a great idea it was to stay on top of the mountain last night. Though it rained really hard all night, by the time we woke up there were spots of blue skies. We didn't really care what time it was and just enjoyed ourselves making coffee and packing up camp. Bears didn't get us last night either so that is really good too.

We drove back around the locked gate and continued down the Blue Ridge Parkway, we had some some amazing vistas before the fog socked our views in, but the riding was still amazing despite the rain pelting us and the fog getting in our visors.









It was a sad day when we pulled off of the Blue Ridge Parkway, it was raining and we were kind of miserable. We also knew that our families were back home having a wonderful Thanksgiving meal while we were on the road. By chance on highway 76 we found ourselves a great place to have our thanksgiving meal, The Cabin. It was just what we needed in the cold wetness.

To continue our American Thanksgiving we went looking for some off-roading that we had planed. So we took root five and just could not find the road, pulling over at a gas station and asking a young local fellow in the Monte Carlo where the overpass was, he gave us the directions and off we went.




We spent about two hours switchbacking and phish-tailing around the foggy mountain gravel paths. It was a blast and we both were getting a work out when we came upon this little scene...




About the time we started our off-road adventure a woman came around this corner a little to fast and didn't quite make it, her car went over the edge and down the very steep embankment about 100 yards before stopping. When we arrived the Sheriff and Tow truck were already there and the tow cable had just snapped upon our arrival. The people there said the woman was fine and had been taken to hospital about an hour and a half ago.

We got out of the woods and picked up some beer and directions from a man who we could barely understand his accent was so thick.

For a little back story, before getting to The Cabin we bought some thanksgiving supplies including a blueberry pie, so through all of the driving and off roading the pie was banging around and was letting us know that it was banging around. When we finally arrived to our campsite in Talladega National Park we were in need of some pie so we opened it up and it was about 90% intact, all i can say is WOW!

Day 5: Meadow of Dan to Mount Pisgah Campground

Today started as good as it ended and just to put the day in perspective we have set up our tent and we are making dinner, pasta a la 5000 ft., all for free because people in North Carolina don’t like to camp in November. We just drove around the locked gate and picked a great spot, now I have to eat so I'll be back to writing in a little while, mmmmmmmmmm pasta!

This morning we woke up at Will’s Biker Campground and let me let you all know that he made a very generous gesture to us travelers. If he is reading this, and we left you a thank you note in the gazebo, we want to thank you again, it is amazing the people you meet on the road. We packed up our stuff before sunrise and jumped back on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was so cold and yet so beautiful. It is amazing when you wake up in weather like that how your body adjusts to the temperature. Your body is still for 8 hours only using minimal energy to keep the body warm in the sleeping bag, than just as you get out of the bag you body has not had time to pump all the warm blood to your body so you stand jumping around shivering. And finally you are kind of warm from packing up the tent and stuffing the bag and making tea and packing up the cases and loading everything on the bike with all of the gear on, socks, boots, long johns, board shorts, double knees, silk shirt, polypropylene, fleece, sweatshirt, and jacket (having three of its own layers, synthetic down, waterproof membrane and outer shell, then the balaclava helmet, clear glasses, fleece gloves mountaineering glove shells and finally a big smile. We preheat the bikes, kick them in gear and pull away slowly down the bush tunnel path of Wills Campground.

The Blue Ridge Parkway was again beautiful today, winding roads through foggy fields and warm south facing slopes. Our helmet shields would fog up and we would have to go bare eyed. There were amazing mountain vistas around every corner.

We got off the parkway to get some breakfast at 9:40 and also to fix my coffee addiction. We met some great locals on the road asking directions.

After breakfast we got back on the Parkway only to realize they closed off a giant section so we had to detour, leading us to none other than… yup a HIGHWAY AHHHHHHHHH! We got off that bad boy asap and got on some back road to somewhere. Winding through cow pastures we were enjoying not knowing where we were going or where we came from, only to glide along the road twisting corners and listening to Jasmin purr to her hearts content.

We came to a beautiful small lake town east of Ashville with windy roads full of tourists. We pulled over at the top of one hill to fix Colin’s mirror and believe it or not we were right in front of a post office with a fax machine. So Colin sent all of his final paperwork in for the bike so the title should be coming soon…

Today was also the day when we decided to be on our own time, this is our vacation so we are from this point on only doing what we want when we want, yes we can keep our itinerary but no we are not going to rush and we made up a three point list of importance.

1. Safety.

2. Having fun.

3. Destination.

Making our way back to the Blue Ridge Parkway we got gas and found a great little organic food shop with NPR playing. Finally we got back to the BRP and made our way up the windy roads through about half a dozen tunnels where we had fun beeping our horns and yodeling all the way to Pisgah Mountain at about 4980. And here is where I started the day. Our computer is about to die, I just saved it, I don’t know if we will be able to do a life blog tomorrow but we shall see.

Day 4: Front Royal to Meadow of Dan

Our two alarms went off at 3:30am this morning in our motel room. We were trying to make up for lost miles and time yesterday with the whole park ranger incident. The pack up was quick we were able to ride away at 4:30am south on rt. 340. It was dark, real dark and we made good time on the 80 or so miles to Waynesboro, here we fueled up and got lost for 13 miles until getting direction to head back on the road we came from. We were looking for the Blue Ridge Parkway and it was so dark out that we had driven right by the massive mountain range. But by 7:30 we were on the ridgeline watching the sunrise making ourselves oatmeal and tea, grinning. By 8am we were back on the bikes cruising south on the top of the world. This road is by far one of the best roads I have ever been on with the bike, this is not saying much but I think most bikers would agree.

Because of today I have finally named my bike, I have been thinking about it for a few days but was not sure. After taking winding curving roads at 50 mph in 3^rd gear it is official, she is Asian and purrs like a tiger so her name can be none other than Jasmin and oh man was that tiger a pleasure to ride today. The trick is to not use your breaks at all only using the throttle at high RPMs to adjust the speed in the turns. It was hard to focus on the road with such amazing views all day long,

After doing 250 miles by 11:30am we had lunch, we had been on the bike for many hours and stopped for some soup, break, brie cheese and some sunshine. It was glorious. Colin made some phone calls I did a little reading and we hung out for about 2 hours.

It was 1:30 by the time Jasmin was purring again. We were both getting worn out and the roads were not as amazing as before, though they were amazing winding roads through green fields with wide turns running along streams. It was one of these streams we stopped at that had been dammed where we realized out original plan was a bit ambitious, not that we couldn’t complete it but we would rather find a place to camp early and have a nice relaxed night after our long day. We decided to take rt. 58 west towards the Appellation mountains and find a campground there. Our first stop was a RV park that was not appetizing at all, but the owner said that there was a biker campground down the road that might still be open. We toured the RV park then went to have a look at the biker campground and not to our surprise it was closed. We parked our bikes and had a walk around finding the owner, Will, working on his bike. We chatted for a little while and he offered us a place to stay on his land free of charge even though he closed a month before our arrival. We were delighted to enter the NO CARS gate and take our first step into the biker campground world. We are the only ones here now, writing this, eating soup and bread, listening to Phish drinking PBR and enjoying the warm night weather knowing that in the morning we will start this all over again. I now sign off heading into the tent and into the dream world of my sleeping bag.

Day 3: Philadelphia to Front Royal

“Country roads take me home to the place I belong”, Toots and the Maytals covered a song with these lines in it and this explains perfectly our experience of the roads of Maryland and Virginia.

We woke up today at 5:43am at UPenn, it was dark and cold out and we didn’t want to get out of our sleeping bags. After 43 minutes of hitting the snooze button we got out of bed got dressed, packed up and headed out the door. The best part was that our bikes were right where we left them in west Philadelphia. It took us a while to get out of the rainy city on rt. 3 west and after we found rt. 1 and negotiated the traffic we carved on some of the best roads so far on our trip. We put about 100 miles on the bikes before stopping for breakfast. If you ever get the chance to travel to Maryland try rt. 137 and 138, just a delight. After breakfast we got on 23w towards Shenandoah National Park.

While stopping on rt. 340 to change our oil we ran into a wonderful fellow in the parking lot of the auto store. Baseball hat, glasses, trimmed beard and stepping out of a large pickup, our new friend walked right over to us and started chatting, talking about our bikes and the trip. He turned to head into the store and got about five steps towards the door when he did a 180 and walked right back to us asking, “what are you boys gonna do with that oil when your done changing it?” I replied that we were going to toss it in the auto store. “Do you mind if I buy a funnel, bottle it up and take it.” Be my guest I replied and continued changing the oil. He came back out with yellow funnel in hand and we proceeded to dump the oil from the pan through the funnel and into the now empty new oil containers. He was going to use the oil for one of his cars and we were delighted because we didn’t have to throw it away, he even wanted the pan. The best part of the whole situation is not that he took our oil and we made a new friend, but then he traded the 4 quarts of used oil that we were going to throw away for 4 fresh amazing apples from his farm. I shit you not, that was the best apple I have ever had.

We arrived in Front Royal at about 2:30 looking for gear for the night, fuel for the stove, food, etc. we dilly dallied and at Stokes General Store where we bought our goodies we ran into a guy who rode cross-country though not on a motorcycle as you might suspect, but on horseback in the 1970’s. Funny the people you meet on the road.

Our goal for the night was to camp in Shenandoah National Park and the only way to get there to our knowledge was to take Skyline Drive, the only problem was that the road closed at 5:00 and we arrived at 5:18. So like any young adventurers we drove around the locked gate and into the park.

It was a trip let me tell you. Not 2 miles into the park we came around a corner only to be confronted by a wall of fog. The speed limit was 35, but you can barley do that speed because visibility was all of about 15 feet. We rolled on and saw about a dozen deer crossing the road. The fog also made it feel as though we were floating; we had no sense of direction; the only thing to do was to follow the double yellow line. It was kinda like in the Super Mario Bro's game on the original Nentendo where the guy stays in one place and the landscape moves around him. It felt like we weren't in control and all we were doing was leaning the bikes this way and that with the ground going by us. We pulled over after about 20 miles of this dream state and had to just laugh with each other at how ridiculously amazing the drive had been so far. And just as we are giving our high fives in pitch black a pair of head beams hits us that belong to the park ranger.

“hello, how are you guys doing tonight.”

“good and yourself sir?”

“Good. Did you know that this road closed at 5pm, what time did you get on the road, was the gate open?”

“Around 5ish.”

“Was the gate open?”

(we pause)

“Yes, the gate was open.”

“Are you sure the gate wasn’t closed? Well the park is closed so you will have to follow me out.”

We had been on the road twisting and winding in the fog and we now had to turn back with no campsite and no dinner. So I am writing this in a motel that has the “best rates in town”, and man is this place swanky. We have added our own touch though with our clothesline. Its 9:56, Colin is passed out cold and I am about to follow him. Our plan for tomorrow is up at 3:30am and down to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I will now get in my sleeping bag and go to sleep. Goodnight y’all (we're in Gods country now)

Day 2: Montague to Philadelphia

Day 2 brought us a little of everything. We started out on frost covered bikes at around 7am with an estimated 300 miles to cover and partly cloudy skies above us. We decided to get some miles under us before stopping for breakfast so we headed west on route 9 out of Northampton with the plan of stopping at or near the Hawthore Vally Farm in Harlemville, NY for some eats.

The sunshine was sparkling on the tips of the frosted grasses along the road. Well at least it was right up until I let out a big breath (why? I don't know.) and my face shield instantly became translucent. With fogging issues sorted, we continued our ride only to be confronted a short time later with a roadway that looked to be wet, but with the temperatures as they were, that was imposible. Gingerly, we skimmed across the "wetness" and carried on. The Teconic State Parkway was great riding with many oportunities for us to ride side by side in our own lanes and a great diner just an exit or two before Harlemville with a big banner out front: Welcome Bikers.

After breakfast we made a stop at the H.V. Farm for old times sake. One last note about the Teconic... I think we saw about a dozen troopers on patrol during our forty-something mile jaunt, many with customers.

Things went smoothly for a good long stretch but with increasing cloud cover and standing water in low spots we wondered just how long it would be until we caught up with the offending rain storm. Oh wait, I meant snow storm. New Jersey greeted us with our first true taste of winter with sleet at lower elevations and giant snow drops at the peaks. With no sign of snow build-up on the road we rolled on with careful decelerations for each corner (or switchback as the case was several times). How was the visibility through the face shield? One word: Crap.
Snow eventually changed to rain and stayed that way (at varying intensities) for the rest of the day.

Pennsylvania apparently was gaurding it's borders from us because several attempts at getting out of NJ were thwarted by the mysterious disappearance of road signs in all the right places. Route 29 seemed to be the outter limit. Sometimes you have to just give in, so we eventually stopped to have something to eat so as to move forward with fully functioning brain cells. Upon entering our destined roadside bar/resturant we were greeted by the only waitstaff in the place with "I'm sorry, you can't bring your helmets in here." After the both of us mumbling something about the qualifications/definition of "fine dinning establishments" and "taking our business elsewhere" the bartender spoke up and gave us a spot to put our helmets. Needless to say we sat at the bar.

7pm was about the time that we figured out our evening's resting place due to a case of communication breakdown. With a 50 mile section between us and UPenn where we were to spend the night, we decided that our backroad-only driving policy had to be put into "emergency mode" and we completed our day' journey with 45 min on I95. I loath "emergency mode."

Philidelphia met us with more rain and stop lights that seemed to turn red just for us. Makes for slow progress on a grid system with a stoplight at each block and 25 blocks to cover.

All day I thought that our bikes were providing us little shelter from the weather. Well, I was wrong. The moment when I really got wet was in the steady drizzle during the 5 min it took to unload the things I was bringing in for the night after parking the bike. Wetter in 5 min than 10 hours and about 400 miles on the bike, hmmm...

Now we are cozily set up in a third floor room at UPenn thanks to Jame's friend Esther and her roomates Jordan, Nneka and Stephanie. Off to sleep, peace.

-Colin

Day 1: Woburn to Montague

Today we finally left on our journey, it has taken so much work and created so much stress, but well worth it once on the road.

Our driving policy is backroads except when in an emergency.

As you can see we spent the day packing our Pelican caces.

We left after the sun set and had a wonderful farewell party with Sue, David and Chris. Our route west followed roads that Colin had previously utilized on "the other kind of bike" and included an excellent dirt road short cut in Barre. From Barre we headed around the north end of the Quabbin and over Shutesbury into the Pioneer Valley. It was below freezing during most of the ride and our bodies core tempatures dropped quite a bit so by the time we found our way into Jake's house we were shivering uncontrollably.

So like any rational people would we raided Jakes food kitchen and ate his soup, pasta and tea. (Thanks Jake!)

We then jumped under blankets and watched a Pearl Jam DVD while planning our route for day 2.

Leaving Nantucket headed to Maine.


Where are we going?

Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life!

We will be starting our trip today... I think. We are still packing and have been for a week, getting everything together. I just want to be done and get on the road, before it snows.

My Gear List is as follows:
Flip flops
Hiking boots
Wool socks
Board shorts
Shorts
Travel pants
Carhartt double knees
Che t-shirt
Nantucket dead bear long sleeve
Wicking t-shirt
Wicking long sleeve
Lite fleece
Three layer motorcycle touring jacket, Rev'it
fleece gloves, leather gloves, OR mittens
Balaclava/turtle neck/face mask
Sunglasses/clear glasses
Airoh S4 motorcycle helmet
Single wall Eureka tent
Sleeping Bag
Sleeping Pad
Whisper lite stove
Two backpacks, small and medium
Pot, lighters, fork etc.
Tool kit (well go into more depth in the future when I have Colin's Help)
Books, lonely planet, footprint handbook, motorcycle adventure handbook, modern Latin America, democracy in Latin America, collapsed, looking for history: dispatches from Latin America, pocket dictionary, and journals.
Toiletries
Frisbee
Video camera, three batteries, chargers, and DV tapes

All of this fits into my three 35 liter Caribou Pelican cases on my 2008 Kawasaki KLR 650 dual sport touring motorcycle.

A Week Without Outfitting Is A Week Not Worth Living

We have been gearing up for the past week, and have done more in this time than I can possibly imagine.

We drove down to Falmouth to get our motorcycle licenses, the trick is to talk up the lady first. We pass with flying colors in 10 minutes and headed to Hyannis to fly over to Nantucket to pick up my bike title and finish up with the rental property. After an hour and a half we get back to Hyannis and drove back to the Boston Area.

Thursday Colin got his immunizations and I got some great film footage of the whole process. Yesterday I finally got my shots and between the two of us we have received 11 shots in 24 hours, our arms feel like someone has just punched us in the arm, but it has felt like this for at least a day.

First Things First

For the past few years from the time Colin and I were dorm mates we had the saying that we were not box-able people and that we had an appetite for adventure. At some point freshman year at the University of Massachusetts Amherst we had the idea of having ourselves a motorcycle adventure.

Five years later we have made it happen!

This summer both Colin and I have been preparing for this trip, getting two 2008 Kawasaki KLR 650 dual-sport motorcycles, Caribou luggage racks with 35 liter Pelican cases, riding gear, and travel books, Frisbee, etc.

This summer I was waiting tables on Nantucket Ma at DeMarco Restaurant with amazing people, and at The Boarding House with not so amazing people. I also rented a house and played landlord.

Colin working at the one and only Wheelworks bike shop. With this background he is the mechanical genius in the relationship.

For the past month since I have left Nantucket I have been traveling and getting used to the motorcycle like spending time in MA, ME, NH, VT, CT, NY, PA, and NJ and have put about 3,800 miles on the bike.

For a bit of history for those of you who don't know our friendship, Colin and I have known each other for a very long time, before I can remember. We went to school together in Lexington Ma at the Waldorf School. Though we didn't know it at the time we had much in common including our spirit of adventure. Because of our parent and their love of Vermont we attended the same festivals many years in a row called Bread and Puppet held in Glover, Vt.

Our true friendship and deep connection started with the introduction of the Waldorf after school ski program started by Colin's father David. On Thursday afternoons a school bus full of hooligans would head to Wachusett Mountain Ski Area. We soon became skiing buddies due to our skiing abilities and good looks.

We started a band with Adam Curtis in Colin's garage, I went to more proms at Colin's High School than he did because of his professional mountain bike career.

So one little story, right after we got our brand spanking new bikes Colin took me off-roading, not like dirt and mud off-rroading but like stream bed loose rocks steep grade off-roading. I, of course with my lack of experience, dropped the bike multiple times while Colin maneuvered expertly scratching up the brand new paint job. I can only aspire to ride like Colin.

After high school we both took some time off from our studies. Colin took two years off, living in the Boston area as well as Durango, CO for a short time. I took one year off to hitchhike around New Zealand and Australia. Freshman year of college we roomed together and hand to much of a good time. This is when we had the great idea for a motorcycle trip...