day six through.....what is today?

This trip has been amazing. Everything has been working out perfectly as unplanned. Here is a quick recap of what I have been up to, read below to catch up on all the details. As with the title, I have been asking what day it is more often than usually, but I will take that as a good sign.

Cutting trails on Hogback Mountain. Rode mountain bikes on secret town trails in Vermont. Hiked another HDT mountain in Mass. Went to Boston on a whim. Drove to CT, rode bikes, drove to Rhode Island and camped out. Beach and sunburn all day. Train to NYC to crash on a couch in lower Manhattan. Indian food, drag queen bingo, and pizza in the hood. Train back to CT, in order to go to the beach....again but no sunburn. Amazing last night on the beach/camping. CT to ride bikes, watch movies, and do laundry (which apparently was the smell in the car). Drive to Killington, VT to camp out and do a little riding. Rode downhill at Killington Ski Resort, did not die and still walking. Sitting at a McD's writing.

So to say the least I have been very busy travel and activity wise, which in turn has prevented me from providing updates on my where abouts and doings. I am healthy, happy, and having the time of my life (incase anyone was concerned).

August 2nd

Early in the morning I had the chance to get out for a nicely paced 65 mile ride through the rolling hills of Vermont. A warm up to the day. After a quick lunch, and clean up, Hal and I headed up to Hogback. We started by staking and flagging the new trail "Bishop-Meadow", which will be a multi use trail through all seasons but exceptional to some flowing mountain bike turns. The crew arrived shortly after our planning was finished and we drove up to unload and begin cutting.

It was great to go stomp around in the woods for a day, checking out old foundations and seeing how much nature can change over the years.

August 3rd

A mountain bike day from the start. I woke up early and headed up to Stowe Mtn. to do a little cross country mountain biking before my planned ride with some Marlboro town folk. The riding was alright, slow, but I think that is the characteristic for many standard old growth trails in Vermont. Nevertheless I was happy with the riding, and the trails which were all conveniently named after Robin Hood.

You know it is going to be an epic trail session when the directions to get to the trail head involve "Turn left at the OVERSIZED cairn". These trails were epic, and I would have been lost without my guide. There were sections where we cut through old mills, stone walls, and early century automobile carcass'.

August 4th

A big day in travel books of randomness. After departing from Marlboro, I headed down to Mount Wachusetts. This is another one of my five Henry David Thoreau Mountains on the list. An easy and quick hike. After making my way to the top I decided that since I had never been to Boston and I was so close that I might as well take the off day and spend the night in Boston. After finding a room at a Hostel near Berkeley College of Music, I hoped a train to Beantown.

The city was amazing, with so much history and respect for the past. It was also great to see all the sox fans out in full party force, but great to see them get a Royals worthy ass-kicking. There was some slight confusion to where the Hostel was, but thanks to Alex "Droid fone" Fishman, I arrived. The evening was spent on the town, and ended in a DJ/drummers apartment listening to some incredible vinyl before making my way home to a bunk bed and some smelly roommates.

August 5th

The next few days may have been some of the best days of the trip thus far, so don't be fooled by the days events.

I made my way back to my car in some small town in Mass. Gave Carley a ring to warn her of my arrival, and let the mommy-mobile do its job to Glastonbury, CT. Upon arrival we left for lunch....so good so far. After lunch we ran into some car troubles, which ate up most of ride time, but things worked out. Finally once back at her house we got ready to leave for our ride, cleat issues and a bike shop stop later we were on the road. A brief ride around Glastonbury was excellent, just what I was looking for.

After cleaning up, and packing up the wagown, we were off to the Rhode Island coast. The drive went smoothly, and our arrival was welcomed by the very accurate resemblance of a one "Snooki" Jersey Shore POS. The camping was great at Burlingame State Park- NO ALCOHOL ALLOWED. Dinner at Captin' Jacks, don't go.

August 6th

A day at the beach, probably not what the dermatologist ordered. The game plan was set before we even left for the beach- Mimosa's for breakfast on the beach, Brats/peppers/sauerkraut for lunch. The waves were huge, and the masses of people added to the entertainment value. Lounging on the beach was great, and very relaxing to these most stressful days.

After the beach we decided we needed to find somewhere to stay for the night, since apparently all 2,300 campsites along the CT and RI shore were booked solid for the weekend. Helplessly searching sitting in a McD's (free wireless), we got ahold of Carley's friend Spencer who said we could crash at his apartment for the night. So we were off!

After missing the first train we had an hour to burn so we opted for some authentic New Haven Chinese food. This was recommended by the security at the station, who said "They have the best egg rolls, they melt in your mouth and you don't even need duck sauce." Little did we know, those two block down and two to the right would take up right to the heart of New Haven's criminal activity. Just before we got to the chinese.....lets say establishment? A full platoon of ATF agents with full gear and M16's stood outstide of a wonderful little home. It was a brisk aerobic walk back to the station.

We arrived in NYC a little later than hoped, but Spencer was full of energy after getting off work and showed us the town. A few beers at the Stag's Head, and then to Joshua Tree (not the state park). The next morning we headed to Central park for a little people watching, then off to East Harlem. Levi and Angela were waiting, ready with the agenda for the day.

Levi took us to his favorite coffee shop, and then some deep fried oreos. We picked up some beers and took off for Curry Row. This is a highlight and a ritual now for whenever I am in NYC, you cannot find restaurants like them anywhere else except for maybe India. The food was great. Then the game was on, and that game: Drag Queen Bingo.

I have been sitting in this McDonalds for well over 2 hours, which is 2 hours longer than anyone should spend in one. I will continue this updates tomorrow, but I will leave you with this picture Carley took at sunset on monday night.

An evening in Vermont

I do not have the time or energy to tell the tales of the past two days, but everything has been amazing.

Here is a brief encounter at a Vermont Gas Station/Liquor Store, when buying beer this evening.

"Are you 21?"

"yea."

"Have I carded you before?"

"No."

"Are you sure you are 21?"

"Yes."

"Ok, lets see this ID mister."

"Ok."

"Kansas, huh?"

"Yup."

"Hows dorthy?"

"Never met her. Am I still 21 in Vermont?"

"Sure, are."

(pay)

"Would you like a sack, honey?"

"No, thank you."

"You maybe born and raised in Kansas, but you are from Vermont in your heart and it shows."

There may not be a whole lot of interaction between people up here, but when they do, it is great.

The local entertainment this evening.

Day one through three

Good evening to all!

After 20 some odd hours of driving through construction zones, blast sites, and a lot of bad new york drivers, I made to to Marlboro. The drive was for the most uneventful and slow going, or at least slower than I had expected it to be. New York is a huge state, and I did not even make it all the way across. I am just glad to be done driving for now.

The first leg of the drive took me to Alum Creek State Park in Columbus, Ohio. A small lake/camping/rv park in the northern part of the city. A lot can be said for the park that is less than 20 minutes from the central part of the city. A nice lake makes up the majority of the attraction and landscape of the park; however, hidden along its shore line and backing up to the local golf course are some great mountain bike trails. Truly a loop that OMBA (say it out loud, you will smile) should be proud of.

At the trail head I met up with some locals that showed me the way around, and quickly at that. It was my first time riding wood bridges, which turned out to be a lot of fun. As you can tell from the post ride picture, they love the humidity just as much as Kansas City.

Day two was the big push to Vermont, with an early start the day was under way. The drive went smoothly, other than a bad cup of coffee for the first few hours. Around 5 p.m. I arrived in Marlboro, of course with Hal tending to the garden. A fairly mundane evening involving dinner, and some reading: What a life. Oh, and showing Hal some things on his new MacBook Pro, he was very excited.

Today was a little different. The morning began with fixing Hal's wireless, and a great breakfast. After changing cycling shoes to my old ones, and not my new, very expensive, and less than two month old s-works shoes, I was able to roll out the door on a road ride. The ride was amazing, I actually had to wear a jacket for a good hour before it was warm enough! Three & a half hours of riding and some 4,200 feet of climbing later, I was cooked to say the least. Shortly following getting cleaned up and lunch, Hal and I headed off to the Hogback Mountain.

Hal getting ready to cut some fallen trees.

There we Worked from the southern part of mountain to the north, docking protruding tree limbs and clearing fallen Firs. We continued the trail work by planning a switch back for the mountain bikers and alpine skiers, which will actually be a lot of fun once all is said and done. In addition we bush whacked our way to the connecting Tower Trail to see exactly how it would all come together.

This evening was spent at the New England House for dinner, and a walk around downtown Brattleboro. Ideas flowed about Sky View Outdoors and the future of young Americans, which brings me to my closing statement.

"Think locally, act locally" that is all it takes to be a thriving economy under one nation, just ask the other Ben, the Franklin one.

A few pictures from my ride today.

Eve of the Journey

Good evening everyone! I am glad you have taken the time to read my first post of many for this amazing trip that I am about to embark upon. It is late and tomorrow is an early start, so I am off to bed; however, keep checking back as I will be posting pictures and tales of my travels over the next three weeks. Enjoy!