Bios

Patrick Colleran
Hometown: Boise, Idaho
Bike: A 1976 Sam Braxton (#23) refurbished for it's second cross country trip
Favorite piece of gear: B17 brooks saddle
Go-to road food:Corndogs
Best touring specific trick: Poppin curbs and riding wheelies
Last employment: Field leader for citizen science backpacking trips for wilderness character monitoring in the HPBH WSA just north of Yellowstone
Most anticipated destination: Austin, Texas
Best bike related experience: Touring the San Juan Islands with Alison E. Riley

Max Horrowitz-Burdick
Hometown: Longmont, CO.
Bike:
Salsa Vaya
Favorite piece of gear:
spatula
Go-to road food:
snickers
Best touring specific trick:
on bike sunscreen application
Last employment:
Denali National Park trail crew
Most anticipated destination:
middle of nowhere mississippi
Best bike experience:
first wheely

Vince Roubitchek
Hometown: Mt. Prospect, Illinois
Bike: Surly Long Haul Trucker (Fatties Fit Fine)
Favorite piece of gear: Bear Spray
Go-to road food: Jalapeno Cheddar Cheetos
Best touring specific trick: Limbo under gates of closed campsites....while riding
Last employment: Raft/Backpack Guide in West Glacier, Montana
Most anticipated destination: Beers on the beach in MIAMI!
Best bike experience: Cruisin' Avenue of the Giants in Nor Cal

Kyle Lehman
Hometown: Corbett, Oregon
Bike: Surly Cross Check with a dented rear wheel and noisy brakes.
Favorite piece of gear: Michael Jordan tank top
Go-to road food: Corn doggies
Best touring specific trick: No handed jacket removal
Last employment: Wildland Firefighter for the State of Montana
Most anticipated destination: New Orleans
Best bike experience: Crashing so hard while dirt jumping that I shit my pants.

Danny Thuerer
Hometown: Boise, Idaho
Bike: Surly Long haul Trucker
Favorite piece of gear: GoLite nickers
Go-to road food: Milky way
Best touring specific trick: Riding forward
Last employment: Helena National forest
Most anticipated destination: The South
Best bike experience: Riding down hill

Saturday, November 26, 2011

night ride

We packed up our roadside spaghetti dinner as the last of the sun's red glow faded into night and started our ride toward a picnic area near the McDonald observatory outside Fort Davis, TX.  Low clouds covered the stars and moon.  The topography hid the horizon.  No homes or traffic lights to give scale to the blackened space.  All I can see is the 100ft or so of head lamp illuminated two lane road in front of me.  The ambient eerie noise of Animal Collective adds the perfect soundtrack to our ride through ephemeral emptiness.  The headlamps behind cast giant shadows of the riders in front.  Their unzipped jackets blowing behind them give the shadow riders chaotic black wings.  An hour passes.  It's difficult to gage how far we've travelled or how much farther we have to go.  The riding starts to become more difficult.  Suddenly I'm in my lowest gear having to stand and pump to climb a hill I couldn't see so didn't know existed until it stole all my momentum.  We continue to climb.  The fatigue from the miles begins to take its toll physically and mentally.  That bizarre numbness of body and mind that can only be experienced from exhaustion takes over. A horizon and a few stars appear in the distance then disappearr as we fly downhill and into the empty picnic area.  I roll into what will be camp for the night as depleted as my flat rear tire.  140 miles is a long way.  
MHB

3 comments:

  1. Awesome ride you guys. How was Thanksgiving? Y'all coming into GA on this ride? Maybe I'll get to ride a litlle with you. Take care. Uncle Robbie

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  2. Your posts are not deflated, like your tires. The blog writing helps inflate my imagination, so I know what ya'll are doing. How many flats have you had total? Or have ya'll lost track?

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