The Adventure Garage

Whereispaul.me is born

2013-06-17T21:46:00.002-07:00

Well I am pleased to announce the new site is up and running thanks to a lot of work from a good friend. Whereispaul.me is the new site. It is sleak and clean looking. My goal is to have a lot of writing on my travels as I go but also to start writing about some of my past adventures as well. I hope it will be a source of knowledge for some, a source of inspiration for others, and a place of creativity for myself. A big thank you is needed for David Aviles who is my computer and coding guru. For those of you who are using a computer at work or on a non secure server you may have to access the new site using theadventuregarage.com . While the site is currently launched it is still under construction. Lots will be coming sortly, as I travel a lot will be written as I go along from my present trip as well as from my past. so check back frequently and don't forget to check out my interactive map page.

Letter on Intent - Pan American Bicycle tour trip. Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego, Argintina. Departure date July 1st 2013

2013-06-07T06:18:00.000-07:00

Letter on Intent - Pan American Bicycle Tour

Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego, Argintina.

Departure date July 1st 2013

(Emerald Bay- Lake Tahoe California 2007 on Bike and Build Trip)

I believe that within every person there is a lust for exploration. However, mine may be a little greater than most. I have biked across the USA, hiked the Appalachian Trail and explored Australia, but even after all of my travels, I still have wanderlust. I am ready to explore the Pan America Highway and to bike through countries and across continents. It is my dream. I have come to realize that there is no perfect time for a trip like the one I am about to undergo. There is never an easy time to walk away from your life. I will never be in the perfect shape, will never have enough money, nor enough time off. Now is the time! The first step, simply starting, is the hardest. If it’s something important, something that truly resonates with you, then you make time, find the money, and get in shape as you go. So I’m making the time and I’m leaving. If I don’t start now, I will always be in the planning phases. I could continue to wait for that perfect time forever so I’ve decided to leave on a wonderfully epic journey.

(REI Novarra Randonee- the bicycle I am riding. From Rei.com)

I first heard about the Pan American Highway years ago while I biking from Rhode Island to California with a group called Bike and Build. The Pan American was described to me as the greatest of adventures and not for the faint of heart. It is the ultimate bike tour that only the most daring people dream about. I knew that I would never forget the idea of such a journey and I have continued to talk about going for years with anyone who would listen. The majority think the trip is crazy, so it’s been difficult to find anyone who would contemplate the idea, let alone find another crazy enough to come with me. But I have to go. Although I am starting this trip alone, it is my hope that people will join me along the way. For some it will only be a few hours, others a few days, and maybe there will even be a few awesome people who will even come out for a few weeks or months. The moments shared will be, by far, my best ones, so I hope you consider joining me.

(Pan American Highway map and route courtesy of Wikipedia)

My plan is simple enough. July 1^st I will fly to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. I will get off the plane, pick up my bike from the post office, rebuild it, and then set off into the Alaskan wilderness: in a southern direction of course. I have mapped and studied my entire route to make a daily itinerary of what I would like to accomplish. I have broken it down in the simplest way I could, bike from point A to point B. This leaves me time and flexibility so I can truly live each day as it comes. The plan will definitely change as I go but my goal will be to average 80-90 miles a day. I will stop as circumstances come up, rest when I need too, meet and interact with people, and sight see a little here and there. My trip will be broken down into 3 parts; North, Central, and South America. I have not been to any of the areas that I propose to travel through. Even in the north, I will pass through states that are all foreign to me: Alaska, Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California. Then I will venture into Central America where I will be submerged in a new language as I pass through Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Finally, after passing the famed Darian Gap I will start the final leg of the trip through South America: Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Argentina. The end of my trip will take me to Tierra del Fuego the southernmost point of Argentina and South America. I know that this final stage will be just as glorious as the start and everything in between. If everything goes smoothly and I stick to the schedule that I have created, I could be done as early as February, 7 months from when I begin. However, I almost hope that I can extend my experience.

(Bike Route similar to what I am planning on taking- Map taken from Bikeitsolo.com - original rider and blogger who inspired me to do this trip a few years back)

I want to see the world before I settle into one city and plant roots. I need to see how far I can take this. I need to get on my bicycle and complete the Pan America Highway. In July, I will be turning 25 and as I hit my quarter life crisis, I want to be challenging myself. I would like to push my limits physically as I pedal some 15,000 miles from Alaska all the way down to Argentina. I want to see and feel the loneliness of the remote Alaskan wilderness, experience some west coast culture while seeing the grand ocean views on the road. I want to learn a new language, experience new cultures, and see the tropical rain forests and deserts along the way. I need to climb over one mountain range after another at a pedals pace so that I can see and feel every single mile. My wanderlust, my need to see what is around the next corner will keep me going, even on those days that are difficult. I want to see as much as I can, appreciate as much as I can because we never really know how long any of us will be here. Far too often we hear about people leaving this life too early between cancers and random unexpected horrible accidents. I want to live this life for as long and as hard as I can. I will get the most out of every day.

(Grabbing life by the horns)

Hopefully I can find some great people and also causes to volunteer for along this epic journey. I have no idea what this trip has in store for me but as I ride, I want to meet and help as many people as I can. I would like to teach and to learn from every single person I encounter and hopefully inspire them as well. A few months ago while hiking with my mother, something happened that really kindled my desire to go on this expedition. We were hiking an uphill snow covered and icy trail that wasn’t ideal but I knew we could do it. As we climbed up, my mother started to have a panic attack. Her fear of heights was taking over and each step seemed more painful to her. She was literally crawling up this trail, too afraid to stand. I helped her push herself to her limits, and eventually past her fear as well. At the top I witnessed this beautiful moment, when the fear finally subsided and she could stand up to look around. There was a moment of pure bliss on her face where she looked at the scenery around us, at the hill she had just conquered. The sun was beaming down on her but her smile was even brighter. It was a moment that I will remember for a long time. It made me realize that fear can hold us back from doing amazing things and when we push past the fear we receive gifts and moments that are worth more to the soul than money could ever buy. In that moment, I knew I wanted and needed to go on this trip. There will be scary moments but I need to push harder to reach that instance of awe and that moment of pride where I can say “I did It”. I hope that as I go along and find joy daily that my family and friends back home can share with me and live vicariously through my travels.

(Mom Climbing up that steep slope)

(Mom and I enjoying our victory for the day)

To me biking is the perfect pace because cars zoom by too quickly and don’t allow you to really absorb anything that you experience. Walking is amazing and awesome for experiencing every detail but is too slow for the logistics of a trip of this magnitude. On a bike, miles can be covered but the details of the landscape are not lost, and I will be able to interact with people almost every day. I may not go fast but slow consistent progress will be made. I will be able to enjoy every change in fauna and flora as I travel this long road. Every change of terrain will be welcome. Over the Course of 15,000 miles of coast, I imagine I will cover and stop through almost every kind of ecosystem. The biologist in me jumps for joy at this chance to nerd out. It brings back fond memories of studying biology with a concentration in marine and environmental science. It will be a dream come true to see and feel what we had talked about in my ecology classes. I cannot wait to see giant mountains, endless forests, beautiful coast lines, rainforests, deserts and everything in between. It is my dream to learn about the world by living, breathing, and feeling it rather than simply studying it. With this trip, this incredible adventure, that is exactly what I will do.

(Me taking a leap of faith - here goes nothing...July 1st)

(Flying around on my bicycle like super man - I am Mr. Bikeman)

Also here is the Link to my trip Itinerary- one tab has every city I will pass through and one tab has my daily plan from point A to point B- usually from a city to a city but some gaps exsist

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aky_GShbQa7SdE5qMTFYdHVnMDB4eUNXU24tNS1sRXc&usp=sharing

I will have a website up and running shortly soon I promise!

Whiteface Mountain Jan 31st-Feb 3rd with the Canadian connection and the 9th wheel! Aka me.

2013-02-15T18:52:00.000-08:00

This trip started with me driving up to Whiteface to spend the day by myself since I took off work. The Canadians (split into couple groups- Dustin and Tracy; Stephen and Emily; Adam and Emily; and Mike and Jay) arrived later that night. I had planned on leaving super early at first but changed my mind. It was starting to snow pretty heavily and I could feel the temperature drop,

but when I got off the main highway and saw a pull off on the road with a trail sign I couldn’t help but take it. As I pulled off, I hit the brakes and started to slide. As my car doesn’t have snow tires and the powdering of snow is covering a sheet of ice on the side of the road, I lost control and the sign that so attracted me was dead center in my path of sliding. Thank my lucky stars I wasn’t going that fast. Although I hit the side snowbank, I stopped short of the sign with a few inches to spare and when I threw it in reverse the car wasn't stuck. I had a quick laugh to myself thinking that it was probably a bad sign for my hike that hadn’t even started yet.
Since it was one of my first real experiences with winter snow and ice conditions this year, I was too excited to pass up the opportunity and I decided to ignore my bad luck warning sign. The sign said that there was a bowl less than a mile away so although the sun was low I decided to try and make it there and back. I noticed that the trail seems pretty steep because the top is only a few miles away and becomes about 3000 feet in elevation.

The start was deceivingly easy with a beautiful running brook and tiny little snow covered mini bog board bridges.

Just past there was a sign in a box that I ignored before the trail started to climb. At first I slowly moved forward on well packed snow but as I continued it became steeper and icier. Not far in, there were two stream crossings and although I knew it would be freezing to fall in, I was comfortable with my rock hopping skills. From there the trail deteriorated quickly from packed snow to a more hidden threat of super slick ice covered by fine powdery fresh snow. Since I was only wearing basic hiking boots with terrible ice traction the path became difficult very quickly. I was forced to use rocks and roots as my only traction points even though I remember, from hiking the AT, that this can be a very bad idea because these can be just as slick sometimes.
After crossing another small, really frozen stream the trail quickly got much steeper and I could see that the entire face of everything ahead of me looked like a giant sheet of beautiful deep blue and white thick layer of ice. It almost looked like a frozen waterfall but I knew that the little stream was not that wide.
A few days ago there had been thaw and with the drop in temperature everything that once had been thawing refroze into this wintery dangerous beauty that is tempting me like a siren of the sea. Everything in my left brain told me that this was a bad idea but everything in my right brain go for it. I have no experience with any of this wintery goodness so I needed to at least try, even with my fingerless gloves leading to frozen finger tips. I ignored my better judgment. I used every little tiny piece of traction, stretching, folding, bending and reaching in all kinds of funky positions that would make any yoga enthusiast proud. I made it a good 100-150 feet or more up this “frozen water fall” and as I reach edwhat looked like the last hand grab before the top and a leveling out with snow my feet lost all grip.
It was amazing, I couldn’t tell up from down and in a split second I was rolling, sliding, and flopping down the icy slide I had just climbed. I felt like a pinball spining down to the gutter, bouncing off the springy side wall. It happened so fast but I came to a sudden halt just as quickly. Somehow my luck held and my feet slammed down first at the bottom, cracking through the layer of ice covering the frozen stream. I broke through into a couple of feet of water, soaking my feet, legs. Even my bum and parts of my torso got wet. It was freezing!
Other than that nothing really hurt miraculously, I just had some bruising from the pinball effect and an even worse bruised ego. All in all, it wasn't terrible luck, so I double timed it back to the car, slipping and sliding the whole way. Thank goodness for heat and fresh clothing!
The rest of my day in Lake Placid was much calmer.

When I finally arrived in town, I visited the Olympic rink and pretended to be a photographer to what seemed like a full team of women skaters. Once inside, I got so see a bunch of different teams of synchronized figure skaters doing their practice runs. It was something I have never seen before. I was very surprised that I enjoyed myself so much. I was super impressed with the skating ability of all the women and girls of all different ages. I was so impressed that I stopped to talk to a team of women sitting around waiting for their turn. They explained some of the finer points of skating and tried to explain to me how the competition works.

After that, my new team of friends was on the ice so I stayed to watch them before heading to the rented house to check in by myself. The house was massive and amazing. The first floor had a kitchen, den, living room, dining room, hot tub room; while the second floor had 4 good sized bedrooms with two bathrooms, 2 rooms which connected with a conjoined bathroom (pretty neat eh? ); the third floor was a massive attic space with a bathroom and two massive rooms containing 4 more beds. I wish more people had come because there was so much open room! After warming up and settling in I cozied up on the couch to read and wait. They all arrived late into the night and were thrilled with the accomodations (great job Steve) and we had a hot tub session before bed.

Day 2: We all woke up early for breakfast around 7 and lollygagged around a bit before heading to the mountain at just before 9. The conditions on the mountain were not ideal because of the thaw that happened during the last few days and because of all the crazy winds. As a result everything is super, super icy and only a few chair lifts are open. The gondola and chair lift to the highest main peak are both closed because their power is out. During a wind storm a tree fell and took out the power.
Dustin was super bummed and kind of mad that only three lifts were open that morning. My response was, "A day on the mountain is better than any day off." He smiled and agreed. As we made our first run I noticed a few key things about the day. First, it was freezing! I saw a sign that said -1 degree Fahrenheit and my face and hands quickly felt this on the way up the first lift. Second, I noticed the diversity and range of our group, we were almost split right down the middle between skiers and boarders. It's a fun group mix and we also had as well as we have some beginners, some intermediate, and some advanced (Dustin and Steven raced in their younger years).

The first couple of runs we all stuck together, but before long people began to break off for warming up breaks. All our first runs were off the ‘facelift” ski lift that went down the same basic trails to a middle lodge before heading down to the main lower lodge. The slopes just above the mid lodge, we quickly found out, were semi steep but super icy! It was a bomb and ride day for me. I made sure to stay on my edges pretty hard, slowing down was not much of an option for me (my style is fast to the point just before out of control).

Before long the “little white face” lift opened up and we got to get some elevation gain and longer runs in. First time up, Steve and a group of us meant to hit a blue square called excelsior with some of the girls but instead Steve misread a sign and we wound up ditching the girls on a black diamond trail called Essex that led to a really steep super icy trail that followed the lift path down. It’s so sketchy going down, I hit a huge sheet of ice that I could see grass and rock poking through but I was going so fast that I couldn't stop or steer. I managed to stay up but it's super sketch. I did enjoy the fact that I got to shoot powdery snow all over the place so much that I couldn’t even see what was ahead of me.

After doing that section a few more times, another lift to the other side of the mountain opened. The “lookout mountain’ lift opened. This trail was one of my favorite, it’s not terribly difficult but it was super long and after a nice slow tree enclosed section it opened up on the left completely to a super steep cutoff cliff with no safety barrier or wall. It gives you this amazing view of the next ridge. It was absolutely magical, although hard to appreciate while moving, but I refused to stop. I still managed to notice the awesome exposed rock faces with their deep gray color backdropped with a hint of white powder and beautiful dark green tinge from the trees. The trail was epic and sweet but like most other trails on the mountain today was super icy.

In fact, on a later run I lost track of the shape of the trail because of the shade of light, as a result gravity and speed taught me an important lesson. I hit a little hump with too much speed on a sharp angled turn downhill that leveled out just as quick on a steep sloped angle that caused me to crumple and fold in half. Gravity pushed my body down so hard that somehow my face was able to smack the snow in front of me without me catching an edge and falling. Thankfully I got my hand out just in front of my face to catch and push off with. Living dangerously on the edge I guess, but it was awesome.
I had so much fun catching up with Dustin and Steve all day while also getting to know some of my other new Canadian friends. Dustin talked a lot about our past travels (Bike and Build, Appalachian trail, Australia) and about future trails as well. It’s funny how much we both enjoy maps and geography through our adventures.

After a long full day on the mountain we headed back to the house to recoup, jump in the hot tub, go out to dinner at Lake Placid Brewery, and then ended our night playing a game called 7 wonders. It as pretty sweet to have such great company to share my second day experiences with. I stayed up late into the night catching up on some writing and catching up with Dustin and Steve. It’s funny how connected our past can be while at the same time being so different. The world is full of the strangest connections. Dustin and I biked across the country together because he met some girls on the AT when he hiked. He also hiked with the same hiker I helped rescue off a mountain in Maine, Bobby. I can’t describe the feeling knowing that these trips are so closely connected. I guess life is one big tangle of interwoven webs.

Day three started pretty early as well with a quick breakfast and a trip to Whiteface Mountain. I was a little sleepy but the cold crispy below freezing morning air woke me right up. Today the conditions are a lot better on the mountain since it has snowed all night. We started as a group again today but split off into sub groups pretty quickly. I enjoyed hanging out with Dustin and Steve on the mountain all day. They are both amazing skiers and are both old buddies who raced together in high school. The mountain was a playground for them and I did my best to keep up. The Summit was open and we spent a lot of time on the highest peak on the east coast. The welcome sign at the top reads “welcome to the top of the world”.

It was pretty awesome being so high up, but with all the clouds and snow coming down there isn’t much of a view. We all took turns using the camera and pole mount that I brought along for the day. It’s fun to take turns filming down the mountain. We learned that the film will appear jumpy if filming someone else but the background stays smoother if the video is focused on yourself.

We rode so long in the freezing cold that at some point before lunch I realized I couldn’t feel my left toe or move at all but every second on the mountain was worth it with friends so we rode on. After lunch the gondola re-opened which was a nice change so that we could stay out of the cold. We ended our day on my favorite run on lookout mountain. Dustin and Steve raced ahead but I decided to take it nice and slow so I could enjoy the views and the last run.

We went home and made a family style dinner as a group. It felt nice to be a part of another family. The main course was a baked lasagna dish but it took forever because the stove was so old and finicky. While we waited, we played more of the 7 wonders game which I really started to enjoy although I never seemed to win. I also decided to conjur up some delicious quinoa, rice, chili, and cheese dip. It was all great. After we ate, instead of going out we all just stayed in to hang out in the living room while talking and playing games. I wish I had stayed up later but I curled up near the fire under a blanket to do work and that was the end of my night.

In the morning it was time to pack up. It was a sad and slow moving process. However, that changed pretty quickly when I hear a series of moans coming from the other room. It’s Emily, and I found her slumped in a curled ball on top of a bunch of her bags. Steve ran down the stairs at the same time and we saw his girlfriend laying in a heap of pain. Her back had gone out for the first time ever when she went to bend over and pick up a box full of her stuff.
It's strange to think that the human body can go from working so well to curled up in heap so quickly. None of us knew what to do or what to say. I know nothing about backs going out but I did know who might be able to help. A special thanks to both Mrs. Angelini and Mr. Reynolds. It is awesome to have family with wisdom to rely on in a pinch, and friends to boot. They walked me through the steps and process of an out back. It mostly requires staying calm and laying still until the muscles relax. Taking Advil and muscle relaxers helps, as well as gently massaging the muscles, and ice/heat on and off. There was one other piece of advice and it didn’t quite make sense at first because it hurt Emily so much to do. The suggestion was to lay on her back and bring her knees to her chest. I think Emily was on the floor for almost two hours recovering and it took a crew of us to get her up and standing. Thank goodness for staying calm enough in a tough new situation to sort things out enough to realize to ask for advice. It could have been a lot more scary and difficult. I really felt bad to say our goodbyes and watch Emily grandma style get into the front seat of the car for her 6ish hour drive back to Toronto, Canada.

For me it was only a four hour drive home, but since it was so amazingly nice out I knew I was going to be making a pit stop, and I had a great idea of where to go! Although my phone, GPS, and car charger were all dead I got home from memory. I think I only missed 2 turns but I made it back to the correct road eventually. After passing my landmark store called “the Mountaineer,” that my buddy from work Mike had recommended, I knew I was on the right path home. A few miles past I found that same pull off on the side of the road that had that tempting sign from days before. This time with the beautiful weather, there were other cars parked and I was sure other hikers around somewhere.

I was better prepared this time, with my full finger gloves, more layers, and a backpack with some bonus goodies and snacks. The ice may have kicked my butt last time but now I know to be more careful. I made it to the first assent and could already see where I went wrong. Going up! Just kidding haha, I could see more clearly where the path led, which is not the way I went last time. Although it is not easy, it is far more doable than what I forced my way up last time. I was still slipping and sliding all over the icy waterfall but I could still use root edges, rock edges, and tree trunks to find enough grip to make it safely up.

Past the first good icy assent I ran into a hiker coming down. He was an older, experienced hiker coming down from the top. He had a full set of gear and a nice big pack. He had hiking poles and those little clip on traction springs attached to his shoes. On his pack he also had snow shoes and crampons hanging off the back plus a nice down jacket I am sure he used at some point for warmth. I felt very under equipped even though a few seconds ago I had been so proud to make it up the first ice section. His words of wisdom made me feel even worse, “You should turn around, its gets really icy and hairy up there. Don’t go any further, YOU WON”T MAKE IT.” Well, the first words out of his mouth made sense but those last four ruined all of his wisdom.
If he spoke more I must have missed it because I tuned him out and jumped up and over a steep section of icy rocks he had so carefully avoided and had gone around. As nice as he was and as much respect I gave him, he had lost me with “you won’t”. Now I had to make it up further. It was a personal challenge. He had mentioned a nice lookout, so I decided that I was going to make it there and even further just to prove it to myself.
Thankfully his fear was mostly unwarranted. Maybe a normal person should have (and probably would have) turned around but nothing along the trail put me out of my comfort zone. It was a little dicy and slippery here and there. I made it to that first view and it was completely worth it. It opened up to look out past the road towards the mountain on the other side. Its steep slope was completely covered in a thick layer of ice.
I noticed a little later that there were actually 4 climbers ice climbing up that awesome slope! Now I can’t get that image out of my head, it's something new that I must do.   To the right of that icy side there was that beautiful snow covered lake, almost glowing in the reflection of the sun, and there were even more distant mountains hiding in the distance. Although I was almost in a trance given the beauty, I was determined to see what all that gear that guy had was actually for on this trail. Was it like the sheer ice wall on the opposing mountain?

I found another great surprise a little further in the woods. It was a beautiful pristine alpine lake in the bowl that the sign at the bottom of the trail had been indicating. It was almost eerie how quiet it was out up there as I looked down at the openness of the ice and as I crossed over some snow covered bog boards. In the distance I could see that thankfully there were no angry bears, not even a majestic moose. There were however, two hikers running and sliding on the frozen icy lake. They were so far away that I couldn’t hear them and they surely did not notice me.

As I continued up the trail further and further I was lost in the beauty. Hiking in the winter snow is fairly new to me and there is something special about the crunch of snow under your feet, the glistening light refracting off each distinct shade of color of snow and ice, and the vast orchestra of quiet surrounding the openness of wintery woods. I could feel the trail getting steeper and could tell I was getting higher in elevation with the frequency of thick smooth ice flows. Each made my path more difficult.
When I had almost decided that I had gone far enough, I had to get off the trail in order to cut through to the higher trail using tree trunks to basically climb my way up. At one point I even used the base of one tree to get enough friction to push and jump my way up to just barely reach with one hand the base root of another flimsy tree. It was a sketchy feeling with a nice sheer drop to the one side.

A little further, I could see one massive ice flow and heard the distinct crunch of a group of 4 hikers with crampons coming down the mountain. They were all younger, 2 girls and 2 guys around my age and they were all speaking French. When they passed by, I saw one guy struggle because he didn’t have crampons, just the quick on spring added traction things. They spotted me and all looked amazed that I had reached this point. The two guys stopped and I decided to ask about the conditions. I don't know why and it's probably a funny reason to have respect for a person but the French accent just says to me "wintery knowledge" since I always think about French speaking Canada.
I asked about the conditions and they said it got a lot worse, and that I should think about turning back. “Just be careful if you go up, it gets a lot worse from here”. They even offered to go down with me but in a way without pressure. As he was busy enough helping his friend, I said that I would be fine but as they trotted away I decided it was my “top”. I had gone far enough, reached my level of comfort and was ready to go back down.

As it stands, I knew that I had made it further than most normal people would have gone under the circumstances. I carefully made my way back down afterall what goes up must come down. That being said, it is always harder on the way down! The gap that I had jumped using the tree was freakishly scary on the way down. Trusting myself enough to slide on purpose and catch myself on that opposing tree was awesome. I never had a doubt in it, not even the slightest but that split second of slippery freedom brought back all that adrenaline from my slip and fall down the first icy fall a few days ago. Even swinging down hill using the slim tree trunks to avoid the ice was a lot more blood pumping than I had remembered. Even walking on the edges of tree roots, and rocks seemed ten times harder on the way down. I don't have a single regret though. When I got back down by the lake I saw the group of Canadians playing on the ice.
I didn't want to bug them and also didn't want my awesome side trip to be over I decided to take a side trail called “Nugget” even though I had no idea where it went. My hope was that it would reach the little ridge right above the lake. My guess about its direction was right and as I climbed I could tell I was on my way to that ridge which would hopefully have a perfect view of the lake that the Canadians were currently playing on.
This trail was much easier with almost no ice, just steeper snowy sections. The view just like I had guessed was breath taking. I stopped long enough to play with my panoramic picture setting but as the sun was pointing to directly at me, it took a little while to get a decently connected picture and I had started to get cold. For me that was the final sign I am done, cold sweat is no fun and the sun was getting lower in the sky.

I headed back down to the lake with just enough time to say hi and bye to the Canadian group who seemed relieved to see me back down before they left. I stopped for a snack on those bog boards. Then in the peace and quiet on this beautiful lake I decided that I had to stop and head to the middle of the lake for some pictures and a quick video. It was the perfect ending to a perfectly epic weekend.

It only made sense that a trip reconnecting with my old cross country bike riding buddy Dustin would be so perfectly fun and full of adventures both alone and in a group. It was wonderful revisiting stories from the past and making new ones. Seeing the growth of old friendships and quick forming new ones with good souled people was amazing.
As I walked in slowly downward it was all I could think about and continued to appreciate the whole way down but I was extra careful not so slip and end my epic trip badly. Once back at the car, it was only a few short hours of thinking before I was back home, and back to reality.

But I was already inspired enough to think about the next grand adventure.

Building an Igloo in Fort Lee, NJ. Thanks NEMO (the storm not the fish)

2013-02-11T19:19:00.004-08:00

So this past weekend I was bummed to find out there was a massive storm coming. I had hopes of having an adventure somewhere with friends, but just like my sister who planned on going to Boston, the storm stopped us in our tracks. Thankfully I listened to the weatherman for once. Friday I caught up with sleep so that I could stay up all night shoveling. I think at first this surprised my mother because the past few years when it snowed I was being an old grump and didn't want to shovel. Not this year though! Any storm named after one of my favorite animated movie characters would get me excited. It inspired the little kid in me and I had a plan! I was going to build an Igloo/fortress. Something my earliest childhood best friend newton and I bonded over building many times. This one was for him and all my other friend who have dispersed over the last few years. To the kid in all of us I built you all an monster! I shoveled my snow, and stole snow from five of the neighbors houses. Even after they had already shoveled their paths I would walk back and forth stealing all there well packed snow piles they had made. Soon Mom started to notice my ever growing pile that I even got my sister outside to help make.

  Even Sam and Sonia briefly stopped by and put up with my madness.

   Before the end of the night I remember mom banging on the window and screaming at me to stop! "What are you doing! stop piling all the snow on my front lawn!". I should tell you all the truth that she is a patient saint of a person! who I take after a lot, but I also take after the hardheadedness of my grandmother. Once I start doing something my way, I will continue my way. By the end of the night I had a pile almost 6 ft tall, 6-8ft long and 4 feet wide.

  There was no snow on my sidewalks as well as even in the street in front of my house where the plows had pushed it. I had successfully taken even the plowed piles from all the surrounding houses. My arms and shoulders were the only thing that convinced me to stop and take a break to nap. I left the pile to settle over night and planned to dig it out in the morning...but it continued to snow all night. As I woke up in the morning I was ecstatic to see how much more snow there was. I was full of energy even after only a few hours of sleep. I found a pair of clothes out of the 4 sets of clothes I went through yesterday that was finally dry and grabbed my shovel. It looked like I had done nothing the night before from looking at the sidewalk other than that massive pile sitting on my front lawn. After an hour or so of shoveling out my house and adding to my pile some of the neighbors were out all working on finishing up there work. As we are talking I see my neighbor on the corner and older man starting to shovel, he waves and thanks me for doing the little bit of path I shoveled out for him already. I excuse myself from out little neighbor huddle and go to finish my work. Right behind me follow the rest of the group. My tenant Rena and the neighbors across the way Eric and his father all pitch in. what would have taken at least an hour for the old guy Gusman we finish in the flash of maybe 15 minutes. He is so thankfully he really doesn't know what to say, but you can see it in the sincerity of his face his thanks. After that everyone head in except for me, I painfully continue on my goal for the day. My shoulder is throbbing but I clean all our snow even the street plus some of the piles from the other houses. My piles is now at least 6ish ft tall, 4 ft wide and somewhere in the range of 16-18ft long.

   After a night lunch/snack break its time to start digging. I don't even know where to begin so I just start closest to the tree. Before long the shovel is to awkward to dig out with so I grab my kayak paddle to poke and prod out chunks of snow and Ice with.

It is a hard long process. slowly I carve out the inside enough to almost block my entrance before using my feet to kick out enough snow to make it out into the sunlight to shovel the entrance clean once again. In my head I imagine I now know how it feels to be a sea turtle on the beach digging out the sand with its flippers. Its awkward and hard but something keeps you pushing.

  I repeat the process over and over, only stopping for food breaks and to change into drier clothes. Before long I have an awesome carved igloo cave. Even mom is outside and although she yelled and hated my pile yesterday is enthralled by its awesomeness.

  Although see won't stop with her nervousness about it caving in. I use my better judgement on how much to carve out which seems to work. I am not nervous at all because I gave the snow enough time to settle as well as its not my first rodeo. I did this like a boss as a kid. It only makes sense to go bigger and grander.

  My only regret is that my shoulder and arms are so tired I must stop and take breaks and never have time to decorate the outside into a more elaborate looking fortress! Next time I'll have some friends as recruits to help throughout the process and I am sure it will be epic. The Inner child in me is very impressed and utterly happy with my accomplishment. Rule # (?) enjoy the little things! CHECK!

Check out the Video for yourself

The Monday Blues with the bonus addition of foul weather and bad luck to boot!

2013-02-11T17:01:00.000-08:00

So this morning I woke up early as always before the sun is even up. I was out the door by 6 am and fully ready for the soggy rainy weather. Within the first 5 minutes I was soaked since my pants have formed holes in them from all the friction of riding at least 100 miles a week. My butt is the worst, it is wet and within minutes biting with freezing cold. its sad to me to see it rain this morning, all that beautiful white fluffy snow that made my weekend so awesome and let me build a kick ass igloo is all brown and melty. A slushy mess all over.

2 miles into my ride and I hit my first major road block. For the first time this year the George Washington Bridge bike path is closed. I am so infuriated because I can see the path is cleared wide enough for at least a walker and a biker to make it. I am soaked and cold with no where to go. My only choice is to back track it up the hill to look to catch a bus. The little white bus that is sitting there waiting for more people before heading over the bridge turns out to be a big jerk. I pull up and sign if i can bring my bike in. not even a reply and the lady pulls up like she is leaving. She stops a little further up and lets some people in. So i go up to the door which is open and ask if i can get a ride since it is raining and the bike path is closed. I tell her I will wait till the bus is getting full so i can bring it on last. there are at least 3 people behind me waiting to get on as I ask. While my head is half inside the door she quickly says no and slams the door shut while pulling away further up. I am pretty sure she was going to try and pull further up to let people on but I tried to follow forcing her to pull away with a pretty empty bus. I may not have won, but she definitely lost out too! As that bus pulls off an NJ transit bus pulls up with one of those bike racks on it. he signals me to throw it on the front.

I struggle with trying to figure out how it works with my glasses all fogged so he comes out to help me. He has never used it before either so we figure it out after a few seconds. I go to get on and all I have is a $20 so he says wait till we get there to get change. On the ride over the bridge I chat with the awesome drive and this cool old black guy sitting near the front. They have a serious interest in my winter riding as they both state they are fair weather riders. They both give me tips on which roads to take today because we are all sure the bike path is not going to be plowed. The black guy who has an epic beard that makes me think he is a super wise guru guy tries to convince me to take the subway. I have never done that either but he says its super easy. However, i am wet, cold, and very stubborn. I still for some reason look forward to the challenge of miserable hard days like today. As we are heading across I can see the path is clear all the way across the bridge...this bothers me immensely. When we get across everyone gets off and I ask about the fare, he smiles and say to have a great day don't worry about it, "just stay safe, keep having fun".

I head down one of the main roads to avoid snowy side roads. Eventually I am heading down Broadway; while I have done this in the past, this is the busiest I have seen it this early in the morning with the worst conditions I have seen thus far riding. My glasses are fogged, there is not even the slightest shoulder because of all the snow piles on the side, everything is slippery, wet, and in some spots still icy. Even still I haul ass, My legs are feeling great and minus a few 18 wheeler trucks and long public transportation buses slowing me down and getting in my way I cruise. Its ironic because on the bus I thought for a second about taking the subway down just because I know I don't have a spare tire and I know how much it would suck to have a flat tire. just to change one in the cold would be terrible but without a spare i would be stuck walking pretty far to even get to a station. Well I guess thinking about something is sometimes enough to make it happen. So around 51st street my front tire sprung a leak! I knew right away because it was squirting water wildly up in the air every rotation of the tire. Although I had a fix-a-flat type substance in my tire that should clog a small hole. It didn't work because it was too wet out. UGGGHHH. So I made a nice long walk to the subway station. Where I realize I can't find my monthly subway pass mixed in with all my old partial passes. I get the lady at the booth to go through and at least combine my partials so I can get to work. luck is on my side because a guy opens the big door for me so I don't need to carry it over the turnstile. I do however miss my train by a second trying to figure out which train it is. I was already late so what was another 5 minutes anyway, right? On the train I feel like an outcast, I am dripping wet and take up so much of the train I am pretty sure everyone at least glances at me. The ride goes quick though and I almost take pride in being so miserable, I just hope I don't smell to much like soggy biker.

I am super late for work by the time I get in...but I get in under the radar and head straight to work so no one notices I am late. Just can't do it again! What a start to a Monday morning. Work as usual on Monday was tough as usual but at least a little nicer then my morning commute. Still can't keep this crazy kid down though, smiles still on my face.

*Just so we are all clear I did not take any of these photo's I used photo's off Google images search. Figure its better to be safer while riding in the rain.

Freezing Cold Hike with the Outdoors Club and a Rock Climbing Adventure

2013-01-27T19:41:00.000-08:00

This adventure starts with me having 3 days off of work so naturally I decide to head down to Monmouth for some company (since all my friends back home are work on Fridays).

After making a bank run with Alissa for her job I head down to Monmouth to kill some time before meeting some people for a hike at 2pm. I meet up with my new friend Sam (who I met recently on a trip to Canada), plus 3 girls Becca (Gidget), Jackie, and Rachel (who I have hiked with before on other outdoors club hikes).

The weather today is below freezing outside and although it is sunny, it is rather nippy out. Plus the weather channel is calling for snow an hour after starting our excursion. Thankfully we are all troopers and ready. The girls actually look like little puff balls with all the layers they have on. We are all excited and in good spirits. The girls already know each other so start talking right away and Sam is able to get comfortable with the new company. For me, it’s nice to catch up as we go along since I don’t see everyone that often.

The start is not very difficult and although I have hiked and biked this trail quite recently, it feels very different. The tiny bit of snow dusting that covers earth gives the path a beautiful wintery feel. On most hikes I go on, something interesting always catches someone’s attention and side excursions randomly form. Today is no different and it is Sam’s eye and fun attitude that spots some slanted trees and a side gulley. He jokingly says that we should check it out. When he says he’s going to follow me I start. It is more than enough excuse for me to do something dumb.

First I walk over to the side gulley. It’s a steep slope but it looks doable… yet very slippery. I calculate and figure that if I go full speed running, I can make it down and use the side wall bank to keep my momentum and make it even further down the slope. Of course, I go for it, hit the first bank at full speed and turn sharply further down, ducking under branches and jumping over obstacles without slowing my pace. At the next turn, I duck at a strange angle, can’t stay up so I do the next best thing and fall/roll. I keep my momentum in a 360 and pop right back up onto my feet. It was really fun but as I make it further down, the ground levels out and the brush becomes too thick to plow a path through. I run back up and rejoin our group. Sam is excited about the side adventures so I turn and face the other way: to where there are two down slanted trees. I look at Sam to see if he is up for the challenge but he lets me go first to test the trunks. With my usual spider monkey skills, I climb up pretty quickly and make it all the way to the top.

From the top, I decide to try and make it down by climbing one of the small trees that is holding up the fallen tree that I am currently standing on. As I am climbing down and dangling from one arm holding onto a branch, I hear my phone ring. Since I am waiting on a call from Mike and Bill, I decide to go ahead and dig my phone out of my pocket to pick up. It’s Bill, so I give him the quick hello of “Hey Bill, let me call you back. I’m currently in a tree.” He knows me well enough, that he is not surprised in the least.

Since it’s cold outside and I am not sure how Sam feels about heights, we decide to continue hiking. The trails are nice mountain biking trails, so there are lots of turns on berms, ups and downs, as well as some little bridges over little streams. We make our way up one hill and down the other side to where the trail begins to follow the river. We all stop to bask in the glory of the view and take some pictures.

We spot a cool looking tree the hangs over the water. Someone notices it and jokes about me climbing it so I get closer to it. I would have climbed up but on the floor in front of it I notice a huge dead bird. It is a blue heron and it is massive.

I can’t help but pick up its frozen body by the feet to tease the girls. Its body is so stiff that even with all the weight, its body stays rigid and fights gravity as I hold it up right. I take the huge dead bird as a sign to not climb the tree. Falling in the water would have been miserable, so I am ok with skipping it. From here, we follow the trail along the river. It is pleasantly easy going but it isn’t very long before Sam and I get distracted by a downed tree that I think we can use to cross to the other side of the river. Although it is slick with snow and full of tiny loose branches from when the river levels rose during the floods, I still decide to walk across upright. When I make it to the other side, it’s fun for me to watch Sam try and shimmy across on his butt because he fears falling in the water.

In his defense, it’s hard to balance across a log. Every time I do it, it scares me more than you would think. Anyway, as I wait for Sam to cross, the girls get bored and go trot off into the woods a little further to find a small frozen pond. I can hear shrieks of terror and laughter as they tromp around and smash through the thin ice. In the distance from the direction we came, I can see a body running our way. It’s our buddy Mike running to catch up. Sam, Mike and I join the girls playing on the thin ice. I think Sam tries to show off when he first gets on the ice, but he somehow busts his ass. I just catch his fall out of the corner of my eye and I hear the ice shatter under the weight of his body. He is fine and everyone is laughing. We push a little further back and find a deeper pond that you can tell has water underneath, unlike the thin breaking ice section we played on earlier. Everyone is nervous to get on it except for me, so I test it out. It’s perfectly fine and even hold under me jumping and stomping. We take some pictures and play on the ice all together. We even try to grab Jackie by her feet and swing her around on the ice, but no matter what we try, we can’t get enough of a grip on her foot to pull and spin her well enough. Even so it’s a pretty fun attempt.

We continue along the trail next to the river before it heads up a fairly steep hill. It is a hill that Mike and I have tried to bike up before. Between its steepness, loose leaves and giant roots neither of us have ever made it up without having to get off our bikes. Maybe one day.

At the top we stop and notice a spot that drops off with a really nice slope. It looks like a sweet super advanced bike route/water run off point that I doubt anyone has ever used. Having passed it and thought about it many times before, I can’t help myself and decide to go for it. I run down the path with all its loose footing and hidden roots at full speed using the walls in front of me to make a sharp enough turn to continue down. It drops off super-fast onto a really thin section of trail where I barely avoid some bushes by using the side wall berm. At the bottom, where I’m already going too fast to stop I notice my biggest problem… The river is dead ahead. Luckily at the last second, I snag a tree limb and whip my momentum to the side to save myself from being miserably cold and wet. In my head I think, I cannot wait for summer to try this again with a bike so I can take the jump into the river. The 4 or 5 foot drop off looks like it would feel amazing. I can only wonder what the group thinks just happened as I dropped off out of sight.

I make it back up pretty quickly. Instead of heading back on the main trail, we take a little side trail to a little lookout where you can see the water pump station and a tiny little manmade waterfall. Right in front of us is another almost trail looking steep drop off. I’m pretty sure it’s just a run off point but we have an awesome group of adventures today so we all decide to go for it. It’s really steep and slippery but the girls have no problem and the boys naturally are down without a thought. At the bottom, there is a little used unmarked trail we decide to follow. At this point it has started to snow a little. I love walking through the woods in the snow because the effect light has on each tiny flake is beautiful against the background of the woods.

Of course, we get distracted again when we find another little frozen pond to play on. This one is a little deeper and from what I can tell also a little thinner. It has a nice section with plants visible through the ice and another section of leaves frozen in place. As I am staring down at the green plants thinking about how they manage to survive, I spot something flash by. At first I think it is just my eyes, my imagination, but it happens again. It is a tiny fish trying to hide. As soon as I say the word fish, everyone heads over to me. As they get closer, we hear the most terrifying sound… Crack. Thankfully it does not fully break through with all of our weight. We all disperse to different sections and take turns spotting little fish amazingly surviving the wintery ice conditions. Only a few feet away, I notice one other beautiful thing hidden in the ice. There are frozen bubbles trapped in the layers of the ice. They are piled right on top of each other. Although they are small, when you look at them closely they make for a beautiful gift from nature.

I hate to be a party pooper, but I can tell it is getting late and the sun is fading. With the dropping temperature and us not having headlamps to hike with, I make the call to head back up the steep runoff trail and follow the actual trail back to the car. I can tell that no one is really ready to leave but we all head back and are secretly excited to rejoin the pleasures of a nicely heated car. Thankfully we leave when we do because it not only gets darker quickly but also starts to snow heavier as we pull out. From there we go to campus to grab some dinner at the dining hall before getting ready to go rock climbing afterwards.

We only lose one, Becca, when we go climbing. I seem to have convinced everyone plus we combine forces with Dave, Lucas, David, Pat and his friend John who we convince last second at dinner. It looks like it will be a big, fun group to climb with.

I realize it’s hard to write about climbing, especially gym climbing so I’ll keep this simple. We start by giving the newcomers, John and the girls the breakdown of how the climbs work. First and most basic, we are bouldering: climbing the shorter walls without ropes. It’s a good place to start for them. We show them the routes to follow based on color; each is rated based on the hardest move of the climb. Our little intro is quick and then the fun begins with all of us hitting different sections of the boulder problems in the middle of the Garden state rocks gym.

The layout is the same as the last time I was at the gym but all the problems are updated and new. Recently, there was even a competition so all the routes are clearly marked and scored. I bust out my go-pro camera to get some fun footage after I get a bunch of solid climbs in so that my body can rest. It’s amazing how much and how fast your arms pump themselves out if you take a break from climbing at all. Other than filming some of the climbs, the highlights of the night are fooling around trying to do some of the dynos that are set up around the gym and landing on the big fluffy crash pads. Everyone gives it a go. I am happy with myself because although I can’t climb some of the harder climbs at least my form is getting better slowly and steadily. I can read and feel the wall better.

I also learn that I love chimney climbing style and crack climbing styles. I got up further on the crack then some of the guys that work at the gym. Plus, when no one was looking at the end of the night I played traverse the wall sideways instead of up and when I got to the awkward corner gap where two doors create a huge gap between walls I still somehow monkeyed past it by keeping pressure on both walls. It was a pretty awesome session climbing with a lot of fun loving people.

High Heat Adventure to Beat the Freezing Cold Temperatures...Biking through the Freeze

2013-01-23T18:06:00.003-08:00

"Looks will fade as we age, but the good-hearted soul will naturally radiate an everlasting beauty"

Today I not only embraced the "suck", I dominated it and then spread the domination to one of my fellow riders.
Let me first start by telling you that the temperature today was somewhere between 11-15°F. COLD! This story is about me and the Orange Bike Guy! You may not know my buddy but he's been involved in some of my other stories as well, and this time I finally learned his name, Jack! Now we are officially friends and riding buddies for anytime we see each other after tonight's bonding.
Tonight it started with me turning onto the bike path that follows the West Side Parkway like I always do. It's a path along the Hudson River and tonight I saw two riders in the distance. I wasn't catching up that fast but I wanted to see who it was. I sped up and didn't recognize the rider struggling to keep up with the guy further ahead. Then for a second I caught a glimpse of an orange Pannier and, bam, I put on the thrusters! Maybe I was going a little too fast as I sped past him but I turned and waved to say hi anyway. I didn't want to lose speed at that point so I just kept it up hoping he would try to keep pace with me. He did! which made me feel good.
As usual, no words were spoken, but I knew it was my turn to lead, also known as "pulling". "Pulling" means that you take the brunt of the wind and the other person stays directly on your tail to avoid some of the wind because they're sitting in your air stream. I felt my adrenaline pumping hard... It was crazy intense! It was freezing outside but I was overcome with heat. My face mask was so full with steam that it was hard to breath and the steam eventually spread to my glasses which almost instantly iced up.
Along the ride, there were a few really cool moments. The light was hitting the floor and creating shadows. They were playing with my mind and convinced me to push harder and longer. As we pumped our legs, we would pass street lights and I would see my shadow grow and then his pop up right behind. Then mine would get smaller and his would as well. We would vanish for a second until the next light and the process would start all over again. It felt as though time was slowing down but we were hauling ass and in reality we passed light after light after light within seconds.
Then we reached another section of the path that has no streetlights. My bright light was shining, illuminating the way in front of me and I noticed that he had thrown his light on as well, for safety reasons, so he could see the ground as well as my wheel. which I am sure was only a few inches from his. The effect the light had was just as cool. From my light, I could see the shadow of my bike and I in one shade of bright light and from his light a smaller darker outline of his figure almost layered on top of mine. I could tell he was still super close.
I don't know why, but these lighting effects both got into my head, my legs were on fire. I was sweating like a beast on a fridgid night but for some reason I just kept on pushing harder. I was not trying to test him or myself but I kept pushing because it felt good, it felt right, things were clicking. It is a feeling I have not often felt since the days of playing soccer when I swear time would slow and I would pull moves out of nowhere that I didn't even know I was capable of.
We finally slowed, not because we wanted to but because we came to a road block. The path had water covering it and the whole stretch had become a huge sheet of Ice. We had to stop and duck under the yellow tape line, slide over and across the ice pond before continuing on our journey. When we did, our race was over and we had a nice catch up and talk session. He remembered my name although I had to ask him of his.
It was funny because he had no idea how old I am but found out through the compliment he gave me. He said he was trying so hard the entire time to keep up with me. He said he had not seen a good paced rider who rides quite as aggressively as I do in a long time. It's funny that our ages are inversed. He is 42 and I am 24. Although he is much older and I am much younger, we are the "same" and I can tell we both sense this fact. I jokingly brought up that I hope to be like him when I get older (especially shape wise) and his response was, "You already are, just keep it up, never stop". I liked that.
He is as young and peppy as he ever was and even though he was catching that side wind on his panniers, he made himself keep up. It was also funny that we both complained about how cold yesterday's ride was... It was terrible. It had drained us and seemed to drag on and on. However, tonight neither of us noticed the cold or wind at all until we slowed down, even though the conditions were just as cold as yesterday.
Although time had seemed to slow down at the same time it had sped up as well. It seemed like the ride was done in the blink of an eye. I look forward to riding with him again soon, who knows what will happen next. Limits, for sure, will be pushed.

Relaxing weekend catching up with Friends from Multiple Parts of My Random Crazy Life

2013-01-20T20:04:00.001-08:00

After work, I decided to shoot down to Monmouth to catch dinner at Jacks, my old favorite bar, with some old friends. I almost missed it because when I got home from work, I took a nap and woke up at the last possible minute. I'm definitely glad I didn't oversleep.
I had dinner with Joe, Greg, Reynolds, Vince, Joe's friends and then later Sarah joined us. It was delicious and I had a massive perogee bacon pizza to myself. It was fun sitting around chatting, watching both hockey games on tv, and playing darts while having a few drinks. After dinner, everyone left but I decided to stay and hang out with some other friends, Aly and Kate from my grade, and Kaci and Jenelle from Australia and their friends. It was sweet to catch up with them.
However my real fun for the night started after that while visiting some of the fraternity brothers, Jason, Kevin, and Matt. Timmons was playing the dice board game that we had played in Canada a few nights ago (that he apparently stole). The group of us, plus a few girls Amanda, Kae, and Michelle sat around playing and watching movies on tv late into the night until everyone got tired. Kev, Matt and I stayed up playing beer ball till almost 5 in the morning.

I was super stoked that somehow after leaving Matt's house at 4:30 in the morning to go sleep on the beach on a random day in January after drinking all night, I was able to wake up after only a few hours to see the sunrise with enough energy to start my day. After checking to see if anyone was awake, I found Greg who gave me a spot to re-plan my day from his room.
Thankfully Bill Reynolds and Vincent were serious about getting up for a hike because everyone else who said they were ready to go weren't actually. I even had my doubts about vnce since he didn’t pick up right away and sounded help asleep when he finally did answer. Even so I know he is glad I make him go on these adventures.
We met up at Vince’s aunts house or i should probably say mansion! It is massive and I don’t think anyone needs a house that big. However, it was gorgeous and she was an absolute sweetheart of a lady and gave us a nice little tour of the house. The view from the back yard to the Manasquan river is unbelievable. The living room, kitchen and side room are spectacular especially because there are massive windows facing the river that let natural light pour in leaving the room feeling very open. Even the entrance of the, down the driveway is impressive with a big loop around a rockwalled in pond and a huge side garage and parking area with guest house. There is a beautiful little green house, swimming pool and hot tub behind that. It was all so beautiful that I almost felt out of place.
I was glad to start the hike and get back into my preferred world of natural beauty. We started across the street at Huber woods. The hike started out super easy and didn't really change pace. It went from a nice open field to a serene wooded trail. It was easy going all the way and we spent most of our energy talking and catching up. As per usual, I did less of the talking and more of the listening and watching. I even sent a few messages with my cell to overseas. The conversation was great, though I had forgotten how long it had been. So much had happened in all our lives. The most exciting is that Reynolds is becoming a grandpa!
Huber woods was a pleasant stroll on a bunch of different looped trails. Time seemed to slip away and I guess the miles too because we were out for a while. I only had one little side trip when I saw a tree balanced completely horizontal 20feet or so in the air against all the other naturally standing ones. It must have snapped and gotten stuck during one of the storms. Anyway, it caught my eye as well as the other two, who tried to ignore it. Reynolds held back his challenge, but Vincent did not so I dropped my stuff and climbed my way up using first the small end branches dangling down to the floor, even though I was not quite sure that they would hold my weight. Then I made my way up to the larger, more stable trunk part of the tree that looked like it was barely hanging on as gusts of wind shook both me and the trunk back and forth. A few good pictures later and I was satisfied and thoroughly scared from my fear of heights.
Shortly afterwards, we were done with our little hike. It was one of the most beautiful days in January that I can remember. After eating a small lunch, we sat around and played Settlers of Catan and chatted and laughed. It was a great break after the hike and I was super excited because it was the first time I won that game.
Afterwards we called it a day and headed our separate ways. I'm glad I had some down time this weekend to catch up with some of my favorite people that I do not get to see often enough.

Mount Tremblant Canada Snowboarding Trip: January 2013

2013-01-20T17:04:00.000-08:00

January 13-17, 2013

Mount Tremblant Canada Snowboarding Trip

Let's start with the main characters of this random adventure and the story of how this college fest trip came to be when I have now been out of college for two years. First off, my advice is that when opportunity arises you should take it… That pretty much sums up how I went to Canada. My buddy George (who I know from random meetings and through other people) was going to Canada this year but the trip ends on a Friday and his winter graduation is on that Friday. Naturally he didn’t want to miss an awesome snowboarding session but he needed to get back for graduation so he was looking for a group to drive up with him.
He knew he could get his friend JR (Jenny Rose) to come up with him and one of her good friends Katrina as well. But they were still looking for a better car to drive up in. He spoke with one of my friends, Kyle, who brought up my name. A single text later and I was in. George is a really relaxed chill kid. I have ridden on the mountain with himbefore and JR is this girl that I have always seen him riding with.
Although we had never talked much, our mindsets are similar enough that I had no worries about the trip. The drive up was pretty uneventful because both George and JR had to work late the night before and Katrina had been up late as well, so thankfully I was the well-rested driver. I drove the 5-6 hours up to the Canada boarder only stopping for food and gas in Plattsburg. I liked the little pub we stopped in. It had caught my eye because of the sweet turtle in the logo that I could barely see from a distance. Afterwards we had a bite to eat and took a break at a little park outside of city hall to enjoy a flowing river that led into the great lakes.
Other than getting grilled at the boarder by the agents, the trip up was super smooth and we beat the bus full of students. When we got to the hotel, we waited for the bus to catch up so we could see who else was sharing our room but as the bus pulled in, the power went out. We had to meet our other two random roommates in the dark. Thankfully I had packed a headlamp and all six suite-mates shared the one light. Jessica and Jackie were our two random suite-mates. The first night was pretty relaxed and it seemed that everyone was staying in so they could be up for first tracks in the morning. But a couple of us did not want to miss anything so we decided to go out and see what was going on around the village. The bars were pretty dead which was a big surprise to me but we went to a dance bar for a little while to hang out even though it was a complete sausage fest. At least I had two of my girl roommates to make the situation more enjoyable. We didn't stay too long in any case.

The next morning I was excited to get up early and board with George, JR, and Katrina. Since last year was a pretty bad season for boarding, it seemed like no one had been out in a while and we were all a little rusty. I have the oldest board and binding by far, so everyone should have had a one up on me. The conditions were pretty terrible since it rained the day before so a lot of what was left on the mountain was now ice. Trying not to catch an edge was pretty tough but we all made the best of it. George and I picked up the boarding pretty quickly but the girls took a little more time to remember. JR seemed pretty good but Katrina took a beating. She knew what to do but after a few falls her confidence was quickly deteriorating. It was nothing a little hot tub and beer could not fix though.
It was a pretty relaxed night from there, just playing games since I had brought uno and rumicube. I figured out that George is an Uno guru and addict. We all had a pretty good, relaxed night but after a few hours of games and drinks, the girls were ready for bed so as soon as some of our guests left they jumped in bed. There was one drunken kid who kept coming back and knocking on the door but I ran into him later and sorted things out. I soloed around the village before bed but honestly it was pretty beat and quiet again not like years past.

The next day the conditions were way better, although no one wanted to get up. George almost made an attempt but stayed in bed instead. That wouldn't stop me though, sleep is over-rated and the mountain called my name. I boarded by myself all morning, which was the best part of my trip. There was no waiting, just cruising the open snow without music. Just plain natural beauty and endless thoughts running through my head.
I hit every trail I possibly could. I was revisiting old memories and imagining riding with old friends down different trails. It's funny to think how many people I have ridden this mountain with and the different styles that they all have. My favorite are still the trips that I spent trying to keep up with my buddy Joe and the rest of the pack that came out with us. Not gonna lie, not having the awesome yard sales from Ian this year was missed. I am sure I did everyone proud though, cruising at speeds I had forgotten I could get up to.
My favorites were the black diamonds, although I can’t decide between which of the 4 sides of the mountain was best. My other enjoyable moments of the morning were the different groups of people that I ran into and started riding with. Of my favorites were the Russian family on the lift that were from New York, along with a huge group of women racers that pushed my speed well past my comfort, and the group of boarders who shredded the terrain park as I simply practiced my jumps and tried getting some air. You guys all killed it and although we only spoke for a little you all made my day great. Oh! How could I forget the three older French women? You were great, although we couldn’t talk because of a language barrier, I had so many questions I wanted to ask you. They looked as if they had the nicest demeanor. I just wanted to hear stories and wisdom from them because from all the wrinkles I could tell they spent years in the sun and wind skiing.
After my morning of peaceful alone time, I was glad that I ran into the girls from the room in the afternoon and did some runs with them before calling it quits.
As soon as we got back I was in need of a hot tub session. Then we followed the afternoon ritual of drinks with new friends in the pool room before we went out for a little (although I dominated pool all game, my skill of scratching the 8 ball always gets the best of me). The highlight of the night was when I decided to climb the rock wall siding of the hotel to a balcony then tried to get into the hot tub from outside. Everyone was excited and all dressed up since no one doubted my climbing skills. However, the door was locked from the outside and the windows as well….The water was nice for me at least haha.

Day three turned out to be a pretty sweet day, woke up semi early and waited for a nice group of us to get up and ready to go out. Finally I had the go pro ready to test it out a little better. At first it was just the boys and JR tearing it up. Ryan, Horhey, David and I cruised at some good speeds hitting up some sweet trails while JR tried to keep up. It was amazing because after a short rest you could really see JR find her confidence as we pushed her a little to do some diamonds. While Horhey and JR took a short break the rest of us took the short chair lift to the steep section of the mountain and hit up one of the few open Double black trails. It was steep! But conditions were pretty good and I enjoyed taking pictures on the way down.
Then we get the two other ones in our group and start pushing JR's limits to try some new runs….she went with the flow and found her groove and as we cruised along, we all started finding the same pace on some of the longer trails on the back side of the mountain. We rode for a long while before heading in right before the close of all the trails.
After some lunch I wasn’t really feeling the hot tub, I had been thinking about checking out the village but then I heard a rumor that the Hot Tub had been bubbled over with shampoo bottles taken off of the maids cart.   I, of course, ran downstairs to check out the pictures and take pictures. After seeing the brilliance of it all, I ran up stairs to put on my bathing suit so I could enjoy the adventure of it all. The tub foamed up so high that it over flowed and almost made its way into the other room. From what I understand the boys wanted to use the outside tub but it was temporarily closed for about an hour.
Well, after the hour was up, the boys didn’t want to wait and retaliated by bubbling the inside one. I can’t say that I would have done that myself, but I sure did enjoy the treat. While I was in the tub, the girl from the front desk came in to open the door to the outside one and her face was priceless! Not to mention her reaction of “did you guys put something in here”.  Her look of shock quickly turned to anger as she walked back to the front. No harm done though, just a little fun and a small mess to make for a great story I will never forget.
After that I went to the bar to find Katrina and Jason who had been at the bar all day drinking and shopping around the village so I could invite them out with the rest of us since we were going ice skating and tubing. We had all decided to skip the side trip to Montreal. At the Bar, Timmons showed me this cool dice game they play at the bar and he lost and had to buy a round of drinks. After that we headed back to the room and I made a pit stop to grab beers from the store. We pregamed in the room drinking beers and taking shots. We even had the bar tender from the Caribou join us. Jackie poured shots into normal glasses which meant they were way too strong.
I took the biggest and caught up pretty quickly to everyone else as I chased my triple shots with my PBR. As we headed out I packed a backpack full of beer and the adventure began with Ice Skating. It was a good old time skating around on this little rinky dink pond that was not very well maintained. It was all chucky Ice. Timmons and I skated around holding beers doing our laps and playing tag as we skated around. It was funny to see who could skate and who had no idea what they were doing. As always, I added some fun by setting up a sliding contest for Timmons and I as well as challenging everyone else to a diving over the snow bank contest…
I think I won both but I lost the next day when I woke up to a super sore body… although Katrina was even worse from falling hard; she could barely walk around and looked all gimpy. Anyway, after our share of skating we headed over as a giant wolf pack to the Tubing area at the base of the mountain.  There were two sections, tubes and dinky sleds.   The more I drank the more fun I had especially since we were surrounded by friends. A bunch of us raced on the tubes but more importantly on the sleds… The sleds were hard to stay on unless you stayed perfectly straight; which I did not manage to do… I seemed to always run into Dave and then flip and roll to a painful heaping stop. I did manage to keep the beer with me though and share it with the two guys working at the top of the magic carpet.
After that we changed quickly and then head out to the bar to check out the night life. Since we knew the Bar tender we went to the caribou first for a few drinks and relaxed conversation before heading over to the dance bar happily drunk. I had fun wandering and dancing for a while meeting some new people before heading back to the room at some point with Dave and Timmons. We bonded in their room and drank some more before heading into my room where I realized I was super drunk. I know it was super late and most people were already asleep but apparently I made it back to the room and passed out in a chair. Horhey woke me up eventually around 5 am and put me in bed.
A few hours later around 8 or 9 Horhey and JR tried to wake me up and were surprised when I basically sprang to life in a second. “Are you ready?” they asked and in a very drunken just barely awake state, I replied “Hell yes” I am not sure what let me do it but I was ready to go…. I was just a little drunk so the first few runs on the mountain were interesting ones for sure. I have never had such goofy fluid riding before. Somehow I did alright and didn’t fall.
The only problem is that it was freezing outside in the morning. I am pretty sure it was in the negative Fahrenheit. My eyes teared as we rode and my whole body could feel the chill even through all my layers. Needless to say there were a lot of breaks and it turned into a quick morning session before everyone decided to head in for lunch. It was a bummer that everyone decided it was too cold to go back out except for me. I convinced Timmons to go out on at least one run with me since he had not ridden that much all trip. His Board is super strange since it is one of the only models of boards that has its edge rails pulled in so that it is a much better rail board meaning you don’t catch and edge. However, it makes it extremely difficult to ride if there is any ice whatsoever and just steering in good conditions is sketchy and scary as the board usually slides out from under you pretty quickly. Timmons didn’t lie at all after one run in the cold, he was ready to head back in. Thankfully Jackie decided that she was ready to head out so I only took a few minutes to defrost and head back up with her. I could tell Katrina really wanted to come out but her knees were so black and blue from falling while ice skating that she can barely bend her knee, let alone walk, so boarding is definitely out of the question. I felt really bad.
Jackie and I did a quick run, but that was about it because at the bottom she was done as well. I'm not sure if it was the cold, her being sore, or her feeling bad about holding my pace back that made her go back in so quickly. I hope it wasn’t me, but I sure as hell was not quiting early on the last day. Even on no sleep, I stayed out all day in the cold and had a blast riding alone the last bunch of runs. I just decided to race random people down and push the amount of runs I could squeeze in before the closing of the mountain.
It was sad to have to stop but eventually I headed in and went into the hot tub one last time. Bubbles from the day before still foaming up. Before fully packing the car and leaving I took one last trip to the bar with Katrina so she could say goodbye to her new Canadian bar tender friend from Montreal. All in all, the trip was amazing, nothing what I expected, full of new people and experiences. I truly am glad that I took a chance and went. It broadened my horizons and friendships to boot. I was disappointed that I didn’t hear any Canadians say “eh “ though!

The drive home, I mostly slept and thought about the trip and trips past. Trembelant is a magical place with magical people. I think about all of the trips but one in particular stands out in my mind. Life is random and awesome. It really is a small world if you think about it.

Revisiting a long lost dream through a dream

2013-01-11T19:42:00.003-08:00

So I had a day off work and needed a little boost to my life so I decided to go do something I love that I have not been doing enough of. Hiking!
Nature is truly inspiring
Here is a little story poem with pictures taken from my meander through the forest

"Yesterdays dream is Tomorrow's reality"

I was hiking alone through an old dream
Visiting the woods of my past

I stumble upon something simple yet beautiful, Water.
I remember I have not fallen into this stream in a long time

So I push my luck
Found some new tree bridges to cross

It all looks a little wider then I remember
Guess a hurricane changes things sometimes

Its beauty however is all still there
Slightly changed she is still incredible every time

Deeper and deeper Into my dream I follow my mind further and further off the trail

Even Found a ghost of past under the ice. I remember hunting big bull frogs on these waters years ago

Water flowing an ever constant in my mind everywhere I go

Flowing falls although icy they may be lead some where
somewhere worth risking the chill

Higher and higher I climb against the flow
following my old dream path

To find a favorite old spot on a tiny little pond
A place to sit and ponder as the ducks and frogs swim by

This old spot leads to finding an old inviting path and the dream continues
To find more of nature's gifts

To see little Simple things that make you smile
Glimpses of the cycles of life

To see and feel the warmth of the woods and sun

Travelling over bog boards to nowhere

That lead to A frozen pond with twin islands

I follow around the bend and am lead to a favorite sight, a beautiful rock bluff, enticing to climb for a simple view and pleasure of the climb

And pass over barley used beautiful walks with inviting elegant snow

To learn about the destruction that happened while I was away

Which remind me of how the past is connected with the future, dreams of past can be reality of today, and Destruction of winter leads to New growth of spring. Keep moving forward

Big screen Adventures

2012-08-23T18:04:00.003-07:00

So recently I have been hanging out with an old high school buddy of mine who is pursuing his dreams of becoming a movie director. He was asking around for a place to shoot so of course while my mom was gone for a week I volunteered the house. We shot a party scene upstairs as well as a college apartment scene in the basement. Glad my place still looks like I am a college kid. All the actors were great and although shooting took a little longer then I wanted we still had a great time shooting. The clip was for a tv series about high school wresting and after the filming I wanted to be back in high school. Especially high school girls! A few weeks later I saw the clip and was amazed at what peter was able to create. He has some talent for sure.
That was not the only thing I helped with. My later role was much more intense. Its pretty cool to actually be in a movie. It was a batman beyond short that was being made to coincide with the new batman movie release. There was a lot involved in the behind the scenes; prepping gear, transporting gear, getting all dolled up with make up (I was a joker goon), plus a long night of shooting on top of an apartment complex in Brooklyn. The make up artist did an amazing job on everyone but for me in particular did an outstanding job. Man was I creepy! It was my first experience actually being in a film and I was surprised at how long each little aspect of a scene takes. we filmed for hours just to have a short video. It came out AMAZING!

Check out the Batman clip
http://vimeo.com/46498864

Life thoughts for June

2012-06-27T19:58:00.001-07:00

June Thoughts

Reinout Visiting The USA from Belgium, Pictured at the George Washington Bridge

So as June comes to a close its a good time to reflect a little. As far as life I am relatively at this point. Think back at last super and other prior summers this one is kinda dull. Im not hiking the Appalachian trail with my best friend, or exploring Australia, or Biking the USA, or even working for the NJ fish and wildlife as an endanger beach birder. No this year I am focused on training and working. Trying my best not to spend money and stay focused has been tough. Everyone always seems to want to be going out and doing things. Truth be told I don't mind going out that much. However, I do miss being social with friends, I feel like I have not seen that many people. Thankfully I have had some nice visits here and there the highlight being seeing my Belgium friend Reinout stay at my house for a week. We had some adventures like his first visit to NYC, first Baseball game (even though it was the Mets), Biking adventures, and a Hoboken crazy night. Even harder than not seeing my friends is having a long distance relationship. I take this to a whole new level by finding the perfect girl who is not even a citizen of the same country. At least Canada isn't that far away, but still I miss her. It nice to at least find inspiration in each other as we are both focusing on very different tasks in life. I just can't wait till time brings us together again. It will be interesting to see where life takes us, and as both of us go with the wind on many things it should be an interesting adventure to say the least. I could possibly see a sail boat in our future. Ive been reading up on a blog from the PCT because hopefully this time next summer we will be hiking the PCT together. Check out the blog; http://naturallydriven.ca/

Speaking of the future, a friend of mine posted an article entitled "25 Things to Do Before You Turn 25"; I found the article to be incredibly true and simple. I have some on my list to do still an others that I will skip but nevertheless its an awesome list and something everyone my age should think about. Enjoy Youth while its hear! http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/25-things-to-do-before-you-turn-25/

View from the Bottom of the George Washington Bridge with Reinout and the Little Red Lighthouse

At Citifield to see the Mets Game with Sam and reinout plus my mom and her Friends

Getting to the topic of training which is constantly on my mind these days. I am still uncertain on how I will fair in my Ironman. My head cannot comprehend 2.6 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, and 26.2 miles of running straight in less than 17 hours still. I am headstrong in my decision to compete and give it my best, I am confident in myself but am still at the same time still doubtful of my ability. I guess time will tell. I am excited to say I bought a bike....may not have been the best decision for the Ironman as it is a cyclocross bike. It has the droped handle bars like a road bike, but has y brakes, thinker tires, and a less aggressively geared double front cog. I won't be setting any speed record on it as other people will have crazy expensive carbon Tri bikes but I am planning ahead for future trips. I am more of a distance multiday touring fan. I put 100 miles on the bike in 2 days. One day I spent riding thought NYC with Reinout and then the second I took my usual commute to work. You could say I am getting more confident in my riding. over the month of may I rode a lot as it was bike to work month at work. I tallied up almost 600 miles on my commute, another 400+ training on off days, and on a 4 and a half day tour I did 500 miles to round out my month plus a day or two with 1500 miles. After that I figured it would be a good idea to focus on one event less and balance out the last two months of training. I have started to swim more and am slowly gaining confidence in the pool and my swimming abilities but I will say that trying to swim/train at the bally's pool is pretty miserable. Maybe some of you will disagree with me because you have seen me running recently but in my opinion I fell off on my running. March and April I felt super strong on my runs and I was headed in the right direction for building up to a marathon but somewhere along the way I lost focus ans my runs have become shorter and more dispersed, I honestly have not been able to get a longer run in a while let a lone a long run. I think I can pick it up though. This week I am trying to get some triple session in, biking to work, running to the gym, swimming, and then running home. I guess they are little mock Tri's just spread out throughout the day and mixed in with my work schedule.

I guess for a month June was pretty good if I think about it, just different. Training is less satisfying then my past adventures but hopefully will pay off in another 6 weeks!

2012-06-23T21:39:00.002-07:00

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you

must keep moving ~ Albert Einstein

I want to ride my bicycle

~ Queen Bicycle Race, Fat Bottomed Girls

How To Plan A Bike Tour:

The 5 simple steps to Making your tour happen
1). Make The Decision
2). Create A Plan Of Action
3). Do Your Research
4). Create A Budget
5). Plan Out Your Route

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. ~ Ernest Hemingway

Check out this blog for some more advice for touring.
http://bicycletouringpro.com/blog/how-to-plan-a-bicycle-tour-for-next-year/

Wilderness First Aid

2012-06-23T19:53:00.003-07:00

How to help someone who can be saved

So June 9th and 10th I decided to take a wilderness first aid class. I had a few motivating factors for this class since it did cost a little bit of money. First off if you know me you should agree there was a need for me to take this class due to the fact that I am always trying to be outside and on some adventure that can take me anywhere in the world including some of the most remote wilderness areas, so its a good idea to be at least prepared. My second reason was that I am thinking of guiding or teaching outdoor skills and it will be a necessary addition to my resume to give me a chance for some of those wonderful jobs out there. My third reason is probably my most important reason to me; its just over one year from when I thru hiked the Appalachian Trail and the thought of my friend Buffalo Bobby is still fresh in my mind. I don't know if situation will ever fully depart from my mind. RIP Robert Yerike aka Buffalo Bobby.

Buffalo Bobby pictured before I met him- He is wearing the same outfit I last saw him in but was quite a bit lighter when I met him.

So some of you may not know the story behind Buffalo Bobby. He was a hiker who I briefly met on the Appalachian trail 3 days from the end. It was his third thru hike of the famous AT and my first. When we first ran into each other we chatted on the beach of a beautiful lake in Maine somewhere. The weather was perfect and the scenery was even better. With the end of the trail within our grasps we were both in great moods. As we talked we found out we had some funny coincidences: We were both from NJ in fact he was from Howell (my good friend professor Reynolds lives there as well), I went to Monmouth University and so did his daughter, we both love Pizza! He even had 2 spare slices of pizza saved from his stay at a hostel the night before that he offered to me, one that I would save to share with Luke who was still hiking and catching up to us. We stood and chatted about how great we were feeling and that we both did not want our experience to end. He was such a happy uplifting guy, just spending those 10 minutes talking with him I felt amped. He just gave off this Ora and vibe that was contagious. He said he was behind his 2 friends who were in a rush to finish but he was going to take his time to enjoy the beauty. He headed off and I waited at the shelter for Luke to catch up for lunch. After lunch we plodded up one of the last little blips of a mountain left in Maine before Mt Katahdin. We were going to be able to have a great view of the mountain from the top of this little climb. We never made it though. Just shy of the top of the climb I saw Bobby, but something seemed off. He was in the middle of going down. He must have felt something going down because he seemed to have thrown his stuff down in a hurry. I just got there in time to catch his head from hitting a rock as he went from a semi sitting position to laying down position as he trembled. First thing that popped into my head was that he was having a seizure. I was clearing some of his cluttered gear away from him when Luke came up the trail. Needless to say he was surprised but jumped into First Aid mode just as fast as I did. Having the two of us together helped us both I think. We quickly called 911 but as we were in the middle of the 100 mile wilderness (famous really remote section of the AT) we didn't think we would get service since we didn't have any at lunch. Some how the call made it through because we had service and I thank my lucky stars that it did. Luke gave the dispatcher as much information as we could. We had a decent idea of where we were thanks to our guide book but for the Rangers who would have to find us it was going to be extremely tough even with coordinates. Next we called luke's mom who is a nurse for advice as we waited to see or hear from the rangers. We did our best to make sure Bobby was comfy and taken care of. We rolled him onto a mat, gave him a pillow, and covered him up when it got colder. He woke up at one point and I felt a sense of relief. He was confused and didn't know where he was or who we were but it made me feel better. I guess it was a false sense of relief and hope though. After a few minutes of talking about how he was feeling, which was hungry, cold and spliting head ache, we helped him stand up so he could relieve himself with some assistance. Shortly after he was having another seizure. 3 other hikers came up past during this time although the exact times escape me. First a lone girl hiker came up who we sent to catch up with Bobby's two friends to tell them what happened so they would not worry. At that time we felt confident we had things under control and help was on the way. Later the 2 other hikers came up to us and stayed. Rainbow and firestarter were their trail names. They help us tremendously because as we waited for the ranger we heard back that they were having trouble finding us and a storm was on its way in so they couldn't send a chopper to find us. They set off back down the trail we had just hiked up to go back to the lake beach to flag down a sea plane that would radio to a boat the exact location they should go to. After flagging down the plane and waiting for the boat they had to lead the rescuers and all their gear back up the trail an hours walk to us. As this happened Bobby had woken up a third time, he was complaining about being colder, having a splitting head ache, and lost control of some of his bodily functions. He was extra confused this time and a lot less responsive. It wasn't long before he was having another seizure this time he was coughing like he was going to puke so we rolled him on his side just in time. Soon after the First ranger made his way from over the mountain as we waited for the Rescuers to come up the other. Once we were all there a plan had to be made after the initial checks were made. We had made the call around 1pm and the decision was made we had to go ahead and move him now. His pupils were uneven which I found out was a sign of a stroke so we put him on a gurney and started carrying him out as he started to snore (a really bad sign- something else new I learned that day). The carrying out process was brutal, it was to dangerous to carry him out the way we had come so we decided to carry him up and over the Mt to hopefully find and old lumber trail road down to a new lumber road. It was getting dark, the trails we steep and wide enough for one person so it was a miserable beginning to a rapidly downwardly spiraling carry out. The four hikers were all carrying our packs plus bobby's, the EMT's had their equipment, not to mention the Gurney with a mans weight on it. On the other side of the mountain we left trail with the guide of a local guy down what looked like thick forest but somehow he was saying was an old logging trail. We rotated spots on and off the gurney as we made our was down through brush dodging trees and rocks, plus the occasional water or mud spot that was ankle to thigh deep at parts. The whole ordeal took about 8 or 9 hours from the start to the end when we reached an isolated logging road and were greeted by a huge group of rescue workers and ambulance crew. I watched as they loaded up Buffalo Bobby in the Ambulance and I am glad I was able to stop them from throwing out my sleeping bag that we used to keep him warm on the adventure down. Its the first time I have written this down to share openly. In the next few days the Newspapers had tried to contact us but I felt uncomfortable talking to them without talking with the family out of respect.
So back to my weekend of Wilderness First Aid. I took a class at REI in East Hanover that was taught by NOLS instructors. It was an intense 2 day course with lots of class room lectures with a mix of lots of acted out scenarios. We learned a guide of what to do in any first aid situation. It starts with a simple five finger process of assessment. Followed by addressing the distressed and doing a more thorough assessment to see what the ailments are. During the Initial assessment it is important to hold the patients head still until you can determine if there is a need to continue doing so. Something that I really never thought about before. Followed by finding out the patient history and checking vitals. Overall I learned that without any training Luke and I had managed to do a pretty awesome job with our previous situation. I now know how to do a proper roll and maneuvering of a patient that is safe, but thinking back when we did move Bobby we did it very similarly in a safe fashion. One thing that our instructors pointed out which gave me some relief was that complications usual make rescues really hard and all the ailments Bobby had were quite serious even if he had been in a city five minutes from a hospital. Seizures, brain aneurysm and strokes are hard to relieve. Some of the Highlights of our class were making splints out of random camping gear and clothing. I had a ton of fun thinking of new ways to use gear and it was a nice break from the seriousness of most of the lectures. Its one of those things that will be fun to practice so that I keep my skills up. With all the information we learned I know I will have to refresh myself with my notes quite frequently. I think the best part of the class we leaving with a thirst for knowledge and me thinking about joining the local EMT squad.

I'm Singing in the Rain

2012-06-22T19:02:00.003-07:00

Biking through a Thunderstorm

So today on my way home from work I could see even before getting out the door just through the window that an epic storm was on its way. It was dark and gloomy out, with winds gusting through the tops of the trees. It was also ridiculously hot out still. As I said goodbye to my co-workers I joked about my zero percent chance of beating the storm. They all said "be careful and good luck" as they always do. Don't worry I know they think I am crazy for my super long commute and now extra crazy for leave as a storm approached. Honestly I never look at the weather and weather usually does not bother me at all. As I made my turn onto the street I saw the edge of the storm just to the East of me and it gave me a hope that I could be it after all. However as I hauled as fast as I could to race to leading edge of the storm I came to the sad realization that I was not going to beat it. It started to drizzle as I zipped past all the stand still traffic. Sometimes its amazing the feeling you get when you ride your bike. Beating traffic is one of those great feelings. That small drizzle turned quickly into a light rain and then into a heavy down pour just in time for the hill climb to start. It was so bad that as I was biking uphill there was a river of water flowing down hill that extended into the lane so that as cars passed me I was getting wet from the wave my tires were creating as well as the massive splashing wave the passing cars were making. In a little kid adventure way it was amazingly fun. Instead of finding it hard I was have such a good time that I didn't even really notice the climb. I guess it mush have been coming down really hard because 3 different cars slowed down on the hills and rolled down their windows to ask if I was ok and if I wanted to throw my bike in their cars for a ride. I politely declined because in my head and sometimes out loud I was singing as loud as I could the lyrics to "Singing in the Rain" I gave up trying to beat the storm and just made the best out of being in the storm. It seemed to make climbing a lot easier for me, I found myself climbing harder and faster then I usually do. After I settled into my ride when I finished my climbs and braking for death down the hills I kept up my pace as best I could to avoid getting cold. Eventually it stopped raining fully after almost and hour and then I just road home like a wet dog for the last hour. It was a great way to brake in the new bike: 100 miles in 2 days and a hell of a thunderstorm to add some dirt and grime to my too perfect toy, my cyclocross bike the Scott CX team. Equipment is supposed to get used and I intend to!

Get out and ride

The Bear Mountain Bike Adventure- Cramp central

2012-06-21T17:35:00.002-07:00

The Bear Mountain Bike Adventure-

Cramp central

So this adventure starts like ever good one does. With a simple day off of work. Since I need to balance my training and fun I decided to take a long day trek up to Bear Mt. New York from Fort Lee New Jersey. The route was the beautiful 9w which follows along the palisades through some nice quiet towns, some busy streets, and as you get further north some mountain roads. As I started out in the morning I was happy an maybe a little over excited. I had no plans for the day but to head up 9w. I felt great as I left my house and zipped up to the Palisades from my house. I had a backpack with some minor gear and some water, plus a few snacks. I blasted through the first section of 9W up to the alpine area like I always do then pushed a little further up until I passed the New York State border. After that It felt like relatively new area to me as I had only biked up to Nyack a few times before. Mile after mile I kept up pedaling along. After Nyack It was all new to me as I had never been on those roads before. Passed through a town with a big hospital and some small towns along the way until everything started to get more spread out, less cars, less buildings, and less people in general. I was nearing Bear mountain as the mostly hill terrain changed to some decent climbs with some nice views along the river. I recognized where I was as soon as I saw the Bear Mt Lake which was shimmering a very deep blue on that beautiful sunny summer day.

Bear Mt lodge

Bear Mt Lake

Bear Mt Lake

Four army helicopters flying over head. Only got three in the Picture though.

View from my resting view point on 202. Just down stream of the bridge.

Bear Mt Bridge.

View from Bear Mt Bridge.

As I got to the circle I decided to bike across the Bear Mt. Bridge and turn to the right for one last climb I remembered doing years earlier and bike and build. Funny how it goes that, that night I would chat with my friend Dustin Wall who was also on my cross country trip (he is currently traveling in Australia) and it just so happened to be the exact day 4 year later that we had biked down that very same hill and right across the Bear Mt Bridge. Of course I realized this later that night.

I took my first break to rest for lunch at the small view point on 202. Had a snack and some water and sat in the shade while I watched all the cars and motorcycles stop by for the view. All did the same touristy stop for pictures, stretch and then straight back in the car. I on the other hand Layed on the floor and stretched for a while as I could feel my right leg starting to cramp up. A cramp or should I say pull in my leg that I think is my IT band. Needless to say I had over worked my legs probably from the combination of biking to work, biking to Cape May and biking to Bear Mt. with a combination of being super dehydrated because I never stopped to refill water. I think I learned my lesson that biking 2-3 straight without drinking or eating is not a sustainable method to riding long days even if your in really good shape. The body just does not react well to that kind of stress.

So after a long break I jumped back on my bike and because it was getting a little later in the day I headed back with the intentions of going for a swim and my local gym that night. However my Legs had other plans for me. As soon as I started heading south I felt a slight tingle on the inside of my right quad near the inside of my right knee where the IT band connects. Ignoring the beginning of an injury is something I am know for and something that is terrible. After 5 or 10 more minutes of riding my leg started to cramp heavily. Every time my right leg tried to complete a single circular pedal I would get a sharp pull pain through my leg so bad that I had to flop off the bike to the side. I took this first heavy pull to be a sign that I needed to stop so I rested and drank some more and decided it was a great time for lunch. A few blocks down the road I stopped for a slice of pizza which is my favorite treat in the world. The girl at the counter gave me the funniest look when I came in. I think she felt bad for me because it looked like I was torturing myself. I was really sweaty and dirty looking with salt stains covering my whole jersey. I grabbed 3 slices of pizza and 2 big Arizona ice tea drinks and relaxed for a while.
After a quick refill of water I was back on the road but not for long. 10 minutes down the road my leg was cramping up again. This time I almost dove off my bike into traffic the pull was so painfully severe. I plopped down on the side gravel next to a gas station and waited before pushing on, on my bike. I felt good for maybe 15 minutes before having to pull over again. this time on the sloped grass of an old person home. Maybe I made their day by giving them something to look at. I stretched it out and rubbed my legs down for a while before deciding to take a nap. I have never struggled so hard on a bike ride before. The rest of the ride home which was probably a good 20 miles I felt a slight tinge a few times but I changed up my sitting position and my pedal stroke a little to avoid the some pain. I forget how many hills 9W has. Coming back into Fort Lee from Englewood cliffs was the best feeling. I can honestly saw it was one of my best showers I have taken in a long time, especially since I sat in a chair. A good end to a good adventure. My important lesson is to make sure I'm hydrated and when I am not I should just rest instead.

Records are just practice coming to fruition

2012-06-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

If you have not heard the Guinness World Record for Breath-holding was broken recently, and its amazing and inspiring! I guess anything is possible after all. Even had a friend comment asking if he was a mermaid. Closest thing to it I guess.

"German Diver Sets Breath-Holding Record: 22 Minutes, 22 Seconds"
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/06/05/german-diver-sets-breath-holding-record-22-minutes-22-seconds/#ixzz1x3xphRS4

So while I am no where as cool as this German diver, I hope that I have earned some cool points this past week with a bike ride from Fort Lee, New Jersey near the George Washington Bridge all the way down to the southern tip of New Jersey, Cape May. I did it over 4 days that I had off of work, 5 if you count the day I biked to work. This was my first long voyage with my new Bob Yak trailer, and it was fully loaded with stuff, including: a tent, sleeping bag, change of clothing, change of cycling gear, bathing suit, towel, wet suit, lifeguard buoy, stove, fuel, and food.

I guess this adventure starts on Tuesday when I left to bike to work. my usual commute by bike to work is roughly 65 miles back and fourth but today was different. I was towing my trailer and ready for some adventure...just had to make it through a day of work first. The most important part about this trip is that is not well planned, I was going for the spirit of adventure so I only glanced at a map and set a general South east heading out of work...that being said it was semi cloudy for a lot of the trip so I based my directions on signs and gut feelings. The first day after work I didn't make it all that far because I was getting use to the trailer and getting lost in the maze of northern jersey roads much of which are not so suitable for biking on. After taking a break to eat diner at a Pizza place I was told to take shelter soon because a major storm was moving it. As it looked pretty bad out I took this advice and called a friend in New Brunswick and decided to make a visit. As soon as I parked my bike it started to down poor so I started watching a movie and decide to crash.
Day 1- semi officially the start of this trip. I woke up a little later than I wanted around 8 and got out the door by 9. This was the tone for the day. The ride started smoothly with taking an old route I had biked between New Brunswick and Long Branch before, But I veered off this path to explore some new roads which was exciting. Found some new scenery and passed through some towns I had never heard of and some that rang a bell in the back of my head. After riding for a little over 2 hours I noticed a strange noise coming out of my back tire. Not my normal back tire, but instead from my trailer tire, It was going flat just as it was starting to drizzle. I never thought about buying a spare tube for my trailer, in fact I only had one spare tube for this hole trip and thankfully a patch kit that was in a bag of goodies I won a few weeks earlier. The task of patching a flat in the rain teaches me an important lesson...the glue does not like to dry in wet conditions...I consider myself very lucky that the center of the patch worked as all the sides we sticking up. Whatever works right? The patch lasted the hole trip and still holding. I guess this is a good time to complain about my chain skipping all day...which it usually does not do but with the added weight of the trailer almost all my middle gears are popping. Laziness keeps me riding with out bothering to try and make a simple adjustment to my sifter tension. I make it to Asbury Park for lunch where I meet my friend Yunmi, we eat and kill way more time then I planned on. Its good conversation and nice chance for my body to rest. At 3 I hit the road again and bike down to Point Pleasant where I try and meet up with my cousin Vinny but I miss him as he is heading down to AC so i just grab some more food and some hydration and continue heading south. I guess i should mention that during my break I debated calling at day/trip thinking it was to far and I was kinda lonely. Thankfully I pushed through, the unknown really made me happy as I bike through Toms River and down Rt 9 to new territory for me. The highlight of my night was finding a Dairy Queen and eating a Oreo Brownie treat, delicious.

I bike all the way until the sun started to get low and stopped at a Wawa in an unknown town to me to re hydrate. Taking the joking advice on a co-worker I decided to make camp near the Wawa in a little wooded area. the Idea behind this was I would have food, drink, and a restroom all close by. Regrettably the area I camped in was full of Mosquito's that harrased me as I rushed to set up my tent and jump in it. I should have at least set up the new tent once before this trip but of course I didn't so as I was getting eaten alive I had to learn the new setup of my REI quarter done T1 tent. As soon as it was set up all my stuff and I were in safely in the protection of the bug net and soon after I was asleep.

Day 2- This morning also started a little late but I guess I am just not an early bird. However my legs were working. Even towing the trailer I was averaging 19.8 miles per hour for the first 2 hours. However that pace didn't last that much longer as the trip went further and further south. As I got down to Tuckerton, NJ I found out that Rt 9 merges with the Garden State Parkway and does not allow bikes as the road has no shoulder while it crossed over the river. At this intersection there is a strange statue of a wine bottle that has random advertisement on it.

This meant a 15 mile detour that lead me to find some more unwanted friends...the green horse fly! As soon as I passed of the bridge for the river I was greeted by a swarm of Green flies, thankfully I recognized them and turned on the juice and was flying down the road at 20 miles per hour....the hole time I could see the swarm flying around me keeping up like it was nothing. They kept trying to land on my heels but as I was pedaling I was just constantly kicking them. So glad they were not smart enough to land somewhere on my body. I remember how bad their bites hurt so it was nice to go bit free. As soon as I got out of the marsh and into the woods I was in the clear...or should I say the back country. The road felt super isolated, it was very empty of anything except for pine forests, kinda eerie. I even got to pass the road for Atlantic City where my cousin Vinny was, it was almost like I was chasing him.

I kept heading due south until I realized I had to go around another detour of some big park before I could head east to Cape May. I had one quick stop for a lunch and water break and then I banged out the last 20-30 miles after seeing my first sign welcoming me to being close to Cape May!

When I arrived at Cape May I was so tired that I stopped for a drink and snack and then because I was worries about getting back in time for work and because I was excited about finishing my mission that I just turned around and started biking home. Looking back at this it reminds me of the Forest Gump movie where he runs across country and reaches the beach to just turn back and run the other way. On the Way home tho I decide to try and avoid the long detours. My first trip was to take a Paul-cut through Ocean City, NJ. I took up the hole lane over the little bridge in, which I am sure the cars behind me were not so happy about but it was a really short bridge. Then I biked north and wanted to go over the second longer bridge back west. However when I got to the road which has a sidewalk I found out the sidewalk was closed. Not wanting to have wasted all these miles I just went across the street and took the shoulder of the bridge. This was a super ballsy and exciting move which worker out really well because the bridge had a nice sized shoulder. although after getting over the first hump of the bridge I realized it was a lot longer of a bridge then I thought. The view was Absolutely amazing though. I continue heading north until I come to the rt 9 merge with the GSP. At this point I decide to take a break and hit the local Wawa. I am treated with two surprises here. First a roster and a chicken come out of nowhere and start walking around my bike and the roster even take a brief pose on my bike trailer, right on top of the yellow bag. Cute little beggars, remind me of me. The second thing that happens is that a lady stops to offer me a place to crash at her house in Tuckerton! It was great news until I realize because of the detour it would be a 30 mile ride instead of a straight 15 mile ride. Since it is late and she has to go to work she gives me her husbands phone number and runs off to the hospital. Nurses are sweet people, plus her husband has done a cross country ride so he understands what people charity can mean to a rider, especially a shower! I never did make it to his house though as it was getting dark and I was to tired to ride since I had already done over 100 miles that day. I saw a cute little house as I biked over a bridge in Port Republic that had a cute old couple sitting out on their porch. So I pulled in and politely asked if i could have permission to camp on the property. They looked surprised but said yes without hesitation. I was so tired I set up camp right away and tried to not to be bothersome any more that I already was. It was so cute they even called the neighbor to let her know and she came out to introduce herself. It was a second campsite with a lot of mosquito's though, but this time I was set up much quicker and put my rain jacket on to block some bites. I was out in no time at all.

Day 3- By the time I woke up the birds were chirping up a storm and the couple whose house I was at was already gone for a doctors appointment. They were so sweet and so was the neighbor in such a perfect little cute town. Made the whole trip worth it. I was up earlier then I thought at 7 and all packed up and on the road before 9. Felt good to be out early as it was cooler and the full heat of the sun was not blasting down on me just yet. The ride north seemed slow to me, not as fast as the ride down. I tried to take it slow and enjoys seeing things I had seen a few days before. I stopped for lunch at a little pizza shop to eat and take a nap. While napping outside the front of the store I was looking up at the cloud. When I went to sleep it was sunny with a few clouds and really blue skies but when I woke up it was darker out with clouds covering the sky in a dark menacing fashion. The cold wind that had woke me up was a sign of the storm that was about to come. everyone in the Pizza shop told me I needed to hit the road and take some cover as soon as the storm hit because it was a bad one. So after that I picked up my pace as I passed back through Toms River I hauled to try and make it up to Howell NJ to meet up with Professor Reynolds. I took rt 9 all the way up and in Lakewood I knew I was close to Howell so I stopped heading north and started head east on county line road. I worked out perfect because although I had no idea where I was going I popped out on a road I had traveled on many times that was only a few miles from Bills house. By 4pm I was all showered, had eaten and was relaxing at Bills house. I looked up the weather and decided I was staying put for the day. Later that night it started raining...when I said rain I mean torrential down pour...so glad I was not in my tent.

Day 4: Was a hard day to get up and move. Getting up was the easy part, moving was tough because I was happy where I was. I was visiting and having a good time will Bill Reynolds. We spent the morning catching up, hanging out, and doing a little bit of work. Time flew and it was noon before I even left. On the way home I continued taking roads I had never taken in a general north direction. On a back road that had a farm feel I ran into another rider out on a joy ride. We started talking and riding together and I found out he had just done the hundred mile giro that started at the George Washington Bridge. We shared some stories and he seemed to be amazed by my antics and my travels. I think he was really amazed by my simple belief that I could do anything. After we split off I took some road with another farm feel to it, rt 34 passing through Colts neck, and Holmdel. It was funny because while I knew sections of the road others made me think I was lost. I seemed to be traveling so slowly but I guess it was really that I was biking instead of driving. When I started to get further north I knew I was going to hit the Raritan river area and have to make a decision on which route to take. My normal detour through New Brunswick or to try my new route over the 35 bridge but I was not sure if it was legal to bike over it. Bill had mentioned he had seen a bike lane on the bridge so I went for it. Up in northern Jersey the road conditions worsened a lot. Rt 9 was so busy that I would be crazy to join all the fast moving traffic with no shoulder and the on and exit ramps. So I tried jumping to Rt 35 because if the bridge had a bike lane so should the road. While that statement made sense in my head the actuality was that there was no bike lane, or a shoulder, and all the cars where hauling and honked as the passed me. I really wanted to take the straight and easy route on rt 35 but decided to take back roads which were confusing to say the least all the way to the bridge. Thankfully the bridge had a bike lane which turned out to be just the shoulder of the bridge. After that 35 had no shoulder and no bike lane. Just 2 lanes of heavy traffic on both sides but I was stubborn and a sign said share the road with bikes so I went for it. I took 35 all the way up through Elizabeth until I started to recognize where I was. I luckily had remembered a bike route to Rutgers I had made that ran into my normal commute to work route. It felt good to know I was almost home. So I picked up the pace. I was in such a mood to get home that when I went over the 46 bridge by the little ferry circle instead of turning off and taking my local streets detour home I was ballsy as hell and stayed on rt 46. I pedaled as hard as I could and was pulling at 30 mph. I felt every little fiber get a cool kick of adrenaline as I hauled to keep up and not hold up traffic especially on the merges. My little burst of energy lasted just long enough as I pedaled over the last bridge and found my exit at Broad ave in Palisades park. One last climb up rt 5 into Fort Lee and I was home. My 4 day exploratory New Jersey adventure was complete and I'll never forget my trip. Learned some new trips and a lot of new roads. Can't wait for my next trip.

2012-06-05T12:26:00.002-07:00

"People should shape life so that at some point in the future, their reality and dreams meet."

Me in the White Mountains in New Hampshire during my 2011 Appalachian Trail Thru Hike!

Welcome to the Adventure Garage Blog by Paul Mandala

2012-06-04T17:32:00.001-07:00

THE ADVENTURE GARAGE

I am excited to say that this is my first blog ever! I really don't know much about blogging but have been thinking about starting one for a while. The main goal of my blog is to share my thoughts and experiences with those of you who would like to read about the adventures of a a not-so-city-slicker as he grows up. I guess my main goal will be to write about some of my adventures and travels. I'll try and offer some advice from experience and advice on gear that I use along the way.

The inspiration behind the title of the blog came from the first time my mom asked me to clean out the garage! My friends and I rose to the occasion and not only cleaned out the garage but decided to basically make it so we could live out of it in a club house type fashion. Best decision ever! Almost 10 years later and the adventures have not stopped and have only grown bigger and better. It started out with Luke and Newton, and since then everyone has joined in; Sam, Doug, Mike, Bubba, Diego etc. The garage has changed a lot over the years and a whole bunch of people have visited but one thing is for sure; we always find a way to have fun.

Pictured from left to right: Luke Angelini, Newton Bleffe, Paul Mandala