Scott: Starting Anew?

I find myself thinking about the trip quite often. I find my self caught in nostalgia every day really. I know there were a great many moments where we butted heads and moments of outstanding stupidity, but what do you expect when you're spending 24 hours a day with the same three people for almost four months. When it comes down to it this was the best summer of my life. Aside from that, I think, given the chance, we would not make the same stupid mistakes again.

I don't know what I expected after the trip. I suppose I wanted to come out of my shell and get out there into the real world. Now that I'm here I only yearn for another trip. I am a traveler and that is something I just can't be in New York. I've found myself at a cross roads. I don't exactly know what I would like to do with my life. Become a teacher, a sound engineer, a musician. Every day seems the same. I've been in the city for two months now, and the only places I see are my apartment, the gym, and the restaurant I work. That is not the life I signed up for. I'm being held back by fear. I'm always held back by fear of losing money or being rejected. Work always seems to win in the end.

The friendly smiles we received from strangers across the country have dissipated and I am left with the blank stares of people on the subway. I must say, being in the city when I'm not going to school is not the picture of perfection I thought it to be. I don't think the grass is always greener on the other side. I think the grass was greener on the side I had just been on.

The changes that I was supposed to go through. Those revelations we were supposed to have on the trip are coming into effect now. I'm not a city boy. I saw so much beauty over the summer, I don't see how I could turn my back on that. I always knew the importance of family and friendship, despite what some may think, or the communication which I haven't sustained over the years. The trip solidified my need for family and friends. I know more of what I want now. I want to travel. I want to remain close to the ones I love. I want to bring music to the world. Right now I am fulfilling none of those, but I intend to change that in the coming year. I'm going to get back out there and I'm going to reconnect as best I can. The truth is I fear I'll become boring. There's not much to engage the listener when you spend your time at home, at work, and at the gym.


As for the documentary, I sincerely hope we have the means to do another, whether it be a rafting trip down the Mississippi, hiking the Appalachian trail, or touring other continents on our bikes. I'd hope everyone this last summer would be willing to partake in future endeavors, but I know some may choose not to, so if Elliot has the means to come, I would be happy if he takes the place of riders who would not want to participate.

I love you all, and if any plans are in the making for trips come next November, count me in. If there aren't any, I'd be happy to start some. And whatever we do, we've got to get rid of the schedule. I think a wonderful summer would've been exponentially greater had we not had deadlines. Let the people we meet influence our time spent in one place and not the other way around. For now I am bound by a lease, but who knows where I'll be when it runs out.

Ryan: Sorry for the absence

First off, I know its December and we haven't written a blog in a very, VERY long time. But its never too late, right?

WE MADE IT!

The latter half of the trip consisted of many interesting moments and people... although it lacked Andy Junk. We met an incredible amount of people on the east coast, and a I think a big reason we let the blog go was because we were too involved in the moment (although we did catch a lot of it on camera, so that's a plus). We slept behind at least three movie theaters, were rained on too many times to count (FYI: biking with glasses in the rain is quite terrifying...) We saw a sunrise on the Atlantic (Stu and I took a dip, Scott and Matt were lame (and warmer than us) and Andy was not there)... We spent time in all the major cities and had several days exploring NYC (biking in cities is so much fun!).

There is really so much to write, its unfair to try and cram it all in. Just check out the Run-Down section, and if you have any questions, let me know.

I do want to take this opportunity to THANK YOU! If it weren't for all the help we received, this trip or this film would not have been possible.

We're in Post Production now and trying to get things together enough to get some Government and private Grants to help us complete the film. We biked across the country- and it was incredible, but there's still a lot of work to be done in order to complete this film.

I'm in the suburbs now living with mi madre. I work as a busboy at the Greek Islands. I'm not making enough money or doing work at a 'professional level' yet, and there have been times that I wish I were back on the bike, but I'm grateful for the experience and I can't wait to finish the film and share it with everyone.

Thank you again.

Ryan C. Kolegas

PS I might just start blogging about the post production process (but you all know how good I am at keeping a blog).

Andy: Shortcut

Hello, it's Andy, the guy who got off in Chicago. I went to Washington DC in a plane to visit girlfriend and here's a blog.

Ryan: The Big Blue Salty Puddle

We made it to the Atlantic!!! It was pretty awesome to see that massive amount of water, then to dive in it, then to get really cold but feel its necessary to body check some waves, then get out and have the water evaporate and salt crustify on your body (this must be what Stu feels like all the time...).

We've explored almost all of the places people have said to camp. Including but not limited to; Peoples yards, inside churches, outside churches, city parks, baseball field dugouts, behind movie theaters (we made this one up, but it works), in parks that are not necessarily public, highway rest stops, and on picnic tables... The two places we haven't stayed yet are the firehouse or a cemetery. We did however eat at a restaurant in Boonville, NY called the Hulbert house, and it is haunted... About time we found something haunted on this trip.

Short blog, weird right? I'm tired, we got up to see the sunrise this morning on the east coast (I usually get one sun rise in a year)... It was pretty spectacular though. Oh, and we called Andy from the Atlantic- he's in Washington D.C. visiting girlfriend, so I guess he beat us (using his calories inefficiently: DID YOU KNOW: the bicycle is the most efficient way for any animal to travel the most miles for the least amount of calories? Cars and batteries not included).

Ryan C. Kolegas

Ryan- Sweet home Chicago: And farewell

I know this is a little late to write about Chicago, but since we've been averaging about 100 miles a day in rainy weather across the midwest, I figure its better late than never...

Chicago was a great place to stop for a couple days. Our fund raiser was stellar and everybody got to see their family and friends.

(Just a suggestion, when you go on a cross country bike trip, move entirely out of your apartment first so that you don't have to spend hours and hours cleaning and moving when you're passing through your hometown).

It was so nice to feel support for this trip and this film from all the people I care about, yet there can never be enough time, so before I knew it we were on the road again.

Luckily, the few people who got word that we wanted to ride out with friends all showed up to the train station on Monday morning and 7 other people got to experience a typical day on the road (for about 10 or 15 miles). It started slow, we left about 30 minutes after said time, Matt rolled up with a flat that needed to be pumped, we went four blocks in about 10 minutes (lots of little stops), we went the wrong way down a one way, Stu endangered his own life, and then we finally got moving. Mid way through the trip Jimmy Robin got a flat tire, so we got to give him a crash course on flat fixin' on the road. About ten miles out most people turned back and a winner appeared- Dave Safford (my hero)... who stuck it out long enough to get the true pay off of riding: Ice Cream. Dave also fell into the Scott trap (where you try and keep up and Scott just keeps riding faster and faster. Needless to say, by the time we got ice cream, we were all ready for a little break).

It was so nice that people took the time to ride and to see us off. So to our fellow riders: Brian Morrison, Elliot Tagtmeier, Dave Safford, Jimmy Robin, Andy Junk, Rich Sandford, Larry Gress, Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed the ride.

On a side note... I finally believe Andy is quitting. I told him I wouldn't believe it until he rode with us and turned back. And sure enough he turned back. Bummer. (I don't know why he stopped blogging though- I'm still curious as to what he's up to).

The midwest was flat and awesome. We've met several farmers, while Matt or I change our flat tires (which have grown exponentially since Chicago), who have held fun conversations or offered us water on the side of the road. Other points I could touch on are:

* Drinking welch's grape juice from a farm that grows the grapes,
* Eating fresh apples from Apple Trees
* Days of misery- Wet and cold- The trip is finally legitimate (what's an adventure without misery?)
* Our longest day yet (and first real night ride) 128 miles
* Camping in people's yards- we have yet to be turned away, people are pretty incredible.
* Camping outside a motel, and outside a Mall (movie theatre).
* There's so much more, but there's some stuff you can ask us about if you wanna hear a story... Nighty night for now.

Sincerely,

Ryan C. Kolegas

Stuart: Cleveland, Oh hello!

We rode onto the rainy, empty streets of Cleveland on Sunday. Eventually, we found the lakeside path (reminiscent of Chicago) and sure enough a bicycle rider with huge legs caught up with us and engaged us in conversation. His name was Bill and he was a retired fire fighter who's lived in the Cleavland area for most of his life. We caught him on his daily 27-30 mile bicycle ride (not so bad considering he was over 60!), which coincidentally took him straight through the city to the east side of town, in the exact direction we needed to go. It also happened that his house was a half mile off the road and he had some orange juice that he was willing to share with us so he invited us over for a glass. Bill poured us some orange juice, got out a whole assortment of nuts and seeds, fruit and offered us beer too! It was quite the feast and he told us that he likes to pass on the kindness that he received when he went on a long bicycle tour in the 1970s with his friend (so it was a glimpse into our future). He told us funny stories about being a fireman, like when a “big-boned” woman got hopelessly stuck between her toilet and the bathtub. They tried everything, oil, grease, tugging, but at last they had to shut off the water and take out the toilet. He said those stories were the ones they try and hold on to because there were gruesome stories too that are still difficult to deal with. We had such a good time over there, we invited him to come along (after he said that he wanted to), but it turned out he couldn't because his girlfriend from Florida was flying in to visit for a month. It was a bummer for us, but great for him. Stuffed with nuts, fruits and orange juice, we left Bill in his cozy, dry home for the soaking wet outside world. It was tough. Thanks Bill!

Ryan: Concrete Land

So let me tell you a story about an adventure... It all starts at the City Museum in St. Louis; If you don't know, the city museum is one of the most incredible places ever to have been created. It was built by an artist (Bob) who has ideas- incredible ideas, that he follows... To give you an idea of the museum I'll say this, there's a 17ft Praying mantis on the roof, along with a school bus and a crane (12 stories up). The inside has caves, re bar tunnels, hollowed out trees, and a gigantic whale in the middle of it (originally the museum was going to be an aquarium)... Anyway, you can climb on or through ANYTHING. Meaning if you can fit, you can go. The only rules were "the City Museum is not responsible for injuries, no running, have fun" Needless to say it is a giant playground for the young and the old. I loved it, every second. I woke up a little sore from all the climbing, but it was so worth it.

On to Concrete land: we were leaving St. Louis after hearing of Bob's next project; Concrete land. Naturally we wanted to find it, all we had heard is its incredible, there are two lakes and Bob goes there to bulldoze all the time. Off of our bike path we see it. So it was time to explore. We went through the gate to find a massive amount of stuff... Stuff being abandoned school buses,a couple planes, dilapidated buildings, piles of trash, etc etc... We begin to explore, make our way higher for a better view when the art begins to shine through. Some of the old buildings have been transformed into Castles. They'd taken rubble and re built it on the outside to resemble outstanding structures. From there we see a chimney. A huge tower hovering over the rest of "Concrete land." Below the chimney is a bulldozer, accompanied by a man with a distraught look on his face. It was Bob. And his 'Dozer' was stuck. We had to meet him. So we went down to say hello (Adam had already introduced himself and begun helping Bob with his dozer). We walk up and the first thing Bob says is "your doing a trip about experience, huh?" "You should go climb the chimney." Andy and I looked at each other, then back at Bob and said "is that ok? See ya in a few" and raced off to conquer the feat.

After 170 ladder rungs (270 feet) one begins to realize how difficult it actually is
to climb a ladder. We got to the top and saw a view of the city skyline that few people have seen. Then my arms cramped up. We spit a couple times and dropped some pebbles, then were ready to climb down. Half way down Bob yells up "there's some loose bricks at the top you can throw down if you'd like" (but it we were already on our way down).

Bobs plan is to build all the abandoned buildings into castles, make a spiral staircase up the chimney, and flood the whole area with water. Then he wants to take targets and place them in the water so people can throw stuff from the top of buildings and try and hit the targets... He's also going to connect all the buildings with bridges...

I was inspired. I want to help Bob build this incredible place. It was an adventure and a half- and so close to home.

Ryan C. Kolegas

PS we'll be stopping in the Chicago land area in like two days... I'm so stoked.