RideHard

The End of the Road...

2008-04-15T20:42:00.001-04:00

4,500 miles later.

Key West

2008-04-15T07:20:00.001-04:00

Southern USA.

Key Crossing.

2008-04-11T14:49:00.001-04:00

7 mile bridge, keys.

THU.AVL.10

2008-04-11T14:47:00.001-04:00

7 mile bridge, keys.

WED.AVL.09

2008-04-11T14:36:00.001-04:00

Long key, fl.

TUE.AVL.08

2008-04-08T18:28:00.001-04:00

100 miles left. Key Largo, fl.

MON.AVL.07

2008-04-07T17:47:00.001-04:00

South Beach, miami.

SUN.AVL.06

2008-04-06T22:27:00.001-04:00

Ft. Lauderdale beach.

SAT.AVL.05

2008-04-05T20:10:00.001-04:00

On the road, again. Pompano beach, fl.

FRI.AVL.04

2008-04-05T02:42:00.001-04:00

Meers riding in style, pickup.

Pool Party

2008-04-02T19:17:00.001-04:00

Today we find ourselves in paradise. We spent the day swimming, napping, and watching heartwarming movies starring Owen Wilson.

Beach Bum

2008-04-02T19:16:00.001-04:00

Moving down the Atlantic coast we find ourselves stuck, all there is here in florida is sun, sand and beautiful surf. its horrible.

2008-04-02T19:14:00.001-04:00

Puppy,Tans, Saltine Gulls, Heroes.

Atlantic Coast.

2008-04-02T19:12:00.000-04:00

St. Augustine, Fl.

Sunrise, Florida

2008-04-02T19:10:00.000-04:00

2008-04-02T19:07:00.000-04:00

The old Louisiana-broken-bridge-detour...

2008-04-02T19:05:00.001-04:00

Today, after failing to heed the warnings we found ourselves at a broken bridge. We opted to ford the river and chaulk the wagons. We had to fight off barbed wire, venemous swamp snakes, gators, and a swift louisiana current. But of-course, we came out unscathed and without infection.

2008-04-02T19:01:00.001-04:00

Mangroves, river-fording, sunday afternoons, gators.

Florida HO!

2008-04-02T18:57:00.000-04:00

Dauphin Isle, Alabama.

2008-04-02T18:55:00.000-04:00

2008-04-02T18:51:00.001-04:00

Lousiana Camping

2008-04-02T18:49:00.001-04:00

Catholic Church camping, Texas pit-stop, twilight, 4-mile puppy chase.

2008-04-02T18:47:00.001-04:00

Roads, alldayeveryday.

Beach day 3

2008-03-31T20:18:00.000-04:00

MON.MAR.31

2008-03-31T20:07:00.001-04:00

A glorious rainbow. Vero beach, fl.

SUN.MAR.30

2008-03-30T20:09:00.001-04:00

Sunday camp.

SUN.MAR.31

2008-03-30T18:56:00.000-04:00

Atlantic coast. Fl.

The great manatee hunt

2008-03-28T14:32:00.001-04:00

Itchatucknee river, fl.

Coast to...

2008-03-28T10:47:00.003-04:00

Coast.

2008-03-28T10:47:00.001-04:00

St. Augustine, fl.

Maine-cali-maine.

2008-03-28T10:45:00.001-04:00

Nick from maine has ridden over 7,000 miles...sans helmet.

Onward...to destiny.

2008-03-27T22:11:00.001-04:00

Riding hard, and looking good. Fl.

Coast.

2008-03-27T16:55:00.000-04:00

St. Augustine, fl.

Maine-cali-maine.

2008-03-27T15:16:00.000-04:00

Nick from maine has ridden over 7,000 miles...sans helmet.

Onward...to destiny.

2008-03-27T15:13:00.000-04:00

Riding hard, and looking good. Fl.

Shark attack

2008-03-24T10:04:00.000-04:00

Pensacola, fl.

Holy crap.

2008-03-24T10:02:00.001-04:00

It does exist!

How to slow down a bike trip.

2008-03-23T21:35:00.001-04:00

Meers breaks his bike in half.

Mom

2008-03-21T13:58:00.001-04:00

I picked you some flowers.

WED.MAR.19

2008-03-19T14:11:00.001-04:00

Jungle, dauphin isle, al.

Dauphin isle

2008-03-18T16:33:00.001-04:00

Today, we woke up @ 5:30 and said... Today looks like a good day to tempt fate & the ocean by riding over a 10 mile bridge with 20 mph crosswinds with an impending storm. And yes, we won.

BAMA!

2008-03-18T10:29:00.001-04:00

Sweet home- alabama. Knockin'em down.

MON.MAR.18

2008-03-17T20:08:00.001-04:00

In tent, map planning, vancleave, mississippi.

SUN.MAR.14

2008-03-16T21:33:00.001-04:00

M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i.

SAT.MAR.15

2008-03-15T20:08:00.001-04:00

Fried Chicken. La.

FRI.MAR.14

2008-03-14T20:22:00.001-04:00

Po'boy sandwiches. St. Francesville, la.

East side.

2008-03-14T15:50:00.001-04:00

Crossing the Mississippi.

THU.MAR.13

2008-03-13T20:42:00.001-04:00

Simmesport, la. And yes, we are living @ a truck stop.

Southern Dinner

2008-03-12T19:55:00.001-04:00

Cajun crawfish. Mamou, LA.

WED.MAR.12

2008-03-12T19:53:00.001-04:00

Cajun dinner.

TUE.MAR.10

2008-03-11T17:39:00.001-04:00

Free library internet.

NOT waterproof.

2008-03-10T21:50:00.001-04:00

Today, after extensive research in both Texas & Lousiana, we have come to 1 conclussion. Neither the REI icon nor the Marmot precip are waterproof. They are, however, good rain collecters.

MON.MAR.10

2008-03-10T21:28:00.001-04:00

Peter and Matt. Cyclethecontinent.com

SUN.MAR.09

2008-03-09T20:27:00.001-04:00

Silsbee, tx. 10$ campsite!w/showers.

Poolside, fi'real

2008-03-08T19:19:00.001-05:00

Haha. Hottub in Pumpkin tx.

SAT.MAR.09

2008-03-08T15:02:00.001-05:00

Huntsville, tx. Hangin out, poolside.

FRI.MAR.07

2008-03-07T22:35:00.001-05:00

Bike trouble. Tx.

THU.MAR.06

2008-03-06T19:01:00.001-05:00

Emergency blankie for emergencys. Like rainy texas graveyard camp.

WED.MAR.05

2008-03-06T08:07:00.001-05:00

Trees! No more desert.

Austin, Halfway!!!

2008-03-05T01:38:00.002-05:00

Meers and Dom have made it to Austin TX. We are now halfway from San Diego to Florida. Our last two weeks were a blur of mountains, deserts, and flat tires. We left Silver City and rode two weeks straight, only stopping once to get endless headshots, playing Call of Duty til 2 AM on Wes Morgans 70 inch flat screen tv, in Del Rio Tx. Other highlights include sleeping in ditches, having texans shoot guns all around our campsite, all you can eat mexican food, and saddle sores. However, we are now in Austin, the democratic party capital of right now. We spent the last 3 days hanging out at University of Texas, buying more gear at REI, partying in clubs, and riding our bikes w/out the stress of camping and having to make a quota of 80 miles of daily riding. But this stop is too brief, as we are off again tomorrow into the wild blue yonder, and with no internet or friends in sight it may be a long time before our next update. we shall see. Whatever happens we will ridehard.

dom.
ps. i went to the texas causcus, whatever that is.

PostCard...

2008-03-04T23:15:00.002-05:00

Today, to help w/our fundraising efforts for the National Brain Tumor Foundation we have had 200 sweet postcards printed up. Designed by the Heather Machine, these postcards are hollow-graphic and come with a solid Gold veneer, they can harness the power of the sun, and some are even capable of reversing the effects of certain Rattle snake Venoms.

Many, if not all of these features may, or may not be true. But they look good, and that's what's important, looking good. I mean just look at us, those legs don't just happen, they're earned.

Multimedia message

2008-03-04T23:05:00.000-05:00

TUE.MAR.04

2008-03-04T20:30:00.000-05:00

Caucus? Texas.

Best Camp Ever.

2008-03-04T20:01:00.004-05:00

Last night we rode well past sunset, climbed a rollercoaster monster set of hills in famous Texas Hill Country and then passed out in a ditch. We woke up to the nicest ditch camp yet, except for biting fire ants who gave Dom a lasting poisonous kiss of doom. Well this is our breakfast, cooking in the middle of the dirt road. How is it that we pick the best camp of the whole trip in darkness w/out even knowing it?

Camping our way across America...

2008-03-04T19:52:00.003-05:00

Where o Where do we sleep? let me count the camps, well, "ditches" are when we let the sun decide.
Step 1. ride your bike
Step 2. Let the sun go down
Step 3. Turn right, set up camp
Step 4. Welcome to ditch camp.

We have also used couchsurfing.com to stay w/ complete strangers, slept in RV parks, a monastery, a walmart parking lot (a new low, even for us), campgrounds, railroad hobo jungles, and anywhere we can find a dry, level patch. Oh, and to date we have stayed in 2 seedy motels, w/beautiful sweet cable tv.

Climbing Mountains....

2008-03-04T19:48:00.005-05:00

Climbing Emory Pass, one day after New Mexico Blizzard. We were warned against a mountain crossing in winter, but our stubborn young hearts pushed us up and onward, over mountains of rock, ice, and metaphorical injustice.

New Mexico...

2008-03-04T19:33:00.004-05:00

Stuck in New Mexico. Snow, hot chocolate, and underhanded insults were just a few of the many pleasures of Silver City.

TUE.FEB.26

2008-02-26T20:34:00.003-05:00

Wes and Meers and Pat, and some real tx bbq, Del Rio, tx.

SAT.FEB.22.5

2008-02-23T19:28:00.001-05:00

Desert camp. Nothing but dirt & rocks. Nowhere, tx

WED.FEB.20

2008-02-23T08:10:00.002-05:00

Abc camp. Davis mtns, tx

TUES.FEB.19?

2008-02-22T20:58:00.001-05:00

We've entered Texas. Our new home for the next 3 weeks.

MON.FEB.18

2008-02-22T20:52:00.001-05:00

Bike shop stop. Las Cruces, NM.

SUN.FEB.17

2008-02-17T22:04:00.001-05:00

Dom and Meers top out @ 8828 feet above sea level. Emory Pass, NM.

SAT.FEB.16

2008-02-16T21:52:00.001-05:00

FRI.FEB.15

2008-02-15T18:59:00.001-05:00

Snow? WTF

New Mexico...

2008-02-15T13:52:00.004-05:00

"The land of Enchantment" is what they call it at the border, and if by "enchantment" they mean horribly mis-calculated weather prediction then they are right on.

We've been stuck here in Silver City, NM for 4 days now waiting for the "weather storm" to pass before tackling our highest mountain on the whole trip. Our days are spent on the internet, doing interviews with local papers, hanging out like trendy kids at the local coffee shop, "Javalina", and eating lots of mexican food. We are at over 6,000 feet so we drink lots of water and keep in shape by running laps up and down the nearest mountain.

New Mexico

2008-02-15T13:08:00.002-05:00

VALENTINE.

2008-02-15T09:44:00.001-05:00

MON.FEB.11

2008-02-12T22:08:00.002-05:00

Meers makes fire, AZ/NM border.

SAT.FEB.09

2008-02-09T20:07:00.003-05:00

Meet our newest rider, Pat. Globe, AZ.

California over...

2008-02-07T22:48:00.001-05:00

Well, California is over and it has treated us well, from the mighty bosom of the roaring pacific, to the gentle strawberry shakes at In&Out burger, yessir, CA was wonderful.

Dom and Meers RodeHard through this sunny state and remember it and its people with much fondness. Riding east out of San Diego was less than scenic after coming down the coast and viewing the pacific ocean everyday. we ran into high mountain passes, our first frost, and even a body in the middle of the desert. We couldn't bare to be in CA for the superbowl so we made a hard push to get to AZ and watch Tom Brady get shut down by that cry-baby Eli Manning. AZ seems so far to be made of dirt and rocks, and dirt covered rocks. We'll see what else we can find...

San Diego to Phoenix in 6 days.

2008-02-07T22:32:00.000-05:00

Dom and Meers make it all the way to San Diego.

All You Can EAT!!!

2008-02-06T18:43:00.002-05:00

Our hosts take us out to all you can eat buffet in Tempe, AZ.
The lovely Jen Goma and the hilarious, well-quoted Phil, from Jersey.

WED.FEB.06

2008-02-06T13:45:00.001-05:00

Meers w/another Dominic! TEMPE, AZ.

MON.FEB.04

2008-02-04T20:45:00.001-05:00

Meers @ McDonalds, after our first true century ride. Wickenburg AZ.

FRI.FEB.ONE

2008-02-01T20:42:00.001-05:00

Meers RidesHard, sunset, Brawley, CA

THU.JAN.31

2008-01-31T18:29:00.001-05:00

California Campsite.

WED.JAN.30

2008-01-30T22:29:00.001-05:00

Ocean Beach, San Diego, pacific ocean.

MON.JAN.28

2008-01-29T11:19:00.001-05:00

Aunt Barbara's warm and welcoming kitchen, OC, CA.

Dom, Meers, Colin....

2008-01-29T00:12:00.001-05:00

Our three intrepid, yet unkempt, gentlemen.

State of the Union

2008-01-28T22:43:00.000-05:00

MON.JAN.28

So, here is a state of the union address for Dom and Meers and Colins West coast expedition...

We flew into San Francisco and enjoyed a brief few hectic days with Mary, living in her cozy, sun-starved, yet oh-so-accomodating apartment. We ran around the city gathering last minute supplies, packing our bags, tuning our bikes and eating cheeseburgers. Colin and Meers sampled their first In&Out Burgers, but certainly not their last.

We left San Fran on a beautiful sunny day, pedaled 7 miles in the wrong direction just to cross the golden gate bridge, and then it was onward to our first stop; half moon bay. Aunt Cathy graciously let us stay @ her beach house and we enjoyed pasta w/Mary, burritos with uncle rich, and the Mavericks surf contest.

The next two weeks were a blur of struggling up hills, yes i know what you're thinking, California? Hills? i couldn't believe it either, but let me assure you they are there, right on the coast. We rode our bikes and camped from Half Moon Bay, down to Santa Cruz, then Monterey, where we were attacked all night by thieving raccoons who ate parts of my delicious helmet and invaded our camp. Then it was off to climbing the cliffs and beautiful vistas of Big Sur and the coast to SanLuis Obisbo. We saw sunsets and giant elephant seals, fighting and burbing on the beach. We enjoyed a great rest day of football and food with the priests at the Monastery of the Risen Christ in SanLuis Obisbo. We left SLO and had our best day yet on bikes, covering 95 miles in under 10 hours. Then came the rain. The next two days saw little more than cold rain and pedaling. We stopped in coffee shops to warm our toes and briefly dry off. We got to see all of Santa Monica and the beaches, but nobody was out since it was downpouring. We spent 2 awesome days eating massive amounts of food in Hollywood with xBradx and his roomate Mike. We saw the hollywood sign, cloverfield, but no hilary duff yet. And we ended our riding for the week in downtown L.A. where we caught a train 50 miles south to Aunt Barbaras welcoming and fully stocked house.

Colin has left and headed back to cold, snowy Boston and he and his constant humor will be missed. Now its up to us, Dom and Meers to try to carry on the jokes and laughter while biking over hills, through rain, raccoons and seedy last minute motels.

The mighty white unicorn (the bike Matt lent me) has held up well but proves to be made for racing rather than bike touring (i.e. hauling a trailer with 70lbs of food and gear hundreds of miles) so i will be picking up a new bike at REI in San Diego. The biking itself isn't really that hard and the people we meet along the way are all willing to help us out with directions, food, or just a smile and a story.

We have already learned much on our 2 week shakedown cruise.
1. We eat twice as much as i expected and 3 times more than we budgetted for.
2. Biking is easy and fun, bike touring is tiring and an "enjoyable challenge"
3. when hauling gear your mileage is much less than 100 miles/day
4. People are friendly and willing to help us out.
5. expect the un-expected
6. you CAN get sick of PB&J.

Dom.

SUN.JAN.27

2008-01-28T00:07:00.001-05:00

Meers and Mike playing Star Wars, Mission viejo.

Multimedia message

2008-01-27T00:15:00.001-05:00

Multimedia message

2008-01-26T23:56:00.001-05:00

FRI.JAN.25

2008-01-25T22:04:00.001-05:00

Mike Nelli, Missionviejo CA.

TUE.JAN.22

2008-01-21T20:31:00.001-05:00

Refugio State Beach campground.

MON.JAN.21

2008-01-21T20:30:00.004-05:00

Palm lined beaches, CA.

SUN.JAN.20

2008-01-21T20:30:00.003-05:00

Rest Day at Monastery of the Risen Christ, San Luis Obisbo, CA.
A day of food and football.

JAN.17

2008-01-21T20:30:00.001-05:00

Lunch Break.

SUN.JAN.13

2008-01-13T20:18:00.001-05:00

sunset @ Half Moon Bay.