Oh hey I made it to the other end of the country, for all y’all that didn’t see it on IG a couple months back. From Key West, FL on March 22 to Lubec, ME on July 7; 107 days rambling up the east coast was just as beautifully unpredictable as my ride across the south. There’s no way for me to adequately thank everyone that I crossed paths with sharing slices of their life with me, all the generous hosts on Warmshowers who welcomed me into their home, and all the support from friends and _brands_ on social media keeping me from getting too lonely. I’m not sure if I’ll make it to the top of MN or left side of WA first, but the quest will continue.
Getting stuck in Baltimore
“What’s the weirdest thing that’s happened on your trip???” is a question I’m asked often enough that it feels by this point I should have crafted a decent answer, but I instead choose to pivot towards telling a story about how anytime something has gone wrong it inevitably leads to an incredible experience that otherwise would never have taken place. My front wheel exploding (see last slide) outside of Baltimore lead to me getting stuck in the city for a few days while Tommy at Cutlass made my Omnium good as new, meaning that I was around for the Baltimore Bike Party which DAMN y’all ever ride bikes with A THOUSAND PEOPLE through a city? It’s an impossible sort of beautiful mess that I’m glad to have experienced, as well as the #coffeeoutside ramble and stoop hangs the following day. The chaos that rears its head while bikepacking is not an opponent that can be defeated so you may as well embrace the monster and see where it’ll take you.
Charleston Earth Day
Charleston, SC is a beautiful place with a rich history and culture as well as a great place to bike, with miles of scenic trails and paths winding through the city and surrounding area. I ended up in the city at the end of April and was able ramble along with Tour de Earth Day, a party pace bike ride that took us through some of the city's most iconic green spaces. Along the way, we learned about environmental issues impacting the area and had the opportunity to visit various partner stops, such as the Charleston Parks Conservancy, Ashley River Greenway, and the Friends of Gadsden Creek. It was some A+ vibes with some A+++ people getting to see multiple ways that The Holy City is working towards a more sustainable future.
Street Arts
It’s quite low-key as far as vandalism goes but I’ve been sticking these magnetic words on magnetic things all across the country. A Ride Find somewhere in Florida months and months ago, few pounds of these things, maybe a hundred in total. One of the reasons my bike is goddamn heavy but it brings me a lil bit of joy and thus feels like the right sort of weight to bring with me. Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing. And even if you don't come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can make someone smile while they're having a piss. -Banksy, probably.
Southernmost
As evidenced by how lazily casual I am in the quick video I took to prove the control point, touching the southernmost point buoy down in Key West didn’t feel like a significant moment when it happened. That sense has shifted a bit as I’ve been talking with folks on my way up the east coast and approach the easternmost point in Lubec, ME but it’s still somewhat a “I mean, I just rode my bike here, what’s the big deal??” kinda vibe in my book. It’s a lot less complicated than waiting for marine life to die and decompose for a few million years under great heat and pressure, digging that up out of the ground somewhere on the other side of the world, putting it in big tanks on a boat to send allllll the way to Houston where some kind of magic happens, sticking it in leaky pipes that take it all over the country, then putting it into a metal box in the front of another larger metal box, and setting it on fire so it’ll explode but somehow still waste 80-something% of the energy on keeping the radiator warm while spraying poison out the back of the metal box? Weird flex but ok.
All I did was grab some pizza from a dumpster and pedal a bike. It’s a lot less complicated.
What We Leave Behind
I’ve been thinking a lot about legacy. Questions that I’m often asked; why’re you doing this / what’s the purpose of the trip / is there a cause you’re raising money + awareness for? A difficult thing to answer as saying “because I can, because I want to, and nah” never seem to be as satisfying for them as it is for me.
Doing something just for yourself can be painted as selfish, but hey maybe it’s not always about some hugely significant greater good. Instead of focusing on leaving behind a physical legacy, such as a building or a monument, the aim should be on leaving behind a legacy of connection.
Support local businesses, volunteer your time when you can, and get involved in the community where it matters. Somewhat related: here’s a bunch of photos of things that used to be important a long time ago.
Bike Against A Wall
My folder of “pics to put on main” has been growing to an almost unwieldy state so consider this a decluttering post showing off my Omnium in places that I thought were nice.
Grav Grav
This a visual love letter to gravel in the south. Usually buttery smooth, occasionally sandy, alllways seemed to be CHOICE no matter where I turned. If you want some of this beautiful, find your closest National Forest spot and just go ramble.
Thank You Tampa
This is essentially an appreciation post for how goddamn good the bike scene was during my time spent in Tampa. Thanks to numerous internet friends who connected me with Jorge, the proprietor of Bike Haus, I was able to spend a couple weeks with him and a wonderful peach while I explored the city, picked street fruit, and rode as many of the group rides as possible. This city quickly had a strong hold on me that was tough to break. Miss y’all. I’ll be back.
Free Gasoline
Ah, dumpster diving, a practice that highlights the gross excesses of capitalism and the urgent need for a socialist revolution. It is a stark reminder that our economic system is designed to benefit the wealthy few at the expense of the rest of us.
Approaching a dumpster, I am filled with anger at the waste that surrounds me. It is a tragedy that perfectly good food, clothing, and other necessities are thrown away while millions of people around the world go hungry and without basic necessities. This is a direct result of a system that prioritizes profit over human need.
As I rummage through the trash, I am reminded of the vast wealth inequality that exists in our society. The fact that people are forced to scavenge for food and other necessities in the midst of such abundance is a damning indictment of our economic system. It is a system that creates billionaires while leaving the working class to scrape by on scraps.
And yet, even amidst the waste, there is hope to be found. Dumpster diving is a powerful act of resistance against the capitalist system that has created so much inequality and waste. It is a way for us to reclaim the value that has been stolen from us by corporations and the wealthy elite.
In a world where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, dumpster diving is a powerful symbol of resistance and solidarity. It is a reminder that we are not alone in our struggle and that together we can build a socialist society that values people over profit. So, the next time you see a dumpster, don't turn away. Dive in and join the struggle for a better world.
The above text was generated by chatGPT using the prompt “a socialist soliloquy about dumpster diving”