G A I N E S V I L L E

So with 1 thousand 6 hundred 6ty and Six miles ridden thus far, we are locked into the city home of the U of F and No Idea Records for the next few days. The ride into town was punctuated and surrounded by a dense humid fog that coated the body and made any hope of evaporation disappear into pools of sweat running into our clothing and onto the road. I imagine that the feeling is not unlike dipping yourself into that magic chocolate sauce they put on ice cream, except a whole lot saltier. Water, chips and frozen beverages lined our route and our stomachs bringing us into our big planned stop of the trip.

With over 300 bands, the fest is certainly a sight to be seen. In addition to the bands, members, road crew, organizers and volunteers, there are thousands of people here in town to see the shows take part in the reverie. This leaves the majority of the fest looking like one absolutely huge line. However it is a fast moving line if sometimes confusing. For example: Jon and I went to the No Idea headquarters today for a barbecue lunch they were having, we pulled up out front to see a line wrapped around the house. Deciding no BBQ was worth that kind of wait we opted to head to another location, opting to ride around the house and see how big the line was. Coming around the corner, there were 6 tents, about 100 boxes of stuff with random folks digging in for their share of the No Idea bounty, a guitar raffle, a dude in a skin tight green suit and another line of about 10 people in front of a grill, score one for going around back.

If you haven't been to Gainesville, come and check it out, there's friendly people, tons of bike shops, lanes and a few paths, excellent food a few beautiful lakes and absolutely gorgeous weather. Big thanks to the folks in Battle, a local hardcore band who will make you love the pit, yell along with pride and let you camp in their back yard.

Thats the update, more pictures when I remember my camera or get a hold of Jon's thanks for reading and if you are in Gainesville come on by the Civic Media Center space on Sunday at 8pm for AtticaAttica!

Blake

Made it to gainesville, fest registration and pre-show madness

Florida!

Georgia welcomed us with rain, kept us sailing along with cloudy skies and intermittent showers, but pushed us on into our final state with glorious sunshine. During our stay we visited Gordonia Althamaha State Park which was simply fantastic, traveled on some dirt roads and dreamed of sunshine and eagerly anticipated our trip into Gainesville. We will get there tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited. Enjoy the photos and thanks for reading.
Blake

Southern Hospitality, Statesboro and Beyond

As of right now we have 5 more riding days to arrive in Gainesville, hard to believe that we have ridden almost 1400 miles already. Very cool for us to think about at this point when we look back on that first night in Massachusetts, cold, wet and with a leaking tent. The transition from North Carolina to South Carolina could not have been more stark. We we were waved out of the Tar heel state with a single finger and a large soda cup, both presented to us from a fast moving pickup truck and welcomed into South Carolina with clean roads, blue skies and some of the friendliest folks we have met. Outside of the transition day, North Carolina was a gem, so do not be deterred by our experience, I for one will certainly be back.

We enjoyed some beautiful beach side state parks and a glorious fire, with some wood donated by previous campers to keep us warm until Pajama time, beautiful side roads and a wonderful dinner at the Hendersonville Methodist church.

My Girlfriend Laurel's Mom Lois is a Methodist Reverend and set up a talk, and show for us at her parish. Even on short notice, there was a room full of people who came out to support us with their love and generosity. To be in a new place and be welcomed in so heartily is a great feeling and we could not have asked for more. We were also introduced to Pastor Mike Lack who let us stay in his church the following night, definitely a new experience for me and the luxury of not having to set up camp was as appreciated as the time we spent talking with one another and the hospitality that was more generous than we ever expected.

My penchant for cookies has also followed us south of the Mason-Dixon as we were able to polish off almost 4 dozen delicious oatmeal raisin cookies, that Lois made for us, in about 2 days.

We are into Georgia until Gainesville and the internet will be sparse, but expect a full update come Gainesville and a whole lot of crazieness as the Fest Kicks into high gear. Check out AtticaAttica.org or the Fest site for Aaron's showtimes and thanks for reading.

Blake

Spending the night at Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina. We can hear the ocean from our campsite. Its chilly but we have a big fire to keep us warm.

Into Wilmington and on our way

We rode for only our second day in the rain, albeit a full one this time, our spirits were kept up by our singing, relentless jokes and thoughts of our day off in Wilmington in one more day. It was originally scheduled as a 30 mile day, but when you are already wet and its cold, might as well ride some more and stay warm rather than put your self in a tent for the afternoon eh? Spent the evening with our tents set up under a picnic hut at cedar riverside campground which was the absolute best place to be, thanks to the owner Joyce for being so cool with a little unorthodox camping. Spent the evening next door at Dales Pub owning high scores on the magic touch teamstyle and myself and aaron practicing our aim on the dart board. The locals were happy to chat and the morning brought dry skies and dry clothes thanks to the campsites drier.

On the way to Wilmington, we passed the Lejune Marines base where the fences on the side of the highway were covered with banners welcoming folks home from their military tours abroad. Some were family appropriate, but for the most part, I would say that there are some mighty aggressive women around the base, Yow. Ask us about that later.
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Wilmington itself brought our first encounter with fellow tourists. In a totally unbelievable coincidence, they are also riding for charity, also going to Florida and just like us are outstanding individuals. The difference is that they are riding from Pittsburgh to Orlando with backbacks and brakeless BMX bikes. Lets make sure that's clear, these dudes Bryce and Jeff are riding about 1500 miles with BRAKELESS BMX BIKES AND BACKPACKS! Outstanding, especially after I have spent a lifetime riding BMX, poorly, and always getting asked when I am giving my little brother his bike back. Just goes to show that the runwhatyoubrung philosophy holds true for bike touring as well, you just have to have a lot of heart. All of our hat's are off to these fellow warriors of two wheeled travel, please go to their blog and check them out, they are raising money for a memorial skatepark in Pittsburgh and they can be found at . See you in Florida guys!

Wilmington also brought excellent hang out sessions with our hosts KC and Trever, some great bike path rides, good bike shop[ experiences and our first case of conflict between rock and roll and bike tour lifestyle. Nothing big, but lets just say that going out and then watching movies until 3:30am does not lend itself well to an early start to the day. Fortunately we had a short ride to the gorgeous Carolina Beach State Park. We will be on the Ferry tomorrow morning to continue or trek, I hope to see you along the way.

Blake

The Outer Banks

Today is our last day on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The skies have darkened, but the wind will be at our backs pushing us along towards ferries and terraferma. It has been a great time to ride by the ocean for the last few days, there are even some large bike friendly sidewalk paths and separated areas to ride! There was also the longest bridge we have ridden across from Kittyhawk to Hatteras Island, almost 2 miles! I can't wait to see how it feels to ride the bridges between the Key's in a month. We stayed a night in Kitty Hawk at Adventure Bound Campground where we had Peacocks for site mates. People here have been helpful and friendly, it has definitely been a highlight of the trip.

So far we have ridden 827 miles and have 1418 miles to go. I remember driving to Florida with my family when I was young and my brother, sister and I being so excited when we got to Florida, even when my dad told us we still had a long way to go. I will definitely be excited to get to Florida again and I don't think we will mind the extra days along the coast to get to Key West.