Huge Climb

I found this picture at http://www.texas4000.org/index.php in the gallery section. Just one of thousands of chimmneys that we'll have to destroy along the way. The guy that took this picture started where the you see the cars and pedaled to the top. Amazing.

I am at work and insanely bored as you can tell. I can't wait for next summer.

Eric

Going Up to Alaska

It’s about Goddamn time.

Since returning from the legendary Plea for Peace trip almost one year ago, rumors have been circulating that Shawn and myself will head out on another quest; this time to un-chartered landscape of Alaska.

Now those rumors have been confirmed

That’s right friends, a 4,500-mile trek through untamed wilderness on the seats of our bikes. We’ll be starting in the deadly Lone Star state, home of the W, and pedal our way north through grizzly infested forests, across salmon infested rivers and over mountain infested terrain not suitable for human life.

It will be a perilous journey. Danger will follow us around every bend, knees will be sore, fingers will freeze around our handlebars, tows will be broken and there will be bears.

It is true, Kodiak bears, the largest and most ferocious species of bear known in the world, live in one place. Southern Alaska.

Do not fret my friends. Although Shawn and myself will be invading their territory I am fully prepared for hand-to-hand battle with one of these monstrous beasts and I look forward to it. Blood will be spilled.

Our expedition does not begin until June and during this lull in action we will be collecting money for the fight against cancer. We must raise $5,000 each in order participate in the trip. Although it is a gigantic amount of money, with your continued love and support I am certain we will reach our goal.

Eric

flat tires, sore knees and illinois

we did it. 710 miles on the odometer. it was a good time. we had 3 days of over 100 miles. a 90 mile day. an 84 mile day. two 75 mile days. just lots of long mileage. but we are here. and we stuck with it. after about 16 flat tires and days of riding w/ sore knees, we rolled into illinois. well sort of. my dad was in indiana for a job, so he picked us up 20 miles from the state line. we had planned a 120 mile day for the last day, but we only got to 84. whatever, i know in my heart we would have made it. shit, i dont really know what to type. it's over so soon. i feel like i should be on the road for another 3 weeks. but we did cover 710 miles in just 9 days. there werent any gnar hills like our west. lots of rolling hills that are just a pain in the ass and get in the way of momentum. my favorite part was riding in pennsylvania and smelling the concord grape fields for part of a day. it reminded me of the strawberry fields out west that i rode past. the smell was so strong, and wasnt tainted by car exhaust or cow shit. i also was reminded of how shitty it is to ride in the rain. we rode 58 miles in really constnat rain. all of our gear got soaked, and we had to stay in a motel that nite because of how wet and windy it was. fuck the rain.

for now, we are chilling in harvard, il at my dad's house. it's nice to relax, but even being off my bike for the past 24 hours feels weird. i can't help but look at the road and wish i were riding, sweating my ass off and cursing the fact i still have 67 miles to go. we leave here on sunday toward home, and will make a stop in toronto, canada to see some fine folk. and then it's on to rochester and then home. i'm not ready to head back yet. i'm glad i have at least another week away.

to the bearded fellow: i wish you were there, man. but we got texas 4000 next year, and maybe a short tour of new england soon. we'll be back at it together soon.

i will see everyone in a couple weeks. wine part volume 4 is october 7th, so be ready.

shawn

back from the depths.....

of life that is. since march i've worked at a movie theater in my hometown, then in june i went to thompson, pennsylvania to be a camp counselor at a sleep-away camp called camp chen-a-wanda. i can't really describe to you what went on there, or how things were, so i won't try. let's just say it wasn't pretty, but i made it work.

so now i'm getting ready to leave for chicago, il on my bicycle. i will be riding with a good fellow by the name of andrew. he's from the uk, likes to spin fiery poi and hold hands over candle lit dinners. i met him at camp chen-a-wanda, and he was crazy enough to take me up on this ride. he's got til november on his visa, or whatever documentation he has, so he's chilling out.

if you want to be super fans, here's our tour itineary:

day 1: Oswego, NY to Rochester, NY approx 70 miles :: destination Norene's house
day 2: Rochester, NY to Point Breeze Campground :: approx 90 miles
day 3: Point Breeze Camp to Sara's Campsite Erie, PA :: approx 70 miles
day 4: Sara's Campsite to Willow Lake Campground Geneva, OH :: approx 50 miles
day 5: Willow Lake Camp to Huron River Resort :: 97 miles
day 6: Huron River Resort to Big Sandy Campground :: approx 74 miles
day 7: Big Sandy Camp to Shipshewana Campground :: approx 95 miles
day 8: Shipshewana Camp to Chicago, IL :: approx 124 miles

the trip is estimated at 674 miles. pretty sweet. should be a good time. hopefully we make it. there will be pictures and stories, but probably not many updates along the way. we'll see. until next time, friend.

shawn and andrew

nobody's reading but i'm archiving

haven't posted since january. figured i'd update, as i just paid $1,000 to my credit card, so my debt is now down to $400. woo. once my state refund gets deposited, i should be doing well. then i can pay it all off, and kristen off for my plane ticket. boom. debt free, with the exception of my college loans, but those can defferred. woo.

shawn

a job?

Subject: Mascot
Date: Wed, 21 Dec 2005 11:16:24 -0500
From: "Erin Cassavoy" Add to Address BookAdd to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: Shawnmistakenforshawn@yahoo.com

Hey Shawn,

I wasn’t sure if anyone had gotten back to you in regards to your question on being the River Rats mascot, so I though I would send you off a note myself. We currently already employee a full time game day “Rowdy” The Rat, and generally we relay on our interns to fill our non-game day “Rowdy” community appearances which are unpaid. If this is something that you are truly interested in, please forward me your contact information and I will keep it on file. This way we can contact you if we should need a back up game day “Rowdy”.

Thanks again for you interest in the Albany River Rats, and we hope to see you at a home game sometime soon!


Erin Cassavoy


Erin Cassavoy
Communications Manager
Capital District Sports, Inc.
Phone: (518) 487-2245
Fax: (518) 487-2228
E-Mail: erin@albanyriverrats.com


Ha, maybe i should take her job. this email is littered with spelling errors. awesome. worthless post.

shawn

beards made from lumber

well we, beards made from lumber, just recently (like 2hrs ago) got done putting some tracks down for our forthcoming full length, "just the hits." two songs about things we're passionate about: our hatred for metranomes and our love for jenn chapman. these songs can only be compared to thunder. that's it. really.

greg and i got fucking around late tonite (around 1am) on his computer and decided to write some fuckin tunes and get beards made from lumber off the fuckin ground. well call us a kite at the beach, motherfuckers. two songs:

1. hey, when you find your metranome tell it to go fuck itself
2. if jenn chapman was a song she'd be this one

maybe i can find a way to post them up here. i don't know if i feel like figuring that out tonite. it's 3:49am right now. bed? sure.

handjobs,

shawn