The Defining Moments of our Life

I went for a walk tonight in an attempt to clear my head, camera in hand, hoping to find some peace and a bit of creative inspiration.  It is so often the case that when we try the hardest to find things or to 'see' things they just don't appear as easily as we would like.  Tonight would be no different.

I opted to walk my way through a local graveyard which not only happens to be a place I find incredibly peaceful but also one that I always find visually stimulating.  With that said, I often struggle to find a way to capture the the thoughts and emotions that I feel when passing through these sacred grounds.  Finding peace in these places is never an issue, but capturing it on film is quite a different story.​

Strolling through the overgrown grass with the setting sun beating golden rays of soft light down on the tombstones, my senses were overwhelmed with beauty and of sadness.  In my minds eye I could see images to capture, but as is so often the case, these images are special because they are a combination of what the eye is seeing and what the body is feeling.  It is the crux of why capturing an emotional image is such a challenge.​

I took numerous pictures, some close and some far away, trying to work the light and the shapes into what I hoped would be a meaningful image.   ​An image that would convey to others the emotions that I was feeling at this moment in time.  The perfect image -- one with the power to transport the  viewer to the place where it was taken and convey to the viewer the feelings and emotions of the photographer.  I often think this is the holy grail of photography and something that the Masters were always so good at achieving.

After 30 minutes or so of wandering, sitting, photographing and thinking, I knew that I had not captured that image, I knew that nothing I had taken was worthy of showing.  Sure there were some good images, but not that one, not the image that I had come looking for.  As I worked my way back through the cemetery one last time, I tried, as funny as this may sound, to become one with this place of peace and of death.  I knew the image existed, I could feel it.  Then, as if a gift from Gods it appeared right in front of me.  I knew instantly that this was what I was looking for, this was the image that I wanted. 

The words say it all and they remind me of why it is so important for us to live our lives to the fullest. The words remind me of why I do what I do and why I have no problem hopping up on my soap box and telling people that there is a better way to live their lives.   Life is short and life is very precious.  We must all wake each day and celebrate our existence on this amazing planet and choose to do NOW that which makes us happy and that which brings us personal fulfillment.  Putting off our happiness for a future day is a path that is frot with danger.

Find Peace and spread Love; Smile more often and Love until it hurts.

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The defining moments of our life

Salsa Cycles - A New Sponsor

I am extremely excited and honored to have been chosen by Salsa as one of their Sponsored riders.  This year, in addition to my Salsa Fargo adventures, I will be setting out on a Salsa Ti Mukluk to expand my definition of Adventure by Bike.  For those of you that have had the opportunity to ride a fat bike, you know just how much fun these bikes are. The Salsa Mukluk is a go anywhere, do anything bike and one that will enable me to travel to places not normally visited by bikes.

I will be detailing my 2012 adventure schedule over the coming weeks, but for now, I will be setting off and chasing the snow as I head north for what I believe will be an epic ride in Northern Canada. The goal, explore new territory, meet new people, and share the beauty and power of adventuring on a bicycle. 

Here are a couple of pictures from a brief trek on the beach tonight.  Note the beautiful new bikepacking bags that Scott Felter (Porcelain Rocket) built for me.  These bags were spec'd and built to handle the larger load that I will carry for winter Bikepacking. Note his new bags designed specifically for the Salsa Anything Cages.  These AC bags are amazing and for anyone that uses the cages, they are a must have item. I am a huge fan of Scott's and greatly appreciate his support and friendship.

More images can be seen over on my Facebook page

A wild 3 weeks

I can't believe my last post was back on the 21st of February.  The time has just flown by since getting back from Marakech, and during most of that time I have been without my laptop.  I am now just back from a week of bikepacking in Ireland on my trusty Salsa Fargo, and 4 days of epic paddling in Wales with my good mate, Phil Clegg from Sea Kayaking Anglesey.  Phil is an amazing guy and great instructor, so by all means if you are looking for someone to help you out on Anglesey, Phil is your guy.  He has a fleet of brand new NDK boats, Lendal paddles, and can sort you out with any other gear you might need.  Without a doubt, the last 4 days were the most technically challenging paddling I have ever experienced.  My comfort zone was severely pushed and I am stoked to work on my technical paddling skills so my next trip back will be even more enjoyable.

I am now in the process of packing up my bike and gear for the trip back to the states.  It has been an awesome 3 months of Micro Adventures here in Europe, but it is time to head back to the homeland.  I promise to catch up on my writing and photo editing after a couple of days of rest.  On my plate is a complete write up on both my Ireland and Morocco bikepacking trips as well as some photos and video from Wales.  You can get a taste of the Morocco trip by looking at the images I poste on FB 2 weeks ago.

In addition, I am super excited about my new sponsor and will be pushing out a detailed announcement on Wednesday with the full scoop, picutres and beta on my next big Micro Adventure.  Until then I leave you with a thought for the day:

"Can a man change his stars" --

A quote from the movie 'A Knights Tale'.  I know what I think, what about you?

Paddling the River Thames

I had an opportunity this weekend to go paddle on the river Thames in London with my good friend Harry.  Harry manages a waterfront community center that works with high risk kids using adventure as a way of helping to inspire them.  It is organizations like these, all throughout the world, that make such a tremendous difference in the lives of kids.  Here are a few pictures that I really enjoyed.  More can be seen on my Flickr feed.

The Art of Living Simply - A new dialogue

The Art of Living Simply

You have attained great success in all phases of your life. Academically, financially and in your career. You have all of the things that you could ever wished for. Things, power, money, and more things dominate your life and your definition of success and happiness. You can buy what you want, go where you want, and do or obtain everything that you want, and yet what you want the most, true happiness, escapes you. The quest to find pure happiness avoids you, creating an endless cycle of highs and lows.

The Art of Living Simply is about breaking these bonds that keep you tied to the old way of thinking and doing. It is about how True Happiness can be achieved, not by doing and acquiring more, but instead by simplifying all that surrounds you. In the 21^st century, we have been sold a bill of goods that all of us pursued as the 'de-facto' way to live our lives. We went to school, were challenged at an early age to succeed, then on to college, family, careers, possessions, debt, money, power, etc. This was the path we believed would lead us to personal Nirvana, the path that we believed would bring us personal happiness and fulfillment. We were told and taught that if we successfully followed this path that happiness would be found, and this is exactly what you did. You were an over achiever, easily crossing off the master list of 'To Do's', succeeding at school, career, money, and power. And yet, here we sit in the year 2011 with personal health and happiness at an all time low. What went wrong, how can this be, you did all that you were told to do, but it was never enough.

The disconnect between the two, achieving what we set out to achieve while still feeling an overwhelming sense of personal angst, is at the core of our 21^st century lives. As a society we are living lives that have more stress than ever; we have lost touch with our natural environment; our health is in decline; and we are more miserable than ever! Our new quest must be to restructure our lives in a way that allows us to enjoy that which is truly important, to help us find true and LASTING happiness through the Art of Living Simply.

Choose Your Attitude

I found this today while doing some research and thought that it was incredibly relevant to those that wish to move beyond where they are presently at in life.  Interestingly enough, this echoes Chris Prentice and his book 'Zen and the Art of Happiness', in which he postulates that "Happiness" is a choice, so simply choose to be Happy!

"Choose Your Attitude: When you look for the worst you will find it everywhere. When you look for the best you will find opportunities you never imagined possible. You have the power to choose your attitude. If you find yourself with an attitude you don't want, you can choose another."

B&W Walk Thru Down East

I have placed a series of B&W images from my travels through Down East Maine and Canada online at my Portfolio site.  These images are available for sale as beautiful Fine-Art prints, custom printed and delivered right to your door. Purchasing one of these prints helps me to fill my Peanut Butter Fund.  Contact me for more details.

Time flies by

As I try and balance my down time with making a few dollars and keeping myself active I find that my writing time has dwindled.  It is disconcerting to me that I have found myself out of balance, even though it is self induced.  My gear has reached the critical state of disrepair with virtually no cold weather clothing and severely damaged photography equipment.  The fact is that if I don't replace some of this gear then I will not be able to continue with my grand adventure, especially my plans for 2012. 

The consequence of this decision is that I am now on the other side of the coin, working more than travelling or adventuring.  This has most definitely thrown me for a loop, and put my whole spiritual and physical being in a perpetual state of 'off balance'.  My writing has dwindled, my exercise has dwindled, and my body feels totally at odds with itself.  The situation is nothing if not ironic. The good news is that I am using the time as a constant learning exercise in how to apply what I have learned on the road and in solitude to what most people would call a more normal lifestyle.  One of my goals has always been to speak to groups about my experience and my life lessons, and being on the other side will help with that endeavor.

Satelite image of reversing falls and the downstream disturbanceAll is not lost however, as I was able to paddle with my buddies from New England this past weekend.  A group of 16 or so Kayakers descended on the area for training in the complicated waters of the Canadian Maritimes.  I was able to secure a day off and join them as they paddled the reversing falls. This is a tidal overflow area that sits between a mainland point and an Island.  The incoming and outgoing tidal rush creates a overfall that switches direction with the change of tide.  The area is known for its massive rush of water, huge whirlpools, large eddy lines, boils and just plain insane waters.  Our group used the area as both a playground and a training exercise, both planned and unplanned.  It was indeed an epic day of paddling.

I am now actively working on my remaining travel plans for the year as well as my two large adventures for 2012.  My goal is still to paddle the entire Sea of Cortez (Baja), as well as make my Fat Tire Bike - Packraft attempt up the Alaska coastline.  Details on both of these adventures will continue to emerge over the coming weeks.  I also shot a tremendous amount of video over the past 6 months that I currently am unable to process.  I am optimistic that I will find the time and disc space needed to edit and post more of what I shot.

Finding balance and peace amidst the chaos is never an easy task, and while I struggle, it is all good.  The path must always be built, one moment at a time.  Learning to not focus on the future, but instead on the now, is what living in the NOW is all about.  I am simply learning to practice what I preach.

P&L

2012 AK Expedition

Here is one of the routes I am considering for 2012.  An epic, 1000 mile FAT tire bike and Packraft expedition from Icy Straits to Anchorage AK.  Portions of this route have been done by others, but this route would take things to a completely new level.  The big Pacific, the Gulf of Alaska, tidewater mud flats, rocky beaches, beautiful glaciers and unbelievable wildlife.  More details will emerge over the coming months as well as other possible route choices. 

A break in the action

Summer has come and after 5 plus months of biking across the country I have opted to take a bit of R&R.  While my body felt fine, I found my spirits were becoming somewhat drained from the extended solitary nature of my trip.  The long trek across the southern states was very cold and definitely isolated.  I don't think I camped a single night with another individual for more that 3 months.  While there were times that I would cross paths with a West-to-East rider, these encounters only served to highlight the solitary path I was travelling on.

The trip up the west coast was somewhat better becauase I at least had friends along the way that allowed me to make short stops and find some much needed human interaction.  However it was still to early in the biking season and I still found myself largely camping alone, riding solo, and craving some socialization.  I think that my stay in the Portland area was the final straw, where having spent about 10 days enjoying the company of people and friends I found myself no longer looking forward to the solitary road. 

So, today  I sit with friends, taking a break and recharging my physical and mental batteries.  I will get the opportunity to paddle some beautiful waters and explore by bike some amazing seaside towns.  The goal will to take smaller trips over the summer and flush out my ultra-light mode of travel.  I have also really worn down my gear, some of which has been with me for over 11,000 miles of travel.  It is in need of replacing and that will require some money and some new sponsors.  The downtime will also allow me to go back and edit my image archive and put up some of the video I shot.  Video is so time consuming and is such a storage hog that sitting still will allow me to finally get things organized and edited.

I will announce my 2011 fall plans and my 2012 winter plans shortly, but suffice it to say the Bike Around America trip is not over, and if anything will be bigger and more adventurous than ever.  The Salsa Fargo will play a big part in my future plans as will a Salsa Mukluk and my NDK Explorer.  For 2012 I have some really cool ideas in mind and would love to have others join me for pieces and parts. Stay tuned for details and more musings from my past 6 months of journal entries.

Passions

A wonderful passage from a very wise man I had the pleasure of meeting in Silver City New Mexico:

Passions are something different altogether.  They are hidden motivations within us waiting to be awakened in order to be expressed.  They are part of our instinctual code, not taught or acquired, but waiting to be acted out.  Passions come from the core of who we are, our true being, unfiltered nor influenced by outside forces.

This site is all about my passions, travel, photography, adventure, simplicity.  How about you, what are your passions and your thoughts on living an authentic life, a life where each day we follow our instinctual code?

P&L

Last day on the coast

My last day on the Pacific coast was spent with my good friend Andrea playing at Cannon beach.  Andrea was on a task to do another photo shoot involving biking and the ocean, to which I gladly agreed to play model.  After riding around the beach and the surf in my 'STEEL' Fargo I realized that might not have been such a good idea.  I quickly found a place to hose off the bike and hope for the best since several of my water bottle mounts are not in use, thus exposing the inside of the frame to dangerous salt water.  See, just one more reason to get a Ti Fargo :-)

Fargo does the beach

I get on the right side of the cameraAndrea does her thing, while I pedal the surfCannonn Beach

My Yellow Poncho

Reality Check

I arrived in Portland Oregon about a week ago and it has been a whirlwind 7 days, especially when you take into account the simple life I have been living.  The first couple of days I was introduced to this beautiful city and some of its finer things.  A cool bar scene with great micro brews; a wonderful food culture with awesome restaurants; and lastly the very eclectic food cart scene.  All in all I would say my senses were in stimulus overload.  Good food, some nice wine, city riding and friendship all conspired to shake my senses and dizzy my mind.  To say I was slightly overwhelmed is definitely an understatement.

Since I am a glutton for punishment, I then hopped on a plain to Chicago to see my daughter graduate from Law School.  The hustle and bustle of Chicago is always both beautiful and overwhelming to me.  It was a joy to see family and watch my daughter successfully complete another milestone in her life, however, by the end of 2 days I was ready to return to the relative calm and peaceful energy of the Pacific North West. A 3:00 AM wakeup call and early walk to the L, got my senses really stimulated as I experienced a bit of Chicago night life all while walking a sleep and caffeine deprived state of mind.

I must admit that years ago I was getting tired of traveling by plane and now I just have no desire whatsoever to deal with that chaos.  Everyone rushing and stressed out is such a stark contrast to the quiet solitude of my current existence.  It was good to navigate the airways and make it back to Portland with no travel issues other than the extreme sensory overload of being around that many people.

Back in Portland I am continuing to enjoy the city, its people and its wonderful culture.  It is so nice to be able to navigate an entire city by bike and have the necessary amenities to make it easy and safe.  While Portland has some biking issues that are a result of the mixing of cars and bikes, it is by far the nicest bike city I have had the pleasure of visiting. I am going to spend the next couple of days here relaxing and exploring before I get back out on the trail.  I have been able to fix some of my bike issues and replace some of the broken gear, although I am still without a working sleeping pad solution.  My new ultra-light setup is finally coming together and it looks like I have resolved my tire issue once and for all.

The Pacific North West is really a special place and I am excited to explore a bit more of the region before heading to points unknown.  I am currently behind in getting images and video on-line due to some hard drive issues, aka, I need a new one and can't afford it yet, so be patient and eventually I will get it all sorted out. I have also started to do mini personal videos which I hope will give everyone a more intimate connection to my travels and what life is really like on the trail.  Stay tuned!

Peace -

Setting your intent, an example

I had a friend give me this book, Illusions, which I have been reading. It is a fictional book, but obviously grounded in some of the more common spiritual teachings. Like all good teachings, it speaks of intent and the overall illusion of life. How what you need is already here, you just need to align with it... Something to that affect.

So, I lie under my tarp visualizing two of thing things that I would like more of in my life. A little bit more money and a female companion. It is funny, because in the story, the teacher tells the student that it is important to visualize yourself with what you want or else there is no telling what form it will come in. For instance, the student is trying to manifest a blue feather, and he sets his intent for a blue feather, and then looks all day for the blue feather to appear. At one point, he looks up and realizes that the milk he is drinking is from Blue Feather farms, he thus manifested the blue feather, but not in the form that he wanted...

I was still and very, quiet, nothing to be heard but the sound of the river.  I was way back in the Tilamook forest, setting my intent, trying to visualize myself in the image, surrounding it with the warm and radiant light that I know to be me. I woke the next morning, broke camp and worked my way up and over the 1600 ft. pass, cold, wet, tiring, followed by the long and relaxing ride down to the valley floor. I  found a place to sit and dry out, the sun now shining, its warmth not unlike the light I envisioned the night before.

I pulled out my phone and turned it on. Checking my email was a note from a lovely young woman, Lani, that I had met in San Francisco, whom I had not seen or spoken to since our first meeting, well over a month ago. She had taken the time to read my blog and write me back some of her thoughts on life and travel.  Thoughts that were immensley inspirational to me.  As I read, I smiled, closed my eyes, and once again thanked Spirit for being with me on my journey. Intent number one, check. She donated $20, Intent number two, check.

Needless to say, these are the things that continue to happen to me, reinforcing my new thoughts on life and what is possible. Is life an illusion, and if so, what is reality. I don't know, but I continue to search and explore what it is all about. I continue to experience new things that change my perception of what is possible, of what is real. I believe that there is an energy that binds us together, that like attracts like, that more exists to space and time than we are taught and currently comprehend. Expanding our minds to think outside of what we presently believe to be real is key to growing and experiencing a life without limits and one without bounds.

 Peace & Much Love - G