Long post alert...
Short version: This means a LOT to me. I have been a passionate cyclist from a very young age and next spring am planning on embarking on a solo bicycle tour of all 48 contiguous States. Rough estimates put the ride at over 12,000 miles, could take as long as 2 years, and could cost around 15,000 dollars-No hotels, just camping. I will not be returning to my home area in CA when the ride is complete, and aim to start from scratch somewhere new. I am trying to get my 2007 RR sold before I leave. The trip will be funded in part by my efforts to photographically document and share the ride, as well as any donations I can raise before departing, both corporate and private, then supplementally, I'll be selling images and prints through SmugMug. You can learn more about it here:
http://beeswithtires.blogspot.com/ Feel free to pass this on to anyone you think might be interested. :badger:
Longer:
This has been a lifelong dream of mine since I was a kid. I'm sure I've blathered on about it somewhere else on here, but I have had a passion for being on two wheels my whole life. I have a picture of me bungee corded to my dad going for a ride on his Honda when I was 10 months old, and I think I've been hooked ever since.
Starting at age 9 I was cycling to school and anywhere else my friends and I wanted to go almost all year long, but for me it has always been more than just a mode of transportation, or a fun way to get around, but a core part of my life, as well as the catalyst for my childhood realization that I could go just about
anywhere. In a lot of ways, getting my first motorcycle has become an extension of this same sentiment; The independence, only room for one person, nowhere for trash or baggage to accumulate, compact, efficient, very purpose built, and great for stress relief. By my early teens I was cycling over 100 miles a week on average, and after moving out on my own after high school at 17 and eventually buying my first road bike, I peaked at around 250 miles/week, including my 30 mile/day commute at about age 20, putting over 10,000 miles on my bike in the first year I had it. Also around 17 was when I first started considering riding across the country; I felt invincible and told myself that I'd do it before 25, which seemed like forever away...
Now 24, I mainly have cycling to thank for getting me through a lot of tough times, and continue to ride to my heart's content. Over the years of my friends seeing my enthusiasm for bikes, the people who know me would almost universally start to describe me as "the guy who rides bikes and doesn't know how to drive a car." Haha.
Anyway, clearly I'm really into bikes, and in more recent years, getting into my more casual interest in photography, especially after having seen some really unique and memorable things in all my 2 wheeled travels, even though I've never been more than about 600 miles from where I grew up. A large focus of this endeavor is to see the rest of the country from my favorite point of view, and to document what I see so I can look back at it and share it with other people. As well as accomplishing the goal I set for myself when I was younger, this trip is also about escape.
About a year and a half ago I had a life-altering falling out with my long time best friend, and subsequently a majority of our mutual friends. The major cause was mostly my own fault, others were definitely not. I still live in the relatively small area on the central coast where both of us more or less grew up. Mostly because of my apparent inability to deal with something like this as a "normal" person would, I decided a while ago that the only way I could hope to move on was literally to leave, permanently. My emotional and mental quality of life has fallen to unacceptable levels and I aim to do something about it, and this is what I have decided to do, regardless of how much funding I am able to come up with; I will complete this ride or die trying.
This is where I would like to thank all of you for reading this, and doing whatever you can to spread the word to anyone who might be interested. While I have worked hard my whole life to be as independent as possible, paying my own way in everything that I do, and trying my best to help those who have helped me, I realize that I am not going to
easily be able to make this happen all by myself. I will need the help of as many people as I can get it from, and I aim to offer what I can in return for that help. I cannot think of a way to make my request for support any more important than the doubtless many other financial concerns and obligations that people in this country are faced with today, so I will not try. I will be the first to admit that pictures from a cyclist's perspective as he criss-crosses the entire nation and souvenirs are not huge motivators for people to donate support, but I cannot in good conscience simply ask for handouts while offering nothing in return.
This is where Kickstarter.com, and my project, Project RideAway, come in as a way to help channel funding for my planned adventure. Check out :
http://kck.st/gIijCL I explain it more in my blog that I linked to at the top of this post. Through Kickstarter, a Brooklyn based company that specializes in crowdfunding, I have set up a project page on their site that explains everything, and acts the medium for people to pledge support, and get lots of cool stuff in return.
If you have read all that I thank you for your time and consideration, and if you're interested then that's icing on the cake! I'll be working hard to get another video made and uploaded to the Kickstarter page, one that does a little better job of explaining what I aim to accomplish, so check back for updates.
