All for one, one for all!

All of the revolutions of our pedals have been for a single cause, One Revolution at a time will have propelled us ~3,000 miles at the end of today! Shortly after 08:00 on Wednesday morning, we're squaring away our gear and cleaning up the house to be gone for a few days. We'll be striking out shortly for an 80 mile day of easy Florida pedaling to land at St. Augustine late this evening. Iz and I pedaled an easy forty miles yesterday from Fort White to Gainesville to be legit about our distance and had the pleasure of connecting with one of my best friends  on the planet; Kenyon. After an easy day of riding and chatting with myriad cyclists in High Springs who were participating in Bike Florida we enjoyed a coffee at 8th Ave Coffee Bike Shop. While there, we borrowed a bike stand and cleaned our chains and gears to be spinning smooth and clean on our final push. Heather, another of my best friends on this side of the Sun, will join us for our final day to the Atlantic coast. Israel has been great; he's gotten stronger, lost weight, is really thinking on his feet, is slowly starting to be self motivated and I'm sure he's had many growing experiences..besides all that, with pedaling a bicycle 3,000 miles he must surely have learned much of perseverance and exercising strength of mind over strength of body. Overcast day so far, I'm hoping for glorious sunshine sometime shortly after we get rolling. Any way about it, I think my mind will be laden with reflecting today and I'm expecting mild melancholy from feeling the end draw nigh. Looking forward to playing with the smart phone though and letting it track our route so maybe I can learn how to backlog our entire trip and post a google map of our journey to inspire One Revolution.
It was great here in Gainesville to chat with Ms. Christian's students at Eastside High School and then some of them afterwards at the 'Of Mice and Men' party. You all are great students, I hope if you remember only one thing from Israel and I spending time there with you that it is something to inspire you to inspire others. Focus on your task at hand, take it one piece, one sentence, one step, One Revolution at a time...it'll make the task more bearable and before you know it: paradise! Do yourself a huge favor, don't count the pages of an assignment, just jump right into it and love what it is. Stay focused, shut off the tv, video games and phone sometimes and pick up a book, find an adventure. We're living on a beautiful planet at a wonderful time to be alive; go live!
May peace and meekness guide your heart. Love someone today, embrace them like you will never have the chance again.
One Love, One Heart, One Revolution!
Joshua and Israel

Three states later...

We finally have access to a computer again. Coming out of Louisiana was a quick endeavor but crossing Mississippi was even quicker!
I have to talk a little more about New Orleans, and I'm sure I'll forget and omit many details; don't hang me for it. So, to put it out straight away, I'm very glad and my spirit rejuvenated to know that there are people in our world like Xavier, Claudia & Jesse, Rachel and Craig and these two couples' daughters! What a refreshing experience to find such open arms and acceptance among strangers. Many religious people could learn what its like to be Christ-like from these fine Louisiana folks. Iz and I were unabashedly invited into their homes, played board games with them, were adopted with all haste by their adorable little daughters...within hours of meeting them Iz and I both were rotating little girls onto our shoulders to catch beads at the St. Patrick's Day parade in New Orleans. I wish we could all remember to show the loving kindness and meekness of a child. We were welcomed so well with great conversation, food, entertainment and compassion...I hope I can put half as much into the world around me. Alas, on any journey, such things make parting difficult but the idea of completion drives us on. Pedaling out of Louisiana was the first state we both looked back on when crossing the state line.
Once we crossed that line though, our gears really started turning...
We screamed through Mississippi and on to Mobile Alabama in less than two days of pedaling from New Orleans. Once in Mobile it was time to find a bike shop again for wheel truing and a little food. By the time we got out of the bike shop, we had extra food, a shuttle to good camping and a promise of hot coffee then breakfast in the morning. Thanks again Jessica. While pedaling along the beach for those next couple days, we stopped and pushed two cars out of the sand, its a great thing to laugh about ladies! Like we agreed out there, its one of those to look back on, shake your head and laugh.
By Destin we were very keen on a quick stop for St. Paddy's...we found live music being played by an Irishman at McGuire's-the music made our hearts happy and light. We set up camp early on St. Patrick's day to prepare for a long Friday...it worked as we had our single longest day of pedaling at 152 miles! With that distance and the humidity of the eastern US though, I learned a very excruciating lesson: saddle sores can ruin not only your day but your whole psyche, your focus on just One Revolution, everything becomes focused down on two little points known as the sit bones. I squirm thinking about it. So, as I've heard a few times from a great mentor "Prudence is the better part of valor" and with this on my mind-vaguely through the haze of pain and suffering-I relented near Ichetuknee Springs and had Heather pick us up for a couple days of rest and healing before we go back to the same spot and finish the pedal into Gainesville Florida. It will be very nice to spend a few days here healing and refueling the body to be strong and feeling great to finish a huge trip that started with just One small Revolution. The acupuncture, qigong, massage, great food and epsom soaks probably won't hurt either :-D
Ok, more again later, time to crunch out a rough slideshow for some great high school students that I'll be meeting very soon!
One Revolution-One change in how you see one thing in the world can change your world. Smile with your heart.

short and sweet update

We finally made it to New Orleans today after staying in Lafayette for Mardi Gras. It was great to be there. Dad got to cross paths with us and spend a couple days there too. Besides being wonderful to see dad and get to talk with him awhile, it was nice to offload a lot of stuff we didn't need. After leaving Lafayette I had six flats in two days hence the late arrival to New Orleans. My tires are worn out! Was trying to make it to the coast with them but I guess nearly 7,000 miles was enough. Bought new tires and more tubes to get on the road tomorrow. It was such an amazing feeling to ferry across the Mississippi River; felt definitively like progress has been made and like its all down hill from here. Invited home by a Frenchman living here teaching French, we had warm showers and now a warm, dry place to sleep. Up early tomorrow to change the tires, off to Cafe du Monde for coffee and beighnets then onward to Mississippi!
Mardi Gras, btw, was nothing of what you hear about; I saw no flashing or crazy debauchery...mostly families lined up to watch a parade and catch beads as they're thrown from passing floats. There was also great live music all weekend and I'm now hooked on Zydeco music...
...alright, more later. must sleep.

The great thing about eastern Texas...and how our conversations sound on the road :-D

Knowing you're almost out of Texas! Nah, not really. Texas was great. The people are incredibly friendly and getting down to the gulf coast was glorious. The terrain in Texas was very psychologically challenging because it was such flat and straight road for miles and miles CAR BACK and miles and miles and miles. And miles. Besides that, Iz and I both have been battling some kind of sickness for the last three days. As a final send off out of Texas, we had two flats within the first three miles this morning! It was bad enough last night for Iz [from being sick] that we discussed postponing CAR BACK the trip or him going home and finishing later. Just thinking about not finishing the trip together put a small wave of depression on us both. For some reason today though, even with being sick, we're both feeling much better and anxious to push onward to New Orleans for Mardi Gras this weekend. Loosely I think we'll make Gainesville FL by the ides of March. I'm sure we'll take some time off there and then take a leisure couple days to pedal on to the Atlantic coast. CAR BACK. We're now over 1800 miles into the trip. The news article in Victoria was great, they misread my odometer and posted online that I had clocked 57,112 miles-Oops, they missed the decimal. It was 5,711.2 miles...I'm five miles away from 6,000 on my touring bike though.
Louisiana today! Finally!! Its amazing how quickly the culinary fare has CAR BACK changed with the departure from Texas. Already a strong Cajun/creole influence and I love it! I'm really looking forward to eating crawfish, frog legs and alligator!
Finally got some real hazing late yesterday evening. I'm a little surprised that more hasn't happened but grateful that CAR BACK we're still traveling safely. First, a huge, typical redneck [compensating for something] truck rolled by going the opposite direction and we got a redneck yell "Get off tha rOad!" Not uncommon. Second, I watched a low rider make a u-turn and as they passed the passenger pegged me with a 1 ounce souffle [little plastic cup] of ketchup. I guess if they got a laugh or smile from it my day and life were a success for having been able to CAR BACK provide a moment of laughter to a simple mind. If I could have convinced them to stop however, I would have offered a meal and/or a drink too. Maybe some french fries. Like the saying goes "If life gives you ketchup, fry up some taters." Oh wait, isn't it something about lemons...? Oh well.
So, we were just informed of the only known pink bottlenose dolphin that lives in the Cameron Parish area, hope we spot it while pedaling along the coast.
Oh, a little story: The day after we left San Antonio, one of our tent pole cords broke. I re-laced it with some p-cord but that didn't hold well or function properly to keep the pole taut. Finally, yesterday we found a store that had a tent shock cord replacement kit. Getting into wetlands were mosquitoes come in large black clouds, its very nice to have a smooth functioning tent. Literally, even with being expedient we must have had 76 sanguine seeking suckers in the tent last night. Buying bug spray today!
It has become fun to watch people's mouths drop when they nonchalantly ask something like "so how far you guys pedaled?" and we respond with "oh, 1800 miles" or maybe "where you guys riding to?", "ah, St. Augustine Florida." "WHat!?!" "Yep, Florida...pretty easy really. Just one pedal stroke at a time." Then something like, "dang! I couldn't ride my bike around the block." "Sure you can, just one revolution at a time. Anybody can, you just have to make a choice." "Well where do you stay at night?" "Any where that we can find dry ground to pitch our tent." In fact, tonight I think we'll be camping on the beach, listening to waves crash. I'm sure I'll have to live near an ocean at some point in life. CAR BACK.
Alright, enough rambling for now. Hopefully another CAR BACK update with the impending Mardi Gras!
Just One Revolution! Blog on the philosophy of our trip coming soon.
"Bike On!" -quote from a guy working on his car on the side of the road- I loved it :-D

Long lost cyclists

Hi everybody! So, we've not really had much computer access across Texas. We took a great week off in San Antonio for some 'q' time and personal time ;-). Got to see a day of rodeo, felt like a kid at the San Antonio zoo, rode the bikes up to the Alamo, watched an IMAX, and had time off from each other. Iz and I aren't fighting but it was nice to have a little respite for both of us. Rolling out of SA I had a small wreck, no major damage but after a front tire flat yesterday, my bike has developed a weird pulsing sensation that I'm not very fond of. Leaving SA I also seem to have caught a nasty respiratory infection that has straight served me for a couple days now. Yesterday it was so intense I was often seeing double or had blurred vision, had little sense of balance, felt dehydrated all day and my breathing was very labored. Fortunately it has subsided today though I still have a painful cough and my lungs seem partially compressed.
So, yesterday morning we rose early and wanted to find a small local place for breakfast. Just as we rolled into the small central Texas town of Scotdale my front tire started hissing about the time I spotted Mollie's Café. With a slime tube, there was a puff of green mist with each Revolution of the tire...kinda funny really. We didn't even mess with the tire, I pushed my bike to the café and we stepped inside. 7:30 AM, central Texas, small town, two lanky guys in black, tight shorts and brightly colored jerseys drew a few looks from the old timers sippin their morning coffee. We sat down and ordered: Iz; a 'Texas' pancake and sausage. Me; oatmeal, egg and potato taco and bean and cheese taco (with hot sauce, extra hot sauce and a side of jalapeños)-for the sinuses. "You sure you want the Texas pancake darlin?" The waitress asked. "Well how big is it?" Iz asked her. She held up the 14 inch round serving tray and said, "about this big." "Yep, bring it." And it really was that big! At least the size of a medium or large pizza and 3/4 of an inch thick. He ate every last crumb of it...except for the one small taste that I had. The waitress swore he was the first person she's seen finish a whole Texas pancake since she's been there.
Today we pedaled into Victoria and will keep cruising shortly. Had to catch up though, we stopped a couple ladies who were on nice full carbon tri bikes and asked for a bike shop. We were pointed here to Bill's Bikes. Once here we started tuning the bikes and within 10 minutes a local news reporter shows up! So, after almost an hour of questions and photos there will apparently be a newspaper article about us tomorrow here in Victoria. I'm still chuckling about it. Its a town of around 62,000 and Iz and I are big news I guess.
Well, at least we got to talk a little about cycling safety, physical activity to promote a healthy lifestyle, cycling awareness among motorists and supporting local business. I hope they quote me..."Don't buy your bike at Wal-Mart, support a local bike shop. It might cost more but you get better quality and your money stays local. Plus, try taking your bike back to wal-mart and see if they'll tru the wheels or adjust the seat for you."
That's One small Revolution for the day! Buy local, don't support exploited labourers.
Carpe diem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The wonderful thing about west Texas...

Dreaming of never having to be here again.

Across the plains of Texas

We've seen a whole lot of nothing essentially! Well, slightly rolling hills and a lot of very straight roadway. The people here are very kind and give a great amount of space when they zip past at 80 mph but the scenery is a psychological killer. Oh, and a second cold snap has hit. We camped in Marfa last night and this morning was so cold that all of our water bottles where frozen solid, it hurt to break camp so much that we sat in a gas station to thaw for two hours. My hands and feet were hurting so bad from the cold that it made me sick! The wind was so strong yesterday that Iz's nose is burnt so badly that it's turned abnormally white on the bridge and this white spot is surrounded by dark red and peeling skin. Oh the adventure of cycling across our nation! When we crossed the Texas line, we ate at a small mexican place; support local right? Bad idea...the cow tongue burritos were preferential only to...say...dining with Hannibal Lecture. And the three day old beans and rice flavored with fermenting red salsa would have dropped a New York rat. In Alpine TX tonight with a warmshowers host who has fed us so well we might not need to eat again until Mardi Gras. With record lows still being attempted by Old Man Winter, it is bliss to have walls to wake up within and a warm bed to rest our bones upon. Especially after battling the most ferocious winds we've experienced on our journey thus far. It was like trying to spear an elephant with a toothpick. In other words, it sucked. We've improved our diet recently though, on a good note. Instead of mixed nuts or mixed nuts, we bought some apples, bananas, avocado, bell peppers and tortillas which serve nicely for any time of day. Oh, and a pint of local honey just outside of El Paso; so good on the walnuts and pecans!
Fortunately, no other bike troubles have cropped up so far but we've bought a supply of tube patch kits, tubes and CO2 for emergency tire inflation. Now, we'd like to order strong tailwinds for the next 32.5 days with a side of 5-20% grade downhill and a large order of warmth and sunshine (72-81 degrees F would be nice). Thanks.
One Revolution at a time though, we'll get to where we're bound.
Until again, may you find your own spin cycle!