Night before- busy and hectic

wow, hectic day today. running a day behind but we are slowly but surely we will be on the road by tommorow. from here on out we will be hopefully better at updating this sucker. But, here we are in Baltimore right now about to drive to Salisbury for the night so we should get in by about midnight and then headout as fast as possible tomorow to catch a fairy accross the Chesapeake.
Mims got some new cookwear today that he is pretty excited about. he and the rest of us blew a bunch of money at REI tonight and that is one of the many things that came of it.

everyone seems really excited about the trip, seems like we have a awesome group dynamic... i guess that we will really find out soon. thats all for now, kind of in a rush at this point.

I want to thank my mom and dad and Jess for their help in getting us in shape and down to Salisbury. Wouldn't have worked out without all of your help!

Alright, until next time we'll let you know how the first couple of days goes.....

Zim and the ride is closing in

man there has been a lot going on is Zim lately and it has been getting quite a bit of attention in the media.

Basically Mugabe's ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe African National Union- Patriotic Front) party refuses to release the election results, 1000s are fleeing the country each day, and now Mugabe is rounding up certain members of the opposition party on suspiscions of ploting to overthrow the government. The police and army is being militarized all around the coun try, keeping an eye on everyone with heavy arms. "If something isn’t done in a few days, I tell you, this country is going to be converted into a genocide zone,” said Nelson Chamisa, the opposition’s spokesman recently. Here is the link to the New York Times Web site where you can check out the situation. IT is constantly changing just about every day...

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/zimbabwe/index.html

Also, the trip is coming up, just wrapping the classes in order graduate. Pretty exciting stuff. Still have a lot mroe training to do. The temperatures have been getting into the mid 80s so i am starting to get used to riding in the heat (although yes, the desert will be worst.) A couple more people have shown some interest lately so its looking like we may have a few over seven people. Everyone seems to have similar sights for the trip so I think itll be a pretty awesome group experience. ... 36 more days

Thanks for tuning in

Elections

Keep an eye out, the elections occurred on Saturday but Mugabe is reluctant to let the results out. Word on the street is that there is going to have to be a run off election between the 2 leading candidates, Mugabe and Tsvangirai. Fingers crossed.. Here's a link to the NY Times website which has fairly regular updates of the elections...

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/africa/index.html

Also, Dispatch Foundation has a new campaign with information about the elections (inclsuding a comparison to the U.S. elections) and a petition that you can sign for fair elections...

http://www.thedispatchfoundation.org/headcount/

Updates and maybe some good signs from Zim

I was reading some stuff on Zimbabwe recently and the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has reported that inflation has risen from 66,000% to over 100,000% within a little over a month. That is not even comprehendable. US inflation is like 2-3%. This is almost unheard of. Mugabe is printing money like it is his job to try to maintain order, pay people off, prevent overthrows, coups, etc.. (particularly, as was pointed out, since the election is coming around in March). I was talking to my professor of economics and he was saying that inflation at these rates historically points to the falling of a regime as a dictator seeks to maintain control by printing money to maintain power and position.... so maybe some light at the end of the tunnel is in sight. Hopefully this is Mugabe's last hoorah...

Sources
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080220/wl_africa_afp/zimbabweeconomyinflation

2nd Inaugural Blog

Alright Ern. Nice Inagural Blog.
You know Im in the thought boat about why bike America....I hope someone might take issue with it...or atleast point something floppy out in our reasoning for argument sake.

But I hope you dont mind me changing the topic.

Bonarroouuuuooo? Whats everyone think about it?

The bike trip itself is pretty wild, but I cant shake the idea of rolling into a fesitval like a bunch of vagrants (dare not say hippies) entering woodstock. Roll in, rock out, roll out...that entice anyone else as much as it does me?

Im of course a bit swayed by pearl jam and my morning jacket's presence...avette bros...friggin state radio (chad from dispatch case you dint know it)

This might mean a little harder peddle for the first couple days, and it might be a harsh time trying to get back on a bike after a festival, but I'm confident we can cross that bridge when we get to it. We'll be well practiced in overcoming tough situations and sore muscles by then.

Going would almost definitly mean skipping mammoth cave kentucky, which is a definite downside. But it also might give us a chance to go through the great smokies.

Thoughts plz.

Meeting and a couple days till the deadline for sign up

So here goes, our first official blog posting!....
We had a meeting last night at Mitch's Tavern in Raleigh (great 'potluck' beer special) to talk about the trip again. Not a real big showing but as always it was awesome to sort of dream up all of the crazy things that we will encounter on the trip.
Just a couple more days until we will really get an idea of who will be going and in what numbers. Its pretty exciting stuff, to meet people, non bikers, who have the same gunho holy-crap-we're-actually-going-to-do-this spirit.

Some interesting topics came up throughout the conversation last night which calls for a first of many- Official Aaron Heath Soapbox Moment (sponsored by Coca-Cola). The question comes up so why America, I mean we could bike some foreign country that could possibly be even more adventurous and wild if that is what we are looking for? Why not bike Outer Manchuria or Africa or something? Well here's why we bike America (and I attribute part this response to Billy).

How many times in a day do we say the word America or the US? We use this word so often but so few of us as Americans(particularly ourselves) really know the real power, the true breadth, the unforgivingness(?) of this huge area of land. Particularly college students. Its funny, as pointed out by Colleen last night- sure they've studied abroad on the other side of the planet but many of them from around here have never even been past Missouri, even North Carolina or Maryland in some cases. Sure you've been to California, but what about all of that area in between, all that area that you glanced at from 35,000 feet up. That's is what we hope to discover by being not passive observers but humble members, moving along as part of the American landscape for 2 1/2 months and 3,000+ miles. To discover the vast expanse of this country, not in the comfort of a car seat but at the mercy and the whims of nature.

So, thats the end of Aaron Heath's Soap Box Moment. All kidding aside, I think obviously, but also without a true grasp of it all, this will be a very enduring, difficult ride. It is my mind that will prove my greatest adversary on this trip, my greatest overcoming. Once you know you are about to do something difficult, your mind can still turn that monkey into a ten foot tall gorilla. Youve heard the quote- "its never as bad as it seems"- that's what I'm talking about. Perhaps the others would agree. Soon hopefully we'll have the rest on board for the blog and you will be hearing from them... Thanks for reading

Welcome to Our Blog

More information and pictures from the road to come!