on the road again

well, almost...bags packed...bikes shipped....7 of us are about to pile into a van and head out north to do a little bit of a road show...while there certainly will be some performance the road show is more about doing outreach and education about i-69 and the resistance to it...the tour ends in minneapolis where we'll be attending atleast some of the pReNC convergence...folks getting ready for the republican national convention that will be held in the twin cities next year...nornc.org...check out the welcoming committee's video they seem to really have their shit together...at a recent press conference the welcoming committtee's spokesperson refused to take questions from reporters since no-one emailed their questions in advance as requested, as you must do to ask a question of most politicians/corporate industry reps...w00t for not pandering to a media that actively supresses radical voices...that's a far cry from the press conference we put on about the forest defense actions which was put on for the benefit of only one reporter...hoping we'd get good press...sad to be leaving bloomington it would have been real easy just to stay here, get a job and commit to this campaign, but that's the samething that's kept me in oly for the last 4 years and i still want to indulge my wanderlust...it's hot here and we're sweating profusely as i type this...it'll be good to get back to cooler weather where grey skies means temps in the 60's or below not 90 and crazy humidity...we'll keep ya'll posted as our journey changes course back to the coast, cooler weather, and continued adventure...

-jon

if you plan to be a vagabond

if you plan to be a vagabond the first thing you must do is throw planning out the window. sad happenings; ghost, tyger's beloved bike, was stolen and he has traveled back to the NW. lilia has, herself, become homesick and has determined to head back west also. none of this was in the plan, but how do you plan being absolutely free? i stand at a crossroads..which path do i walk? the one less traveled by? hardly, another poet speaks more to my soul on the matter:

Oh what do you do, poor Angus,
when hunger makes you cry?
"I fix myself an omelet, sir,
of fluffy clouds and sky."

Oh what do you wear, poor Angus,
when winds blow down the hills?
"I sew myself a warm cloak, sir,
of hope and daffodils."

Oh who do you love, poor Angus,
when Catherine's left the moor?
"Ah, then, sir, then's the only time
I feel I'm really poor"

-Shel Silverstein

As it is the decisions been made for me, I will begin heading west in a few days with lilia, first by car as a part of an informational tour about interstate 69 then hopping freight trains the rest of the way to the coast. though don't be fooled, it is not our intention o get bogged down, but to keep on riding possibly south along the coast, any takers?

-jon

action packed bloomington

lilia and i are staying with friends in bloomington, at first we didn't know anyone only that we were to stay with the housemates of our friend lucy who at the time was still out and about travelling...we've quickly develpoed fast friendship as you do when working for altruistic goals with people. aside from having fun sneaking into swimming pools, spinning fire, and eating good food we've been working the EarthFirst! front. lilia and i both got our names in the newspaper for doing ground support at a treesit in the state forest and we had a surprisingly easy victory the other day in shutting down a meeting of state/local government and business interests divying up "grant"(bribe) money to local politicos. since are plan has been to stay in bloomington for 3 weeks(in total) i almost got a job at a local bike shop, but wound up blowiong it off due to conflicts with the forest defense campaign. i don;t regret my decision, jobs suck, and i made almost 90 bucks in three hours at the farmers market. bloomington is full of great folks and if you don't know what you're doing nex t spring/summer consider coming to indiana to help stop the e victions of families, destruction of forests, farms and communities, and the NAFTA superhighway i-69. this road will never be built!

-jon

read the infoshop article

missive from new england

So far having a blast. Looking at grad schools and planning routes and biking on the bike trails and through the massholes in traffic. I'll leave mass probably around friday and it'll take me about a week to get to maine give or take a day or two. from there I'll head down the bike trail and meet up again with people in indiana. might be later than planned but maybe not, no stops from maine to there so we'll see.
got to go. sorry my first post is so small. but really you're lucky I wrote anything.
peace

Micah

the road to bloomington

state number 8, indiana...met an old bike mechanic along a bike path, he is currently unemployed and living in a church. speanding his days doing free bike work and workshops along the side of the bike path. he'd worked in bike and record shops his whole life, always saved up for and bought what he wanted, never used credit. was rear-ended by a drunk driver who had not license, much less insurance. he lost everything he owned dues to the medical expenses. what the fuck is wrong with our country? the memory of Bill will stay with me as i hope to see bike workers earn the wages they deserve and get some decent health care...terre haute indiana, life-long home of eugene debs was a real trip we hung out with some crazy dudes in a tattoo parlor that turned out to be real nice gave us pizza & a place to stay, but not a free tattoo...then on to bloomington where the weather has finally cooled down and the people have been nice...back in the hippy/hipster/activist bubble...more on bloomington once i've gotten a chance to get my bearings...we plan to stay here for a bit.

-jon

awesome!!!!

last night we went out for a bike ride with the fore-mentioned rat patrol. it was so much fun!!! mobbing around on freak bikes jc rode a tall bike made from a couple of little kid frames...he looked ridiculous in his tech-fab outfit pedaling like mad...tyger and i rode a tandem with only one set of handlebars...after we altered the gear ratio, no shifting either, we were faster than a bat out of hell...added bonus with tyger's hands free he was able to keep opening more beers out of my bag...there was tall bike jousting...a cop that only wanted to watch and bum a cig...an amazing dumpster buffet out behind the trader joes...and lots and lots of cheap beer...all injuries were minor...fun like that oughta be illegal..come to think of it, it already is illegal...chicago is amazing, i'm sorry to be leaving in the morning, but it's south to bloomington.

-jon

This is for Saying Yes

“Play like Saturn is on his knees, proposing with all of his 10,000 rings that we give every singe breath...This is for saying yes" -A.G.

So it's official, I am leaving this afternoon. I bought a train ticket and I'm heading back to Olympia for an undetermined amount of time...
I want to make a last blog post to reflect and say THANK YOU...
to Cycle-A-Circus for making me part of the family despite my lack of circus skills. To Saturn, Ghost, Hannibal, Pearl, Spark, and Surly Shirley Tip Tows for making this journey with us and taking us places we never would have gone otherwise...
To Lilia for being one of my favorite people ever and talking with me about everything and knowing all the sweet pop songs...I can't tell you how grateful I am you were part of this journey. To Tyger for making me laugh more than anyone besides Cameron, always finding a beautiful light to look at everything under, and incessantly reminding me how awesome life is. To JC for being so excited and enthusiastic about everything and being the master dumpsterer. To Jon Jon for having such a genuinely good heart, reminding me over the past weeks why we used to hang out all the time, and being a good bike mechanic. To Micah for being so thoughtful and observant and having an amazing ability to sleep anywhere.
To all of the people who helped us out along the way, whose generosity got us through the days. For all of the smiles and hellos, the good lucks, the interest taken in what we're doing, the advice on places to go and sleep, the food, the yards and houses to sleep in, the showers, the directions, the encouragement, the conversations...
To the farmers and workers and land who produced the food that kept me fueled. To those who made the sections of bike path we rode on possible. To the exorbitant amounts of roadkill for always reminding me how scary cars are. To the poets whose words I kept with me for constantly giving me new inspiration. To the moon for making me fall in love with you over and over again every night. To the bugs and birds and trees and other creatures, the caterpillar that shot orange things out of its head, the mountains of western MT, the rolling hills of WI and everything between and beyond, to the epic lightning and hail storms for being breathtakingly astounding, giving me a constantly renewed sense of awe, and reminding me how small I am. To the mosquitoes for showing me the power of small things, especially in mass numbers. To the frustrating headwinds for trying to teach me to accept the things I cannot change, and to be patient.
I could literally go on for pages with this...thank you to Caylan, DJ, Gabe, the people who brought us strawberries and bananas in the morning, whoever corrected the stop sign to read "Stop Voldemort" for making me laugh, the Lutherans in Kremling for their kindness and cookies and brownies, the librarians in Cut Bank for all of their help, Wendy for so much hospitality and Aloe for my sunburn, the woman at the gas station who felt bad for me so gave me free fried chicken under the pretense that I was the 50th customer, to the organizers of the block party in Minneapolis, to the workers everywhere who keep things going...
These are only snapshots of the incredible amount of generosity and amazingness I experienced all along the way. There's no way I could begin to complete this, but thank you to everyone and everything I encountered for teaching me new things and giving me new things to think about. I was amazed everyday…It didn't matter where we were...everyday brought new adventures and new lessons. I'll always have the memories we created, from the Night at the Post Office in Etheridge to the beautiful day lost in Frerret, to the rounds of Asshole, to the days of riding and riding and riding…

Thank you to Saturn, my bike and the planet, for reminding me that I am alive, to put myself into everything. To give every single breath...

And again, an especially big thank you to the bike crew, Lilia, Jon Jon, Tyger, JC, and Micah...I love you all. Thanks for everything. I may or may not rejoin you down the road, but either way know that I am leaving this feeling more in love with life than I ever have. I am so grateful for you all and grateful for this experience. Sorry for the long rambling post...

Keep taking care of yourselves and each other. Hope to see you all soon…

Big love,

Kaite

the post without a name

consistently unexpectedly awesome, that's the best i can describe our trip. the last few days have found us along beautiful bike paths...a totally new environment, we aren't in the same midwest...a gorgeous, spacious apartment in chicago...hooked up by the rat patrol...we visited an impressive ba'hai temple...experienced an urban thunderstrom complete with shocking bursts of lightning over the city's skyline at sunset...and the most random occurrence of stumbling upon a presidential debate...we (kaite, lilia, & i) actually saw all 7 of the main democratic contenders at a AFL-CIO sponsored forum that was aired live on msnbc...alas, we didn't raise a ruckus, union folks tend to be gregarious, nice folks...sadly we will be parting ways soon...temporarily...Micah is catching a train to boston to visit family...kaite a train back west to get zir commitments resolved so ze can join us down the road...tyger & jc be headed east to cleveland...and lilia & i are travelling south to bloomington indiana to pitch in with the efforts to stop i-69...all , save kaite, will be back together first week of september...

thankfully,
-jon

milwaukee

leaving madison after an evening of kickball, beer drinking, and wondering where micah is we biked along a nice path that took us most of the way to milwaukee where we made for the wisconsin state fair. while the weather has given us a slight reprieve cooling down to highs below 90 the people have also gotten condsiderably colder. in an ironic twist the police have been the friedliest folks despite swarming tyger as he juggled knives out front of the fair, they just seemed bored, and were quite chummy and were even encouraging of our trip / busking. otherwise people tend to ignore you here, even if you're just saying hi or good morning, much less perfoming for them. and the library system has some pretty exclusive policies(no free internet!). however, tyger managed to bypass the security on the card catalog computers and bam free internet. we're gonna give the fair another shot today and see if we can't make a little funds before moving on to chicago.