Things I Would Like To Do, But Can't Seem to Find the Time

Hello Kids! I know it's been too long, welcome to cycling through the Yukon/"Northern" Alaska (really, it's barely 1/2 way to the northernmost part). In this part of the world, wi-fi shows up in the strangest places, but it is like a trickling stream when everybody needs big gulps of water. Bandwidth in the lower 48 is given out like candy, but up here it's guarded protectively. All of this is very frustrating in light of the fact that actually I have lots of ideas of where I would like this blog to go. It also doesn't help that all of our pictures are trapped on old fashioned film, far away from the interwebs, and that for some reason putting things onto blogs takes gobs of time. All of that time is time we're borrowing from businesses who would mostly rather us move on so that the next guy can saddle up to the stream. I guess all I can say is thank you for your patience, and give you a list of things that will hopefully be forthcoming at some point some time.

1) FAQ Page While sitting on the side of the old AlCan in our tent in a rainstorm, I wrote most of an FAQ page. Rusti still has to add the specs on his bike, though. Perhaps I will do a whole page just for gear reviews. Lord knows we're opinionated enough between the two of us.

2) Pictures. I know, you've all be waiting for them. I blame Rusti for leaving the camera charger at a campsite 4 days out from Anchorage. But that is neither here nor there. And truthfully we really haven't found a great place where we could upload them anyway. But we have been funsaving with our disposable funsavers and i'm sure there will be some mediocre pictures to post when we figure out a way to put them into digital format. Just as a warning they are mostly of mountains (95%) or signs that Rusti finds to be funny (Fuch lake). They will probably all look remarkably similar to one another. I guess you'll just have to take your own cycling trip through Alaska and the Yukon and see for yourself. I highly, highly recommend it.

3) Energy Balls. They're everywhere. Sometimes you feel them just flying back and forth between your ears at night. They become most apparent through acts of generosity from perfect strangers to travelers. We have already experienced many of these, from funsavers being donated to cash being given. These people deserve recognition although they are most certainly not seeking it. Energy balls bolster our morale and give us the impetus to continue our adventure. They're part of the reason we are on this adventure to begin with.

4) Donations. This refers back to energy balls, but gives people who are not in physical contact with us a chance to donate to our cause. $10 buys us a beer, $30 a meal, $50 buys us a whole day on the road! I would like to install a paypal button on our page that allows people to donate money to us if they would like to. If you would prefer your money not going toward food, drugs and rock and roll, we are very passionate about World Bicyle Relief as a means to give people in developing countries a sustainable way to improve their lives through bicycles. I would like to make it easy for people to link to our donations page through this blog. Also, I would like to be more proactive about furthering our commitment to this cause.

5) Mission statement. I know, it sounds pretty square, but every team needs some sort of stated goal about what they're working toward or else you're just thrashing about. And I dislike thrashing. It's very dangerous for someone as clumsy as me.

6) Miscellaneous Goodies. A map showing where we've been and where we are, a box showing our longest mileage day, a place where we tell people what books we are reading, and as mentioned above a gear review page. Also perhaps an ad or two would help to generate a small amount of moola for the cause.

So, hopefully, with time and perserverance, these tasks will get checked off one by one and our blog will evolve from a random collection of thoughts that pour from my scattered brain to a place with information and entertainment for others who are interested in our plight. Please comment with other suggestions for pages you would like.