100+ Project Teaser

New Gear?

It has been a long time since I have bought something other than running shoes.  It feels good.

The Kernel of an Idea...

A Part Time Adventurer Meets a Full Time Adventurer

Have you heard about this guy Dave Cornthwaite?  He is a British Adventurer embarking on a series of twenty five 1000+ mile journeys each with a different form of non-motorized transport.  Dave has done many impressive feats such as skateboarding the length of Great Britain, and across Australia.  He also kayaked the length of Australia's Murray River.  This is just a sampling of Dave's adventures for a more complete and impressive list you should go check out his website at DaveCornthwaite.com, go ahead I'll wait... just don't forget to come back.

Dave taking break

Pretty cool right?

A couple months ago I stumbled across his website and thought WOW! This is the type of thing I would be doing if I could.  More on this later...

Evan watches the dredging operation

When I saw that he was getting ready to start another journey, this time on a stand-up-paddle-board, traveling the length of the Mississippi river I thought "Wait a tick, I live near the Mississippi, in fact I cross it twice every work day."  It was the equivalent of a major sporting event being played down the street from your house.  There was no way I was going to miss it!  Adventure was coming to me all I had to do was wait.  I followed Dave's progress down the river on twitter, facebook, and his website. 

one of the places we stopped

As he got closer I was starting to wonder how I was going to locate one person on such a great river.  I started emailing back and forth and before I new it there was a time and a place to meet, Hamburg, IL.  I asked if there was anything he might need, and he said they were running low on water.  I wasn't sure who else was with but it didn't matter.  I bought a 2.5gallon jug of water and Beth and I headed out to Hamburg.  Upon arrival there was no sign of Dave, and believe me there is no place to hide in Hamburg.  We drove back and forth, waited, and drove back and forth some more.  Eventually I saw a canoe out on the water and then there was Dave Cornthwaite on a SUP.  I turned around and headed back into town and started to unload my gear at the boat ramp.  They pulled off a little up river from where I was and we introduced ourselves and I met Evan who on a whim decided with no paddling experience to travel from the Headwaters in Lake Itasca to St Louis to raise money for the Susan G. Komen foundation (he lost his mother to breast cancer, something we have in common).  He definitely has the adventure spirit!  Dave apologized for being late, the headwinds were terrible and they weren't making much progress.  It was doubtful that we would make it to Grafton.  We talked for a bit and then we were off like a shot, a slow shot into the mighty headwinds.  Being low to the water in my kayak I was less affected by the headwinds, and it looked like Dave and Evan were really working hard.  I kept it easy and maintained whatever pace they wanted to set.  We stopped and rested a few times and discussed philosophical topics ranging from the subtle differences of candy in the UK vs US to speed dating at 60hours with no sleep.  It was a good day out on the river the brutal headwinds helped us cool off, the heat index was 118degrees.  Once it became clear that we were not going to make it to Grafton I was worried about where Beth was going to pick me up (I had just recently sent her driving all over the sketchy back roads of Okawville in an attempt to pick me up off the Kaskaskia river and I did not want a repeat of that experience).

Dave recording while Evan calls the Dam operator

We went through the lock at the Winfield dam which was an experience.  Evan said I was lucky because my first lock was as difficult as it gets, which was only slightly difficult and mostly uninteresting.  It's supposed to go like this: Paddle up to the location indicated by the signs, pull the chain, wait for the operator to open the lock, paddle in, wait for the water to lower, and paddle out the other side when it opens.  Really a very simple procedure.  In this case the chain was broken so Evan looked up the number and called them.  They asked when we would be there and he informed them that we were there already and their chain was broken to which they replied something to the effect of 'we keep forgetting to fix that'.  The rest of the trip through was uneventful.  After we made it through the lock we looked for a marina that appeared to exist only on Evan's map. 

Me, Dave, and Evan

We ended up taking a rest over on the shore.   Dave and Evan rested on their mats while I sat on a pointy rock.  Since you can only sit on a pointy rock for a limited amount of time I went down to the water and waded out a bit where I called Beth who had scouted some locations to pick me up.  We decided on the Double Ranch Marina because there was a store.  I had planned on buying Dave and Evan a beer when we got to Grafton so I thought this would be a good alternative.  Unfortunately we pulled in just after 5pm and the store had closed.  I felt horrible.  I gave them the rest of the water and food that I had with me and wished them well.  I hope they enjoyed the burritos I gave them.  They both seemed very excited to have them.  

Dave's SUP, Artemis.

As Beth and I drove away I felt a bit sad to not be going back out on the river.  Beth was all but certain that I was going to tell her that I was going back out with them.  While my time with Dave was short I found it to be very inspirational.  While I cant't travel all over the world completing grand adventures the way Dave does I can embark on my own adventures in the surrounding area.  I am very fortunate to live in the St Louis area, in that there are many opportunities on a wide variety of terrain all within a couple hours drive in any direction.  

I've got some ideas of a few things that want to do but I will keep them under wraps until I work out a few of the details.  Suffice it to say that my Adventure Spirit has been rekindled and I am looking forward to what the future holds.  Now if I could just find a way to quit my job...does anyone want to pay me to be a professional adventurer?

I wish Dave the best of luck on the rest of his journey down the river and on all the rest of his adventures.  If you haven't yet Check out his website and at least consider making a donation to one of his charities.  They are both really good causes.  

Time to make (eat) the Donuts!

Tomorrow is the Tour de Donut in Staunton, IL.  Last year I crashed and broke my wrist (and still finished).  This year I plan to not crash, eat some donuts and have a great time.  I have a donut eating strategy but I'm not sure if I am going to eat as many as I can or just a few.   

Tapped Out

Streaming video on Netflix is great.  They don't always have the most current movies but what they lack in movie selection the more than make up for with their broad selection of documentaries.  Recently I sat down to watch "Tapped"(2009)a documentary casting light on the evils of bottled water.  I have never been a huge bottled water drinker if it is available after a race I will grab a bottle, but I would never go to the supermarket and purchase a case.  My family has for years used a water filter that attaches to our kitchen faucet to tend to all of our drinking water needs.  I do drink a lot of Gatorade though and once a bottle is emptied it gets rinsed and becomes a water container for the rest of its life, however long that may be.
I have always heard that bottled water was pretty much the same as regular tap water, so I wanted to learn a bit more.  To me the choice not to buy bottled water is a no-brainer, considering the huge mark up in price, the use of fossil fuels to create the bottle and ship the water to where I can buy it, but people love the stuff and can't seem to get enough.

The documentary started out pretty good focusing on one area in Maine where Nestle' was pumping water out of the ground unrestricted.  Apparently the laws in Maine are behind the times and allow the person with the biggest pump to take as much ground water as they want.  Residents of the area seemed to be taken by surprise and could do little to stop their water from being taken, and organized some grass roots efforts to force Nestle' to stop or at the very least cut back.  This part of the documentary was great and I wanted to learn more, instead it took a strange turn.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

The remainder of the film was about the dangers of the plastic bottles themselves in the manufacturing process as well as when they are discarded and eventually end up in one of the oceanic garbage patches.  I thought all of these points were valid but it seemed like they were laying these problems at the feet of bottled water.  Water is sold in plastic bottles to be sure but there are hundreds if not thousands of other products that are sold in containers made from the same materials.  I don't recall if they mentioned what was the proportion of water bottles to other containers but it would be an interesting statistic.  Possibly blame was being lain so heavily because lets face it I can get my water from the tap and put it in any container I want, like the stainless steel water bottle a vendor at work gave me, but if I want to drink a Cherry Dr Pepper my choices are more limited.  All it takes is the turn of a faucet to eliminate those bottle from entering the waste stream, a turn of the faucet can help to reduce the negative health effects related to the manufacture of the plastic bottles.  So while bottled water is not solely responsible for all of the problems in the film it is the easiest of the sources to eliminate.  I just wish they would have used that approach instead of the heavy handed one they chose.
They also talked about the health risks associated with Bisphenol A (BPA) a chemical used in the manufacture of some plastic containers.  The FDA claimed that BPA was safe to be used in the packaging of foods but has since (with egg on its face) updated its position.  According to the scientific community BPA is pretty nasty and should be avoided.  I generally don't trust the FDA since they come off as either corrupt or incompetent in all of the documentaries I watch, but I do trust the scientific community, as long as I know who funded the research. If you know what I mean.
There was plenty of other good information in the documentary and I recommend that you check it out.  While I didn't agree with the presentation of the material that doesn't take away from its validity.  I would have also preferred that they spend more time addressing the opinions of the bottled water companies themselves.



I thought this was a pertinent topic considering it is summer, and many of you are going to be out there in the heat running, riding, paddling, etc. and hydration is a key issue.  While you are out there remember to use smart container choices, check out the bottles that you use and make sure they are safe, the manufacturer will be able to answer any questions you may have regarding what your bottles are made from.  Eliminate plastic when you can, but if you are like me try to recycle those Gatorade bottles it may not be the best choice but it's better than nothing.

History through Music

This song has been rattling around in my head since 1989 when I first watched "Streets on Fire", a skate video from Santa Cruz.  This segment of the video features Natas Kaupas.  I had the deck he is riding in the video, it was one of my favorites.  I remember watching these videos, usually at Jeff Smith's house and then going out and attacking all of our local spots.  It was a great time to be alive!

So without further adieu I present to you Natas Kaupas in Streets on Fire with musical inspiration by the band fIREHOSE and the song Brave Captain.  Enjoy!