an animal of letters

wanting to be a number without remainders

b_side: photo_series

on tour...sfo-b.c.

Photos cont'd

Photos

So here are just a few B&W pics to give a little flavor to the blog. These are off of my 35mm camera. Scanned them real quick, so quality may be low, and there is a light leak on my camera. Cein has some more coming...

and the beat goes on.

a glorious victory. hard to believe we made it. david's a lucky man being able to stay in such a wonderful city.
thank you to jaxon and megan.

i'm on my way home. biked to victoria. sailing to seattle. then touring to portland. the kilometers keep adding up.


go swim. it'll make you smile.

-cein

listening to: meatloaf

Viva Vancouver!

well there you have it. 1200 miles in the bag. we rolled into town yesterday at around 5 oclock, after struggling to navigate what seemed like the longest, most elusive entrance to a city ever. nevertheless, we made it. holy shit, we made it. 25 days of riding, officially, although it feels like a completely separate lifetime in and of itself. sort of surreal, really. it was a good old-fashioned, bonafide journey. and our bodies are thankful that it is over. the truth is, on one of our most arduous days barely into Oregon, i began a tear in my achilles tendon that should have ended the trip for me by the time we were a day south of astoria. the thought of having to stop was pretty devastating for me at the point, but me being me and letting pride and raw determination swallow my better judgement, i managed to finish it out. our bikes finished relatively unscathed as well, surprisingly. i had 4 flats, Cein just 1. and i can't believe my bike did not snap in half from all of the weight. it seemed as if every passing cyclist was bewildered by the idea of someone touring on a racing bike. just have to make due sometimes.
one thing i am regretful of is the quick pace at which we had to ride. bike touring is something that should not be rushed, with so many great landscapes and small town treasures to enjoy along the way. but this trip was also my move, and it was important for me to get here as quickly as possible, unfortunately. i dont think Cein was expecting to be subjected to such an expedited journey, but if anything, we come away with some pretty legitimate bragging rights. one of my favorite moments of the trip was when an old man in a roadside diner said to us, "yall must be some tough sons o' bitches." at this point, i wouldn't hesitate to acknowledge his suspicion.
so that is that. we have a slew of photos that we will be posting as a kind of retrospective archive here pretty soon, so check back. and i am going to be compiling some music that defined the various moments of the trip for me. i will try to figure out how to upload it onto this page. if not, and you are interested in a copy, let me know and i will send you one in the mail.

best,
David
mckulic@Hotmail.com

Greasy silhouetted sailboat tattoo

well we've ridden 950 miles north. an endeavor reserved for the bold and slightly insane. today we are in centralia, WA, basking in the return of sunshine. we've departed from poseidon's playground, rendevouzed with the columbia river, and the absence of strong headwinds have allowed Achilles to heal. no pun intended. the final stretches loom ahead. seems we've been on the road for a long while. im growing sick of bread, tuna fish, and bananas; the avocados can stay awhile, and im looking forward to a big hot plate of, well, something different than the delicacies listed above. last night i got up in pitch blackness to water the earth, thought i heard a large animal moving about, and quickly dove back into my tent. its just so reassuring to be cuddling with a can of bear mace while i sleep at night. time to register for classes....ewww.

D

...

rain on the 5th. i was made for it.
hair better than polar fleece. more pie. and a ferry into washington.
free campsite. free dinner. old people love.
cloudy throught the 6th. pastures and pastoral. no climbs over 500ft.
sunny on the 7th. in the shadow of st. helen.
shaved my beard. look like a nute.
c

check point carly:

rolled into a bed, a friendly face, and the best fuckin fries you've never had. our first day off. and i filled it with gin and tonic. thank you carly.
gentle into portland. anything more than delicate and i might have popped a leak. worlds collide and slc meets maine. the past isn't as pretty, but everyone plays nice. bar hopping and judging. kalani grudgingly makes an appearance and shows off her new bee. drink as comrads. i end the night with wireless and electronic darts. decide portland is balls deep with lesbians, but walt whitman wouldn't mind so why should i. we split for the north with no inertia. from nothing comes something.
-c

Rainy 4th in Astoria?

It looks like we'll be spending the 4th of July in Astoria. It's supposed to rain. I figure eff the fireworks, and go look for One-Eyed Willie. Who's with me? I also hear the locals are pretty well-versed in cooking up some meth, but I think I'll stick to being a Goonie for the day...

D

a piece of affectation

"loitering with my face"
a six pack and a carry at lex's landing. we slept under a bridge. headwinds and the flats. i watched david pull away. forget where we were. spend my days sweating, panting and cursing. no room for thinking. the gods stiff armed me.
hubris is my vice. feed me.

Poseidon's Pinch

Released from the foggy grips of northern California into the surprisingly sunshiney Oregon coast, we were promptly greeted by a serious stiff-arm from Poseidon. But after Cein secretly made reconciliations with the ocean lord by the water's edge over a bottle of Full Sail, we were graced with an enduring absence of headwinds, and even a subtle tail wind from time to time. As of yesterday, we had ridden 15 days straight, and made our first checkpoint in Lincoln City, maybe 700 miles north of Frisco. Today, we are in Portland, courtesy of our friend Carly, and are embarking on a night of sushi and happy hour-ing. Love the day off.

D

Yellow 90s flashback drive-by

hit the sunshine in Arcata, which apparently never happens. chalk up another lucky mark for mr. kids. popped out of the Avenue of the Giants yesterday. listening to fleet foxes on the headphones created a sort of strange foresty magic that i was really in to..i felt like a troubador on a futuristic bicycle. anyway, made a pit stop in arcata today. wrote a love note on a napkin to a pretty girl with purple hair in a pizza shop. loaded up the baquette and baba ghanoosh for dinner. quick stop at Humbolt Uni. headed towards Patricks Point state park for sleepy time. shout out to the peeps in cold production pcmc. holla.

D

playlist: Van Morrison, Fleet Foxes, Panda Bear, Dylan, Handsome Furs, Shins

he must workout...

keep missing the rain.
stopped in Arcada for a tune...
i spite hills now. not people.

headwinds and hills

killed the mountain. layed down in leggett.
drank with the canadians. icecream at the biker bar.
skinny dipped with the girl that smelled like my hat.
can't eat enough.

bearded pedal bikers

Sunday. Gooberdale. Gauberville. Hell I dont know where we are haha. Yesterday we made the monster 2500' climb into Leggett. It was a huge skyscraper on our topographical map, but pretty sure we made it feel like a sissy little girl instead. We stayed at a campground just on the other side, met 25 other cyclists from Vancouver heading south to Tijuana, and partied across the street at a local Fire Department/Harley Gang fundraiser. Music, BBQ, IPA, and of course a local Elton John impersonator, we danced and drank the free beer that Mike the firefighter kept bringing us. It was amazing. Leggett. What a gem. A lil star gazin at the sandy swimming hole till the wee hours, then back in the saddle today. Enter the redwoods...

Playlist: Zeppelin, Built to Spill, Miracle Fortress, Tapes n Tapes, Jet

D

head bands and helmets

i'm not dead.
chasing the white rabbit.
one day at a time

helmets and headbands

hello everybodddy...
we are in Fort Bragg CA today. bout 160 miles or so north of Frisco. decided to stop and hit up the local laundromat...its a golden commodity, people. washing your skivs in a campground sink gets old after a few days. but everything is A ok. weather is pleasant, except for the hellish headwinds on some days. the ocean is amazing tho. ive been trying to con Cein into stopping for some BBQ oysters, but he's just not having any...otherwise the diet has been water, more water, and some energy bars. oh, today I ate two heaping platefuls of Chinese buffet goodness, with a pint of Hagen Daazs ice cream to boot. Thats my gasoline I guess. Anyway, the trip has been really great so far! We're both riding hard (Cein is a monster on the bicycle) and sleeping harder. Miss all of your lovely faces, and we'll check in soon...

D

pre-game ballot

Since we're doing pictures, lets cast the vote: how great does dave look in a white headband?

for future reference

cein postings will be prefaced with C:
and david postings will be D:

can't stop. won't stop

this is connry pequad. my fantasy boyfriend/bike. whichever you prefer.


here i am riding him.


this is standard issue


my only shirt...extra points for anyone who can name the octopus