Everyone says it's all downhill:Born and raised in Bakersfield, CA; a town made famous by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. He terrorized the suburban streets on his BMX as a kid and later found a love with mountain biking when he went to college. At the University of California, Santa Cruz, he found more than his share of adventures around. From hiking, rafting, climbing, biking, mountain-boarding, skating, etc. He recklessly pursued each and every new activity that came his way. After a few too many longboard/mountain-board crashes (resulting in multiple surgeries) he directed his energy into running and biking.
He went to the University of West Indies, in Barbados where he studied sociology and education. When not in school he was snorkeling, spearfishing, and enjoying the Caribbean sun. He signed up for the Run Barbados Marathon having no real running experience. After a ridiculous mere 2-1/2 months of training, he successfully ran his first marathon and was hooked on masochistic endurance sporting events.
He returned to UCSC and completed his Bachelor's Degree in Subculture Studies receiving honors for his thesis work about "Freighthopping in the 21st Century." His academic focus has been on marginalized transient social networks and was able to document the experience through a participant observation field study. He travelled solo, hopping on freight trains up to Canada, over to Chicago and New York. Completing his three months of travel by riding the rails back to California. His experiences on the rails with the "down & out" motivated him to pursue education more seriously with the hope that he could be a positive influence in the school system.
He completed his Master's in Education at UCSC, in the summer of 2005. He travelled around Central America for awhile and came back to work as a history teacher at Fisher Middle School in Los Gatos. He had the opportunity to work with an amazing group of educators who are inspiring beyond belief. It was a tremendously rewarding experience for him to see what goes into making a school succesful and to work with such wonderful students. While he doesn't miss waking up early, he does miss the zany personality of his students and the comraderie of a positive faculty body.
He looks forward to this adventure and for the opportunity to learn more about the world. There are so many incredible people to meet, views to see, and life to live. Travelling by bicycle will be the perfect avenue for him to experience the world.
It is his hope that this trip will inspire people to consider riding their bikes more and driving their cars less. People power is a remarkable phenomenon that will hopefully someday take priority over gas power. |
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