Tuesday, June 21, 2011

It was all a dream. I used to read Bicycling Magazine...

It would seem that I have rediscovered my Trek Travel blog. I’m not sure if this is a good or a bad thing for anyone (un)fortunate enough to stumble upon it in the coming weeks and months, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.

A lot has happened since this webpage last heard from me. Firstly, I finished out a pretty stellar first season with Trek Travel. All told I guided in six states, two countries, and four national parks. I pedaled countless miles over spectacular terrain. I met scads of fun, quirky, interesting, fit, and not infrequently stupid-rich people (the amount of wealth that they had amassed was stupid… not the people themselves). I ate more mouth-watering, belly-filling, cardiac arrest-inducing, world-class meals than I care to mention. I generally had a really awesome time.


My season was capped off with a fantastic final trip in California’s wine country with one of my favorite groups of guests thus far, after which I rushed back to Florida where I had the honor of being in the wedding of my close friend Brandon Moore to his beautiful new wife Stacy Acquista. They have since adopted each other’s last names in a very fashionable way. I already miss those two and hope to have a reunion sometime after this season. Sadly, I will not be able to see them until then, as I’m guiding in Europe for the remainder of my season. More on that later…


The rest of 2010 was spent back in St. Pete. I snagged a bartending/serving job at the Acropolis Greek Taverna where I met tons of cool people and made a few amazing friends. I’d list them all here, but they know who they are (hugs). I was also fortunate enough to be a part of the opening crew for Sake Bomb 2.0, St. Pete’s hottest new (old) bar. The America!


Some time around March I got the call from Trek Travel asking me to get back on the road, and I happily obliged. The first couple months of my guiding season were spent in Solvang, California… which will be the subject of my next post.


For now, a few pictures of life over the past 8 months (note: refer to my FB page for pictures of most of my time in St. Pete. many of them are slightly incriminating)...


Hiking along the Yellowstone River:


Brandon and me at his wedding:


Keeping it real in "sunny" California.


Sideways pic on top of the Passo Stelvio in Italy. Yes, it's not upright. I got lazy.


Until next time!