CURRENT MISSION

Explore humanity, the wilderness, politics, love, and my own ambition. Finally learn French and take some spanish courses so I can go and travel South America after I get the guts to postpone my great career and join the Peace Corps.

ABOUT ME

Outgoing kind of guy. Love the outdoors, cycling is a way of life for me. I love a good adventure and I like to shoot from the hip. Give me the essential tools, the jist of the idea, let me know which way north is, then let me go. Lack of planning and large amounts of dreaming have led to the demise of more than one romantic relationship but seem to be fueling the current one. Not as all out crazy adventurist as I would like to be, somewhat restrained by a bum knee, but that is what carbon fiber knee braces are for! I have a kick butt job working for the US Dept of Agriculture helping local landowners and farmers do environmentally positive things. I don't know how many people are on a football team or what RBI means in baseball. West Virginia is its own state by the way and no Morgantown is NOT near Richmond thank you very much.

PHILOSOPHY

Gandhi said "Be the change you want to see in others". I love that statement. If I want to make changes in the world around me I have to start with myself.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have a couch, an open mind, and a lot of time off! I want to share my hometown adventures with others and give people an insight to the locals in my town/state/country/continent! send me you hungry, your poor, your spirited, exloring, and travel weary and I will show them my couch, a full stomach and a good time. Just ask Stephen and Pius the swiss kids riding the panamericana!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I think i had a permanent couch to surf in Morgantown WV, still do. It moved some since I was there last but now its closer to the bar! Surfed Gabo's grandpa's couch and got to see the castle in the in original "Dracula" the next day not far from the city of Brno Czech. I let two swiss kids riding recumbents from Anchorage Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego the tip of South America. We had a night to remember with the crazy bread, chillin on Netarts Bay on the Oregon Coast. Surfed a couch in Stanley Idaho after meeting some crazy trail maintenance crew workers who were caretaking this unbelievable ranch in central Idaho, unreal! Gabo and I surfed a bench outside a train station in Grenoble, kind of like a couch only harder. We woke up to people at 6am trying to step over us as they got off of the train! But we didn't get mugged so that was cool.

Interests

I love to ride and race bicycles. I love everything about a bike, its simplicity, its utility, its ability to make me healthy and help out the planet. I love how it brings people together and how it never fails to bring that same sense of freedom every time I ride, just like the first.
I am interested in sustainable agriculture, not organic per se, but sustainable. I love to fish, but don't do it as much as I should. I love whitewater canoeing, rafting etc, and especially float trips. Love to snow shoe and backpack. Can't wait to go to deer camp to learn chess, again! Ohh and I support local things, food, furniture, services, etc.

• fish
• dining
• politics
• chess
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• fishing
• backpacking
• canoeing
• camping
• baseball
• soccer
• agriculture

Music, Movies, and Books

I like music, all kinds except rap, can't really get into that. Love some good blue grass and certainly some of the indie stuff out. I like the Seegard Recordings from the "Boss" Bruce Springstein. Finished reading "the world is flat" which blew my mind to think that people in India are taking peoples orders at the local Mcdonalds Drive through and then uploading them to the cooks inside via the internet! Unreal.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The most amazing thing I have done has been the recovery of almost loosing my leg and 3 years later winning a 50 mile mountain bike race.

The most amazing thing I have seen is a man with only one leg riding the Trasnalp Challenge 500 mile mtb race across 3 countries, and not only finishing but beating dozens of teams. Never give up!

Teach, Learn, Share

Keep a good smile when your traveling, its disarming to those around you and will open doors without a word. When you do converse remember the two most powerful things you can say are "Please" and "Thank You". Use them often.

If you absolutely must take a pee, and your a guy, and your traveling by bicycle on a busy section of road you can do it discreetly using the deraileur fixer method. get down on one knee near the rear of your bike with your back to traffic and make it look like your fixing your bike and then whip it out quick before anyone catches on or pulls over to give you a ride!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States