The Shadow of our Amazing RV as we travel west!

The latest adventure took me through thousands of miles of the western United States, experiencing the continually changing landscape by RV, raft and boat, and even simply walking down its coastal highways. It all started with an RV, set rolling on wheels that haven’t moved in five years, and four friends ready for a new rafting adventure (as we’ve done in years past). A vintage RV, straight from 1978, complete with the general yellow tinge and faded fabrics, wood paneling, and brown shag carpet. Four of us left Colorado, driving this top-heavy, gas eating machine through Wyoming, Nevada deserts, and on to Oregon, taking the RV to its new home. After only one night relaxing in Oregon, we traded our spacious ride for a tight squeeze in a Jeep that backfires and only has two seats for four people, plus gear. But we make it work, and continue on our trip to the Klamath River in Northern California, encountering fewer and fewer other humans, moving further into the wilderness.

Driving down the lonely road heading west in Nevada

Avenue of the Giants - the Majestic Redwoods

Oregon Flowers and Shadows in the Summertime

Nic, Appel and Matt in the Jurassic Forest in Oregon

Fire, smoke and sunshine, in the Oregon forest in the summertime

Our modes of transport when not on the river in Oregon, good times!

The Redwoods in July

The river – the second goal of the trip. We inflate our craigslist purchased raft and set off on our way. It doesn’t take more than ten minutes before we find ourselves bailing out the boat, hit by a huge swell of water and gushing rapids spitting us out of the river. But this is the worst of it, or maybe it’s just we’re more prepared for what’s ahead. For three days we paddle and drifted through beautiful redwood forests, stopping every night under cloudless night skies to camp. We explored the river with the bears caught lazily swimming, the eagles flying over head, and ventured into the dense, enormous trees at the river banks. The last day on the raft, the mouth of the river becomes wider and wider, and we pull the raft to shore in sight of the white breakers of the Pacific Ocean.

The Klamath Crew July in the summertime

Awesome river foliage in the summertime in Oregon

Yum Yum, fishy eggs in the river

A jet boat on the river in July

Matt jumping in, this is one of our favorites!

Fog and wind roll in as well pull our raft to shore, but the journey is not over yet. In three days we covered about 90 miles on the river, but by road, it’s more like 120 miles between our only vehicle, the Jeep, and us. So, two of us set off on foot, each with a small bag slung over the shoulder, just in case we don’t make it back in one night. Thumbs out. Within minutes our first ride, a bright blue jet boat, drops us off at Highway 101, where we walk for a mile before our second ride. A savior, a traveler reluctant to return to LA, takes the rest of the way back to our car, chatting about the Illuminating, the Green Party, and random historical facts the entire way.

A Black Bear in the Klamath River in July

A Banana slug by the river

After camping on the beach, we make our way down the coast, along the 101 and back towards civilization, to San Francisco where we catch a flight. Almost exactly a week later, we are ending where we started, in Colorado.

The number one driver of the RV, its me!

The Prius and the Bike, Ask Nick Ranno which "Green" path he travels by most

Boulder – the town of contradictions. Don’t get me wrong, this place rocks – there is a reason I haven’t moved back to Georgia. This blog is not aimed at anyone, just everyone in Boulder that inspired these thoughts. So I have to come up with a blog for work? The latest body art is out due to today’s Facebook – iPhone – hey lets email Ranno’s mom this photo – type of connections I tend to find myself at the loosing end of more times than I can care to remember. So what to blog about? Good question when I am not a blogger to begin with, but let’s see… I do ride my bike to work everyday = a commuter? Whatever the name, I am constantly getting passed by cars and staring at their bumpers – rain or shine. Lately, the oddest image continues to make its way through the brown snow-covered bumpers of countless Toyota Prius’s and alternative fuel vehicles alike that determine I am at fault for their mid-text near misses. But first, lets get back to the beacon of these bumpers. “Save the rainforest,” “Go Green,” “My other car is a bicycle,” “My other car is an airplane,” “My other car is a helicopter” – really?

What does it take to build a Prius, I think we are looking at it!

Anyway, when I am fortunate enough to get a visual of my verbal-assault target of such a vehicle with such a bumper tag, and they are rocking a tie die and dreads and blaming my presence in the intersection, which at this point has been granted by a green light, for their failure to notice that the light they are sitting under is now red – well they are getting the best I have to offer in 4 letter cocktails at happy hour. First off hommie, I know your vitamin cottage hourly wage didn’t pay for that Prius, and second, I’m practicing what YOUR CAR preaches – simply because I enjoy a good bike ride and saving some money, not because I care to tell the world about my beliefs on my seat post. I’m just doing my thing, going from point A to B, minding my own business, but you, well, by now you know what I think of you. Next time you pass the buck to a bike, take a look at your set up first.

I don't think many words are needed to describe this party with a Tesla, Prius, and Touareg

Editors Note: Nick Ranno is one of our longest standing employees at The Gear Movement. He has been working on a full body tattoo from our friends over at Bolder Ink, hence his references at the begining of this blog. Nick rides his one of the bikes in his wealthy stable to work everyday no matter what. We have seen him ride to and from work in blizzard conditions, are you as amazing as he is? Check out the World Commute website by CatEye to log your commuting miles!

Jack Bissell shows off his new Crosskate Neck Breaking All Mountain Skates, yikes!

Not only have we been having tons of fun at the shop posting our clients cool Gear but we have added some new employees and some new features in our rad warehouse. Isnt it every grown persons dream where they can work in a cool environment that pushes them to have fun on the job? Well we try to do that here although we do have a custom pool table that has remained unused in the last few months, what a shame. We actually need to have the table re-leveled, does anyone know of someone in Boulder, CO who could do that for us?

New additions to the shop include our employee Mr. Jack Bissell. He hails to us from the great Full Cycle bike shop in town and has so far stated “That he fits into our little operation here just perfectly.”  When asked what his favorite part of working at TGM, while posting cool things like the Crosskate Inline All Mountain Neck Breaking Skate (we are still trying to understand these things, check the video below) he states: “The great level of respect everyone has for each other here and the chance to check out cool ‘Foot Hummers’ at TGM.”

Fast Tube by Casper

Well these skates are truly cool, check out the auction and win them for yourself in our eBay store: Crosskate Inline Backcountry All Mountain Ski Skates

Our groovy unused custom pool table and new frame and wheel racks - full!

Along with the addition of Jack, we have added new storage in our “Pool Table” room for the overwhelming inventory of frames and wheels we have been recieving from our consignors recently. As we travel into the new year we are starting to sell through our once large Ski, Skate and Snowboard inventory and start to focus more on the bicycle aspect of the business. A note to summer – “You can’t come soon enough!”

A new addition - more wheels and wheel racks!

Peace out from The Gear Movement, we are going to go try these neck breaking crosskates, but only after we update our health insurance plans!