Where's Dan Now?

HOW TO BUILD A GAS FREE VEHICLE

We're all a bunch of spoiled wussies. There. That should set the tone for this entry. Maybe a little harsh, but unfortunately quite true. So many of our modern day technologies are leaving us overweight, unexcercised and weak in the knees. But can you envision a nation navigating around only by pedal power? If the gas prices continue to rise, say to $5 or even $10/gallon, many more people will be dragging their old unused bikes out of the garage and putting them to green use. Because my trike was built lightweight and for seeing how fast one could go on three wheels, (come on, admit it Jack), i decided a while ago to rebuild the rear end to haul more cargo. Not only for touring long distances down the road but to also transport the sauna propane tank up town for a refill and for getting a couple weeks of groceries on one 12-mile round trip to Safeway. If you'd like to do the same thing, here's what you will need. One pretty good welder (check ebay), they make them really small now, so don't be gettin' intimidated. And learning to weld isn't any big deal, welders even come with a book on how to do it. Okay, then you'll need a small hand grinder. That's for grinding off all your crappy welds so they look smooth and professional. Get a grinding disc and one metal cutting disk, as it's way faster to cut your pipe with the power tool than an old dull hacksaw like i used for 3 days! Then order up several pieces of steel pipe the same size as the tubes on your bike. Then sit down, have two beers, and start to draw up your plans to stretch that baby out. Two is the number because you are actual going to destroy your bike by chopping it up, before you put it all back together again! And that is like sorta scary. The idea is to create more hauling space of some kind. That way you won't be one of the wussies who always make up a million excuses as to why they are driving instead of pedaling. "But i had all this stuff to haul....and it just wouldn't fit on my bike." Draw carefully. Go online and Google "homemade bicycles" for endless ideas. Some people have big baskets in front, some in the middle and some make trailers that simply hook to their existing bikes. Okay, were the beers good? Do you have a fairly good idea of what you'd like to do? Do you need a chocolate bar for encouragement? Well have at it, and remember, no welding in the kitchen and don't be using the wife's cutlery for tools. The screwdrivers, hammers and other needed items are out in the garage. When you're done email me a picture of your new ride. We could have a contest to see who came up with the coolest design. Prizes could be a pair of Simple shoes or some Chronicles. Whatddaya say? (click on my photos above to see what i built in just one week) HOBO hoboartist@yahoo.com

HOW TO BUILD A GAS FREE VEHICLE

We're all a both of spoiled wussies. There. That should set the tone for this entry. Maybe a little harsh, but unfortunately quite true. So many of our modern day technologies are leaving us overweight, unexcercised and weak in the knees. But can you envision a nation navigating around only by pedal power? If the gas prices continue to rise, say to $5 or even $10/gallon, many more people will be dragging their old unused bikes out of the garage and putting them to good use. Because my trike was built lightweight and for seeing how fast one could go on three wheels, (comon, admit it Jack), i decided a while ago to rebuild the rear end to haul more cargo. Not only for touring long distances down the road but to also transport the sauna propane tank up town for a refill and for getting a couple weeks of groceries on one 12-mile round trip to Safeway. If you'd like to do the same thing, here's what you will need. One pretty good welder (check ebay), they make them really small now, so don't be gettin' intimidated. And learning to weld isn't any big deal, welders even come with a book on how to do it. Okay, then you'll need a small hand grinder. That's for grinding off all your crappy welds so they look smooth and professional. Get a grinding disc and one metal cutting disk, as it's way faster to cut your pipe with the power tool than an old dull hacksaw like i used for 3 days! Then order up several pieces of steel pipe the same size as the tubes on your bike. Then sit down, have two beers, and start to draw up your plans to stretch that baby out. Two is the number because you are actual going to destroy your bike by chopping it up, before you put it all back together again. And that is like sorta scary. The idea is to create more hauling space of some kind. That way you won't be one of the wussies who always make up a million excuses as to why they are driving instead of pedaling. Draw carefully. Go online and Google "homemade bicycles" for endless ideas. Some people have big baskets in front, some in the middle and some make trailers that simply hook to their existing bikes. Okay, were the beers good? Do you have a fairly good idea of what you'd like to do? Well have at it, and remember, no welding in the kitchen and don't be using the wife's cutlery for tools. The screwdrivers. hammers and other needed items are out in the garage. When you're done email me a picture of your new ride. We could have a contest to see who came up with the coolest design. Prizes could be a pair of Simple shoes or some Chronicles. Whatddaya say? HOBO

MOUNTAINS WE MUST CLIMB

Let it be known this day people. That the Hobo has come to Michigan, that desperate state of the wolverine and great lakes. All the way from my humble home in the mountains, onward through those tall prairie grasses and rolling hills of many a mid-western state. Out across this big and very wide nation did i roam. Rolling onward in the mighty fire breathing beast that little van is. My habitat on wheels. My rolling home away from home. We have passed from the high cold places together and down to many low ones too. You see people, there is a bright light that shines in the east, past all those shining and splendid metropolises like Denver and Chicago. There in that mitten of America, a light that shines hard onto the surrounding land. A small voice in the vehicle laden darkness. But a voice nonetheless. And yay though it resides there in that very heartbeat of the now defunct auto land dream, yes, that sad, trembling and tired state that brought us such historical conveyances as the 56' Chevy and the long and proud Cadillac, this new beam of enlightenment will be one that endures in a healthy and sustainable manner for as long as humans reside here on earth, my friends. This tiny beacon of hope fears not the mighty SUV nor the ever popular mini van, nay for it's light shines on an ever more noble purpose indeed. One not in collusion with those nasty oil men to the south, nor with the whining ad women in the east. No, for in it's very existence lies a greater salvation for every man, woman and child of our nation. That being the godly law of nature that states, "One must learn that to move from one place to another, one needs to exert thyself.To pedal as it were, and to therefore receive great blessings from far above for your righteous endeavor." Now of course no man can say that the pedaling person is any more saintly in his cause than your commuting neighbor. Or is he? Let us investigate. First, the airs which surround both types of transport. Let us close the garage door of the auto commuter and press hard on the pedal. Meanwhile next door let us do the same with the biker and let him pedal away. Now tell me people, who's atmosphere is cleaner in those garages and in turn out on our endless roads? How long could you stay in that autos garage with the gas full on? Second, just think of the billions of dollars that go into the making of and the upkeep of all our nations highways. And many of them are now falling apart and becoming as rough as an old goat trail. So surely by now you must know of this harbinger of the future of which i speak? That small yet sustainable group of ingenius souls that appeared, star-like in the middle of the riotous car culture of central Michigan? Think hard people. I have mentioned them before. Thanks to these folks, no longer do you need to pedal an old time bicycle and have the neighbors laugh at your dated ways. No! Now you can be the coolest person on your block. The most envied. The most respected member of your community who has decided to take this Global Warming High Gas Prices problem by the throat and wrestle it to the ground for good. You have decided to ride a WIZ WHEELZ TRIKE to and from work and anywhere else your fancy takes you. You have come to the mountain and found it's summit! Or have you? Guess you better go to their web site and see for yourself the chariots of freedom they are offering our gasoline guzzling nation. Do i hear an AMEN? HOBO WWW.WIZWHEELZ.COM

ONLY ONE TINY TORNADO SEEN SO FAR

This one BIG country. Three days, five states. My report so far.... 1.There is still snow and crazy cold weather in Idaho. 2.Utah still has a big lake and things look as dry as a popcorn fart. 3. In Wyoming the roughnecks are erecting mega oil drilling rigs. Smarter folks are sprouting big white wind farms to capture natures windy diatribes. 4. Colorado looks like a realtor's wet dream. On every hill, new condos. In every valley, the latest in mega national business fortresses. And the roads, still rougher than a corn cob rolling down a cobblestone street. 5. Kansas, ah yes Kansas, that flat area just east of the Rockies that gives birth to swirling masses of wind that can, like on May 4th, 2007, come with such a force that an entire town, like Greensburg, can be leveled in as little as a minute and a half. Residents fled. Those that didn't died. Except for a few heartly souls. One who lit a cigar and layed back in his old cast iron tub as the roof and a car landed square on top of him in his little private nicotine dream. He survived. His son told me the whole story. And one guy, one trucker was sucked clean out of his semi and thrown half a mile across town. That was the grizzly story. There's others, and many more. Like the junk dealer guy down the road who thinks Greeensburg is geetting way too much money to rebuild. That they bulldozed perfectly good buildings rather that rebuild with old wood. That 3/4 of the nations universities should be shut down because, "You take a young feller see, and you stick him in there with only one professor and he comes out knowing only what that one professer knowed, and that probably aint much, why he's not worth the dynamite ta blow him up...." Whew. Such a BIG country, and filled with so many legends, interesting folks and bumpy roads to wander down. I may never get back home. HOBO
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IS THE WORLD GONNA END SOON OR WHAT?

The last month has been an absolute blur. I went down to Santa Barbara and got my trike. Now i am back home planting trees to pay for my carbon sinnings. And the news!! Can anyone even stand to listen to it any more? Seems like the world is falling apart at the seams. Scandal this, bankruptcy that, foreclosure here, soaring energy prices there. But maybe having the economy slow down is a good thing. We all seem to be trying to destroy the very world upon which we sit, munching our turkey sandwiches and filling the air with our foul smelling pollutants. Last night i crawled in my tiny hobbit hole, snapped on the mini electric heater (yes, it is still freezing here), and sat back to watch the video The 11TH Hour on my laptop. It is an amazing film about all the things that our human activities are doing to the planet. I also watched the special segments in the menu afterwards and got to see the authors and scientists go into more depth about what it is we could do to help the problems. Did you know that since Kennedy became president in the early 1960's that the population of the world has DOUBLED! Did you know that nature is truely the most remarkable life form on the planet and that we are literally a part of that amazingness? That scientists are slowly learning how to mimic nature so that we will make more intelligent decisions about how to live in this world? This is how it goes. Nature has been working on the problems of survival for 3.5 billion years. That's a very long time. And all life forms have worked out ways to live in harmony with the other living organisms. Like really good neighbors. If you're not such a good neighbor, chances are you become extinct in a short while. Then us rowdy human beans show up a very short time ago in earth's history. Do you know how long we have really been around? If the whole of earth's history (3.5 billion years) was the height of a skyscraper the size of the World Trade Towers, we humans would represent the LAYER OF PAINT on the very top!!!!! And yet, look at the crazy destruction we have waged in just 100 plus years since the Industrial Revolution! This film is great. It points out what we have done, then gives lots of solutions that are currently under way and also ideas for you and i to help out today. I am going to recommend that local teachers show it to their students and you should too. There's no way that we should be allowed to continue our rape of this planet we call home. Everything we do needs to be a closed system, cradle to cradle, and done only with the power of "current sunlight" not ancient sunlight (fossil fuels). What can you do today to radically change the way you are living? I want answers now!! What we are all doing will not leave an acceptable planet for any of the generations to come. What gives us the right to do this? Get your old bike out. Stop being so lazy. Hang your clothes on the line. Grow some food. Sign up for wind power. Get a clue. Make it right. HOBO

HOBO LOSES HIS MARBLES

Okay! Enough! (Hands thrown in air.) After 7 months of going carless i have climbed back in beloved Little Van and driven a far ways. And the gas prices! It had been so long since i had even looked at them that i nearly fainted when pulling up to the pumps. So here's the deal. After all those months of waiting for friends to be going my way, using stinky Greyhound buses and bothering my parents for several "can you pick me up I'm stuck..." scenarios, i have decided to crank the old beast up and use it when trying to go long distances. Then one of my pedal transports will be pulled out and i will ride all around wherever i am. Then when it's time to get home to fill you readers orders, I will simply throw the bike/trike in and DRIVE back. Sheesch. Planes, Amtrak, other people? What an incredible hassle. And each time i drive it i promise to plant some trees back in the meadow. How's that? Do you think this was a good decision? My footprint's damn small to begin with so think it ought to be okay. Now i just have to figure out how I'm going to afford all the high gas prices. Mr. Van only goes about 20 miles down the old road for every gallon of gas it burns up. Maybe i will have to find a smaller more efficient rig. So far i have yet to discover anything that even comes close to the luxury of being able to throw all my crap in the mini-ist box car in the world, take off for the hinterlands, then pull over literally anywhere, climb in the back for a long snooze, wake up, wash the face in a cool stream nearby and hit the winding road again. Essentially nixing those horrid motels, which by the way do not come cheap anymore either. Well unless of course you found yourself way down in Mexico.....hmmmmmm, Mexico, nope can't go there right now. Need to be getting out to Michigan soon to design that new Wiz Wheelz trike. Keep sending those cards and letters folks. Chronicle #64 should be hitting the streets sometime in May. HOBO

NEVER TRAIN HOP WITHOUT A WARM SLEEPING BAG

I know. It's been awhile. Still getting through the troubles back home and decided to bomb out of there for a week to clear the air. Caught a freight train out of LaGrande headed south, hoping to get on down to some warmer weather. There is still six inches of snow in the meadow. You'll have to read Moonlight Chronicles 64 to get all the details but just so you know, never count on a destination when riding the rails. In Pocatello Idaho the train took a turn eastwards in the middle of the night and started bombing though super cold high elevation country (7000ft), into Wyoming at about 50 mph. Soon i had all my clothes on, hats, gloves and was even wrapped up in my  15 year old down bag sitting on the little camp pad, and still was getting alarmingly chilled to the bones. Talk about getting your attention! I just talked my way though it and in the morning started checking out automobile license plates, realizing i was'nt seeing Ogden, Utah anywhere. That's how it goes when you ride. You never really know where you might end up. Which can be an interesting way to travel if you have some time on your hands. So now i am in the Rock Springs library and have purchased a bus ticket home. Damn. Just too cold for rail hopping right now. Sure makes me want to do a trip for several weeks and see where it might go. Promise i will do that soon. Will be a great story. In the meantime remember. Like the Boy Scouts, always be prepared. Could have been the end of this old hobo I'm tellin ya. You see, when the train gets going that fast, there's no way you can get off it no matter what. You are sort of stuck with dealing with whatever is happening as it comes at you.   HOBO

STILL NOT SURE WHERE I AM

Look, all i know is that i left sunny southern california exactly one week ago. I remember breaking my carbon fast and walking onto an airliner thanks to the $200 voucher i had that needed to be used up. And there i was, looking down on the very road i had pedaled the week before. How could this be? Like some astronaut gliding in a silver bullet above the eroded coastline. Where was this jet powered coffin streaking off to? Were people on the ground looking up and seeing one of those long white lines in the air? Soon i fell asleep and before i could dream of a place far away, it all came bumping down and i was indeed in a place far away. It just didn't seem fair. 12 days of hard ass pedaling (need to get that electric motor), and with the flick of a voucher i had traveled the distance it would have taken 25 days to pedal. Ah the strange world of being a hobo with a viable credit card. Seems to me most hobos are out digging around just for a little food. I have plenty of that and so can concentrate on bigger things, like what to draw next and ah...finding the SECRET TO LIFE type stuff. Fun. So off the plane i stumbled, only to find the ground transportations out of order because of hella snow falls. Sleeping in the airport isn't so bad. Just find a quiet corner, use your down jacket as a pillow and rack up snore time. Beware of raucous soldiers returning from Iraq though. They're the loud ones with the cammo backpacks. Thanks for your service guys, but can't ya see the hobo trying to get a little shut down time here? The following days were also like a dream. I saw snow. And rivers. And deer. Not sure where i was, but definently had to get the old winter duds on. Now i can smell coffee. And there's people in a long line, craving the bean. Me? I'm just getting high taking deep breaths and drawing all that i see. It's a good day already and it's gonnna be a better week and a damn awesome month. So until the next time i find an electronic thought conveyor, it's see ya all later. And remember you can be FREE. All you gotta do is follow your heart to the very end. HOBO

SANTA BARBARA, A VISION OF HEAVEN

Pedaled for several days thru the Big Sur and arrived at a friend's house in San Lius Obisbo. Got to sleep up in their cozy loft and get the trike all tuned up and ready for the final push to Santa Barbara and the offices of Simple Shoes. Leaving S.L.O. the sky was perfectly clear and a light wind blew off the Pacific. After pedaling 6 hours i found myself at an old campsite on the Vandenberg Airforce Base, but signage on the fence said DO NOT ENTER, UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE IN AREA! Seeing a storm coming in and dog tired, i threw the bags under the fence and the trike over and set up camp anyway. That night i listened to my tiny AM radio squeak out Mexican stations and horrid talk shows, then to the rain, as it tapped on the tent roof all night, successfully soaking the down bag, shoes and anything else not wrapped in plastic trash bags. The next morning the storm continued so i packed up and headed into the tempest, knowing that if it got too bad i could always stay in Lompoc, down the road about 15 miles. And yes by the time i got there at noon i was a totally drowned ratskin in dire need of a hot shower and clothes dryer, not to mention a comfortable place to sit with a bag of chips to watch THE SUPER BOWL!!!! So i did something this hobo rarely does, i checked into a cheap motel, filled the tub and enjoyed the remarkable game with a quart of milk and box of Wheat Thins. As you can see it takes barely anything to entertain this vagabond, especially when soaked to the bone and freezing.
The next day it was a relatively easy 60 mile jaunt into sunny Santa Barbara, where a bike mechanic said yes i did have a totally ruined new derailer (that's why it wouldn't shift properly), and where i got to see all the old buds and catch up on the last 7 months. From here the plan is unclear. Still running down the dream....working on the mystery. May be lost for awhile.... HOBO

ZAPPING THE BIG ZAMBEEZEE

Ended up staying in that firelit cabin for an entire week as heavy rains fell. Thanks Eric. Just the short walk up town brought on concerns of possible drowning. It got so bad that at one point i had the trike all in pieces and was stuffing it in a box to send elsewhere, when....the sun came out! Of course! So i bolted it all back together, cleaned up the place, threw the camping gear and food on board and pedaled right outta there. Heading south on Hwy One, i had a full three days of sunshine and big hills to climb. The going down the other side is what makes it all worthwhile. The trike handles like a race car and sails along at about 25-30MPH. Even though the road in that section is extremely narrow i made it thru without a scrape, dodging the old ladies and big yellow trucks that emerge out of nowhere in the rear view mirrors and go blowing by fast and hard. Seems like i finally got my old hobo self back, camping in the weeds and eating sparce fixin's from the grocery stash. When nightime comes it's easy to find some little cubby hole to crawl into and dream the road away. One night, just below Hearst Castle, i heard elephant seals braying on the water side and coyotes yipping in the hills. A good quarter moon shone the night through leaving little chance of tripping over the rocky shore on forays to the bush for relief in the AM. It's been a damn long time since my solitary self has seen the light of a free day and it felt good to finally crack a smile and truly enjoy the miles as they merrily rolled under the wheels of Terra the trike. This hobo may be seeing the old road for a good long while considering the storm abrewing back home. I have a credit card. And they just sent an email saying my credit is now up to $20,000. That could go a whole long way to getting this vagabond off into the wiley unknowns of this big old world. Why would i ever go back? The magic is out here in the realm of the unknowns.....HOBO