Today’s title is inspired by the Passion Pit tune of the same name that’s playing in the office as I write.  It’s not a great title, I know.  But it’s borderline germane, and doggonit, coming up with pithy little titles for this blog every day is hard!  Chad here, riding in the blog pilot’s seat for the first time in a couple of weeks. We say this almost every day – but it really is another great day out there in the field.  It’s amazing to think that we have groups out there right now – in California’s Sierra, up on Vermont’s Champlain Islands, making their way into Downeast Maine, rafting the upper reaches of the Kennebec River (every time I go up there, I’m amazed that Benedict Arnold marched his starving army up that same river to lay siege to Quebec City in the early days of the American Revolution – aren’t you?), the outer beaches of Cape Cod, Germany’s Black Forest, and, of course, the plains of Texas (as a brief aside, interested readers in the northeast may be amused – for lack of a better term – to know that it is almost 20 degrees cooler in Brownfield, Texas than it is in Boston as I’m writing this…). And that’s just today!  For me, it’s an enormous privilege to harvest all the updates from the field as they come in.  They have come in – and I’ve got nothing but good stuff for you today.  Read on.

CI:  Oh, man – to be out on the beach – riding the waves – – enjoying a fresh breeze and learning to hang ten – or at least stand up for a couple of seconds.  That sounds mighty fine on a day like today.  And our Capers had the good fortune to do just that today – check out these great pics.  Astonishingly, they have only one more riding day left – they’ll be in to Boston proper this time tomorrow!

Gnarly!

Making it look easy! 

NEMC:  Now in the Great State of Maine, way, way up on the Kennebec in the town of The Forks (and, really, who doesn’t love a town that starts with “The?”), Phil and Emma’s crew is finding some relief from the heat on – and in – the river.  It’s the picture-perfect day to be on the white-water.  These guys have more coast in their future as they’ll be joining us on the shores of Casco Bay tomorrow. 

It’s not the jumping picture that stands out to me – it the eight-plus pairs of Keens… Time to get in the sport-sandal business!

VMA:  Well, well – look who is crossing the international border into Canada today.  And even though “Quebecsters” doesn’t sound nearly as cool as “Vermonsters,” these guys couldn’t be happier as they cruise into French-speaking Quebec this afternoon.  Passports, please!

VMB:  Matt and Victoria’s group is, as I write, collectively soaking in the cool waters of Lake Champlain after roaring into camp earlier this afternoon.  Here are a couple of great, shady (literally, not figuratively) candids Matt sent in this afternoon…

CQA & B:  It was, without question, a hot start to our Coast to Quebec trips today – but we’re underway and looking good!  Lizzie and Ben’s group, immediately below, will take off down the coast tomorrow, while Posie and Postyn – the other folks in the day-glo yellow… – are doing a coastal day-ride tomorrow.

DEX:  Here are our DEXsters at the summit of lofty Mount Megunticook on the outskirts of beautiful Camden, Maine.  They’re headed further downeast this afternoon to Deer Isle.  They’ll be enjoying cool sea breezes tonight and getting ready to hit the water for their three-day paddling excursion tomorrow.

CMC:  I talked to CC this morning after they emerged from the redwoods on a brief resupply foray into the land of cell-reception.  These guys sound fantastic.  The group is great.  The weather is great.  Their hikes have been great.  And even though their time on the river wasn’t quite as wild as we wanted it to be, the water was great, too.  Pretty good living out there in there among the big trees.  They’re taking time to do laundry and make sure they’ve got plenty of GORP on hand before heading up to Yosemite tomorrow.  Enjoy these shots from this morning in the redwoods.

Look out, moose!

ACC1:  Man, it’s starting to look downright western for these guys. Is that a mesa I see in the background?  By George, I think it is!  Nick, Alexis and their Courageous Cohort are cruising into Brownfield in western Texas today.  As noted above, they’re enjoying much nicer riding weather than we have up here in New England!  Here’s a mesa-ful shot from this morning’s sunrise.  New Mexico tomorrow!

ACC2:  Back in the saddles (quite literally) after a day off in Jacksboro, Mike, McKayla and their Magnificent Megapod are similarly enjoying the relatively cool temps of central Texas (don’t get me wrong – it’s still plenty hot.  It’s just as hot as it is in Boston.  Which is ridiculous…).  Per my text exchange with Mike, these guys crushed their miles today – getting in to Throckmorton by 2:30…  That said, they’re in a bit of picture-sending dead zone.  We’ll do our best to update you with a picture or two if they’re able to coax the Deities of the Interweb into letting one through. In the meantime, here’s a shot that didn’t make the blog the other day – we generally only like to show completed pyramids…

ECC:  Nestled into the hills above the winding Danube River on the eastern edge of the Black Forest, you’ll find David, Anna and their intrepid Europhiles in the small town of Hausen im Tal, Germany.  It was a huge day today – over 70 miles and some pretty wild hills – David told me today that they had a 17% grade that went on for more than two miles.  No typos!!  In addition to absolutely absurd hills, the last couple of days have brought them the jingling of countless cowbells, one Teutonic village after another, and some very good cheese.  Those same days, however, have not brought them much access to wifi and the ability to send us pictures – and you know what, at the end of the day, that’s not a bad thing….  Chances are very good, though, that they’ll be in better shape tomorrow night on the shores of the Bodensee (i.e. Lake Constance).