I'm Giving Up Driving a CAR for a Year!!!

4 Years ago today my life changed dramatically for the better. I broke my leg, tore my PCL, stretched my MCL, tore off most of my Meniscus and severely stretched my Peroneal Nerve all on my left leg “My Good Leg”. We went though 4 surgeries over the course of 2 years. The scariest of them was the nerve damage which the doc gave me a 50% chance to move my foot again. 8 scary months later we cried when I could wiggle my toe a millimeter. I still cannot feel from my knee to my toes on the top of my leg nor, do I have full mobility of my foot.

How did it happen you ask?

Well, I was on vacation in the water at Amity Island when JAWS CAME UP AND BIT ME!!!

I wish the story were that cool and my scars make the story kinda legit.

I was wake-boarding in Brewster, cape cod “the Cape”. I did not hit a huge rock, pier, tree, or a boat. I was not attempting to do any trick other then gliding on water. My friend was not driving faster then a speeding bullet. I wiped out and my body spun in a different direction then my left leg. Instant pain, more then I’d ever felt. “I’d give it a 6 out of 10 inside joke”.

Rehab was hard. It was a full time job, 4 days a week and at home. Cycling was the first outdoor activity that I could do. I fell instantly in love again, free from my bed, couch and at times my pimp cane. 4 years later I bike practically everywhere in Los Angeles, my longest trip has been to Glendale from Santa Monica, 23 miles one way for a house warming party.

My Pledge:

For one year September 1^st 2010 to September 1^st 2011 I’m going to live without my car and use some good old-fashioned human biking power. I used to use over 676 gallons ($2028) of gas every year. This may not put a big dent in the big Oil Companies but we won’t need to drill an extra 34 barrels of oil just on my account.

But wait… You can’t live in Los Angeles with out a CAR!!! Bullshit Mr. Get off your ass and buy a bike. Keep checking back to see how I’m doing, and if you see a biker on the road don’t try and run him over, it could be me. And as always you'll get lots photos.

Josh

Admiralty Island 5% Chance to Live

This is my buddy Nick and I in an outhouse moments after a NEAR DEATH kayaking experience.

On the return trip from Admiralty Island (home to the highest concentration of grizzly bears in the world) we suddenly started getting hammered by 6 ft swells in Stevens Passage after some near roll's we made it to shore and could easily portage our way to the seemingly much safer Gastineau Channel.

After a bite to eat and some rest we jumped in our kayaks for the last 4 miles of our 15 mile journey home. Then about one mile into Gastineau. SPLASH! Nick is in the water!!! A 4 ft wave had rolled him and he was in 48 degree water! I immediately start turning around and with the first pass I had to make a tough decision, grab his paddle which was floating away or grab Nicks favorite Bass Pro Shop hat also floating away. I grabbed the paddle however I still get crap about not saving the hat to. By the second pass I reach him and try to stabilize him. After many failed attempts to get in the kayak and pump enough water out to float over the still 3 to 4ft waves, I grab the pump and managed to get 3/4 of the water out. At this point Nick was in the water for about 10 minutes starting to go into Hypothermia and still needed to kayak 50 yards to shore with out rolling again.

We managed to come ashore near some summer cabins (that you can only access by boat) and of course they where all locked. We found shelter from the rain in an Outhouse where Nick fogged by Hypothermia needed some convincing that it was a good idea to change out of his wet wool clothes and into dry ones. Then I fired up the Jetboil and we sat and sipped hot water for the next few hours thinking about how dumb we where and how we almost died. I'm not going to lie, there may have been a few "I love you man's". After some time had passed and the waters calmed down Nick unfazed by the experience jumped right back in the kayak and paddled the three miles back to Juneau. I've never seen anyone paddle so fast in my life.

Come to find out there was a small craft advisory out that day, that of course we didn't know about. And the next day we heard that a 28ft boat sank and one person died of hypothermia in the hospital. Its amazing the kind of perspective a life or death situation brings to your life. Like how the small things just don't matter.

Remember to keep your loved ones close, and do what makes you happy not what makes you rich.

Tracy Arm

Berners Bay

Perseverance Trail Run

Dog Sledding on the Mendenhall Glacier

Aerial Photography

Here are some shots from a float plane tour from Wings of Alaska.

Camping on Mt Roberts

Happy 4th of July

Alaska's summers nights never get completely dark, so in Juneau they set off fire works at the stroke of midnight the night of the 3rd. I backpacked up Mt Roberts to see a great fireworks display. I've never been higher then the fireworks before.

Camping next to the Mendenhall Glacier