The GPS Store Cycling Team
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Headlines...
Friends riding across the country to help fight cancer
The GPS Store, Inc. is proud to sponsor Brandon Watts, left, and Nick McConeghy in their cross country cycling trek from Brighton Michigan to Seattle Washington starting July 18th, 2007. These two 22 year old college graduates are embarking on this ambitious 3500 mile trek to help raise money for the fight against cancer and to have fun while they're young. We have equipped them with the latest in GPS technology by way of the Garmin Edge cycling GPS system with heart rate and cadence monitors and a Garmin eTrex Vista Cx color mapping handheld GPS with detailed maps of every state they will visit to keep them on the right track. We will post updates of their progress during this adventure so check back often to see how they're doing.
GOOD LUCK GUYS!...
Click the link below to read the newspaper article about them.
www.livingstondaily.com
They made it! What an Adventure...
08/27/2007 Update
Hello Friends,
Just south of Anacortes Washington the two of us battle numerous hills on the beautiful Whidbey Island. We ride through deception pass and can almost taste the finish line. With 2 miles left on our journey we find a rare downhill that leads right to the Mukilteo Ferry.We glance at each other and begin to pedal as fast as we can. I watch the GPS climb from 20 mph to 30 and continue to pump. As the sun shines down I can see the shadow of Brandon looming in the background. He begins to pass me when a mini van pulls up on the side of us. The passenger is holding his hands out the window letting us know we are now going 40 mph. I look down and sure enough the read out says 42.At this time we realize that we are riding at a pace that is 17 miles over the speed limit of 25 and are approaching reckless riding. A great feeling of accomplishment overwhelms our bodies. We have made it to Seattle. Since our last disscusion much has happened. When leaving Bozeman we were instantly confronted with the unpleasent natural disaster of forest fires. Around Missula visibility dropped to a 1/2 mile and even though we were surrounded by beautiful mountains we could not see them. Riding with resperation masks we battled through the smoke until we made it to Lookout Pass. The great pass seperated the state of Montana and Idaho and also served as a blockade, traping the smoke in the valley behind us. From this point on the trip was nothing but rewarding. Idaho has a paved bicycle trail that runs through the entire pnhandle called the Coeur d' Alene trail. With no cars surrounding us we took our time and enjoyed the sceenery. At the end of the trail Kevin McConeghy was wating with a rental car that helped us explore the great state of Washington. Along the journey we got all jazzed up seeing numerous mouse and one cute black bear. After eating great food and creating many great memories we hoped back on the bike to climb our final two passes: Washington Pass and Rainy Pass. During this ride we were confronted with beauty like we have never seen. Both of us have traveled all over the world and agreed that the North Cascades produce some of the most breath taking views in the world. For anyone that is still reading this lengthy e-mail, we made it! The bikes held up great however we managed to get 39 flat tires. Life moves pretty fast, if you dont stop and look around you could miss it.
Stay Classy,
BRANDOn and NICKo
Also, if you are interested in donating to or ride through relay for life to help fight cancer, please check out this web address:
kintera.org
Brandon Watts
brandonwatts23@yahoo.com
www.cambiumdesign.com
517.404.0596
08/13/2007 Update
Hello Friends,
It's been a while since our last e-mail, for this we apologize. We have been busy, but have finally found a place to take some time off from the headwinds and heat.While leaving the plains of South Dakota we managed to stop by the Black Hills Bike Rally in Sturgis where we caught some interesting looks from the locals. The rally is said to bring almost 500,000 motorcycles through the area in just a week.Pretty impressive.After the rally we were off to the great state of Wyoming. This was fun because we only had to ride 20 miles before hitting the next boarder of Montana.
With 2/3 of our trip already complete we reached the mountains of Montana and have stayed with some close friends in Broadus and now are in Bozeman. While in Broadus, Kathy Persal and her in-laws showed us what it is like to live like a cowboy. We sampled a tasty bit of rattlesnake and even managed to eat some Rocky Mountain Oysters( Bulls Balls). Thanks guys.After a quick trip to the rodeo and a little bit of dancing we pushed on to Billings. Since this point the ride has turned quite interesting. The two of us have managed to bring our flat tire count up to 13, while getting 9 in just 2 days. The weather 
in Montana has also turned very unpredictable. While camping on the Yellowstone river we camped in the middle of a massive thunderstorm. With gale force winds the rain tarps were pulled from our hammocks and both of us were left dripping wet. After drying off we were on our way to Bozeman and over our first mountain pass, Bozeman Pass. After making it over the hill we ran into another fellow tourer named Ernesto. He was riding from the coast of Oregon to Chicago, flying solo. We offered him a place to stay since we were on our way to a nice shelter. For the past few days we have been straight relaxing. Todd Heath a fellow Brightonian has been making us feel right at home. The company of him and his roommates has been so enjoyable we decided to take a quick detour down to the Outdoor Retailer Expo in Salt lake City with them. While here we have reunited with some close friends from Outside Magazine and been living the dream. The Expo is full of people who are pumped about what we are doing and have treated us very well. Last night we spent the evening at the gear of the year party, hosted by Outside. We ate ridiculously good food and had a few drinks off the Ice Luge. Pretty fun times.
We will be continuing our bike trip were we left off in Bozeman on Monday morning making sure not to cut any miles. With only 200 miles to Missoula we are getting excited to follow in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark. We will be going over Lo lo pass in Idaho and will try to give you another news brief at this point. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel and don't know whether to be excited or sad. Either way we are experiencing the trip of a life time and are very thankful of our sponsors The GPS Store and Bike Chicago. Keep us in your thoughts, as you all are in ours.
Happy Trails,
Nicko and BRANDOn
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07/31/2007 Update
Hello Friends,
We are just outside Pierre, South Dakota, using a new friends computer to keep all of you informed. Here are some pictures from the last couple of days from our trip, there are more to come. We will write you a longer version of what is going on with us, but for now we want to keep on moving. Our goal is to be out of South Dakota in the next 2 or 3 days, so wish us luck and we will send you some updates when we get out of the plains. We hope everyone is good. Till next time, take care....
7/26/2007 Update
Hello friends,
This is Brandon Watts and Nick McConeghy contacting all of you from Stewartsville, Minnesota. Its been a long trip thus far, but we have much more to go till we reach the lights of Seattle, Washington. We have seen many things along the way, including friends in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as well as Friends in Pearl Lake, Wisconsin, and you can be assured that we are making quite a few along the way. We have saved a cat from a savage German short haired pointer in the middle of farmland Wisconsin, hung out with a couple local farmers, and squatted on our fare share of private property with our hammocks. We have had nothing but great weather the entire way, with the exception of a rather hot few days sprinkled in between. To date we have traveled around 520 miles, and plan on seeing the borders of Minnesota, and South Dakota in the next three days. Everything is swell on our side excluding the fact that Nick and I have Poison Ivy everywhere, but we are copping with it well. Its all part of the experience. Cells are on only some of the time, and e-mailing has seem to be a bit harder than expected, but we will stay in contact. Feel free to try our cells, but the response time is sometimes everything but quick. We miss all of you, and hope everything is grand. Till our next meeting, keep up what you're doing and we'll do the same...
Also, if you are interested in donating to or ride through relay for life to help fight cancer, please check out this web address:
Much Love
Riders On The Storm
Nick and BRANDOn
7/23/2007 Update
Well the Boys are 5 riding days into their trek and setting a nice pace due to good weather and terrain even while battling some pretty strong headwinds. They rode through Michigan for two days before boarding a Ferry in Muskegon to take them to Milwaukee where they resumed their ride and called from Cottonville this morning saying all is well and their equipment and energy are holding up nicely.
