You and a guest will be awarded a full tour package of your choice, anytime, anywhere we go, ever. If we may make a recommendation, SAVE YOUR PRIZE!

WM Tours continue to get better and better. We have no intention to slow down and who knows, perhaps one day this little prize will mature into a trip for two to Italy. How’s that for a winning!?

How did we do the drawing?

Q created a command line script to randomize the list of contestants and print the name of one lucky winner. We considered throwing bones, calling the psychic hotline, or asking a waitress at Jacks to just help us just choose one, but in the end nothing beats technological slight of hand and modern witchcraft.

And suddenly… POOF!

Did you lose?! Well, lose like a winner!

For everyone else who played along, you are sooo cool. We hope you had fun and truly appreciate your spirit. You are definitely the people we want to ride with. So much in fact we are offering a 5% discount to everyone who sent us a picture for any WM tour anytime, anywhere, ever. How about that?

Go to our Facebook Fan Page Photo album to see (almost) everyone’s entries.

Thank you for spreading Wheeled Migration far and wide.

Here is the section of the route we got into.

View Larger Map

We began with Mossbrae Falls.

This spring fed waterfall feeds into the Upper Sacramento River and is well worth the jaunt to find it. Everything about the falls is enchanting except the hike along an active rail line out to them. It’s as though Union Pacific laid tracks right past an edge of Eden. While we whole heartedly recommend giving two hours to hike the tracks, find Mossbrae and get primitive with the Sacramento, but you won’t find a tour of these falls on Life of Water.

In Mt. Shasta proper we met with our first potential host, the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center. This grassroots non-profit works to protect, restore, and honor the origin of the Sacramento river. In their words their work is ‘holding sacred space.’

“…this means a healthy bioregion surrounding a Mountain shining in its white robe of snow, mantled by the ancient Shasta red fir forest and other lavish flora and wildlife encompassing five life zones (from arctic alpine down to sonoran), waters running crystal pure and unpolluted skies, with responsible stewardship and enjoyment by human beings.”

In 24 years of community stewardship, education and restoration projects on Mt. Shasta these folks have staved back ski-condos from sacred lands, backed down water barons, geothermal vampires, and kept the mountains forests out from under the blade.

The center has built coalitions between the Winnemem Wintu and other indigenous tribes to establish two traditional cultural districts in the region. Medicine Lake (above) and Mt. Shasta itself.

We learned the Winnemem Wintu occasionally speak and participate in the centers annual restoration faire in the Fall. If we’re lucky and everything fits we’ll align with one of these special events as a starting point for a Life of Water tour. That was the take away from our meeting with the centers executive director, Michelle Berditschevsky.

Q&I quietly walked Mt. Shasta to let the ideas settle. We are off! Thanks Michelle for having us in last minute at 5:00pm on a Friday. You work hard at great work!

From there we filled our jars from the headwaters spring and picked up the route.

It’s 50 miles of downhill to this campsite

Nested upon a ledge overlooking the confluence of Hawkin Creek and the McCloud River, this campsite is second to nothing we’ve seen lately. We figure this where Day 1 ends. After a six of Lagunitas’ Harry Eyeball we had dreamed up everything from the nights meal plan, ride guide topics, and where the group would be at after the days happenings. Day 1 looked picturesque, pure WM flavor.

Then we woke up to Day 2…

It’s 8%+ grade, loose pack dirt with baby heads over and down the first ridge!

So here’s the rub: To follow the water, to really see, we’ve gotta ride service roads built nearly a century ago. If you’re familiar with old carriage roads then you know back then folks built roads to reflect the unyielding fortitude carried in their black and bitter hearts. Traversing pocked backroads along the Pit and McCloud river systems does not make a vacation- it’s the fodder of endurance races but not necessarily what we’re after.

This route follows the rivers to a backdoor of Mt. Lassen and passes antiquated powerhouses from the New Deal era. It’s beautiful, peaceful, challenging and nothing we’d trust average cyclists to ride.

WINNING SOLUTION #1 We make Life of Water a series of tours (just like our brewery tours) and follow different river systems though a diverse spread of regions for unique causes. This feels like a perfect answer to create tours folks can connect to, ride, afford, give time for, and enjoy in their memories.

So Life of Water now slated to become a several tours. Collect ‘em all! Watch for updates on this new direction.

WINNING SOLUTION #2 Bikepacking! Lately, we’ve been frothing for dirt. Bikepacking is what’s next! As we look to the future you can expect to see more small group expeditions going after routes to take you from the backroads and into the backwoods. We have a dirt route though the Sierra Nevada. Watch for a bikepacking option to Life of Water. We can’t help ourselves after seeing the possibilities.

This is Tim. He’s one mellow gentlemen with a helluva a mean remote control toy. That Pape whole tree chipper there is replete with rotor, chipper box, and feed system that is “strongest around,” according to Tim. This rig turns out high quality Biomass chips custom sized from 12 to 32 mm. If you can find the trees “this is good for the loggers and good for the environmentalists, what more do you want?” Well…

We ended our scouting mission with an 80 mile detour around a snowed in pass and this thought: Bicycle tours are a means to deeply understanding place.

Though site tours, service, discussion with experts, ceremony, reflection and direct action we are aiming to create an event that is both empowering and enriching.

Keep tuned to our laboratory as we roll out ongoing development of Life of Water. And drop us a line if you’ve got a route or a cause that could line up with this project as it matures.

Thank’s for riding,

WM

If you’re in Chico, you’ve seen the hard work of the Butte Bicycle Coalition everywhere lately.

As part of Bike to Work Week and Bike Month they’ve been hosting events up and down the street. So many, it’s getting hard to keep up. Here’s what we know: if you’re riding a bike for the first time in 30 years you may like to swing by the BBC’s Energizer station on your way to work. They’re chalk full of locally made snakes, fruits, coffee, and bicycle byproducts from RayRay. SPOKE CARDS!

Here is the map to their luscious oasis of ease for the intrepid bicycle commuter.

Big thanks to RayRay Gallery for whipping up bikeantics all month. This video is just one more slice to the savory bike lovin’ pie they’re cooking up here in Chico.

Yep, that hardcore/mild mannered commuter/fixie jerk/racer bikey poster child is our Ryan Laine. Apparently he rides on water too.

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

And if you’ve not made it over to the BIKE=ART show at RayRay, it’s up for another two weeks. Can’t go? You already missed out anyway. Here’s Kyle Delmar’s pictures from the opening reception.

Win an all inclusive VIP tour package for two! Any Wheeled Migration. Anywhere. Ever.

This weekend WM rolled out our Tats For Tours drawing at Chico’s Wildflower. 4,000 riders received their chance to play, now it’s your turn. You can win this!

Here’s the game:

1. Stick our temporary tattoo anywhere on your body
2. Take a photograph
3. Send it to tatsfortours@wheeledmigration.org
4. You are entered in a drawing to win the tour of your choice, anytime you want it.
5. On May 16th we announce our winner right here and on our FB Fan Page.

Easy fun.

Would you like one?

If you live in Chico they’re easy to find.

• RayRay Gallery at 530 Broadway. Check out their BIKE = ART show, up now!
• Cyclesport at 148 Main. That’s easy to find.
• North Rim Aventure Sports, 178 East 2nd Street.
• Campus Bicycles, 330 Main Street.
• Chico Bike and Board, 845 Main Street.
• Chico Natural Foods, 818 Main Street.
• Lyon Books, 121 W. 5th Street.
• Empire Coffee, 434 Orange Street.
• Naked Lounge, 118 West 2nd Street (they’re tacked to the wall with the posters).
• Upper Crust Bakery, 130 Main Street (they’re tacked to the wall with the posters).
• Peet’s Coffee, 145 Main Street (they’re with the stacks of fliers at the front door).
• Bike Chico! has a limited number of the tattoos at their energizer stations for the next two weeks of Bike Month. Check their site for a map of stations around our town.

You don’t live in Chico?! We still want you to win. Email us your address, we’ll get you hooked you up.

Need several real good reasons to play?

WM is only getting better!

Looking at 2011 and 2012 you’ll see WM tours are going bigger. Between a brewery tour or our quaint weekend of coastline and organic food this year to the international tours coming next year, you can win lots. By lots we mean, here is the win of a lifetime.

You can share your winnings!

It’s for two! Wanna see someone at their best? As a VIP on a WM tour you’ll both have it your own way. Is there anyone you’d take on vacation?

Sell it on e-bay, trade it on craigslist, or give someone the best gift ever.

It’s yours to do what you want.

Thank you to everyone who has already submitted their photographs. You look sooo cool. We’ll let you know your odds next Monday. Get as creative as you like and we hope you are the winner.

Thanks for riding bikes,
WM

WM is busy and feels great! Spring brings websites and bike rides. We’ve got a fresh spread of themes and routes in development and some of last year’s favorites are back again.

Our move comes in the middle of Wildflower weekend, we’ve still got a lot of unpacking to do. Have a look around, let us know what you think, and thank you for riding your bike.

Ride on!
WM

There’s been some talk on Facebook about this year’s Spring Sojourn. Many of last years riders have been calling out places to go and now we’ve got a fine ride brewing.

• We’re headed to the Lost Coast folks. With 3 or 4  days on the bike we’ll be way out there. Meet us in the plaza, pack ride surprises and your favorite lunch, we’ll camp in the woods that night. We don’t know when we’re leaving. Maybe March, maybe May, maybe we’ll go twice. It’s gonna be cheap, it won’t be easy, and you’ll get dirty. But if you’ve never tried something like this, you’ll never forget it.
• Our intention is to host this ride in the original tradition of Wheeled Migration. Minimal support, full group effort. That’s loading up your bike and heading over the hills for a delicious helping of California. We’ll be carrying everything, sleeping in the woods, and be among people at their best. AND there’s bikes AND food AND an ocean AND.. you’ll be just fine.
• We’re not putting a cap on this ride. If half the town and their friends show up we’ll have an exodus. But! just like the ’08 and last years Sojourn, everyone gets themselves home. Call your friends, have ‘em meet you out there for our parties and vacationing on the Lost Coast. Catch the ride home, you’re set!
• Watch Facebook for more details and post your ideas and questions on our wall. Tell us what you’re wearing ‘cuz you are beautiful on that bike!