Who Are We?

Here's the two minute drill...

Two friends; one crazy adventure: to raise money for the Search Dog Foundation, SDF (a non-profit that raises and trains search and rescue dogs). How to get attention for this cause? By biking from Maine to Key West in less than two months. Chance of success? Maybe. Crazy? Definitely. Awesome adventure? Undoubtedly.

Or if you're feeling courageous, the full lecture...

Team e2 is the brainchild of a graduating high school senior (Evan Smith) and a graduating master's student (Evan Patronik). Evan Smith and I met about 4 years ago through his older brother and have become close friends, mostly through our similar personalities and tastes of outdoor activities (such as swimming in the Atlantic during early February of last year). On a whim one night, we decided to undertake a "crazy adventure" during the summer of 2008: a bike trip logging nearly 3,000 miles from the tip of Maine to the bottom of the Florida Keys. On its own, this journey would be fulfilling enough for the both of us but we had hoped to gain something more. This led us to idea of using our trip to raise money for a more than worthy cause. We have involved ourselves in a fundraising effort with the "Search Dog Foundation" (SDF), a not-for-profit non-governmental organization based out of California. Their mission is to produce the most highly trained FEMA Advanced Certified Canine Disaster Search Teams in the country. These teams are trained to search for live victims of natural disasters or terrorist attacks. The teams are provided at no cost to fire departments and other emergency service agencies throughout the country and are essential in the post-disaster rescue effort. We are spreading the word of our charity ride to individuals we meet on the ride (which is why you may be at this website) and with companies around the country. Feel free to donate to the cause using the link provided on this page, as well as check out our pictures and blog in order to follow us on this amazing and crazy adventure!!!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Day 26: 8/3 - Shalom to a Century to Shalotte

There are only a few things you need to know about today. We woke up to the tent mesh covered in mosquitoes just waiting for us to leave so they could swarm us and steal our blood. It made us a little hesitant to finally get up. Then came another ferry ride with more entertaining southerners, Harley guys interested in our trip, and ferry attendant who used to be a cop in good old Montgomery County, MD. Then came an alligator in a ditch and 100 miles of biking to our campsite. It's interesting because your legs don't get tired from biking 100 miles, your body just gets irritated that you've been on a bike for 8.5 hours!!


When we finally got to camp, there was coincidentally a guy biking from Key West, FL to NY who was staying there that night as well, Sean. We ate dinner together and chatted it up until sundown. It was great to have someone to talk to that knew what we were going through and we didn't have to explain the whole biking process or motivation behind the adventure. We just shared stories and tips (he'd done the pacific coast, Vietnam, Morocco, and now this trip, so he had some experience). He graduated from Duke (boo!) in '04 with a degree in Botany and he teaches so he always has 3 months every summer that he uses to complete a tour. He also gave us the number of an interesting character in Georgia who would gladly drive us over this five mile section of road that's nothing but sand (for those of you who don't know, you can NOT bike over sand in road bikes...simply impossible). So that was a great warning. Dinner was salmon helper with gnats (they were ridiculous) and we got to sleep in a little because the next day was going to be a short one. And we would get to meet my new cousin, Katie!

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