Date: 2006-02-08
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

First off, I need to give a huge "shout out" to Chris, who will be updating my trailjournal while I'm gone. I've decided to write my journal with pen and paper to save more ounces of pack weight. I figure, down the road I may end up deciding to anyway. This means he will be transcribing my journals on a weekly basis and posting them on the web. With that said, I need to present a warning to innocent readers, friend, and family alike. Chris may exercise artistic interpretation of my journal or even add random made up stories. After all, he has been known to cause some mischief from time to time. I hope this will will not be a frequent situation, but afterall, this is Chris we're talking about. Thanks a lot buddy for helping me out! So ladies, if you like what you see, this handsome single young man is ripe for the taking. He rides snow mobiles, dirtbikes, and will one day oust Bill Gates from being the richest man in the world. He's got money, he's got class, and he wants to meet you! Sorry Chris, I had to. Recently I've received a number of emails from people who have read the article in the Boothbay Register. They've offered to send many things through the mail, and for this I am grateful. I've explained to many people that the best things that can be sent are words of encouragement. When I was riding across the country I really appreciated the notes I received from my mother. At the time it almost brought a tear to my eye just to see her handwriting, let alone the message it contained! I definitely won't discourage a snack or two (maybe energy bars like power bars, cliff bars, etc.), because I don't know what I'd do if I came to a mail drop and found ten boxes of food waiting for me (especially if it needed to be cooked)! As for the article in the Boothbay Register, I thought I'd copy and paste it from their website so family and friends can check it out: Matt Thomson "Lives Life'Joe Orchulli IIOne month before Matt Thomson left on a cross-country bicycle trip in 2004, he told his college roommate, "You realize that this is going to be the hardest thing that we've ever done in our lives.' If we can make it through this though, it'll be by far, the greatest."'After two months, one day, and 4,100 miles, Matt and his friends came rolling back into Boothbay Harbor, literally, hopping off of their bikes at Thomson's family's restaurant, Gray's Wharf, and jumped right into the ocean.In light of the fact that only ten percent of the people who set out to hike the entire 2,168 mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine complete it, Thomson has a new goal in sight."Before you are done with one great trip, you get an idea for the next big trip," said Thomson, though when presented with the idea from his friend, Jasper Walsh, during their bicycle trip across America he responded, "There's no way in heck that I would want to do that! This wasn't for me." But once he got used to the biking and being outdoors, the relaxation of not worrying about anything except where he was going, what he was going to eat and where he was going to sleep, he finally conceded."It is a great frame of mind to be in for so long," Thomson said. "When I got done, I decided that I wanted to do something adventuresome, see the country and take advantage of being young."Cycling is a low impact activity, however, and hiking with a 30 pound pack certainly is not.' Hiking for five months straight will take more mental strength than physical.' You need to focus on daily or weekly goals.' If you focus on the final destination you'll drive yourself crazy," said Thomson.The Appalachian Trail trip, which has been in the planning stages for a year and a half now, is set to begin March 15, starting at Springer Mountain in Georgia and ending up at Baxter State Park in Maine, with a scheduled duration of five months concluding in either early August or late July depending upon the terrain and weather. He says that they will probably start out with seven miles a day then work up to 15 to 20. Thomson's girlfriend, Nicole Brennan, who will be joining Matt on the AT, just finished up her winter term classes at UMF and will be getting credits on the trip.Matt began his rigorous training in September doing a lot of leg exercises up until January for three days a week, plus he did core exercises for two.If you stop in at the fitness center at the YMCA, you might find Matt on the treadmill with his backpack doing cardio workouts 30 minutes a day or on the stair climber. Though he says that it isn't necessary, as a lot of people go on the trail without any training, it's probably the way he earned his trail name, Hot Rod. He was given the title on the bike ride because he was always in a hurry, always wanted to go more miles, and get up earlier.Matt said he has watched every movie and read every book on the AT including researching other people's journeys posted on Whiteblaze.net.The Internet site hosts a community of Appalachian Trail enthusiasts with an entire forum of people who have done such trips where one can have questions answered in minutes.Out of the thousands of people who have attempted to conquer the entire trail, twenty percent of them don't even make it to the first state border and only seventy five percent make it (misquote: don't make it) to the halfway point.As far as provisions are concerned, Matt has been able to pick up a lot of things on sale. He says that you could spend thousands of dollars on gear, but if you do your homework, you can pick up many things just about anywhere, though he says a good pack is important.While many people carry cooking stoves that weigh 6 pounds and can cost $40.00 to $50.00, Matt has discovered how to make an efficient stove out of two aluminum soda cans that weighs only one ounce. He has also decided to go with mail drops instead of carrying a lot of food or worrying about when or where he would find what he needed. Using this system, pre-planned food portions will be mailed to select drop points along the way.Though it has required a lot more planning, his mail drops are already posted on his Web site, www.trail journals.com/mattydt20.He said that anyone interested can follow his journey by looking at the Web site and can send letters of encouragement to the mail drops as long as they are nothing too heavy, as they would have to fit in his pack.Matt will also be updating the journal on the Web site by sending emails to a friend via a "Pocket Mailer."As far as drinking water is concerned, he will be using bleach to purify his water, three drops per quart. He says that it is the cheapest way to do it. He'll have a Visene bottle full of bleach that he can refill along the way.Thomson had planned on going to graduate school to get his master's degree in history after his 2004 bike trip, but he wasn't sure that is what he wanted to do or that he even needed the degree that he was going for. He also didn't want to rack up the bills so early in life, so he called home while biking through Montana, inquiring about a job at Boothbay Region Elementary School. The school, knowing his credentials, had a job for him the next day. His family, who initially thought that he was crazy, eventually seeing his level of commitment, warmed up to his dream.A Boothbay Region High School graduate of 2000, he has been working at the elementary school for two years since his bicycle trip as a special education technician and 8th grade girls basketball coach.When asked what he enjoys most about his adventures, he replied, "Coming around the corner. Someplace where you just don't expect it, and are opened up to some amazing landscape. I remember riding down a mountain, around the corner on my bike and just slamming on the brakes seeing this incredible view."I decided to go on the bike trip to see the things I haven't seen. I've been to England, Germany and Mexico but hadn't seen the United States and the west."I've come across people and have seen how generous and kind they can be."When we cycled into Montana, my friend found a U.S. map hanging on a wall and got really depressed thinking about how far we had left to go.' Luckily, he came to a quick conclusion that brought him out of the slump; it was a conclusion that kept me motivated for the rest of the ride.' He said, I looked at the map and saw how much farther we had to ride.' When I started thinking about how much fun we've had so far, I realized how much more fun lay ahead of us.'"You need to live day by day, keep the goals short term, and eventually you'll reach your final destination."Matt was captain of the track and field team for two years.' He says that he wasn't an athlete that would have won scholarships, but says he thinks that he was chosen because of his work ethic.'"While running, I pushed myself to my limits, every time, whether during practice or a competition.' I ran until I was light-headed, even on the verge of collapsing,'yet I never stopped running.'"To this day, each time I run, or compete athletically, I give it everything I have.' This drive helped me decide to bike across the country and want to hike the AT.' I want to see how far I can push myself.'"To a large extent you are competing against yourself during a long distance trip.' You compete against your body, seeing how far you can push it.' You compete against your spirit, seeing how long you can maintain it.' My friends slowly pedaled up the six-mile-long mountain climbs out west.' I raced up.' Each time I looked to see how quickly I could climb to the top.'"This frame of mind isn't necessary to complete long trips, but I feel I'm more willing to push myself through extreme physical fatigue."' When asked who was his biggest inspiration in these adventures, it is his friend, Jasper Walsh, who is the person who invited Matt on both trips."One time I was staring at a cold pond of water and I was really cold, not really wanting to jump in, but needed to go in to get clean. Then I remembered that Jasper would always say, "Live Life," and then I just jumped in."Though it was freezing cold, at least I can say that I swam in the Salmon River in Idaho. It's a great motivating factor to keep things chugging along and to keep things fresh."