On the road again

CSUS alumnus Willie Weir and his partner, “Bicycling” magazine columnist Joe Kurmaskie, never seem to stop for breath. The duo, who refer to themselves as ‘professional extroverts,’ have recently combined their talents as journalists, showmen and cyclists to entertain audiences along the West coast, promoting their latest bicycle adventure books in the “Take It Outside Tour.”

The books, Weir’s “Spokesongs: Bicycle Adventures on Three Continents” and Kurmaskie’s “Metal Cowboy: Tales From the Road Less Pedaled,” describe personal experiences and are more than just a guide to the respective far off lands where they have traveled. They offer a perspective of the human spirit and our natural sense of adventure through a collection of vignettes. “They’re the roads that most people typically don’t travel,” Weir said.

“They’re not travel logs,” Kurmaskie said. “They’re stories of the human condition: absurd, hilarious, touching.” The stories are presented Irish-Bard style, combining comedy and natural character within a narrative performance.

“It’s really different from a normal book tour,” Sacramento Bee Travel editor Janet Fullwood said, referring to their most recent visit to the Sacramento R.E.I. store. “Part storytelling, part theater, it was highly entertaining as well as informative and inspirational.”

Traveling separately around the world, this is the two’s first book tour together. “Hooking up with Willie was like finding this incredibly talented, scrappy brother no one told me was part of the family,” Kurmaskie said. “We’re out to see how much trouble we can get into.”

In the diary of his world travels, Weir shares his experiences with insane traffic in Delhi, cowboys in South Africa, and the deserted beaches looking out toward the Indian Ocean.

Using the bicycle as the central mode of transportation to tour miles of international back roads offered him the opportunity to meet new cultures and people.

“My criterion for adventure is just this: You have to face your fear. If you don’t, then you (may have) had a great trip, but you haven’t had an adventure,” said Weir.

So echoes his partner, Cowboy Kurmaskie. “You’ve just got to learn to roll with the punches. If you can’t run with the big geese you better stay on the porch.”

As a writer who loves to cycle, Kurmaskie’s spirit for adventure is evident in his narrative writing. Traveling across the heartland of the United States and a few foreign countries, the “metal cowboy” treks the landscape in loaded touring style, carrying all of his gear on his bike. His interaction with diverse people and wildlife is reflected throughout his storytelling.

“What was so neat about the stories was they were both humorous and heartfelt personal experiences,” CSUS senior Dave Cohen said, who was among the Sacramento audience.

“It sounded like he was talking from the heart,” said fellow world traveler Corey Thomas. “It grabbed your attention right off.”

Recently, the part stand-up comedy, part storytelling, part touching narrative has led the two toward a chance to create their own adventure-oriented television show. Plans are currently in the works with a TV producer with Triage Entertainment to begin shooting in Southern California.

Students who missed the tandem team’s Sacramento performance need not worry. The “Take It Outside Tour” is scheduled to appear on Oct. 22 at the Avid Reader located at 617 2nd St. in Davis.