Debz

Deborah Buttz Kraft, known to most as "Debz" is an adventurous young soul. The youngest of three sisters hailing from Averill Park, NY, she received a degree in Geology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In addition to studying them, Debz also enjoys climbing on rocks. No one knows why she likes rocks so much. Since climbing on/over rocks proved to be an ineffective way of getting places, she tends to get around by, you guessed it, riding a trusty bicycle all over the place (in this case, the continental United States, nbd). Experts say this is because no one would trust her with an entire car, though two wheels appear to be safe. Luckily, she loves biking (duh, have you seen those thighs?). In fact, she loves biking so much she ended up leading a bike for teens along the New England coast. After traveling across Europe last summer Debz decided that she couldn't spend this summer doing normal, boring things like working/vacationing. Thus she combines her passions for biking and traveling, and finds herself biking across the land of the free and the home of the brave. When living a normal life, Debz worked as a lab tech at Ecovative where she contributed to making things like packaging out of mushrooms, to help save the planet. In whatever time she has left, she enjoys playing trombone, piano, and Ultimate, cooking foods with too many words, dancing the night away, and making terrible decisions.

Mark

Markus Stuarticus Bradleyus, infamously known as "Mark" is a pretty cool guy. The younger of two brothers hailing from Easton, MD, Mark received degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. You may be wondering, what is this seemingly nerdy gentleman doing on this trip? Well, let me tell you, there's much more to the story! An avid outdoorsman, Mark enjoys camping, hiking, rock climbing, obstacle races, biking, and sailing. He basically gets around in every way except actually driving. Some believe he has a deep mistrust for automobiles (this claim has never been substantiated). As if that weren't enough, it turns out Mark is pretty good at programming and the like. Previously, he has worked for Palantir Technologies and RPI's Center for Architecture, Science and Ecology doing things that most people cannot understand. In the future, Mark will be moving on to work at a company you may have heard of called Google. However, as automobiles were not an option (see above) our hero found himself stranded on the east coast, far from Google's Californian havens. And so we find Mark as he is today, solving his problem by simply biking all the way to California! Note: This is not at all why Mark is on this trip. You get the idea. Every now and then, Mark also enjoys playing flute, steel drums, ukulele, video/board games, and Ultimate, building awesome electronics projects, enjoying a good beer, and like his trip partner- being a generally awesome human being.