About Me

I graduated from Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC in May of 2004 with a degree in Computer Information Systems (CIS). While I still enjoy working on and with computers, my interests have shifted towards the automotive industry. I have always enjoyed playing with mechanical things, seeing how they work, putting them back together, etc. On January 6th, 2005, I graduated from the NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, NC. Currently I am almost finished with the Volkswagen Academy program, after which I will be working for VW somewhere.

In the summer of 2002, I rode my bicycle across the United States - San Francisco, CA, to Portsmouth, NH. The trip totalled 3,830 miles in 52 days with 5 rest days. This was an awesome experience! I kept a daily log of my trip, which you can read here. Hopefully someday I will have the opportunity to ride across again, except on a different route. It has been over 3 years since my ride across, but I think back on the experience and people almost daily. Definitely the most significant & memorable event in my life to date.

For the summer of 2003 and the summer/fall of 2004, I worked for America by Bicycle as a mechanic on long distance cross country bicycle tours. I have done the San Francisco to Portsmouth, NH route each summer since 2002. Fall of 2004 I added two more routes to my touring experience - Minneapolis, MN to St. Francisville, LA and Irvine, CA to Savannah, GA. Including all my traveling, I have been in 41 states so far.

During the summers of 2000 and 2001, I had an Information Technology internship at GE Appliances in Louisville, KY. It was a great experience overall. Summer of 2000, I worked on the internet design team doing web development. Summer of 2001 I worked on some Microsoft Access projects, Oracle SQL database projects, creating Unix shell scripts, a few webpages, and other misc. jobs. Both summers were a lot of fun and unique in their own way. It was pretty interesting to be in the business environment of a large company. I enjoyed life in Louisville compared to the small towns I have lived in during my life to this point. In the summer 0f 2001, I met a group of people that I went mountain biking with on a regular basis. We rode about 4 to 5 times a week all summer at a few local trails no matter how hot and humid the weather was. It was a blast!

My main interests are turbocharged engines, diesel engines, electronic fuel injection systems, learning how things work, road and mountain cycling, tennis, and photography. I also enjoy racing my Mustang in SCCA Solo II races (also known as autocross). (With the recent engine swap and auto tranny install, the autocross days are basically over for that car.)

If you want to chat sometime, you can email me or IM on AOL at BrantleyWCU. It might be a little while before I get back to you - between school, work, and all the side projects I have going on, I'm not at the computer very much. ...and of course, MySpace.