Who could spend three years riding a bicycle completely around the globe without bringing home a wealth of stories. Certainly not Rick Gunn. One of the extended high points of his 25,811 mile trip was cycling along the historic silk road through central Asia, which Gunn enjoyed in the company of a fellow rider he met along the way.

Rick Gunn will present his multi-media Soulcycler program this week at the following North Bay venues

Wednesday, Sept. 8, Sonoma Veterans Hall, Sonoma, 7 pm

Thursday, Sept, 9, Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, 7 pm

Friday, Sept. 10, Marin Civic Center Showcase Theater, 7:30 pm. Ticket information for all shows here. Watch a preview below.

Work is quietly continuing toward the scheduled 2014 rollout of the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit commuter train, including a series of meetings this week about the designs of the train stations along the route.

 The self-propelled rail cars will each be 85 feet long, and may look something like this prototype, but SMART spokesman Chris Coursey says their interior configuration will be variable.

SMARThas issued a draft of its technical specification for rail vehicles for initial industry review. The document can be viewed on the SMART web site here. Registration with the site is required to access this page; the process is simple, free and open to the public.

The full schedule of station design meetings along the central and southern part of the rail route is detailed below.

Two Iraq war veterans turned peace activists are winding down their cross-country bicycle tour with a visit in Santa Rosa today, one of the last stops in what they’ve dubbed their “Contagious Love Experiment.”

As a soldier, Conner Curran came to believe that the use of force could be justified if it was used to accomplish something good. But he says being a soldier taught him that belief was not really true.

It’s a bold undertaking, setting out to ride across the country, not knowing people in most of the places you’ll wind up in. But Josh and Conner have made good use of some online resources to help smooth their way.

On their Contagious Love Experience blog, Josh and Conner take turns reflecting on their various day-to-day encounters and experiences. They also detail their personal histories and reasons for what they are doing. This is an except from Josh Siebert's account:

"When I got back from my 14 month deployment to Iraq in April of 08, I planned on taking the money I had been given to kill and destroy my nation’s “enemies” and walking to the military pay headquarters and giving that money back, telling them it wasn’t something I’d participate in anymore and if I had to serve the rest of my enlistment in jail, then that’s where I needed to be.

"Then I learned of conscientious objection, a militarily recognized status that someone’s beliefs has changed so that they are no longer compatible with war. I debated with myself over which option to take. Finally, I figured that as many problems as I had with the system, at least they showed some degree of respect for people’s beliefs, so I would give it a fair shot.

"As I waited until April of 09 for final approval, my plan of spite, of throwing the money back in the government’s face evolved into the walk I’m on now. If I am saying no to war, I want to find out what to say yes to. I want to take a negative and invest it into a positive. In a country where war is preached from the churches, I want to do a little to remember the man who those churches are built for, the man who visited the orphans, served the poor, clothed the naked, fed the hungry… and loved. So that’s what I’ve set out to do and I hope that that love is contagious."

Josh Steiber and Conner Curran with bring their Contagious Love Experiment to the Sonoma County  Peace and Justice Center, 467 Sebastopol Avenue (near Julliard Park)  in Santa Rosa, on Tuesday Nov. 3 at 7 pm

To see where Josh and Conner have been, and where they are headed, view their itinerary here and scroll down to get to the current  month. You can also watch this video about their trip.