Day 25 [Marathon, TX]

Above is my room for the evening.  I am staying at an awesomely crazy hostel in Marathon, TX.  This room is on the second floor, and I'm told has an incredible view of the stars at night.  I won't even have to break out my tent tonight!  The town of Marathon is a unique little town of about 400 people.  They have a small grocery store, a pizza place, and a saloon.  This hostel consists of a bunch of random little one-room buildings built by people that have traveled through.  The story about the photo below of the train house is really neat.  Apparently the sheriff here in Marathon caught some guys that were train-hopping across America.  He didn't know what to do with them so he brought them up to this hostel.  They were orphans or at least were permanent road dogs, and had been train hopping and staying wherever they could their entire lives.  They ended up staying at this place for three months and during that time built a shack that resembled a train (probably because that was all they ever knew as home).  Eventually they were asked to leave because they caused too much trouble in town.  What makes this hostel so cool is that you can pick out any of the little rooms to sleep in and they all have a story.  There's probably 10 different little buildings in camp here and all of them are unique and range from being built with re-bar and cement to beer bottles and paper machete.  An absolutely unique and interesting place that I have been hearing about from fellow cyclists for the past 200 miles.  The best part?  They let us cyclists stay for free!

Train-shack

Hostel owner's car painted by a passer-through

Day 24 [Alpine, TX]

I suppose you have your trial by fire days, the rides that make you wonder why the hell you are doing this to yourself, but then you have days like this in which you revisit all the reasons that you are biking across the country.  A short ride today, essentially a "rest day" at 27 miles, but man was it awesome.  Gentle ups and downs through a Texas valley with a beautiful blue sky.  At only two hours of riding time I am left with plenty of time to explore this little college town - and that's just what I'm off to do.  Short post today, I need to relax for a bit.  Happy Friday, everyone! 

Day 23 [Martha, TX]

Last night I set my tent up under some lighting that I had not noticed during the day time.  Since I was too lazy to move it I didn't get a great night's rest.  The 74 miles today seemed to drag on forever.  Between where I left and where I ended up there was one small town with nothing open except, oddly enough, a dentist's office.  I popped in there and filled up my water holdings before pressing onward.  Also along the desolate ride through nothing but mile after mile of ranch land I found this Prada building.  It was literally at least 35 miles in any direction from even the nearest gas station.  It had a few purses and pairs of shoes showing in the windows, but a sign explained that it was some sort of art piece and that door to the store could never be opened.  Weird.  The tail end of the ride today was a little bit miserable.  I had nothing left that I wanted to give and my ass was killing me.  I was stopping every mile or two to get off the saddle for a moment.  I think a shorter day is in order for tomorrow.  I am also pissed off that I am spending the night in some hippie campground with "communal showers".  In this instance this means that you basically just stand outside naked.  You also go number two outside as well.  Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't complain if they didn't charge for this nonsense, but they do.  What the hell is wrong with these people?

Day 22 [Van Horn, TX]

Central timezone!

First a warning in advance: this post may consist of incoherent statements and random babbling because I am so tired.  I had a longgg day.  I made it 67 miles to Van Horn, TX but it took me nearly seven hours.  I ran into a pretty deceiving incline that I didn't think was going to be that bad, but as soon as I hit it I felt like there was a dead longhorn strapped to the back of my bike (I'm in Texas now so the use of longhorn is appropriate).  Halfway into the ride I stopped and ate lunch and was all but sure I was just going to call it quits for the day and camp in that little town's park.  The lady that made my food (also the waitress and the only person other than me in the restaurant) told me that the hard part of my day was already over with.  This lady had apparently held some sort of public office in the county and so she was on the phone whenever she wasn't dealing with me.  She was using "jack shits" and other such phrases quite liberally and presumably to other public figures.  I guess that's just how they do shit here in Texas.  Anyway, by the time I finished eating it was already 3:30 but I decided I'd press on the remaining 30 miles and just get it done.  I was happy that I did at the end of the day, but man those miles did not come free.  I encountered some pretty bad headwinds, which seemed to worsen as the day wore on.  On top of that I spent most of the day riding on an I-10 frontage road made of what looked to be tarred-down gravel.  I also accidentally refilled my Camelbak with half lemonade and half water.  Warm lemonade is even worse than warm water.  I didn't want to drink it but I damn well had to.  Time to pass out in my tent, tomorrow will be another big mileage day.

Day 21 [Fort Hancock, TX]

And the long trek through Texas begins.  57 miles of it taken out today, with a couple of long hauls ahead of me.  I plan on riding 70 miles tomorrow and 85 or so on Thursday.  These are just the kind of distances you have to expect when riding through this huge freaking state.  Thankfully I've had a few easier states worth of training, and should be well positioned for the challenge.  In the picture above, the mountains you see are part of Mexico.  I will once again be riding the border for a little while.  Pretty close to me is the Mexican city of Cuidad Juarez, the murder capital of the country at an average of eight a day.  But that's there and I'm here, right?  Let's hope!  In all honesty it has felt pretty safe so far.  Everyone is nice enough and you get the comfort of heavy duty border patrol trucks passing you quite frequently.  Tonight I'm in motel, but this will be the last night that happens for quite awhile.  I've got at least fifteen nights of camping ahead of me, hopefully sprinkling in some couch surfing stays if I can get responses to the requests I've sent out already.  Good bye to climate control and precious, comfy beds for now.

Day 20 [El Paso, TX]

Riding through a pecan orchard on my way to El Paso

New Mexico flew by quickly and I have arrived in Texas already!  The better news is that I am finally off of the interstate and as such can now enjoy all the beauty of the land that the freeway hides.  Somehow I missed the "Welcome to Texas" sign while I was relishing in said beauty though.  I guess I can make pretend and take a picture of the sign as I am exiting Texas in a few weeks.  El Paso is one crazy city.  It is huge, and hilly like San Francisco.  It is about 70% Hispanic, walking distance from Mexico, and probably should just change it's name to Texaco.  I was able to enjoy a much needed rest day here as I gear up for my conquest of desolate Texas.  My friend from college, Meagan, and her husband, Zach, were kind enough to put me up for a couple of nights.  They took me out to one of their favorite restaurants so that I could experience authentic Mexican food - very, very good!  I also was able to tune up the bike a bit as well as get her nice and clean for the road ahead.  I planned out my next 16 days, which will see me through something like 850 miles and almost to the other end of Texas.  I'm sticking with my Adventure Cycling route and steering clear of the interstate from here on out.  It's too visually bland and the shoulder of it is a crap shoot between clean and littered with all sorts of smut.  Thanks again to Zach, Meagan, and their cute little one, Grace.  I told them they were going to be pictured on my blog, and Meagan told me to keep the picture small, but I can't do that because then you wouldn't see the lovely family!

Day 19 [Las Cruces, NM]

0 miles.  That's how long it took me to get my first flat tire today, and 28 miles brought me another four.  Apparently my luck had run out, and this resulted in the day from hell for me.  Every single flat was the result of a little piece of steel belt from an exploded tire.  It's not like I wasn't avoiding road debris either, I always do.  This morning I woke to find my rear tire flat, as usual.  Since it had already been patched three times I decided I'd use my last spare tube and just replace it.  Once on the road I got a flat just about every five miles. So time after time, I'd unload the bike, patch the tire, and get back to pedaling.  By the time the fifth flat tire came I was out of patches and tubes.  Stuck in a desolate area, 25 miles away from the day's destination.  Now I had told myself that I would never get a ride (I consider it cheating) unless I was about to pass out, injured, or just shit out of luck.  Hopefully I won't have to use anymore cheat codes, but in this instance it was necessary.  So there I was stranded on the side of the road thinking about what to do.  I eventually remembered that I had AAA road side service, so I gave them a call.  I let them know the situation, and how I was stranded.  The woman on the phone unsympathetically informed me that there was no way they can come pick up a cyclist.  I then called a cab company located in Las Cruces.  It took awhile to explain what I needed them to do, but they eventually understood and agreed to come pick me up.  Just as I was hanging up the phone a truck pulled over and out stepped Ray and Vicky.  They helped me load everything into their truck and gave me food and water (which I was out of) on the ride.  They were my saviors for the day.  In Las Cruces they dropped me off at a bike shop so I could get the ailing Fiona looked at.  All in all it was an absolutely terrible day.  I'm so thankful that tomorrow I'll be in El Paso with a real roof over my head and a rest day on Monday.  Texas awaits me, and I'm still undecided on which route to take through the extremely desolate western part.

Day 18 [Deming, NM]

It wouldn't be a cross country bike trip if I didn’t wake up to a flat tire some of the time.  It’s always a nice little surprise for me when I load up the bike and then realize that I have a flat.  So I unloaded it, patched the tube, and reloaded it.  I am starting to get pretty quick about fixing these flats, this being my third one of the trip thus far.  For some reason it’s always the back tire, too.  I guess the front one is just a champ.  Once on the road it was an absolutely awesome day.  63 miles @ 14.7 mph without a single ache or pain anywhere in my body.  I also stumbled upon the Ritz Carlton of RV parks for this evening.  It was a bit more expensive than the rest at 13 bucks, but I was glad to pay it.  They have cleaner showers than most of the motels I’ve gotten and they even have stake-able ground for my tent (a rare occurrence for me given the terrain I’ve been riding through).  On the ride today I ran into David and Nancy again, the couple I met yesterday that’s biking cross-country on a tandem bike.  We enjoyed a nice treat at Dairy Queen together, swapped e-mails, and then were back on our way.  Good luck to you two if you’re reading this!  For dinner  I’m going to sit at the bar of the restaurant across the street and watch March Madness ensue. 

Day 17 [Lordsburg, NM]

What a day!  I'm in New Mexico now, my third state and the very first timezone change.  It was a beautiful ride today as the weather was back in the 70's and the shoulder of the highway was very clean (at least when I got into NM it was).  I ran into a couple riding a tandem bike on I-10 that was also traveling across country.  I chatted and rode with them for almost an hour until they took a break for lunch.  Very interesting couple, and talking to them certainly made the time go faster.  It's not too late for one of you to fly out and ride with me, you could still get in 3/4 of a cross country ride if you left now!  I'm spending the night at a way overpriced KOA that has an asshole at the front desk.  These places are sinfully expensive compared to my beloved RV parks.  The other problem with them is that you never meet the fun and interesting people here.  You meet them at the RV parks in the middle of nowhere.  The next two days will each be 60 mile days, and I have cheap campsites picked out for both days.  Sunday I'll be in El Paso, Texas and hopefully staying with a friend from college.  That reminds me, I need to call and give her the heads up.  Until tomorrow, everyone.

Day 16 [Bowie, AZ]

Not a whole lot of pedaling today on my 23 mile ride to Bowie.  The next town is Lordsburg, NM which is about another 50 miles and I didn't think I'd make it before sundown given my late start today.  My RV park campground for tonight is a pretty interesting one.  It's my kind of lodging, at only $5 a night, but I'm pretty sure I won't be taking a shower here in the morning.  The bathrooms are pretty much condemned.  I met an interesting fellow, whose name escapes me at the moment, while I was setting up my tent.  He came over and asked me the usual questions about my ride, and then proceeded to give me a warning about not getting "stuck" in this RV park.  I was confused until he explained what he meant in his story about walking across America with his donkey.  It seems that five years ago this man left Washington, DC and set out towards California.  When his donkey died here in Bowie, Arizona he set up a homestead in this RV park and has been here ever since.  Pretty interesting dude.  He also warned me about these little thorny weeds called 'goat heads'.  I had rolled my bike up to my tent like I always do, but this time it was in a field full of these little land mines.  Sure enough I pulled about 10 of them out of my tires, and then had to patch my rear tire because it had dropped to about half its normal PSI load.  Tomorrow is an exciting day because I cross my second state border and get to take another heroic picture of myself by the Welcome to New Mexico highway sign!

A 0-star room with a 5-star view.

An old gas station; for Dennis Thorp.

Day 15 [Willcox, AZ]

I was able to finally get back on the road again today, although after about 20 minutes I sorely regretted it.  I was showered, fed, and pedaling by 8am this morning.  When I left, it was probably no more than 35 degrees, and throughout the day I don't think it ever got above 45, especially with the windchill.  Three layers of clothing, including a windbreaker layer, couldn't keep the cold from me.  I suppose it did for a little while, hence why I was able to convince myself to get on that bike this morning.  But after you take that first short break, your sweat quickly cools down underneath the clothing and it makes you pretty damn cold.  After about 40 miles of this nonsense I stopped in a town called Willcox.  I had planned on making it another 20 miles to a campground, but after checking the weather and seeing that it was going to get down into the 30's again tonight I decided just to grab a warm and cozy motel here in town.  I thought a sore ass was pain, but riding long distances in cold weather is pure agony.  Tomorrow it should warm nearly back up to the beautiful Arizona weather that I was growing accustomed to.

Day 14 [Benson, AZ]

Update (2):  Weather has got me cornered for one more day.  Somehow it is 35 degrees and SNOWING in Arizona...definitely something I didn't foresee.  The owners of this KOA kindly upgraded me to a heated cabin at no additional charge last night so that I didn't have to sleep in 25 degrees outside.  Tomorrow it should clear up and be back to normal sunny weather for the most part (probably about 50 degrees), and then maintain good conditions for the rest of the ride into El Paso.  


Update:  Stuck at the Benson KOA for the day.  High winds and rainy weather has me trapped here.  Day 15 will have to wait until tomorrow!  Hanging out in the laundry room here with a good book and a TV for when the NCAA games come on later.


Biking across america.  I'm beginning to think that it's just an elaborate way to have a sore ass for 80 days.  After about the first 20 miles each day, I require a short break about every 30 minutes just to get off that seat for a moment.  I'm now on my third seat, and realizing I'm just going to have to accept the fact that any bike seat you sit on for 5-6 hours a day is going to cause some pain.  Today I began my long hike on I-10 towards El Paso.  I'm not gonna lie, the highway can be a little nerve-wracking.  I'm going to pretty much be on it for the next 270 miles, so I'd better get used to the bleak and bland atmosphere that the interstate provides.  53 miles today, but I could have rode just one and seen the same amount of scenery change.  I suppose this is still a fair price to pay to avoid an aneurysm on those mountain climbs.  Tonight brings another overpriced night at a greedy KOA campground.  I was able to talk the lady down to 24 from 28 dollars, but still, a rip off just to pitch a tent.

Day 13 [Tucson, AZ]

Lucky day number thirteen ended with me arriving at my friend Elaine's house in Tucson.  48 more miles tallied today, which I'm starting to realize is about my comfort zone.  50-60 miles currently is my upper echelon for what I can ride in a day, and then be able to rinse and repeat the following day.  Which isn't too bad, and in fact I've come a long way since the first time that I rode 50 miles in one day.  I was sore for five days after the first time!  Anyway, I feel like I've been failing to tell you all about some of the most joyful parts of my trip by neglecting to describe some of the folks I meet on the road.  Every day, almost without exception, I will see at least one other cycle-tourer on the road or at my campsite.  Generally they are fascinating people, like myself of course, and super nice.  The best part is that usually a person you meet on the road has met someone else that you have met on the road, and so stories get tossed around and it all just feels like we belong to one big happy club.  Well, today I think I met the most interesting guy yet, along with his companion.  Brad and his dog, Xena, had started in Georgia 150 days ago and were walking across America together.  This guy had lots to share with me and was pretty freaking cool.  It seems like a hell of a good idea to bring a dog with you, to keep you company and be your faithful security guard.  I am exhausted right now and am thinking I will probably stay another night in Tucson tomorrow.  I need to go buy a map so I can plan out my route to El Paso from here.  Everyone have a happy Friday if you don't hear from me until Saturday or Sunday!  Oh, I almost forgot, one more thing:  If you are out there lurking (reading this without signing up to the blog), please consider clicking on the "Join this site" button to your right.  I know I have plenty of people reading this because I can see the number of page views per day.  If you sign up you can leave comments on my posts, which make me happy.  So please consider it.

Day 12 [Picacho, AZ]

Look at this cool guy

 I woke up in my crack motel this morning, loaded all my gear onto the bike, and then discovered that my rear tire was flat as I was rolling it out of the room.  Now, I've never changed a tire myself, and in fact had only seen it partially done once by my brother.  It took me about 30 minutes to replace the tube, get the bike back together, and watch the YouTube video that explained how to change a flat.  It was a fairly easy fix and I was lucky to have it happen at a motel rather than on the road.  I'm 70 miles out from Tucson, but my host there isn't expecting me until Thursday so I decided to make it a short ride today; 20 miles to the town of Picacho (Pikachu!?!).  The only thing in town was a KOA, but it was reasonably priced compared to the last KOA I checked out.  I had my campsite all set up by 2pm, and now I'm just hanging out until the little restaurant here opens for the evening.  Time to go watch the final episode of Game of Thrones season one.

Day 11 [Coolidge, AZ]

Another errand I ran while in Phoenix was to REI.  I absolutely had to get rid of the seat that was killing my butt.  I swapped it out for a nice plush seat that's a few centimeters wider to accommodate my badonkadonk.  I also traded in my sleeping bag for one that is far less shitty.  The one I had was not warm enough and also had a zipper that would snag no matter what.  I ended up getting a North Face sleeping bag called "The Cat's Meow".  Cats kind of suck, but this sleeping bag is fantastic.  Outside of REI was another touring cyclist who I spent a good amount of time talking to.  Al was a serious tourer.  He smelled serious, and his bike was loaded down with twice as much stuff as mine.  He told me that he even made his own coffee in the morning.  Rightfully so, since from the looks of it he could have been running a mobile Starbucks kiosk out of his rig.  I expressed to him my concern over the fact that the next portion of my trip contained more mountains than I was willing to gracefully deal with.  He told me that the Adventure Cycling maps that I had generally favored scenic routes over flat routes and that it was very easy to travel to El Paso without dealing with this crap.  I decided to change up my route to avoid the hell that would have been the next two weeks of my life.  The downside to all of this is that I won't know where every single campground, motel, or place to get food and water will be.  Something that I'll just have to deal with and prepare for by bringing extra food and water.  I'll gladly go a day or two without seeing a town, or poop in the woods, to avoid climbing endlessly!  So today was my first day straying from my map pack, and so far so good, well...almost.  I rode 55 miles towards Tucson today and arrived in the town of Coolidge to spend the night.  When I arrived in town, I stopped by both RV parks here and they both told me that tent camping is not allowed.  Prior to this I had been camping at RV parks, and so I assumed that all RV parks allowed tent campers.  Well I then visited the police station to see what they recommended, and after hearing from them that I was basically SOL I checked into a $40 dollar motel room.  I was bummed because I wasn't going to get to try out my new "Cat's Meow".  I then took one look at the motel bed and decided that I would indeed be sleeping in my new bag tonight.  That's how you find good in bad situations!  Finally, today I sadly learned about a website called Ghostbikes.org.  After seeing the memorial shown above I googled Brett Saks' name and it brought me to the ghostbike site.  These white-painted bikes are put up near where a cyclist was killed by a car to honor their memory, and as a reminder of cyclists' right to safe travel.  Dr. Saks was killed here while training for a 600 mile tour that he never got to do.  A sobering reminder that I need to be careful and aware at all times.  This portion of the road had no shoulder, and for the rest of my ride into Coolidge I was glued to the road's white line like it was a tight-rope.

Day 10 [Phoenix, AZ]

Another solid day of 55 miles brought me into Phoenix, a city that I find incredibly hard to spell correctly.  I always want to put that "e" before the "o".  Anyway, about 20 miles into the ride I started to feel some pain in my ankle and lower shin.  I ended up limping the remainder of the way to town at a snail's pace, fearing that I might tweak something bad enough to put a major damper on this little joy ride.  I was privileged to have been hooked up with a place to stay right in downtown Phoenix from a family friend.  This wasn't just any home either, it was equivalent to staying in a 5 star hotel and belonged to Arizona Senator Ken Cheuvront and his partner, Greg.  Before I write anything else, just take a gander at this kitchen:

Immaculate, right?  I'm pretty sure it even cooked and cleaned itself automatically.  The house and hosts were excellent and I couldn't imagine a better situation to have had while in Phoenix.  Thanks again, guys!  Back to my ankle.  The following day I took my first rest day of the tour, and used it to do a few key things.  First, I got myself to a podiatrist to have my ankle looked at.  They took x-rays to make sure that nothing was fractured, and ultimately decided that I was experiencing a mild bout of tendinitis.  The cause being overuse of the muscle and my idiotic neglect of stretching.  The doctor gave me these topical patches that magically make the pain go away almost entirely.  The one mile walk home from the doctor's office was significantly less painful than the walk there!  With that problem solved, I checked to see if the Suns were playing that night and sure enough they were.  Thirty dollars later I had a beautiful nosebleed seat.  Most importantly of all, I enjoyed an epic pregame meal at Chipotle.  It's my favorite food and I haven't had it in over a month, far to long for an addict.

Day 9 [Wickenburg, AZ]

Wow, I don't even know what to write about today!  Arizona has just been perfect so far.  You'd be hard pressed to find one thing to complain about when it comes to riding your bike here.  There are no clouds in the sky, the shoulders are wide, and there is an abundance of roadside shrubbery to pee on.  I chugged along another 55 miles today on Arizona's flat and desolate Route 60.  I suppose the most exciting news for today is that I have finally settled on a name for my bronze Trek.  It was the first name that jumped into my head a week ago in San Diego, and I figured I'd give it a week or so to see if I could think of anything I liked better.  Well I haven't so I decided to stick with: (drum roll)......"Fiona".  Don't ask me why, all I can tell you is that's what she wants to be called.  So we can all go ahead and move on with our lives now since that monumental decision has been settled.  Tomorrow I'll be in Phoenix.  Hopefully I'll have a place to stay by the time I get there.  I also have decided to take a well deserved rest day in Phoenix, so don't think I'm dead if I don't update this for a couple of days!  As for tonight I have my tent set up in the Aztec RV Park, which is across the street from the McDonald's that I am typing this from right now.  It dawned on me today that I've yet to show any pictures of my campsites, so without further ado, my home away from home.

Day 8 [Salome, AZ]

It was a milestone kind of day for me today in a couple of ways.   First off I felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment when I broke my first state border.  The first few days of this trip were pretty rough on me.  I hadn't trained enough and as a result was not in good enough shape for the task ahead.  I sort of chose the train-as-you-go method and paid the price for it.  Now, eight days in, it's safe to say that I'm catching my stride.  My legs are recovering quicker, and I'm finding it much easier to get excited to ride when I wake up in the morning.  The second milestone I reached today was kind of my realization of the above.  Let me explain how it hit me.  About 22 miles into my ride today I reached the town where I had planned to camp called Quartszite, Arizona.  I set my sights pretty low for today because I assumed I'd still be recovering from my 70 mile ride two days prior.  While eating lunch before heading to the campground I realized that I felt great.  My legs seemed fresh, my energy level was high, and really the only thing that hurt was my ass because the seat that I bought a few days ago is even worse than the one it replaced.  So I headed onward another 40 miles until I reached the next campground on the map.  All this stuff put together kind of renewed a faith in myself that I had been lacking since starting the tour.  Tonight I'm sleeping in the Salome RV park.  Five bucks for camping and a shower (and even WiFi).  Can't beat that.

Day 7 [Blythe, CA]

The legs were totally gassed when I woke up.  I struggled tremendously to make it 22 miles to the next town today.  The headwinds didn't help either, and I could only manage about an 8 mph pace.  The scenery, however, was awesome as I rode through mostly farmlands.  I stopped and took a picture of a white dog herding his sheep.  This stretch of road was pretty car free, in fact I think there were more tractors driving around than anything else.  After annihilating a Pizza Hut buffet I checked into a Days Inn so I could take a hot bath, stretch, and update the blog.  Tomorrow is going to be a major milestone for me as I break through my first state border and enter into Arizona.  It blows my mind that I will be in Phoenix in just four or five days!   

Day 6 [Palo Verde, CA]

Day six was crazy in every way.  From the ridiculously hard 70 mile ride through undesirable conditions, to the evening fun I had in the 200 person town of Palo Verde.  Let's start with the ride.  I was on the saddle by 8:45 in the morning, and I arrived at my destination at 6pm.  The total actual time spent pedaling was a whopping 7 hours and 30 minutes!  The ride began innocently enough, with a 10 mile flat ride.  Everything after that was a nightmare.  I next entered the dunes, which looked like this:

Looks all warm and fun and you would almost expect Jasmine to fly by on a magic carpet, right?  Well in actuality it was pure evil.  It was cold and very windy.  I quickly learned that sand + wind = god damn it.  Quite often I'd get a nice serving of sand in my eyes and mouth.  This went on for 15 or 20 miles and then came the rolling hills that lasted nearly the remainder of the day.  For about 5 miles I caught a bit of downhill, but there was no coasting as the wind was strong enough to negate gravity's good side.  Just when I thought I was going to die, I was blessed with 5 more miles of rolling hills that brought me limping into town.  

It was nearly dark when I arrived, but since I was starving I went to the town restaurant before heading to the campground.  Setting up my tent in the dark didn't sound nearly as bad as going another 30 seconds without eating at that point.  The restaurant was the only food in town, and in fact, was the only place to get food I had seen since leaving Brawley 70 miles ago.  There were about five other people in that restaurant, all sitting at the bar, and I quickly befriended all of them.  Above is Ed, a Swift truck driver who gave me a tour of his big rig.  Down at one end of the bar was a man playing the harmonica, and then there was a man named Jackie, whom was either really drunk or really crazy.  Either way he was quite entertaining.  Most importantly there was a woman named Janie there who had seen me earlier in the day while she was working to install fiber-optics cables on the side of the highway.  I don't recall seeing her, but this was due to the fact that I had my head down and was probably cursing the entire world as I rode by.  Anyway, Janie was super kind and paid for my entire dinner.  When I was getting ready to leave and go set up camp, she offered to let me sleep at her place instead and I graciously accepted.  I got some much needed rest as a result of this random act of kindness.  Thank you, Janie!

Day 5 [Brawley, CA]

Very short day today.  So little riding that it almost felt pointless, but it was necessary.  Tomorrow will be much easier as a 65 mile day instead of an 85 mile day thanks to the 20 miles I put in today.  The flat roads (while temporary) are super fun.  It's nice to just cruise along at 15 mph without putting in much energy.  Roads like these let you really take in the scenery.  There's a high wind alert going on in the California and Arizona desert today starting in the afternoon, so I got the miles in early.  We're talking 40-60 mph winds here, so that's no joke.  Tomorrow the wind will subside and I should see pretty ideal riding conditions.  I was checked into a motel here in town by 10:30 in the morning, so I should have plenty of time to rest up for my biggest day yet!

Day 4 [El Centro, CA]

 All the work that I've done the past three days was released today like a wound-up toy car.  This is a picture of the start of what would be a 10 mile long descent down the other side of the mountain.  It felt unbelievable. It pretty much made the last three days worth it just to not have to pedal for 10 free and fast miles.  My only gripe?  I had to pull over a few times because my hands got sore from giving the brakes plenty of lovin'.  In the end it all added up to a 55 mile day.  Here in El Centro I did a couple of things.  First and foremost I ate at the In-N-Out Burger right next to my motel.  They are only in California, and I am nearly out of California.  When in Rome, right?  Secondly, I stopped by the bike shop and swapped out my seat for a more comfortable one.  I am sick and tired of peeling my old seat out of my crack every time I dismount.  The best news is that I am feeling better, and hopefully won't need any drugs to heal me up.  Tomorrow is a short day, about 20 miles into the small town of Brawley.  I have to chop it up this way because the day after that is a 65 mile ride to Palo Verde, CA.  There are absolutely no services in between Brawley and Palo Verde, so I need to pack a ton of water.  

Day 3 [Boulevard, CA]

I'm not one to make excuses (okay yes I am), but you see that mountain on the left side of the page?  That's been the first three days of the tour.  It's well known to be the most difficult portion of the entire trip, so thank  God I am almost through it.  These steep hills are pretty wild to do on a bicycle, and even crazier to do on a bike with an extra 50 pounds of gear loaded on it!  Tomorrow I'll have a couple short climbs followed by an epic downhill and finally a pretty straight shot into El Centro, CA.  This will be the first big town I've seen since leaving San Diego, and it's coming just in time because I may need to visit a doctor there.  This illness isn't getting any better, and I'm starting to suspect that antibiotics may be needed to fix me up.  Tomorrow I either book 50 miles, or I sleep on the side of the road - there's nothing in between here and there.  Better get some rest.

Day 2 [Pine Valley, CA]

Good lord my legs were burning today on the continous 16 mile climb from Alpine to Pine Valley.  As soon as I got into town I knew I wasn't going to make it another 20 miles to my original goal of Live Oak Springs.  There's a motel in town, but I've been spending too much money on those already.  No camp grounds are available in town, so I stopped by a county park and found the park ranger who I puppy dogged into letting me camp there tonight.  The only catch is that I have to wait until the park closes at 6pm before setting up my tent.  Pretty freaking awesome.  Touring around town I chatted with a few locals about the trip, and they all told me that I just took care of the biggest climb I'd see for awhile.  In addition, a man in the diner I ate breakfast at this morning happens to own a bed & breakfast in Lousiana, 90 miles west of New Orleans.  We exchanged e-mails and he offered to let me stay there for as long as I need for free once I get there!  Tomorrow should be a big day as long as these twin turbines I call legs can recover tonight.  And note to self: start wearing sunscreen.

Day 1 (for real this time) [Alpine, CA]

Still a bit sick, but managed to get the journey underway today.  I left my new buddy Marty's house at 9am today and managed to make it 40 miles inland from Ocean Beach and rose about 2000 feet in elevation.  Stopped in a town called Alpine even though I wasn't spent for the day because the next 15 miles of my route climbs another 2000 feet of elevation.  Tomorrow night I plan on sleeping at a campground about 35 miles East of here.  Not too much interesting stuff to report today, just me pedaling my ass off and trying to think of a name for my bike (suggestions?).  I did manage to snap a bunch of photos of me and her standing in the Pacific Ocean before I set off.  Notice my hair, which hasn't been this short since I was like 10 years old.

San Diego

Well somewhere between my 3 hours of sleep on Monday night and the urine and feces filled elevators of the San Francisco subway I contracted some sort of virus.  Tuesday morning we left camp and rode about 20 miles to get on the subway, which took us to David's house in Berkeley.  We relaxed and spent the night there and I made reservations for a train that would take me to San Diego.  California 1, at least at this section of Cali and in conjunction with this time of year, proved to be somewhat of an expert level trail.  My brother, who had planned to ride all the way to San Diego with me, is only 3 months into his recovery from a broken leg.  He didn't know how it was going to hold up, but it started to hurt him a bit.  The bike he was using was also in need of a serious rebuild as it was the one that he took cross country a few years ago.  That bike was not ideal for serious hills.  After 12 hours of train and bus rides in which I felt woozy and had chills I arrived in San Diego.  I checked into the nearest motel and passed right out.  This morning I'm feeling better, but I still need at least one more night to recover before setting off east.  Luckily, my brother hooked me up with one of his friends who happens to live about half a mile from where my route begins and he will be putting me up tonight.  Highlight of the miserable train ride yesterday was when a random guy saw me rolling my bike down the isle of the Amtrak.  I guess he saw my gigantic panniers (bike bags) and this led him to stop me and chat me up for a few minutes.  He asked how far I was riding, so I chuckled a bit and said "Florida".  He proceeded to tell me just how awesome he thought this venture was, and that he wished he had done such a trip in his youth.  That was the end of the conversation, but when I went to grab my bike from the rack before leaving the train I found a business card on it with a little note on the back.