November 1- like the 13th
Break time! I wanted to stay a week, but Fuji took 10 days to get my a replacement wheel. I'd chronicle these days, but they mostly involved Batman Arkham Asylum (amazing), Halo ODST, entirely too much Korean BBQ, LOTS of netflix, all of dexter, and some visits with Naveen.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
My costume? Dirty bicyclist!
October 31
I head out the crack of daylight and head out, with the mindset, the second I break another spoke, I'm hitchiking to san fran. Sure enough, 1 mile into the ride, PING. I had my bike down and thumb out within 30 seconds. I got a series of rides from cool people, and one dude in a BMW drove me SIXTY miles. First of all, he was driving like 70 around blind corners and if there had been bikers on the road, they would have died. Second, who picks up a biker when you're in a Beemer? No way I would. Scratch the leather! He told me all about the vineyards that we passed by, letting me know the inside scoop on the good the bad and the just plain cheap. Once I got off the 1 and near the 101, hitchhiking was a waste of time. Whereas before I only waited for 5 minutes at a time, in 2 hours I got no nibbles. So I took a bus from santa rosa to san fran with the biggest dick of a bus driver possible.
And yes, I crossed the Golden Gate bridge in a bus. It upset me, but I'm not superman. I would have liked to have done the real deal, but I was at my breaking point due to the wheel. Peter picked me up at the gate and took some pictures in the fading sunset of me raising my dilapidated bike in triumph.
Trick or treating didn't happen. I smelled so bad that there was no chance anyone would give me candy. I mean, isnt that what CVS is for the day after?
I head out the crack of daylight and head out, with the mindset, the second I break another spoke, I'm hitchiking to san fran. Sure enough, 1 mile into the ride, PING. I had my bike down and thumb out within 30 seconds. I got a series of rides from cool people, and one dude in a BMW drove me SIXTY miles. First of all, he was driving like 70 around blind corners and if there had been bikers on the road, they would have died. Second, who picks up a biker when you're in a Beemer? No way I would. Scratch the leather! He told me all about the vineyards that we passed by, letting me know the inside scoop on the good the bad and the just plain cheap. Once I got off the 1 and near the 101, hitchhiking was a waste of time. Whereas before I only waited for 5 minutes at a time, in 2 hours I got no nibbles. So I took a bus from santa rosa to san fran with the biggest dick of a bus driver possible.
And yes, I crossed the Golden Gate bridge in a bus. It upset me, but I'm not superman. I would have liked to have done the real deal, but I was at my breaking point due to the wheel. Peter picked me up at the gate and took some pictures in the fading sunset of me raising my dilapidated bike in triumph.
Trick or treating didn't happen. I smelled so bad that there was no chance anyone would give me candy. I mean, isnt that what CVS is for the day after?
October 30
A guy in the campsite said there was an 8:15 bus a 1 minute walk away which turned out to not exist. So I walked 2 miles to town to miss the bus into fort brag by 2 minutes, with a 3 hour wait till the next one. Hitchhiking time! Within 5 minutes a lady picked me up in a minivan and proceeded to recite poetry from memory and speaking about love and faith. And then she gave me a hug after the ride. Perfect! Haha. The wheel needed to be replaced, and it turned out the shop guy was going to receive a shipment "sometime between 1 and 4. Waiting time. Hey, I'll just go to the library. I mean, it's a Friday, right?
And right next to the closed friday sign is a little image of a dollar bill being cut by scissors. Because, of course, libraries are closed on fridays in such a budget crisis. Yay! So I decided to buy a journal... from a toy shop, and some sharpies. Then I grabbed a piece of cardboard from behind CVS and decided to make a decorated hitchiking sign. Because I was pretty fed up with bike repairs at that point. I made a pretty badass looking sign, with people giving me the "hey I think that's a bum" look.
Eventually, I went back to the shop at 3. The owner started bring boxes in, so I decided to offer a hand. It turns out "i have a shipment coming in between 1 and 4" meant "i have a shipment the size of a small house coming in between 1 and 4." And I was the hired help. 1 hour of carrying in boxes upon boxes of bikes, I got my tire for a 30 dollar discount! Sweeeeet. I take a bus back to the campsite cause the mist is so think I would be invisible. I had a nice conversation with a meth head though, and by conversation I mean trying to not get the guy to kill me. Apparently, according to him, my sister's name is Melissa. On my way back i get a carton of real milk (omg not dry milk) for cereal and an entire coffee cake, which I cannot finish. What's left is given as an offering of "wow" to another group of campers who spearfished 2 catfish weighing over 5 pounds each. Sleepytime.
A guy in the campsite said there was an 8:15 bus a 1 minute walk away which turned out to not exist. So I walked 2 miles to town to miss the bus into fort brag by 2 minutes, with a 3 hour wait till the next one. Hitchhiking time! Within 5 minutes a lady picked me up in a minivan and proceeded to recite poetry from memory and speaking about love and faith. And then she gave me a hug after the ride. Perfect! Haha. The wheel needed to be replaced, and it turned out the shop guy was going to receive a shipment "sometime between 1 and 4. Waiting time. Hey, I'll just go to the library. I mean, it's a Friday, right?
And right next to the closed friday sign is a little image of a dollar bill being cut by scissors. Because, of course, libraries are closed on fridays in such a budget crisis. Yay! So I decided to buy a journal... from a toy shop, and some sharpies. Then I grabbed a piece of cardboard from behind CVS and decided to make a decorated hitchiking sign. Because I was pretty fed up with bike repairs at that point. I made a pretty badass looking sign, with people giving me the "hey I think that's a bum" look.
Eventually, I went back to the shop at 3. The owner started bring boxes in, so I decided to offer a hand. It turns out "i have a shipment coming in between 1 and 4" meant "i have a shipment the size of a small house coming in between 1 and 4." And I was the hired help. 1 hour of carrying in boxes upon boxes of bikes, I got my tire for a 30 dollar discount! Sweeeeet. I take a bus back to the campsite cause the mist is so think I would be invisible. I had a nice conversation with a meth head though, and by conversation I mean trying to not get the guy to kill me. Apparently, according to him, my sister's name is Melissa. On my way back i get a carton of real milk (omg not dry milk) for cereal and an entire coffee cake, which I cannot finish. What's left is given as an offering of "wow" to another group of campers who spearfished 2 catfish weighing over 5 pounds each. Sleepytime.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Leggett hill owned
October 29
I know this day is going to be painful. The altitude section of this map says there's a 1500 foot climb around leggett. My campsite is nearby so I know it's going to be a fun start again (/sarcasm). On the way up I run into Stephen again, smoking and coughing his lungs up. Three times. Now this guy is basically riding with a $100 bike, bottles of sunkist filled with water, and a blanket. He apparently ran out of food, so will have to take a bus the remainder of the journey. So much for my chance encounters with Stephen. I really regret not taking pictures of people like stephen or jaime or other friends along the way, but it feels weird to ask others for pictures. Kind of makes me feel like I'm taking a picture of the novelty of who they represent instead of who they are.
Anyways, so I get to leggett and I'm on state highway 1! Apparently it's not called PCH here but shoreline highway... and I'm confused, cause there's no big hill. I mean, there's been a lot of gradual uphill the last 10 miles but nothing big. BAM, 5 miles of windy, windy uphill with blind corners and logging trucks. Whenever I hear a distant rumble, I get off my bike and just hug the side of the road. Probably saved my life in a few situations. The problem with these hills is you just never know when they're going to end. Hope is all you have. The downhill of this was aaamazing. For the entire 1500 foot descent there were no cars going my direction, and I definitely did not abide by the 20 mph speed limit. First, my brakes would have died in 2 minutes if I slowed down to 20 mph. But most importantly, there was no way I did an hour long climb so I could go 20 miles per hour. I zipped around corners, being as efficient with maneuvering as possible, as I learned from hours of playing Cruisin' USA. Sweet downhill, right? And then a painful uphill again. Arrrgh. At this point in my trip, I'm feeling the onset of a cold, so I'm getting pretty grumpy. The wind is kind of howling so I can barely hear the rumble of logging trucks as WAM one rushing around a corner and i fling my bike into a cliff wall. Screw that, I can't hear, and I'm not about to die to a logging truck, so I walk the rest of the climb for safety's sake. The descent then was not nearly as sweet.
Back to the ocean. Beautiful views of the Pacific once again. Met a guy who was on a solo mountain bike ride going north to Seattle, and actually taking majority mountain bike routes. Insane. There were also lots of beautiful homes on the left side of the road, and one single home on the right which I can only assume belongs to a multimillionaire or mob boss... or both. I pass through towns I would never stop at.... ever. Today was my discovery that cheetos go amazingly with peanut butter sandwiches. This tided me over till I got to Fort Bragg, where, you guessed it, I had to get my wheel adjusted at the bike shop. I head to McDonalds on the way out of town, surprise surprise, and am on my way when 5 miles later I break another spoke. At this point, I'm cursing the universe and everything in it, when I get passed by an entire family on one bicycle. They had the seat on the back of the bike, a trailer with a kid on it, and a sit on the front of the bike, not a dual bike, but a seat in front of the handlebars, which also had peddles and gears. Balllllller. I'm slightly less pissed off, and get to ANOTHER bike shop at 4:45, but they're about to close and dont have time to solve my life problems. There's a campsite 2 miles down the road so I think, hell, I can ride that far and just come back tomorrow.
Wrong. 400 meters later my wheel blows up. Like, practically blows up. A gaping hole 1 inch long. It's walking time. And a lady stops and drives me and my bike to the campsite. She even offers me a place in her house for the night, but I smell like ass and don't want to impose (raccoons have stolen my soap twice already and I havent replaced it and as such don't really clean very well. at least they won't curse anymore). At the site I meet a couple who have had a couple rough days mountain biking in the middle of nowhere. And the really weird meeting. When I got dropped off in Arcata, there was a guy who was also in the car with me hitchhiking who was at this campsite. Crazy coincidence. He's hitching around the area in his free time after his summer job in Washington had an encounter with Fall. But hell, I'm tired so it's bedtime... 7:30 mmhmm mhmm good.
I can't tell you how frustrating it is to be on good pace and be tearing up the roads and consistently be stopped dead in my tracks by bike problems. I had gone 50 miles by noon, which would have meant 100 miles today! Instead, I went 60 miles total. It's like some deity doesn't want me to feel accomplished by making good time.
I know this day is going to be painful. The altitude section of this map says there's a 1500 foot climb around leggett. My campsite is nearby so I know it's going to be a fun start again (/sarcasm). On the way up I run into Stephen again, smoking and coughing his lungs up. Three times. Now this guy is basically riding with a $100 bike, bottles of sunkist filled with water, and a blanket. He apparently ran out of food, so will have to take a bus the remainder of the journey. So much for my chance encounters with Stephen. I really regret not taking pictures of people like stephen or jaime or other friends along the way, but it feels weird to ask others for pictures. Kind of makes me feel like I'm taking a picture of the novelty of who they represent instead of who they are.
Anyways, so I get to leggett and I'm on state highway 1! Apparently it's not called PCH here but shoreline highway... and I'm confused, cause there's no big hill. I mean, there's been a lot of gradual uphill the last 10 miles but nothing big. BAM, 5 miles of windy, windy uphill with blind corners and logging trucks. Whenever I hear a distant rumble, I get off my bike and just hug the side of the road. Probably saved my life in a few situations. The problem with these hills is you just never know when they're going to end. Hope is all you have. The downhill of this was aaamazing. For the entire 1500 foot descent there were no cars going my direction, and I definitely did not abide by the 20 mph speed limit. First, my brakes would have died in 2 minutes if I slowed down to 20 mph. But most importantly, there was no way I did an hour long climb so I could go 20 miles per hour. I zipped around corners, being as efficient with maneuvering as possible, as I learned from hours of playing Cruisin' USA. Sweet downhill, right? And then a painful uphill again. Arrrgh. At this point in my trip, I'm feeling the onset of a cold, so I'm getting pretty grumpy. The wind is kind of howling so I can barely hear the rumble of logging trucks as WAM one rushing around a corner and i fling my bike into a cliff wall. Screw that, I can't hear, and I'm not about to die to a logging truck, so I walk the rest of the climb for safety's sake. The descent then was not nearly as sweet.
Back to the ocean. Beautiful views of the Pacific once again. Met a guy who was on a solo mountain bike ride going north to Seattle, and actually taking majority mountain bike routes. Insane. There were also lots of beautiful homes on the left side of the road, and one single home on the right which I can only assume belongs to a multimillionaire or mob boss... or both. I pass through towns I would never stop at.... ever. Today was my discovery that cheetos go amazingly with peanut butter sandwiches. This tided me over till I got to Fort Bragg, where, you guessed it, I had to get my wheel adjusted at the bike shop. I head to McDonalds on the way out of town, surprise surprise, and am on my way when 5 miles later I break another spoke. At this point, I'm cursing the universe and everything in it, when I get passed by an entire family on one bicycle. They had the seat on the back of the bike, a trailer with a kid on it, and a sit on the front of the bike, not a dual bike, but a seat in front of the handlebars, which also had peddles and gears. Balllllller. I'm slightly less pissed off, and get to ANOTHER bike shop at 4:45, but they're about to close and dont have time to solve my life problems. There's a campsite 2 miles down the road so I think, hell, I can ride that far and just come back tomorrow.
Wrong. 400 meters later my wheel blows up. Like, practically blows up. A gaping hole 1 inch long. It's walking time. And a lady stops and drives me and my bike to the campsite. She even offers me a place in her house for the night, but I smell like ass and don't want to impose (raccoons have stolen my soap twice already and I havent replaced it and as such don't really clean very well. at least they won't curse anymore). At the site I meet a couple who have had a couple rough days mountain biking in the middle of nowhere. And the really weird meeting. When I got dropped off in Arcata, there was a guy who was also in the car with me hitchhiking who was at this campsite. Crazy coincidence. He's hitching around the area in his free time after his summer job in Washington had an encounter with Fall. But hell, I'm tired so it's bedtime... 7:30 mmhmm mhmm good.
I can't tell you how frustrating it is to be on good pace and be tearing up the roads and consistently be stopped dead in my tracks by bike problems. I had gone 50 miles by noon, which would have meant 100 miles today! Instead, I went 60 miles total. It's like some deity doesn't want me to feel accomplished by making good time.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Vagabond day
October 28
I know there's a bike shop in garberville, 30 miles away, so I haul ass there to find that no, it's not a bike shop, but a sporting goods store with a bike shop open every monday. It's tuesday... or something. Heck, I have no idea what day it is anymore. I see two people in beige colored clothing with beige packs on their bikes and come over to talk to them. They have a sign up saying "Cancer surviver. NEED WORK." This is Jaime and her boyfriend, two young people who have lived the bike vagabond lifestyle for 6 years. Last year the guy had testicular cancer and overcame it, but they've had hard times since. Wonderful people.
So Lance armstrong had testicular cancer and this guy did too. Now i'm afraid I will too. Oh crap.
I bike some more and run into Stephen again! I pass and get to a basically empty campsite just short of a huge, daunting hill. There's a small grocery store across the street (in the middle of nowhere) and I grab some chocolate milk which i've been craving for a while and two ice cream bars. The lady was really nice and gave me some free, very hearty soup made from veggies from her garden. Contented, I pass out.
I know there's a bike shop in garberville, 30 miles away, so I haul ass there to find that no, it's not a bike shop, but a sporting goods store with a bike shop open every monday. It's tuesday... or something. Heck, I have no idea what day it is anymore. I see two people in beige colored clothing with beige packs on their bikes and come over to talk to them. They have a sign up saying "Cancer surviver. NEED WORK." This is Jaime and her boyfriend, two young people who have lived the bike vagabond lifestyle for 6 years. Last year the guy had testicular cancer and overcame it, but they've had hard times since. Wonderful people.
So Lance armstrong had testicular cancer and this guy did too. Now i'm afraid I will too. Oh crap.
I bike some more and run into Stephen again! I pass and get to a basically empty campsite just short of a huge, daunting hill. There's a small grocery store across the street (in the middle of nowhere) and I grab some chocolate milk which i've been craving for a while and two ice cream bars. The lady was really nice and gave me some free, very hearty soup made from veggies from her garden. Contented, I pass out.
Widowmaker threat
October 27
I need another break cause my spirits are down, but I replace the spoke and true the wheel as best as I best I can. And what better place to take a break than the redwoods. It's a wonderful tailwind south, which would be a perfect day for hardcore riding, but decide to stay instead. Jacob and I bike 7 miles to grab some food (it's funny how a 14 mile bike ride is a leisurely pleasure ride now) and get to the drive through tree, which bikes have to pay 3 dollars to bike through. Seriously? Why is that something you have to pay for? But I have a meal of Annies mac and cheese to look forward to!
I'm sitting at my campsite doing some work on my bike, and SLAM a 10 foot tree branch falls right next to me. Holy shit. If that fell on me, I'd be screwed, or scewered i guess. So I pop on my bike helmet and go for a walk. No way I'm staying there. On a walk in a grove, I find out those fallen branches are called widowmakers, cause, well, that's what they do. A great walk, a great meal, a great campfire. Wonderful rest day
I need another break cause my spirits are down, but I replace the spoke and true the wheel as best as I best I can. And what better place to take a break than the redwoods. It's a wonderful tailwind south, which would be a perfect day for hardcore riding, but decide to stay instead. Jacob and I bike 7 miles to grab some food (it's funny how a 14 mile bike ride is a leisurely pleasure ride now) and get to the drive through tree, which bikes have to pay 3 dollars to bike through. Seriously? Why is that something you have to pay for? But I have a meal of Annies mac and cheese to look forward to!
I'm sitting at my campsite doing some work on my bike, and SLAM a 10 foot tree branch falls right next to me. Holy shit. If that fell on me, I'd be screwed, or scewered i guess. So I pop on my bike helmet and go for a walk. No way I'm staying there. On a walk in a grove, I find out those fallen branches are called widowmakers, cause, well, that's what they do. A great walk, a great meal, a great campfire. Wonderful rest day
Loss of contact
October 26
Keith's son decides to watch superbad in the morning, which I cannot refuse, and I leave by 12. The first 10 miles are a terrible start as I simply cannot go faster than 10 mph. I stop at a viewpoint to figure out whether I passed an exit and MY PHONE's GONE. Oh shit. I ask some dude at to borrow his phone, and it rings then voicemail. Oh shit. I bike back faster than I've ever biked 10 miles and it's not at the guys house. I call again and instant voicemail. Oh crap, is it run over? I bike around like a lunatic trying to find it, make a report at the police office, check a church that I stopped in front of in the way.
I was defeated. This was the low point of my trip by far. I'd had bike problems the entire journey that have slowed me down and now this. But I keep going... and another goddamn spoke breaks. I'm so sick of that shit. 8 spokes breaking in 7 days. So now I have to walk the 12 miles to the campsite in the redwoods. I'm stopped on the side of the road in shelter from the rain. Oh yeah, it's raining, when a guy bikes up. Meet Stephen. Stephen's a bike vagabond who's been on the road for god knows how long. We chat for a while and he goes off and it's time to keep walking.
When a spoke breaks, the tension caused by peddling untrues the wheel further, so during flat sections i barney rubbled it. I had one foot on a peddle and then propelled myself on the ground with the other. On hills I road it out, and eventually got to Weott. Right as I approach the campsite in the utter darkness, Holly and Jacob come up behind me! Sleep time in a hiker biker. Oh how i love $5 campsites.
Keith's son decides to watch superbad in the morning, which I cannot refuse, and I leave by 12. The first 10 miles are a terrible start as I simply cannot go faster than 10 mph. I stop at a viewpoint to figure out whether I passed an exit and MY PHONE's GONE. Oh shit. I ask some dude at to borrow his phone, and it rings then voicemail. Oh shit. I bike back faster than I've ever biked 10 miles and it's not at the guys house. I call again and instant voicemail. Oh crap, is it run over? I bike around like a lunatic trying to find it, make a report at the police office, check a church that I stopped in front of in the way.
I was defeated. This was the low point of my trip by far. I'd had bike problems the entire journey that have slowed me down and now this. But I keep going... and another goddamn spoke breaks. I'm so sick of that shit. 8 spokes breaking in 7 days. So now I have to walk the 12 miles to the campsite in the redwoods. I'm stopped on the side of the road in shelter from the rain. Oh yeah, it's raining, when a guy bikes up. Meet Stephen. Stephen's a bike vagabond who's been on the road for god knows how long. We chat for a while and he goes off and it's time to keep walking.
When a spoke breaks, the tension caused by peddling untrues the wheel further, so during flat sections i barney rubbled it. I had one foot on a peddle and then propelled myself on the ground with the other. On hills I road it out, and eventually got to Weott. Right as I approach the campsite in the utter darkness, Holly and Jacob come up behind me! Sleep time in a hiker biker. Oh how i love $5 campsites.
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