Just another day

Back to the American Dream...today I went to Costco...tomorrow I blow my brains out :)

Seriously though, going to Walmart or Costco, or any of these mega consumer institutions fill me with such great anxiety. I have to act like a complete screw loose to survive it. But we went home with our toilet paper from unsustainable sources, and poor tasting, but none the less cheap hummus.

God save the queen

Anyhow, Danzig, DaNzig, DANZIG.  That is all, if you ain't listened to Danzig.

On a side note...Eat a dick Adobe.

Finished....

My friend just asked me how it felt to be done biking...I was about to answer that it was good, some time to reflect and relax. I have been feeling a bit ragged since I pushed 300 miles in 3 days....Instead I answered that I am not finished cycling, hiking, or traveling. This portion of the trip is coming to a close, but I still have many adventures ahead of me.

 So the next adventure is getting back to San Diego. I have a potential rideshare north from Cabo to SD. Unfortunately the driver wants to leave on Monday morning, which gives me only 2 days in San Jose... This might be a good thing because Del Cabo is a vortex. But my friend Robert is supposed to teach me the harmonica, he really liked the set I brought down for him :)

 I will be driving back east in Kingsley, my veggie oil converted Mercedes.

My friend Rosey, the talented blogger of SDDialedIn wants to make the trip to Austin Texas for the South by South West music festival/conference.

So I have some work to do on Kingsley 'Squishey Bang' Zissou. I need to get rid of the bang part of his title, which is a driveshaft issue. Hopefully my friends at Petroworks Offroad in Fallbrook, CA will let me use the shop and tools to get Kingsley up for the 3,000 mile trip. 

So the list:

-Fix Driveshaft

-Find a set of white walls tires

-Find a roof rack/cargo box for my bicycle

-Locate more WVO (waste veggie oil) for the trip), I found this site called Fill up for 4 Free. 

And for the Life Aquatic theme:

-Tint the windows (and leave untinted portholes on each window)

-More red beanies/blue track suits

-Zissou Decals for the doors

-Mini flags on the front fenders

-Get my red velvet Jesus bank sent in, je'sus always rides shotgun

So close..

1,015 miles on the bike computer, and I am in Cabo San Lucas! I am staying with a friend, eating stir fry and taking it easy. Tomorrow I bike east to San Jose del Cabo for the finish line. So close...

Boats,Mountains, & Vultures

Got my 100 :) and now I sleep. Sweet dreams y'all.

Nima aka Linus Cloudbuster

Hey All,

I am sore! The good kind of sore, the muscles thoroughly worked kinda sore. I reunited with my bicycle on friday night after a great day of hitching. I caught a single ride from El Rosario to Mulege. I rode in a beat up Ford Escort which was being flat towed behind a truck.

It was like having auto pilot, while I sat back and read Dune. I did however forget my fresh peanut butter and bike jersery. Hot mess I am.

So saturday I hit the road after staying with Gary on El Coyote playa. Thank you Gary, and sorry for the drama.

I put in my longest day, 85 miles, and it felt great. Going solo has been such a freeing experience. I had a great dinner with an investigative journalist on Juncalito beach, and in the morning I pedaled over to Puerto Econdido to check out the boats. I ended up running into a group from the Green Bay area, and we had a great breakfast and conversations. Thanks again yall, hope to see you again soon. Anyhow my damned memory card is on the fritz and I lost all my photos from the last two days :(

I biked from Loreto to Insurgentes yesterday through the 'Sierra Grande' which was challenging, and was met with headwinds for 30 miles. Did i mention this was fun? I luckily met some folks and they put me up in there restaurant, because it gets close to freezing down here, and I don't have a tent anymore. I was woken at 5:15am by the cooks. So i type this as I sit on the throne... Do you feel dirty for reading this now? :)

I attempt a 145 mile day into La Paz, wish me luck

A good day

Sorry for the lack of updates, but things have been a bit chaotic. Let me give you the short of it. I am in Rosario in Baja California Norte, why am I back in the norte? Because I did something a bit out of character, and went back to San Diego for less then 24 hours. I needed to get some supplies for the bike, and most importantly to see my friend Dani. She flew out yesterday to Hawaii, and other destinations unknown (I hope India or south east Asia). I jumped on a bus after my cycling partner Chris decided it best to part ways at Coyote beach south of Mulege BCS.

 

The bus ride north was expensive and long, the bus broke down in San Vincente. I awoke at 3 am to the sound of a diesel engine, and the sounds of metal hammering metal. The driver and his associate were banging on something in the rear of the bus, with the engine compartment door open, letting all the noise and fumes throughout the cabin.

Well, instead of getting into Tijuana at 6am, I got into Tijuana at 12pm Mexican time :)

I was pretty bummed, because I barely had enough time to get my supplies, as I only intended to be in town for 24 hours. So I didn't get a new memory card, and my current card likes to eat photos and spit them out as a big fat X. I also didn't get the chance to see anyone that I miss dearly, so sorry I didn't call yall, but I couldn't be distracted from my mission. Bike the damn Baja! No quitters here.

So I had a great time in SD, but it was very hectic. I walked across the TJ border late on Wednesday praying to Ganesha, the remover of obstacles.

I was so unsure of what to do once I was in TJ, it is not a good place to be at night, especially if you stick out like a sore thumb like I did. I just trusted that things would work out, if not I was going to retreat to San Diego and stay with a friend. Anyhow as soon as I was over the border, I ran into a Mexican who told me that I could get a bus into downtown. From the downtown I could either look for a trucker at the market, or catch a taxi to Rosario where the M-1 and the 1-D meet. So I ended up in El Rosario via taxi, and spent several hours trying to get rides. I was having very little luck, and was growing very disheartened. I just wasn't in the head space for the bi-polar feelings that come with hitch-hiking.

However, I did run into a guy at the Pemex gas station, who recommended another gas station that was down the road a few miles. He was so kind and sympathetic, I was walking away when he pulled up and gave me 20 pesos. I told him I couldn't accept, as I didn't need it. Granted I don't have much money, and the adventure north to SD cost me about $300, but I still have money in my account. I was just hitching to save money for my road trip back east, or whatever else wants to take my hard earned dollars down the road. So he told me to take the money, and to help someone else down the road. I accepted: As they say on the trail, Pay it Forward.

I did pay it forward, I met a guy who was digging through the trash at the gas station. I was asking people for rides, and this young guy whos father I had asked for a ride with, came over and asked me why I was in the cold at 9pm at night. I told him I was trying to get to Ensenada, where I was going to crash on a friends couch. He said he wasn't heading that way, but he offered me a Fanta, and some more money. I once again declined the money, but accepted the can of pop. The guy was digging through the trash when I returned, and I started talking to him, his English wasn't bad. He found some coffee that someone had left on the table,a nice table dive, but no food. I started to make myself a peanut butter and Bavarian bread sandwich, and he asked if he could have one. So I made him a big heaping PB sandwich, and he really enjoyed it. I then thought about the money I was given to pay forward, so I gave it to him. Thinking back on it, I wish I had just bought him some food, as I am unsure what he would have used the money on. :(


I ended up getting a ride to Ensenada from some college guys who drove way to fast. My shoes really smell, I shouldn't have used them without socks. Good way to ruin a pair of beautiful  Brooks trail runners. I just bought some foot powder, hopefully that will help with the funk. 

Or maybe its Jazz baby.... Check out Rob Longstaff... Much love Rob


Anyhow, I got to Ensenada crashed on my couch surfing friends.. you guessed it couch. Thank you Adrianna and Marion for putting me up late notice.

I awoke rested, had my grapefruit and a cup of green tea, and chatted with Marion about this, that, and the importance of honesty with those you love. Not easy to find. I started walking to the bus, and just had a sense of joy about my hitching adventure, which wasn't present before. The sun was shining, and the birds were singing, and so was I. I think it was the Black Keys, tighten up. 

It took me almost two hours, but I got a ride, and it was on of the best I have had. I got a ride from a couple (Maria y Robert) in a pickup called 'tortilleria' or something along those lines. I don't think I will ever learn Spanish with how fast people talk down here. They make a journey 110 miles south to San Quintin every Thursday to sell there home made cheese. There family of 5 children make the cheese and sell it locally in Ensenada, but once a week they deliver south to local businesses. When I first got the ride, I was so happy, as I thought the place I was hitching was hopeless. Yet this couple slowed down from 60mph and picked me up.

 

When they pulled over, I could see that there was little space in the cab. So jumped in the bed, which had several coolers. I wedged my legs in the coolers and then gave the side a few thumps to let them know I was good to go. It was very uncomfortable... but I couldn't sit against the tailgate because it didn't exist. 

Gone

So was a foot or two of the floor where the tailgate once existed. So I did my best to keep my foot wedged, keep my head out of the wind, and hold the side of the bed. Well, I felt a bit wobbly as we went down the road, and kept adjusting myself, but something didn't feel right. I then noticed it wasnt me that was swaying, but the side of the truck. 

Have you ever taken a piece of thin metal, and worked it back and forth until you have created a seam? When you continue to work said seam, it gets more and more flimsy, until the metal tears, snaps in two. Thats what the side of the truck was doing. Needless to say, I made my move into the cab between my two large friends :)

They were the nicest people I have met in Mexico, seriously, we had the greatest adventure. It was a slow ride with all the queso stops, but I know have some new friends in Ensenada. They told me I must stay with them on the way north to San Diego, or they will be very upset :)

Does anyone have a contact in the US immigration/embassy? Maria is trying to see her mother in Riverside, CA who had a stroke in October. Her mother is on her deathbed, and she can't get a visa to visit and say goodbye :( 

Breaks my heart, fuck the borders.

Wind,wind,wind

It burns! :)

Seriously though, this wind is the pitts. I can barely hold 8 mph with everything I have got. It took Chris 4 hours to do 15 miles, she walked most of it. The fact was we werent going to make the 45 miles to Santa Rosalia. We decided to hitch, and eventually caught the bus. Another 35 miles I need to make up. There was a magnificently steep hill called Hell Hill or something like that, i want it. . Anyhow we bike to Mulege in the morning.

Chris and I have reached the 28th parallel with the first tail wind of the trip, 30 mph on flat ground! We are now in the Baja California Sur, and we are headed to Guerrero Negro to meet some friends, and possibly catch a glimpse of grey whales in the Laguna ojo de Liebre. The bike odometer is showing close to 500 miles! We are hoping to be in San Jose del Cabo in two weeks. Light the fires and smoke the tires. Life is good