Ride Day 27

I woke up a bit sore this morning and got a late start for me. At a bit after 7 I headed down the road from Caballo to El Paso TX. I had a plan for the day. I would ride without pushing it and when I got to the outskirts of El Paso I would jump on a public bus and ride to the far eastern side of town. I hate riding my heavy touring bike in busy city traffic. It is dangerous and for me pointless. Sure there can be some site seeing but at the risk of getting killed. Not worth it.

So I rode down the freeway for the section they allowed bikes on which was a nice smooth safe ride. Then they kicked me off to a narrow two lane road with almost no shoulder to ride on and a dangerous drop off on the edge of the pavement. There were lots of big trucks going in both directions and I had a cross wind blowing me into traffic. How is that safer than riding on a freeway???? The states need to allow adult bikers on more of the freeway system. Maybe with a driver's license requirement or something because the freeway is way safer to ride on. Or they need to widen all roads so there is a safe place to ride a bike.

I stopped for lunch around 10:30 and ordered a cheeseburger, fries and V8. When I was finished I ordered another burger. The waitress did not believe me and I had to convince her I was serious. They were both delicious and I then ordered a third one. She almost died when I asked for that one. Then I told her no two was enough and she started having a laughing fit. I guess not many people in these small towns mess with their waitresses.

I had a head wind for a couple of hours which slowed me down from 17mph to under 10mph. It really killed my legs and my spirit. I only had one mile more to go to get to my bus stop that I had already looked up on the internet. Then the worst thing happened to me. A big sign that said DETOUR. I tried to go around and get through the closed part of the road but it was impossible to get through so I had to back track and take the detour. In the country detour can mean a half mile or it can mean 50 miles. This one ended up being about 10 miles out of my way. My tired legs were complaining and my mental state was a mixture of anger and depression or something. When I finally got across the border into TX I could not make myself backtrack to get to my planned bus stop so I went ahead into El Paso thinking there would be a bus stop. I stopped and asked lots of people but nobody knew anything about the bus. I rode on another 10 miles which made my day's ride way too long. Finally I just gave up and checked into a hotel for the night.

I soaked in the tub and showered off all the crusty salt and sun screen. I am windburned which is the same as being sunburned. Not too bad but I was putting sun screen on frequently so it annoys me that I still got burned. If it is going to be this windy here in TX I am going to have to start using zinc on my lips and up my sun screen to spf50.

I feel good now. Did some stretching and realized I need to do a lot more of that. Going to have to work it into a daily routine. Tomorrow I will deal with getting out of the big city. Tonight just sleep sleep sleep...

Ride Day 20

I spent last night camped next to the Coyote Bar and Cafe in Aguila, Arizona. The locals were complaining about the lawlessness of the little town. They have no police and rely on police coming from 25 miles away they said. Crime has been rampant and lots of people have just left the town rather than try to fight back. Sounds like Clint Eastwood could still find work. I had no problems at all.

I pigged out on food and drank a couple beers while we talked about the crime and life in general. I hope I did not stir up too much animosity with all my questions and opinions about the crime problems. I checked out early and went to put up my tent and went straight to sleep for the night.

I left before 6AM and by 8AM I ate breakfast 25 miles up the road at Wickenburg. The ride to Wickenburg was a long slow climb of about 1000' there were a few smaller climbs later that totalled maybe another 500' otherwise the ride from Wickenburg to Phoenix was downhill or flat on a good smooth road with a nice shoulder. I made it to Phoenix in only 6 hours for an 86 mile ride. Once in Phoenix however there was suddenly no shoulder, a rough road and crazy drivers. This town is not real bike friendly so far as I have seen. Cars were zooming by me with only inches of clearance and usually blasting their horns like I was a criminal for being on their road. I felt like I was back in Florida again where they are the worst in the country.

I tried to follow the directions on my map to a campground and got totally lost when the directions did not match up with the streets. I tried to use my phone but the sun was so bright and I had so much salt in my eyes from sweating that I asked a kid on the street to look at the phone and tell me how to get there. That worked out ok. The campground is nice and clean and quiet. They did warn me that several bikes have been stolen from the park in the last month, never a good thing to hear. I am here though. I did laundry and showered. I have recovered now from my century ride today. My usual burrito for dinner. Now I will catch up with my computer stuff and be off to sleep. I may stay here and rest for a couple maybe even three days...we shall see. I am taking it a day at a time.

Ride day two

I woke up this morning to everything covered in frost. That was sort of a surprise. I packed up my bike and headed to the coffee shop for my morning caffeine fix. I then headed South. The entire ride had fantastic coastal scenery that was truly epic. My legs were a bit slower today because I rode hard yesterday. My one big mistake was that I did not bring enough water. It was 40 miles before the first service along the way. I did not know that. My fault for not checking my plans close enough. I will try not to make that mistake again because it proved to be a bad mistake.

The day may have started off cold but the sun was bright and the temps climbed quickly to around 70 degrees f. I was sweating heavily from all the long grades and was using my water liberally. When the water started getting low I stopped at a state park to ask about where I could get water. She told me the next place was just before my destination of Santa Cruz. I was taken by surprise. I knew I was in trouble but I also trust that people would help me if it got critical.

I started conserving my water. That quickly proved to be a big mistake. I got thirsty and then my energy started to slowly go down. All of a sudden the hills that I had been climbing became mountains to my tired dehydrated old body. I had to stop frequently to rest and all that did was make it take longer for me to get water. Finally I decided to take an 8 mile detour to go to a small town off my route. I got my water and sport drink to try to rehydrate me. I never recovered from the dry spell. My energy stayed low the rest of the day.

I bought some Girl Scout cookies the night before and I was glad I had them with me. They were the Somoa ones with chocolate and coconut. High fat high energy food. I was still hungry. I dreamed of a big cheeseburger or a roasted chicken and lots of other foods. It just made it worse thinking about food.

The last few hills were brutal for me. I felt weak and light headed. Had to rest a lot. The twenty somethings in their fancy low friction Italian jerseys started to fly past me on their lightweight racing bikes. That just made me feel worse. I toughed it out. I had to get angry at myself and force myself to keep going despite the huffing and puffing and the burning weak rubbery legs.

I learned a lot today. Bring more water than you think you need. Bring more food. Spend more time learning about what is along the route. And trade my tired old body in for one of those twenty something ones.

I took a lot of pics because I had to stop and rest so often and I figured I would not look so much like a woooose if I took a pic each time. I won't post them all here just a sample of them. The scenery was worth every burning muscle and all the thirst issues.

Tomorrow will be a lighter day. I will post when I am able to find a wifi.

I am packed and ready to leave on my bike ride from San Francisco California to Florida. I was going to leave today but rain was coming down and is predicted for tomorrow also. Looks like I will leave on Friday March 2 now. I will post as I go.

My Bags are Packed

My bags are packed and I am ready to go on my cross country bike ride. I was going to leave tomorrow from the Golden Gate Bridge but the weather forecast is for three quarter to an inch of rain. The rain I am not so worried about because I am well prepared for rain but the first leg of my trip starts out with a dangerous narrow highway that has already claimed quite a few bikers so I do not want to ride it in poor visibility conditions. I can wait a day for safety's sake. If I was already on the road and the same thing came up I would wait so why not delay the start.

My bike is a a Novara Randonee from REI with front and rear panniers from Ortlieb. I loaded it with the things I wanted to take then went out for a 30 mile ride to test it out. When I got home from the ride I took a whole lot of things out of my bags. They were just too heavy. I have a tent, sleeping bag and pad, camera, rain gear, clothes, phone and computer with chargers, spare inner tubes and tools and my meds etc. It all was too much. Less clothing is going to be the way to go. The deodorant, shaving lotion and shampoo were not needed and can be bought along the way. I can buy anything I need as I go rather than carry it all.

I did have a small seizure on Sunday which is causing some residual pain problems for me. It is making it very hard for me to walk at all right now. It must be my body's way of warning me that I am after all, just a geriatric disabled man planning an almost impossible ride. The seizures could be the problem that ends my trip somewhere along the way. I could have a seizure and tumble in front of a big truck or car or fall and just seriously injure myself. It is a risk I am willing to take. I do want to push myself. I can barely walk to the back of a grocery store to buy milk and here I am planning on pedaling across the country on a bicycle. Kind of a stupid plan I know. Other people have overcome even more difficult situations so I will get to see how I do when the proverbial shit hits the fan along the way.

Tomorrow will be a day of rest and reading. No big drinking party send off for me. My Irish roots might handle a hangover on day one but I just don't do that anymore. I would rather be well hydrated and rested, at least to start the ride.

Lots of friends are trying to talk me out of this ride but I just smile thank them for their concerns and ignore their advice. I am taking a big risk and that is all there is to it. If I don't leave I just might take the 250 foot trip from the bridge instead. The ride is clearly the better option for me right now.

I will be missing my family and friends. My daughter and grandson are moving to CA it looks like now. Her husband finished his tour in Afghanistan this month and will be stationed at Fort Irwin in the Mohave desert which is near where I was living in Bakersfield. I planned this trip before I heard they might be coming to a base so close to where I lived. I can't delay the trip because I need to get through the desert before the temps hit 115 to 120 degrees and I am cutting it close already. If I am delayed due to health reasons or some other unforeseen problems then I might need to abort or jump a train to get through the heat. What happens happens, I am just going to give it my best effort and then roll with whatever comes along. There is no failure except not starting at all.










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Pushing My Limits

I have been struggling with high pain for going on 20 years now. I can barely walk to the back of a store to pick up milk and eggs. I can ride a bike. So I have come up with a crazy or maybe insane plan to test myself and my limits. I am jumping on my bike next week and heading South from the Golden Gate Bridge. If I make it to San Diego then I will head East. I will just go as far as I am able to. I may only make it one day or one week or one month or maybe I will keep riding for the rest of my life. I do love being on the road and seeing the world go by. I plan on stopping to smell the roses so to speak.

I had planned on going to the Golden Gate last week for a different reason. As I mulled the circular thoughts over and over in my mind a stray current swept over me and I just decided to take off instead. Maybe if I have a goal I will keep going until I reach that goal. That is how I survived as long as I have with all my other crazy insane things I have done like climbing mountains, walking across Africa, and traveling through scores of war zones from Africa and Asia to Central and South America. I need goals in my life. Bucket lists are all the rage since the movie brought the subject up but I have been making and finishing bucket lists for my entire life. For the last three years or so I have not had a goal in my life, something to live for. Pain rewires the brain and can make life unbearable to endure. I need this goal to wire my brain on my terms not my pains terms. Sometimes the rewards of living seem so small compared to the price of pain. My only reward will be my own self satisfaction.

I don't care if I make it to the Atlantic or not because that is not the point of this stupid plan. The point is to push myself to a new limit. If my bike breaks down I am not able to walk to the next town to get it repaired. I will need to trust that the general public will help me if I am in need. So far in my wandering around the world people have been overwhelmingly generous to me giving me shelter and protection when I needed it and also the warmth of a fellow human.

I have some mountains to cross. Some of them are real like the Sierra Nevada and the Rockies but some of the mountains are more symbolic like pushing myself on despite my pain deranged brain telling me to quit. I have read lots of inspiring books about humans pushing their physical and mental limits to climb mountains like Everest or to get to the North or South Poles. Crawling on hands and knees snow blinded and frost bitten but pushing on to make it to the top and back again through shear determination is not about getting to the top of the mountain. It is something else. Sure there are people that start out to be the first to do this or that because they want the publicity but the vast majority of those types either turn around or die because they lack that inner strength. I have been missing inner strength lately. Basically I hit empty last week. I need to refill my tank of inner strength.

I will be posting my progress as I go along. I am posting it for myself though not for the "glory" or to impress anyone. I don't care if I get a big fat zero readers. It is good in my struggle with my own brain to put thoughts on paper so that I can look at it and keep a perspective on where I stand in my war to overcome pain and depression. I am sure a lot of my recent posts (since I quit posting about my travels well over a year ago) have been hard to read and understand by some of my followers. I have been depressed and angry as well as struggling with pain and lack of mobility. I don't like to grovel for medical care or shelter or food or anything else for that matter. I have given up on those struggles for now. I am focused on my new goal and I prefer that.

During my ride, I am going to try to survive on my $900 social security so I will need help from people as I go. I will be looking for places to spend the night and some wifi to keep in contact with my family and friends. If anyone along my route wants to help me out send me a note. I have a credit card and I am sure it will fill up quickly what with my bike costs and the inevitable shelter expenses along the way. I will not consider it a failure if I don't make it to Florida, after all I can't walk a block and I am thinking about riding a bicycle over 4000 miles by myself. The only failure is if I don't start the journey, because then I will take a journey from the Golden Gate that is only about 250 feet and there will be nothing to post about that journey.