BIKE TOUR

I'm typing out from Andre's house here in the border town of Jucumba. It's at the bottom of a hill 300 yards from Mexico in the neighborhood of Patron's roots. Once again some amazing hospitality meeting us at the end of a long day. We were giving Andre a ring from the pay phone and we rode to his house in the dark. We're his first warm showers guests since he moved here in November. We feel pretty special and he hooked us up with laundry and an air mattress. The good news is that the climbing is pretty much over. We have a little tomorrow, but it is nothing like yesterday or even today. Along our travels today since we left the ranch we ran into a bike race. We were definatly a little out of place loaded up as hundreds of men... and a few women with tiny butts whizzing right by. However, they did give me a nice shout as I went across the finish line. I did put in a bit of a push at the end. I think I even passed one of the racers. After the race ended, the day drif

We're staying with Jerry and Margaret after a climbing 3000ft over 20.9 miles. It was basically all up hill. They put us up in their unfinished garage. It is huge and their house is huge and it is beautiful. Wendy, their friend the interior designer, brought fruit salad to dinner. They offered us leftovers: meatloaf, chicken barley soup, homemade bread, salmon, and baked beans. It was all delicious. Great conversation and Jerry and John spoke quite a bit about their motor bikes. But I'm beat. It was a long hard day and we stopped at their call box by their gate hoping they'd put us up. They have a bunch of sweet poodles that enjoyed getting loves. One was named Reba... In the morning they had us up for breakfast and coffee. Once again their hospitality was wonderful in their bead board kitchen. As Margaret said, she's living her dream.

First day and we're camped at Lake Jennings. By we I mean the Australian, Johnathan Walker, and I. He's on his way to New York and right now he plans to go via El Paso and Austin. So we'll see how it goes. It is a relief to be out of the city and the traffic. We found a nice quiet spot and it's rapidly getting dark. To my eyes it looks like rain, but it probably won't. It was quite pleasant cycling weather. Sometimes there was sun... Aside from the $8 on the campsite, I haven't spent any money. John has quite a pleasant nature and always has something to say. He is friendly enough for the both of us when we come upon the curious. I called ahead and spoke with Andre(from warmshowers.com)in Jucumba and he was more than willing to put us up. We're both still getting our legs and we climbed about 750ft today over about 22 miles. This is his tenth trip and I seem to be keeping up with him; that's encouraging. I went and looked at the city lights on one side o

This list is not yet finished... A note on packing... everyone packs differently. That's it. Left Rear Pannier - The brains of the operation. Right Rear Pannier - Tools and overnight stuff. On Bike/Body - Waterbottles and sunglasses and stuff. Handlebar Bag - Everything I need to make it through the day. Front Pannier - Back up food in the bottom's of both and clothing split between the two in no particualar fashion. A note on clothing... if I did it over I would bring two refelctive mesh shirts and less longsleeve shirts. Most days I wore the reflective shirt and my bike shorts. Assume everything is some variety of synthetic unless I specify otherwise. cycling shorts (2) reflective mesh t-shirt nylon shorts lightweight jeans cycling tights long underwear underwear sports bra (2) regular bra swimming suit balaclava patagonia longsleeve zip-T (2) longsleeve shirt cotton t-shirt fleece vest fleece jacket windbreaker lightweight rain jacket and pants bike gloves bike socks (3) fl

It was extremely convienent when Carl rolled his cart over to my disarray of bike parts and luggage. He was intrigued. He wanted the bag I needed to get rid of. He asked if it was in good condition. It was except for where I'd ducted taped over a tear. I told him this. Then another man wanted my bike box. Glad I didn't have to worry about where that was supposed to go. At that point in time the two security guys came out and ed at the door. Finally I rode my bike with its mildly pumped tires and crooked handlebars to the hostel. At 3:00 am I fell asleep vowing to repair these sins against my bike in the morning. I woke before the others, though they were all asleep before me. I was hungry. I strolled...more shuffled stiffly still unshowered through the boldly colored halls. Pancakes were happening. I wasn't really sure what the protocol was, but as soon as a griddle was available, I was pouring mix onto it. More interesting people and word that an Austrailian was star

When I woke, there was a palm tree. The sun had risen and breakfast was no longer being served. I pull out my ziplock of almonds and begin splitting them apart with my teeth revealing their smooth inner flanks. The train is stopped again as we wait our turn to get past the work gang. The snowy countryside of Oregon is now long gone. The bilingual boy of two years and six months is telling his mother incessently that his teddy bear nees to go to sleep. This is shortly after he dumped his dixie cup of water on the floor. I wake again. The rolling hills echo one another. Through the mist the cattle graze over the sparsly green grass at dusk. As we snake along slicing through nature, the hills give birth to lights and a city. The shuffly heterosexual male walks by commenting on my state of consciousness. And then on my journaling with scarlett ink..."hott stuff"...I don't have a red pen. And then have I read The Scarlett Letter. And then a joke about Hester Prynne's act

My next post will be from California. I get on the train tomorrow. I'm almost packed.