Category: Adventure

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Adventure Bicycle Travel

Day 130 – 135: LA to Santa Maria

Day 130: Pasadena to Stoney Point (nr. Chatsworth) – 40 miles.

It’s bizarre how when you ride a bike everyday for a long period of time, it becomes almost like a part of your body. So getting back on the bike after a solid chunk of time off it, took an hour or so of getting used to. Rested legs spin a bit too fast, everything acts a bit more twitchy. Anyway, time to leave the city of angels, which provided so much fun, great and welcoming people, and totally unforgettable experiences. On the road again. It wasn’t too problematic leaving the city, which was good really because I was expecting leaving to be similar to arriving (i.e. frantic car-dodging).

There was one scary moment that only a city can provide, though. That was a drive-by shooting. Just kidding, it wasn’t a drive-by. In San Fernando, a car drove past and the exhaust backfired twice. Two big bangs that were bloody terrifying and sent me ducking for cover behind a lamppost, only to look and see a rickety old car shaking it’s way down the road. Ended up bivvying in a boulder field, and was excited to see there was chalk on the boulders, and well-worn landings. This hadn’t been a planned stop, it was purely by chance, and it took a sunrise and a new day to realise that this was the legendary rock climbing area, Stoney Point.

Day 131: Stoney Point to Ventura – 44 miles.

Well you can’t wake up in a place like this and not spend a couple of hours exploring and attempting to climb rocks. Attempt being an accurate word.  It got pretty busy quite quickly, and the daylight showed just how big this place is. There’s loads of rocks, and it was a place that seemed very beginner friendly and not too clique-intimidating. Fun couple of hours, and back to the road.

Today can be described as Citrus Day. I’ve never seen so many lemons. All growing in farms on the side of the road. One of the things America hasn’t latched on to is cordial (you should – it’s great). So it was a bit of a joy to have a supply of lemons to make the water bottle a bit less plain for once.

Thanks to the wonderful Crystal Lodge Motel in Ventura for providing a rad place to stay. Definitely recommend it if you’re passing through. Super friendly staff.

Day 132: Ventura to Carpinteria – 34 miles.

Woke up totally knackered and burned out. Didn’t eat enough yesterday and it’s caught up. And today there was a hint of cold / manflu. Not the best of starts ‘eh. Set off and made it about 3 miles before stopping in a park and sleeping for a bit longer. LA was awesome, but surprisingly I probably got less sleep there because it was such a busy few days, than the big days on the bike.

It was a beautiful ride though, despite all that. The route broke off from the coast and headed up to Ojai and around Lake Casitas. It was breathtaking. Like Tuscany or something. Loads of deer out to play and so green. It was so hilly though, with crazy gradients, and definitely was a shock to the system what with the last few days being pretty flat. Found this tree to hide under which provided some welcomed respite from the sun (it’s warming up and get’s quite hot during the day now).

Day 133: Carpinteria to Santa Barbara – 12 miles.

Urghh. Here comes the manflu. It’s been a while so it was bound to happen sooner of later. Woke up in a stealth bivy, only to find it wasn’t stealth at all and there was a town Sports Day happening about 20 metres away from my head. Oops. Here come the funny looks. Hit the road really late, not feeling it at all, but made a bit of progress to Santa Barbara. And then a puncture. Can’t complain really because it’s been a while.

And then an unusual scenario began. I went into a coffee shop. Got a drink. Half an hour later, Joel from Massachusetts arrived at the same coffee shop. Got a drink. Shortly after that, Katie arrived at the coffee shop, in the middle of her drive back home to Anaheim. Got a drink. Then finally, Sophie arrived at the coffee shop, a local. Got a drink. So we have this scene where no-one knows anyone. We got chatting in an attempt to solve the question “What’s that film with the blue aliens in it?”. And then half an hour later we’re eating pizza and sat round a fire with a Ukulele providing tunes. ‘Nout like spontaneity with new pals you’ve just met. It was Avatar, btw.

Day 134: Santa Barbara to El Capitan Camp Ground – 23 miles.

Still got a flat tyre, still a bit ill, and still really lethargic. Went down to Cranky’s in downtown after sleeping up in North SB, and got supplies – new pump (bit of advice for anyone doing something similar: get a good pump, cheap ones break) and a couple of tubes. Cheers Cranky’s for a good deal. Really simple ride out of SB, through Goleta and eventually to Ocean Mesa Campground at El Capitan Beach. Hands down the nicest campsite I’ve ever been to.

Day 135: El Capitan Camp Ground to Santa Maria – 58 miles.

Pretty late start, exploring some of the El Capitan trails (so many lizards). Met with Heidi who works in post-production in LA, and was at the campground for a three day break with her children. Super cool woman and we had a lot to talk about and nerd-out on. She  amusingly admitted that she’s tried to disconnect but had been on her Blackberry doing work all morning – with ‘ya there, Heidi! The connected world can be ace as well as a drag.

A truly awesome ride, up the 101 and then splitting to the 135. Rocky, steep and vivid green landscapes made for easy zoning-out and enjoying the moment. For a while at least – before a bit of a battle with the night. Misplaced the charger for the bike light (writing this blog then searching the bags) so it was a lowest-setting and headtorch-lit end to today’s ride. Quiet roads lit by the full moon though, so not a bad night for it.

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Adventure Bicycle Travel

Day 121 – 127: Encinitas to Los Angeles, CA

For the last week, I’ve been focusing more on the lifestyle aspect of the project and capturing material, rather than ‘truckin on and watching the signs go by. Some planned stuff was related to specific days in LA, so it’s been fun taking it easy, and taking it all in with that in mind.

The last post was written from Encinitas, where I spent a couple of super rough nights stealth bivvying. For some reason it felt really tense and on edge for both nights, so sleep was pretty minimal, but the ocean does wonders to wake you up after a rubbish night.

Then from there:

Day 121: Encinitas to Oceanside, CA (15 miles)

This section of coastline is amazing. I don’t know why, but cycling through forest and even desert becomes very ‘samey’ after a few days, but the ocean just doesn’t lose it’s charm. Weird. Nice ride on friendly roads, totally flat through Carlsbad and into Oceanside. Pulled into the beach at Oceanside as the sun was dropping, and there was a bunch of people out surfing just off the harbour. Being able to walk out along the harbour wall meant you were parallel to the waves, so there was plenty of photo opportunities and it was a unique and way better location when compared to the standard looking-out-from-the-beach.

Stealth bivvy once again, but this one was quite different. It was at the marina on a raised bit of grass, pretty hidden but with a bizarre buzzing noise next to a fence. You could alter the noise with your hands – which sounds weird and is tricky to explain – but by waving your hands you could make a tune. After a while the buzzing stopped and making music wouldn’t work anymore, so a guess is that the fence was electric and got turned off.

Day 122: Oceanside to Dana Point, CA (30 miles)

Sea mist is damp isn’t it? Woke up to a visibility of about 20 metres, a dense wet fog soaking everything in sight, adding to the overall grogginess that life on wheels inherently provides. There was also a really strange noise close by, which ended up being couple of very loud seals hanging out and playing games in the marina much to the audiences appreciation. Those things are WELL LOUD!

Onwards through Pendleton Marine Corps Base, which is the route that avoids the interstate and is pinch-yourself reminiscent of a real life The Expendables. You’re cycling through and suddenly there’s 20 soldiers on exercise walking out of the bushes with camo paint and huge machine guns, hummers flying past to get somewhere urgently, and Black Hawn helicopters overhead. An ace days riding which eventually lead to camping at the Doheny State Beach campsite in an ants nest (again).

Day 123: Dana Point to Sunset Beach, CA (30 miles)

Looking on the map, today would involve going through super affluent areas in Orange County. Often this makes everything tricky. Sometimes security is abound, there’s stuffiness in spades, and it’s like a oversized Range Rover slalom. But there’s also generosity, and in this case a waitress from RJ’s cafe, who epitomises awesome. Finishing breakfast and finding that the bill’s been unexpectedly set as ‘Birthday Meal – Free’? Priceless. (For some reason this blog entry is full of puns.) It was a random act of kindness that put a smile on my face all day, so thanks Marina!

After that it was a quick and easy ride over some rolling hills to Laguna Beach, which provided a close call with, yep, a Range Rover pulling out and a driver who looked far too young to drive. I was pretty keen to make speedy progress from then on so pedalled on through Newport and Huntington Beach, ending up at Sunset Beach, where I spent the next full day prepping for the following days and chatting to Jack from Maine, who was bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider and was hospitalised for a week as they tried to reduce the swelling on his face. Damn.

Day 125: Sunset Beach to Pasadena, CA (38 miles)

Laguna Beach had been busy traffic-wise, but it was nothing compared to Los Angeles, in particular the stretch from Long Beach to Monterey Park. By ‘eck, it’s certainly a driving city and they don’t make it easy for cycling. Stop and start at traffic lights, in and out of buses, keep your wits about you and move your eyes like a madman. What was quite weird was that happened for a good twenty or so miles, and then just stopped. That’s the grid nature of the LA street plan at play I suppose. From then on it was quiet suburbia, and there were even some really nice cycle lanes.

Day 126: Pasadena, CA

Had an amazing day on the set of a new pilot with Ruben Fleischer, director of films such as Gangster Squad and Zombieland (plus some killer shorts), and loads of other talented folks. There’ll be more on this in future posts, but it was a great day with great people. Ruben’s testament to the fact that paths are changing, in large part due to the web – and you don’t need to follow the route that has classically been instilled in us. Moving away from a metaphor, what I mean is he didn’t go to film school. He started making stuff, working his way up from the bottom and was damn persistent. It’s a lesson that anyone can apply to anything. It worked, clearly, because now he directs films with some chap named Gosling in them. I was keen to explore his route and his battles with ‘the struggle’, and his response was super inspiring and took him back to the early days. Here’s a very brief transcript before I get chance to sit down and edit the content from the day.:

“When I was struggling, and I was so stressed and freaking out, and I felt like I was just muscling everything through, everything was through the force of will, and nothing was given to me, I had to fight for every single thing. I was broke and I was, like, just bummed and frustrated, and so ambitious, but it doesn’t happen overnight. So many people that were more veteran than me, were just like ‘Dude, just cherish these moments, because it’s never going to be like this again, and you’re doing cool shit, just appreciate everything that you’re doing in the moment, because whether you make it or not, you’re doing it. You’re trying, you’re having fun, you’re making stuff that you believe in. Cherish it, and try not to get so caught up on the future, and just appreciate the present.’ And that’s a really hard thing to say when you’re so focused on the destination, but it was great advice and I probably didn’t take it. At all. But now looking back, I look back on those times of finding it, and the struggle, so fondly.”

Day 127: Pasadena, CA

Still buzzing from yesterday, today was spent sorting out the next couple of days. To sum up it basically involved coffee and typing (hardly makes for exciting writing). Stayed with the wonderful, and amazingly hospitable Tracy and Arthur in the Pasadena suburbs. They’re avid cyclists and had a lot of stories to tell: from The Great Divide to Japan – their bikes have taken them to loads of places, and there’s loads more on the list. They cook a mean dinner too!

The next two days will be more LA, and then on Wednesday the journey begins to pick up pace once more. How do you cycle again?

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Adventure Bicycle Travel

Day 106 – 112: Tempe, AZ to San Diego, CA

Finished the second leg a few days ago, what a ride. Here’s a quick update, videos to come in upcoming posts:

Day 106: Tempe – Surprise, AZ (41 miles)

Super quiet roads leaving the Phoenix area. Sunday syndrome I guess. Through downtown Phoenix which was eerily quiet, all going well. Then a fast puncture (caused by a big chunk of glass) close to Avondale. Only this morning I threw away another bike pump (#2 of the trip) because it stopped working. So with no pump, I walked for a few minutes to a gas station and the air machine.

BANG. Too much air. In exploding inner tube is REALLY loud. Funny looks. Continue the walk to Walmart to get a couple of new tubes. After some very unsubtle in-store use of a Walmart foot pump, eventually the bike had two working wheels and the ride went smoothly from then on. Stealth bivvy on some grass near another Walmart in Surprise.

Day 107: Surprise – Wickenburg, AZ (36 miles)

Pretty simple riding today, flat mostly, through more desert, and with no mechanical issues which seems to be a rare pleasure at the moment. Highlight of the day was stopping for lunch, and talking risk with the staff. “What if you get chased by a pack of coyotes?” It’s a valid question, not so much because of coyotes, but because I haven’t really thought about animals at all, and probably should start doing. Bears will be more common and something to be potentially wary of heading North.

Big thanks to The Log Wagon Inn, in Wickenburg, for their generous hospitality.

Day 108: Wickenburg – nr. Quartzsite, AZ (80 miles)

Struggled with motivation to get going today, so checked out as late as possible. The ride was very stop start. Cycle to the next town, stop for a bit, next town, stop etc. More of the same in terms of landscape, really. The days highlight was being in a tiny little town called Aguila – and seeing the most traditional cowboy so far – full getup, all denim, cowboy hat, leather boots with metal things on the back, a ‘be careful you don’t fall backwards’ walk, chewing a toothpick. Probably had a good aim with a six-shooter, too.

Finished the ride at the junction of Hwy 60 / i10 near Quartzsite and slept in a lay-by just off the road. It was pretty rough.

Day 109: Nr. Quartzsite to Yuma, AZ (96 miles)

It’s weird how being constantly on the road offers such extreme changes in motivation. Some days you honestly feel like cycling is at the bottom of the motivation list. Those days become short days, filming days, or explore-the-place-you’re-in days. Today was unique in terms of it could easily have been one of those days in the morning. I didn’t drum up enough motivation to get going until really late. But a fast road does wonders to change your motivation. The road from Quartzsite to Yuma (Hwy 95) wasn’t downhill, but was strangely fast. As soon as you’re moving fast, you don’t want to stop. Next stop Yuma. Thanks to the wonderful El Rancho Motel for the room.

Day 110: Yuma to Calexico, CA (58 miles)

Quick ride out of Yuma to reach that flipping-wonderful sign of progress. California and a new time zone. The end of the second / west leg of the journey. So stoked to see that sign, and to know that having a few days to chill out was only a couple of days away.

“You’re in California now, what are you doing? You can’t ride on the Interstate!” Sorry officer. It didn’t take long to be stopped by the highway patrol and get booted off the interstate. Eventually pulled in to Calexico quite late after a run in with the border patrol, who clearly enjoy the power their blinding search lights must bring.

Day 111: Calexico to Jacumba, CA (50 miles)

Yesterday, numerous people asked “Are you going to be riding up the mountain?” Nothing like the reputation of the mountain to know there’s a big-ass climb coming up. Today was that day.

The ride went through the Yuha desert, surrounded by vast sand dunes for the first time. But other than that, there were no signs of anything out of the ordinary.

Until Ocotillo at about 7pm, the interstate, and the start of ‘the mountain’. Bloody hell it really is huge and steep. Even for cars, it clearly causes problems, as every mile are ‘Radiator Water Stops’ and there’s plenty of ‘Avoid Overheating. Turn off A/C for next 10 miles’ signs. It was definitely the hardest riding so far, and pretty cold. Lowest gear and seemingly never-ending. It took 4 hours to climb the hill and reach Jacumba, and it truly earned it’s notorious status.

There’s a park outside the library in Jacumba which is great for sleeping in, plenty of benches to sleep on, and grass for tents, even if there is an unusually loud sound of dogs barking.

Day 112: Jacumba to San Diego, CA (79 miles)

I haven’t been looking at maps for a while, with the thought that ‘the unknown’ might be a bit more exciting. So after yesterdays mammoth uphill, todays a downhill cruise into San Diego, right?

It didn’t take long before the inevitable. PSSSST. Fucking nail. Still without a pump, and now in the middle of nowhere, it was a huge slice of luck that Mike and Stefan, programmers from the San Diego area were out road biking for the day. Luckily Mike had a couple of CO2 canisters. Good job it was a couple, because whilst chatting to them and trying to replace a tube at the same time, I put the old innertube back, thinking it was a new one, and used a whole canister trying to put air in the same tube that minutes ago had a nail through it. Whoops.

The downhill just wouldn’t appear. It was a constant uphill for most of the day. Not sure how that can work geographically but still, a climb all the way to Alpine. And then the downhill, dropping down into San Diego. ‘Bout time.

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Spending a few days in San Diego staying with friends who I haven’t seen for a few years. And a bit of surfing hopefully. Normal scheduling to resume in a week. Currently looking for another sponsor too, so if anyone out there is interested, just shout!

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Quick map:

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Adventure Bicycle Travel

Day 99 – 105: Silver City, NM to Tempe, AZ

Day 99: Silver City to Buckhorn, NM (37 miles)

Quick morning picking up supplies at a supermarket in Silver City. And then ridiculously slow progress. Passed a sign that read “Continental Divide, Elev 6230 feet”. Should have been amended to “P.S. get ready for absurd gradients”. It was hard to get anywhere due to a powerful headwind and the sheer steepness of the immediate roads outside of the city. Incredibly slow, walking pace for a while, until finally the last hour provided some respite from the wind and less horrific climbing.

Ended up in Buckhorn, which, perhaps influenced by the local gas stop and getting chased by dogs, had an eerie feel that nodded to bare feet, whiskey and shotguns. Most likely it was just farmland at night.

Day 100: Buckhorn, NM to Safford, AZ (78 miles)

Steepest day so far, absolutely brutal climbing through Gila and Apache National Forests. But the great thing is that after 4 hours of painfully slow climbing, there wasn’t any more ‘up’ in sight. Instead, blazingly fast downhills that zig zagged down the hillside. Tight 180 hairpins, steep sides, amazing fun and the first relatively technical riding section. Be careful not to ride of the edge of the road, that would really suck.

It was so fast, and the adrenaline was pumping, until a point of dread pulling into the town of Three Way, which is essentially a single shack. Eyeing up the road into the distance, it clearly zig zagged up what can only be described as a flipping-huge-mountain. Turned out to be not so bad, maybe a couple of hours climbing, but again, it was worth it whilst speeding down for miles into a Safford rest stop.

As a hint to this weeks lifestyle, I’ve been doing a lot of cooking and discovered a magic ingredient: Pineapple Philadelphia. You can basically add it to anything for a decent meal.

Day 101: Safford to Ft Thomas, AZ (22 miles)

The day was cut pretty short, after the looming clouds made it clear (and various people suggested) a snow storm was coming. One positive was meeting a fellow cyclist going the other way. Jeff is a super cool guy taking a bit of time off to ride from CA to FL, and he’s keeping an active blog here. Soon after this by-chance encounter, there was a rest stop with a shelter 20 miles outside of Safford and called it a day. Good place to hide from the approaching rain.

Day 102: Ft Thomas to Globe, AZ (56 miles)

A quick 10 miles to a traditional reservation called Bylas, conveniently, just as the downpour began for the day. The reality of the day was a lot of time spent working on content in the reservation’s Laundry-mart, but I also spoke to a mother-of-three who’s family had been based on the reservation for generations. She was sad that her kids, whilst they are taught the traditional ways at home, don’t learn their heritage at school anymore, so she believes their generation is the one where the past becomes truly left behind.

After a while of weather avoidance, it occurred to me that there’s no reason to stick around in an area where there wasn’t much going on. So a quick switch to water-preparedness. Drybags, rain coat, cover up the saddle, dig out the gloves. What followed was horrific. A crazy snow storm going from San Carlos over the pass to Globe. “It’s the first time it’s snowed here in 6 years”. And it wasn’t a little bit. It was covered, and really dumping the white stuff. But it was great fun. Cold, yep, but easy to get into a cold rhythm on the deserted roads. A blizzard photo:

Unusual weather conversations always lead to rare phrases, in this case an overheard phone conversation based on a nearby town name.

“My buddy’s stuck in the snow on Top Of The World”. 

Day 103: Globe to Mesa, AZ (60 miles)

Met up with HoYoung again in Globe. It’s a different mentality cycling with another person who’s going the same way – easier to be motivated to cycle. The morning went well, some quick climbing out of Globe lead to incredible top speed downhills into Superior, immersed in the most incredible steep sandstone canyon landscapes. And then, sticking to the common cycle touring tradition of ‘it never goes smoothly’, HoYoung got a flat. Which started what will be remembered forever as ‘HoYoung’s problematic day™’.

A flat tyre isn’t usually much of a momentum-killer, they usually only take a few minutes to fix and then it’s good to go. Not in this case: A really thick wire all the way through the tyre, and through both sides of the tube. 5 (5!) repair patches later, plus a lot of glue, and the tube was still knackered. With no spare inner tube (I also had no spare) there wasn’t much HoYoung could do, so he managed to flag down a pickup and got a lift into Mesa, to Gerri and Bill’s house (below), whilst I rode the rest of the way to join them a few hours later.

Bill got in touch through the site a few weeks ago and offered a place to crash on the way through. Him and his wife Gerri were great company. Both avid cyclists with thousands of touring miles racked up – they know their stuff. Surprising to find out they lived on a resort with a swimming pool and a bunch of other good stuff. The polar opposite of tent life.

Day 104: Mesa to Tempe, AZ (22 miles)

Short ride today, but a good one nonetheless. We left Bill and Gerri’s this morning after meeting the cycling club they’re part of. Gotta be nearly 30 members of the community who ride 3 times a week. The ride was nothing complicated, very flat. The greater Phoenix area is super clean, with a lot of green space, and best of all loads of fruit trees. Oranges and grapefruits mainly. So many that people give them away for free in baskets.

HoYoung’s making some California-bound progress, whilst I’m enrolled in a webinar that’s happening over the next two days, so after pulling into Tempe, a quick search lead to a coffee shop with WiFi in the university area. To sum up the proceeding few hours – comfy sofas and screen-gazing. Left a few hours later to find a flat front tyre. Good’o.

Day 105: Tempe, AZ

Finished the seminar and compiling this blog. Nice to have an explore on the metro (Transport without pedalling?!), Tempe is a super nice university part of the greater Phoenix area, super vibrant. Got lost and was pointed in the right direction by Charlie, a college footballer at ASU who’s potentially a month away from being signed to the NFL. Good luck!

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Knowing that California is relatively close (<400m), day 106 onwards will be a bit of an experiment. The mileage up to now has been consistently inconsistent, so it’s an attempt to try some consecutive big days. We’ll see how that goes, but maybe putting the strategy up here will be a form of motivation.

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Another weekly update – they’ll become more regular again upon reaching California. During the time when the blog is a weekly thing, there is quick content (photo’s etc) being posted to the Facebook Page, if you’re into that kind of thing.

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Map of this week’s progress:

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Adventure Bicycle Travel

Day 92 – 98: El Paso, TX to Silver City, NM

Not the most miles this time around, but New Mexico has been super interesting, especially the latter half of the week. Scroll down to watch this weeks video, it was a lot of fun to make.

Day 92: El Paso.

Following on from the previous post, spent the day exploring El Paso, which is an awesomely colourful town. Weirdly I haven’t had any issues with knee trouble at all whilst on the bike, but today was the first day where, off the bike, there was a bit of a niggle. Stretch stretch stretch.

Day 93: El Paso to Keystone Heritage Park (17 miles)

The bike was not in a good way this morning. Slow puncture on the back, proper puncture on the front. Urgh. It took so many hours of faff and walking around the El Paso industrial suburbs, that by the time it was fixed, it was already 4pm, so it didn’t end up being a particularly productive day. More like one of those days where you scream profanities and curse the bike (in your mind and under your breath). Stealth camp on the outskirts of El Paso in a Botanical Garden Car Park.

Day 94: Keystone Heritage Park to Vado, New Mexico (20 miles)

A lot of reading and not a lot of cycling today. Short bursts if anything. But not to worry, because – New Mexico! Let’s have some of that state line corny goodness.

Crossed the line at Anthony, NM in the evening, which felt quite exotic compared to most other places so far, as Spanish was the most prominent language used by the locals. After a quick stop in town, I ended up riding out on the 470 towards Las Cruces and camped on a road side dirt mound. Gone are the days of being ‘stealthy’. In New Mexico (and even towards the end of Texas) you aren’t really given much choice. Flat ground that’ll take pegs isn’t in abundance, so you get what you’re given.

Day 95: Vado to Hatch, via Las Cruces (56 miles)*

First time waking up to frozen water bottles. New Mexico is quite bizarre in that it’s freezing at night, and blisteringly hot during the day. Two very different extremes. State laws are also markers of change. In New Mexico’s case? Bin bags by the side of the road. Loads of them.

Through Las Cruces, where I bumped into a 78 year old retiree named Ron, who’s done a lot of climbing in his time, all over the world, but in Alaska especially. (All whilst being married to a 48 year old semi-pro skier. He was very proud of this!)  An ex-maths professor who worked for NASA, he now takes clients mountaineering and climbing to encourage and promote lifestyle change.

The riding in NM has been through dry farmland. There’s been a four year drought so it’s totally dry, crops are suffering and farmers are having a very hard time, and all are wishing for just a little bit of rain. Arrived in Hatch late, to a bivvy on a bench near to the Municipal Hall. Brr, another cold one.

Day 96: Hatch to 3 miles NW of Hatch (3 miles)

Hatch is the chile capitol of the world. You can’t go through a place with a tagline like that without sampling some chile. That’s where Sparky’s Barbeque comes in. Green Chile Burger? Ok, then. Get the pineapple slaw too. Absolutely knackered from the previous day / night so read the signs and ended up kipping here:

Day 97: Nr Hatch to 16 miles NW of Deming (61 miles)

It’s more desert than farmland now. Very similar to rural West Texas. Simple riding, generally flat. Long straight roads in the blazing sun. Quiet roads too, with lots of the day spent without a car or person in sight. Just a lot of desert, and solar panels. Lots of solar panels. Not the kind to take with you on a bike ride though.

Day 98: Nr Deming to Silver City (37 miles)

Set off this morning, from a roadside camp in the desert. Most of the ride was more-of-the-same. Think tumbleweeds and long shimmering roads that run to the horizon. Ran out of water and had to drink hot (spicy) chili water left over from a noodle breakfast. Hot chili water in the middle of a hot desert is pretty gross. Pulled in to Hurley, a tiny little town in between Deming and Silver City. Like other towns in the area, it’s a historic mining town – gold and copper from back in the day.

Joseph and Karin Wade run the Hurley Art Gallery. Spent a good few hours with these two, chatting about how they ended up here, moving from Phoenix 7 years ago on a whim. Karin (below) is the web-savvy guru of the pair, and Joseph is a painter.

Here’s a film shot in collaboration with Joseph (Karin’s a little camera shy!). Had a lot of fun filming this one and hope it comes across. I’m not big into “art” in it’s traditional sense (i.e. fine art painting) but art doesn’t have to mean picking up a paintbrush like Joe, or taking photographs, or making Tracy Island out of Papier-mâché. It’s what you do that creates a connection with another person or group of people. Your art can be entrepreneurship, swimming, juggling, being the best damn waitress imaginable, whatever.   So take a look at the film in a general sense, as Joe talks about finding his path, grit & tenacity and goal setting.

(Click here if you can’t view the video in your email browser)

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* An epic tale ensued on this night. I’ll share in the distant future (using fake names & places to protect those involved) but can’t at the moment due to confidentiality. Let’s just say that the entire project was up-in-the-air for a moment. [for reference]

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Adventure Bicycle Travel

Day 83 – 91: Sanderson to El Paso, TX

Day 83: Sanderson. Rest day and blog catch up. Not much happening in Sanderson.

Day 84: Sanderson to Marathon (55 miles)

Slow morning getting the bike sorted. Had to replace tube as there was a slow puncture. Nice ride through more desert landscapes. Sanderson is actually the ‘Cactus Capital’ of Texas, and there’s definitely a lot’of’em. Awesome sunset to darkness riding. Totally empty road, and insanely clear sky, to the point where it was more fun to ride in the moonlight than turn on any bike lights. Ended up at a campsite just outside Marathon at about 8pm.

Day 85: Marathon. 

Woke up run down, knackered and chesty, so ended up just resting. It definitely seems pretty easy to get sick whilst on the road, nutrition is super important. Plus side was that it was SuperBowl Sunday. The town is pretty small, and the local hotel was where the game was being shown, in a room with a massive buffalo stuck to the wall. Despite local help, the rules are still confusing.

Day 86: Marathon to Alpine (31 miles)

Paul Kranendonk from Rotterdam was pulling into the campsite as I was leaving. He’d set off from San Diego and was heading to Jacksonville, FL. It was his 11th day on the road. 11th! Talk about fast progress. But understandable considering he needs to be back at work at the beginning of March! In 2008 he cycled the Great Divide with his wife (together they’ve clocked up a massive amount of cycle touring experience), and it was interesting to hear his perspective on the difference between solo versus team travelling. Also, a few days ago he was chased by 4 massive dogs and had to sprint for 3km to outrun them. Fair play!

After chatting with Paul, and stocking up at the Grocery store, it was getting late (recurring theme?!), so I ended up in Alpine fairly late after more night riding. Big thanks to Sam at the Highland Inn for sorting out a last minute room – nice spot to rest and see the town if you’re passing through!

Day 87: Alpine to US-90 Rest Area (5 miles)

Wasn’t feeling it again, with more chesty sickness, even after an indoor night. Cruised into the historic part of Alpine (which is super nice – all local stores that have gone unchanged for years). Spent a lot of time reading in the park, and didn’t even try leaving the town until 5.30pm. It’s always tricky to be motivated after such a late start. Ended up calling it a day at a rest stop overlooking some incredibly aesthetic hills. Location definitely has a big impact on general psyche, and this one helped to improve the day.

Day 88: US-90 Rest Area to Valentine (57 miles)

Brrr. Cold night so good to see the sun and it’s warmth. In Louisiana, Glen the cyclist had mentioned that the roads in West Texas are a nightmare when it comes to rolling resitance. For a while I’ve not had a clue what he was on about. The roads in West Texas seem exactly the same as the ones in all the other states. But for the first time what he was talking about became clear. The road was made differently, with big pebbles stuck into the surface, which definitely slowed everything down. It didn’t last long though, because literally at the sign that marked entering a new county, the road became smooth again.

It’s been quite strange cycling through the Texas desert. Many of the towns are dilapidated, but every so often a town in the middle of nowhere will be vibrant and bustling. Passing through Marfa was one of those times. Small town but with a lot of quirky people and a heavy art scene. This was on the way in to town, a lotta’ heavy Q’s (if you look carefully the artist has signed it):

Left Marfa, after a brief stop and explore, and pedalled to Valentine (once again a tiny town where almost everything is boarded up and shut down – quite spooky). I was running out of water, so stopped to attempt to scrounge some from the farmers who were in their yard. Kirkby and Maria owned the roadside farm in Valentine, and had hosted cyclists before. They offered the yard as a place to crash, and I jumped at the chance.

“You can sleep in the shipping container if you like? It’ll be warmer than outside.” After the previous night, anything to escape the cold was amazing.

Day 89: Valentine to Allamoore, via Van Horn (50 miles)

Woke up in the shipping container. (That’s probably not a sentence that gets written much.) Thankfully it was still on the farm and not out at sea. That would have been more challenging.

Day started off great, through deserty-farm land, similar to the last few days really. Got quite hot and dusty from about midday though. Ended up running out of water close to Van Horn, which even for only 15 miles wasn’t too pleasant. Usually it’s never a problem, there’s always somewhere to fill up, but this stretch is quite sparse (if you’re going to be cycling this stretch, make sure you carry more than you think you’ll need).

The railway ran next to the road for most of the day, and a regular sight was seeing the Border Patrol driving their 4×4’s on the dirt track next to the tracks, towing tyres. Anyone know what this is about?

Quite a tough section pulling in to Van Horn. Not because of hills or anything like that, but because you can see Van Horn from miles away, shimmering away in the distance. And you know there’s water and all that goodness, if you can just make it to the shimmering city. But it doesn’t seem to get any closer, no matter how hard you pedal. It was like a mirage for a while, quite bizarre. But eventually Van Horn provided an oasis.

Stayed in Van Horn until quite late, just to get out of the heat for a while. From Van Horn, the way to El Paso is via the Interstate (I10), which is the equivalent to the motorway in the UK (i.e. busy and fast). Started this section at about 9PM, after getting kitted out in everything high-vis. To be honest, the shoulder is so wide that it’s probably safer than the other roads, but nonetheless it has an air of intimidation, especially getting on from a junction.

Cycled for an hour or so, and ended up finding a spot in between the interstate and the road that runs parallel to it. Crazy clear sky, which made it a bit more bearable, as the bivvy spot was a patch of dirt in between some concrete traffic blocks, near the railway, outside a factory.

Day 90: Allamoore to El Paso (106 miles)

El Paso was a fair way off, so I thought an early start was in order to arrive on time. Didn’t quite realise how early. In the haze of last night (first time on Interstate, finding a sleeping spot etc), it slipped my mind, even after seeing the great big sign, that I’d crossed into a new time zone (MST). Alarm set for 5AM. But of course my phone was still showing Central time. It meant an unintentional 4AM start. All good really though, it wasn’t the most luxurious sleeping spot anyway. Here’s a video of late Day 89 and early 90 (I hadn’t realised the time zone mistake at this point):

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After a few very early, and very dark miles to Sierra Blanca, the sun came up and brought with it a heavy dose of amazing. The longest and fastest downhill of the trip so far. It was top gear for about an hour, full speed ahead. At points you’re going so fast that pedalling doesn’t make a difference, so you can sit back and let gravity do the work. As good as cycling gets. After the initial steepness, it flattened out a little bit but it was never slow. Never a low gear, all the way into El Paso. Without a doubt the most fun riding so far.

Ended up cycling some of this stretch with Arvid from Sweden, who’s a Navy officer that sailed into Florida and has a month off the boat. He’s travelling light, on a road bike, and between motels mainly. His month off is coming to an end in 12 days so he’s trying to make as much progress as possible and will fly back to Florida from wherever he ends up.

Got into El Paso around 3pm after taking a couple of long-ish breaks along the way. Lucky enough to be staying for the next couple of nights at the Hyatt El Paso. It’s quite a different setup to the shipping container!

Day 91: El Paso, TX

Catching up on the blog, and chilling out for the day thanks to the wonderful people at the Hyatt (thanks for your incredible hospitality!). Staying here until Sunday morning and then will head for New Mexico. It’s amazing to take a full day off the bike, and not have to worry about keeping a constant eye on kit. Even though it’s been slow, travelling through the desert and not getting much sleep in the process was definitely quite draining. Stoked to recharge. But blimey, Texas in it’s own right has been an amazing ride, full of unforgettable experiences and incredible people.

For anyone cycling the Southern Tier east to west – you can avoid the interstate for miles if you come off at Allamoore. There’s a quiet road that runs in parallel until Sierra Blanca, about 15 metres away from the I10.

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Map of this stretch:

Categories
Adventure Bicycle Travel Philosophy

Highlight: “Richard” [Video]

Every so often, a film pops up online that is striking, inspiring, a bit nuts, or all three. I’d love to share this one with anyone who’s interested in Vague Direction. I think you’ll like the content and it’s well worth taking 4 minutes out to enjoy this.

This short film tells the tale of Richard, a piano tuner from London, who voluntarily gave up his apartment to live a nomadic (and homeless) existence, just him, one bag, and a bicycle, around the English capital. He made the extreme life change after becoming fed up with his 7 year student debt, his constant work life, and material possessions.

The film was shot last summer, and Richard is now keeping a blog, called Piano-Tuning, which makes for great reading. Recent posts suggest he’s now in Argentina, so quite a stark contrast in just a few months.

Major kudos to Matt Hopkins who produced this work of art as part of the England Your England series. There are a bunch of other films on the EYE website that are well worth your time too.

Enjoy!

(Click here if the video doesn’t show in your email browser, and please share the page with anyone who may be interested)

Richard from England Your England on Vimeo.

Categories
Adventure Bicycle Travel

Day 77 – 82: Fredericksburg to Sanderson, TX

Internet connection has been very few and far between in west Texas, so it’s a bit of a catch up post. Might be a bit long. Look out for the video.

The end of Day 76: Fredericksburg.

After writing the previous blog post, I explored Fredericksburg for a bit, and found a bike shop called Hill Country Bicycle Works, where Lisa the owner was fixing some bikes before closing. I was getting pretty sick of all these punctures, so decided a tyre change was in order (back to the Schwalbe Marathon Plus’ – the tyre that was totally puncture free at the beginning of the trip). 20 years ago, Lisa cycled around the globe with her husband. It was great to pick her brains about her 30,000 mile, 3 year long trip.

After fixing the bike up, I bumped into Brett whilst undercover Wi-Fi-ing.

“You the guy on the bike?”

Turns out Brett was a Couchsurfing host. A couchsurfing host who owned his own hotel and offered a room for the night. What are the chances!? He’d quit the army in 2009, and ever since enrolling had a niggling thought in the back of his mind telling him he should hike the Appalachian Trail, so when he quit, it was the first thing on his to-do list.

Day 77: Fredericksburg to a very remote gas station on Jct 41W/83S (64 miles)

Relaxed (late) start enjoying the delights of the German bakery in Fredericksburg. The roads soon seemed very remote, even though the town still wasn’t very far away. They were deserted roads with, through landscapes that would look at home on a David Attenborough documentary. Tons of deer jumping around too.

Eventually ended up at a tiny gas station at a junction in the middle of nowhere, where the owner pointed out a shelter with a lovely floor (click on image to open full panorama).

Day 78: Gas station on Jct 41W/83S to Del Rio (112 miles)

Early start today. You can generally tell at the start of the day whether it’ll be a ‘big day’, and this was one of them. I could see from the GPS that Del Rio was 110 miles away, so thought that would be a good target.

Had some shockingly dreadful breakfast / energy bars and set off. More of the same Attenborough / Safari / Jurassic Park scenery, more deer. There’s a lot of deer in Texas. Soon passed a border patrol car, which was the first one so far. Been expecting them, as this section of the route is now a traverse above the US – Mexico border, and security’s tight, and from here on out, ever-increasing.

Got to Rocksprings and was knackered, hungry and thirsty. So to take care of all three, I picked up some food and drink from the store, and had a nap in the park for an hour. Not very hardcore, taking a nap, is it? Post-nap, the ride went through some mega landscapes, and with the sun dropping and the horizon becoming bright red, it was intensified.

Great riding, up long, but not very steep, hills. And down them. Always nice. Getting closer to Del Rio, it seemed like a 6 mile or so downhill. Really easy pedalling to finish the day. And then there were some bikelights, just a few miles outside of the town. John Counsell was a local, who’s been stationed in Del Rio as a pilot for the last several years. His job is to fly politicians, celebrities, billionaires etc to wherever they want to go, in this beast. The Bahamas is a popular one. He’s clocked up a lot of international cycling miles, as his bike goes with him wherever he flies.

Got into Del Rio very late, around 11.30. Refillable Pepsi please.  Ended up at a park, where there was a shelter and picnic tables. Slept in an instant after the biggest day so far.

Day 79: Del Rio to just west of Del Rio (6 miles)

The plan today was to get to Comstock. Wake up, have a bit of breakfast, and get on the road. The waking up, and having a bit of breakfast part worked well. But then I saw that Zero Dark Thirty was playing at the cinema at 2pm. So, I didn’t get very far, but it’s a good movie. Cycled for half an hour and set up camp near a firework shop on the outskirts of town.

Day 80: Outskirts of Del Rio to Comstock (26 miles)

When mother nature doesn’t want you to get very far, the headwinds begin. Windiest day so far, no question. And unfortunately it was coming from the West. The exact direction to make progress as slow as possible. It’s quite a bizarre experience, cycling down a relatively steep hill, stopping pedalling, and coming to a quick halt. Not even gravity helps when the winds are strong. Today was a lot of ‘deal with it for an hour’ then break. Repeat, and so on.

Bumped into HoYoung going over the Amistad reservoir, who’s on a break from studying business, and is cycling the Southern Tier before heading to South Korea to begin work. Super friendly guy who is travelling super light. Cycled together for the rest of the day, both of us getting battered by headwinds. Slow progress.

Day 81: Comstock to Langtry (30 miles)

Cycled with HoYoung again today. More brutal headwinds, so more slow progress. It was really interesting getting an insight into the South Korean way of life. He mentioned that there’s a strong ‘workaholic’ tradition (minimal vacation) and he sees this as his last opportunity to take an extended trip. He’d like to take the bike back home as a reminder of his adventure, and maybe one day pass it on to his children to embark on something similar.

Some mega landscapes today. Especially the Pecos river bridge. A limestone canyon with an amazingly green river and huge caves (click on image to open full panorama).

A driver called Dan pulled up and mentioned he worked at a farm that’s hosted bike travellers before, and gave the directions. Another worker, Tom Ethen had been stationed on the farm, fixing up windows, making shutters etc, in return for free accommodation in a mobile home. Originally from Minnesota, he’s recently retired, and is on a cross country motorcycle adventure. I’ve been interested to talk to a ‘biker’ for a while, and what an aesthetic place to do so. After seeing the sights, including the amazing river and canyon that is the natural US-Mexico border, and being taken off roading in a 4×4, I must admit it was highly amusing when he suggested watching Mr Bean. Just not something you expect a hardcore motorcyclist to be into. HoYoung loved it too. Bean’s a global hit! Check out the video – a profile of a biker:

(Click here if the video doesn’t show in your email browser)

Day 82: Langtry to Sanderson (61 miles)

Late start after filming the above video, but the winds had died down so it was a joy to travel at a decent speed again. HoYoung is taking a different route to pick up some essentials that he left in Mississippi, but will rejoin the route in a few days. It was once again really hilly. The steepest so far and it looks like the coming days will be steeper too. It’s really not that much of a PITA though, if anything, getting to the top of a big steep hill is a fun challenge. For now anyway, maybe not in a couple of days.

After the hills, the 20 miles prior to Sanderson became fairly flat so it was an easy coast into town, arriving at about 7.30pm, as the sky was glowing red. Stayed at Canyons R.V. Park (it’s really good), just off the main road.

Quick (and very rough) map of the last few days:

Categories
Adventure Bicycle Travel

Day 74 – 76: Austin to Fredericksburg, TX

Thought a quick update would be a good idea as it’s getting more and more rural and sparse by the day. WiFi in west Texas may be fairly unreliable. 

Day 74: Austin to the outskirts of Austin (10 miles)

Had a brilliant time in Austin, and woke up on Day 74 not really wanting to leave. So when my chain snapped, again, I took it as a sign and did a bit more seeing-the-city. Excuse the next paragraph if you’re not into techie bike stuff. After looking at the chain, the cassette, the chainrings etc, I was at a loss. It was a new chain, there weren’t any rogue teeth on the cassette or chainring. So why the constant snapping? Took the bike to a recommended bike shop to see if they could identify what was up. They did. It was unusual. A tiny little ball bearing had become stuck in a chain-link, stuck there by magnetism. Meant the chain wouldn’t turn properly. The culprit. Hopefully less chain snapping from here on out.

Leaving Austin as the sun was dropping was pretty special. Sometimes leaving a city by bike can be stressful, but it’s a VERY bike-friendly town (if there’s a higher concentration of Fixie-bikes anywhere else on the planet, I’d be surprised), with ample cycle lanes, so it wasn’t an issue at all. Didn’t make it very far though. That’s the problem with leaving late. But ended up at this roadside bivy. Deluxe. Started to think a tent would have been a good idea when it began drizzling.

Day 75: Outskirts of Austin to outskirts of Johnson City (55 miles)

‘Hills’. That single word would go far in describing the whole day. And ‘Sweaty’. Central Texas is where the hills start, then? To be honest there’s something quite satisfying about making it to the top of a hill, when earlier you were at the bottom looking up in dread. Should really have seen the hills coming, all things considered:

Ended up at a Rest Stop at the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park, about 20 miles east of Fredericksburg. A really big, really scenic park, with huge trees, picnic benches, water fountains and all. And a lot of stars. Probably one of the nicest camp spots so far, and no need for a tent.

Day 76: Outskirts of Johnson City to Fredericksburg (21 miles at time of writing).

Woke up with a puncture. Again? Yep. Turned out to be a thorn, so was an easy fix but wiped out a larger than normal chunk of the morning. The upside was meeting a couple of members of staff at the Lyndon B. Johnson state park rest stop. Shay Tindall was one of those. Twelve years ago, at nearly 50, she packed up her stuff into a pickup truck, and travelled around the US with her partner, for six years! Living out of a truck and a tent in places like the Grand Canyon, for SIX YEARS. Heck of a commitment, that. She was really lovely and drew a series of handmade maps which showed the best roads to take for the next few days. They really were some of the most scenic so far. The hilliest of the trip so far n’ all. Past some enticing turquoise sections of river – very tempting for swimming.

Writing this at the moment from Fredericksburg, having not got very far due to having some computer-based stuff to do, but pretty stoked to crack on and attempt some biggish days from here. I’ve never ridden on hills like those in the last couple of days. It definitely feels like it may be a more physical game for a while, now the route moves from the coast to the mountains and you really have to pedal hard to make any progress. Waking up after doing a hilly 55 miles felt like the morning after the century day a few weeks ago. It’ll be good for general conditioning though, and the advantage to massive uphills is obvious. Massive downhills. It all becomes worth it when you scream down the other side of the hill as fast as possible.

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Hanging out with Steve the Hog Trapper.

As mentioned in the last post, posted below is a video with Navasota resident Steve Stribling, who’s a Hog Trapper. There are a lot of hogs / pigs that are seen as pests in Texas, over 2 million some reports say, and Steve’s company removes these problem hogs from places like ranches, golf courses etc, in over 5 counties within the Lone Star state.

We discussed a lot of stuff over at his shooting facility. In particular, what comes up a lot when talking with people who have begun their own business is risk taking. How did you decide the time was right, and how did you cope with the risks involved? And also, how do you go about finding your own direction in life, if you’re a bit lost?

(Click here if the video doesn’t play in your email browser)

With Steve providing guidance, I had a go at shooting on the target range which was a first. Practising marksmanship in the sunshine was an enjoyable experience. (Quick disclaimer – No animals were harmed during the making of this video, only paper targets.)

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Wrote this guest article for Steph at Twenty-Something Travel (her blog is ace), whilst sheltering from the Louisiana storm in what felt like the middle-of-nowhere. The Dark and Light of Solo Travelling. Sorry about the cheesy photos.

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Rough map from the last few days, let the hills begin:

Categories
Adventure Bicycle Travel

Day 68 – 73: Cleveland to Austin, TX

Day 68: Cleveland to Navasota (64 miles)

Absolute corker of a day, and the first proper taste of Texas. Left Cleveland and fairly quickly ended up in a place called ‘Cut And Shoot‘. Bizarre name for a town, huh? It’s a tiny little town, with a very deserted atmosphere and an abandoned flea market that would be at home in a Western movie. Oh and a wicked little Mexican lunch spot called Sandres. Honestly, the nicest food I’ve had so far, in the most unsuspecting place. Get the tacos.

Another snapped chain in Conroe. Lost count how many times this has happened now. Didn’t take too long to fix but it was bit frustrating. One of those days that on the whole is quite pleasant but seemed to take ages. Arrived in Navasota around 10pm, zonked.

Day 69: Navasota

Been really looking forward to Navasota for a while now. It’s a small town of 7,000 people, with an awesome downtown high street. Everything was local, and it hadn’t been infested by global franchises like many other towns. It’s also ‘The Blues Capital of Texas’, in honour of the late Mance Lipscomb (ta Wikipedia). I’d been chatting with Bert Miller the mayor via email for a while and he’d helped organise the day which definitely had the ingredients to be interesting!

We’d lined up time with with two unique-to-Texas people. First up was Misslette, the singing cowgirl. Yep. In full ranch gear, hat and all. We discussed how she became a singing cowgirl, her relationship with God and how that turned her life around, and the importance of finding something you really love to do, and pursuing that. Here’s a brief snippet, look out for the yodelling:

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After the interview, I don’t really know how it happened, but in true Texas tradition, Misslette insisted on praying for my safety on this trip. I’m not a religious chap, and told her this, so it was definitely a unique moment. Regardless of preconceptions or stereotypes, seeing how people like Misslette have turned their lives around for the better due to religion is inspiring.

“That didn’t hurt ‘ya did it? You’re not bleeding are ‘ya?”. 

The rest of the day was spent with Steve Stribling, a Navasota Hog Trapper, at his out-of-town ranch, which was very interesting. I’ll post up the video and a write up in the next post. It involved firearms and local BBQ food. A truly Texan experience. A big shout out to Bert and the City of Navasota too. Thanks for all your help and hospitality – definitely a highlight of the trip.

Day 70: Navasota to near Giddings (56 miles)

After swinging in to say goodbye to Bert and the gang from yesterday, it was time to get back on the road. The last few days have been amazing weather wise – definitely a motivator which makes being on the road much more pleasurable.

Mega roads out of Navasota, all the way to Brenham. These little Texan towns are amazing. It seems like the modern world has left them behind, in a good way. There’s independent soda shops, diners, book shops, you name it, all local, all rocking classic American music. Spent a couple of hours just riding around Brenham, looking around and taking in the intoxicating scent of garden BBQ’s. Ended the day really late, stealth camping just off the road near Giddings, kind-of-blocked from view by a couple of trees.

Day 71: Giddings to near Paige (28 miles)

You know when you wake up, a new day begins, and you just know it’s not going to be very eventful? Yep, one of those.

Met Dwayne in Giddings, a super-positive guy who talked about an epic journey he went on in ’78, with fond memories. A 5 week round trip motorcycle ride from Texas to Washington state. At 53, he told the story and it was easy to see how passionate he felt about the experience. In his own words, a highlight of his life. “Maybe I’ll do another one again soon.” Go for it, Dwayne!

Wasn’t really into the riding today, just felt a bit knackered really, so called it a day pretty early, camped once again just off the road behind a tree just east of Paige.

Day 72: near Paige to Austin (46 miles)

Gotta love long sleeps. Austin was in sight, so a simple ride and that’s that. Cracking weather, beautiful cold wind to counterbalance the sunshine. Makes for perfect riding.

SSSNNNNAAAAPPPP. Another snapped chain. Another! There’s a pattern emerging. It involves a skipping chain. Whenever the chain starts skipping, it’s a sure fire way of knowing that it’s about to snap. Could give way in a rotation, or could take a few days. The best thing you can hope for is that it will snap in the least-awkward place. Noted down that I should have a proper look at the cassette to try and figure out a way of reducing these constant breakages, but mainly just hoped it wouldn’t snap again before making it to Austin. Thankfully it didn’t.

Pulled into Austin as the sun was dropping and explored the area around the University of Texas campus. Managed to catch some live music on Guadalupe St too which was cool, and a nice change to be in a bustling place with a lot of people instead of on a road in the sticks. Super friendly folk throughout who found a lot of amusement in an English accent!

Day 73: Austin

Couldn’t go through Austin without stopping for a day to have a look around. It’s such a contrast to most of the other Texas I’ve seen so far. Super diverse, a huge range of people, awesome architecture, epic graffiti, and amazingly colourful. And pita bread. Lot’s of pita bread. It’s full of Fixie bike riders and buskers. Americas version of Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

Rough map from the last few days.

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Quick link. Did an interview with the great Peter Parkorr at TravelUnmasked which you can read here.

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