I would ask anyone who reads this to take some time this morning or this afternoon and look over pablove.org. To have had the opportunity yesterday and this morning to spend time with the team ranks as one of the best experiences of my trip thus far. I’ll give an account of my 14 hours or so with them in a few days, but in the interim, please read over the mission statement and have a look see at some of the web-vids. A big thank you to Jeff, Stan, Chad, Amy, Rick, Jason, Bryan, Andy, and everyone involved in the pablove team’s journey.
On an almost lighter note, I was able to have myself and my steel-horse (Bon Jovi) properly weighed. 7 weeks ago today, when I left Atlanta, I tipped the scales at around 198 or so. As of this morning’s breakfast (cheers Amy), I was 187. Let’s just say that the bike provided some comic relief with it coming in around, ah – 70 lbs - bags included – a photo of both from yesterday.
After parting ways with the pablove team, and waiting for a chance to chat with the mayor of Blythe, I was thinking about something that occurred to me a few days back, but that I have yet to share. This trip, for all it’s merits, has been a severe case of sensor overload. The elements, whatever they are, become very much a part of me – dirt, rain, wind, etc, etc; for safety sake, I guess I give credence to every sound, no matter from where it comes. And, while I’m traveling at around 70 lbs or so, I am able to do it very quietly – as I realized a few weeks back when I came upon the family of mule deer.
So anyway, the other day after making the trip up, down and into Superior, AZ, I was caught completely off guard by a sound I’ve never heard – at least in this case. The grades going down into Superior range from 6 or 7 %, complete with winding curves, and limited shoulders, but limited traffic. At one point, though, the road heads straight into a tunnel cut through the mountain side – sending you at what seems like 10,000 mph. Half-way through the tunnel I heard an echoing, high pitched buzzing sound – throughout the entire tunnel – that of my freewheel…
While it sounds basic, or simple – it was really something else.
I was able to score a copy of the final leg of the ACA route into San Diego – cheers Andy – after having dropped my map in PHX. Much to my surprise, SD is only 150 miles roughly from here. Not sure what to think really at this point. The first 150 miles were a lesson in “holy shit, I just lost my cell phone – where am I, WTF am I do out here, etc, etc….” Fingers crossed that the this next 150 are smoother.
Also, I want to thank Ellijay from PHX for giving me the road map of AZ. He left mid way through the evening en route back to Vegas. And thank you as well to Ray, who owns a gas station in Wickenburg, AZ. He shared with me his travels – hitchhiking – across the country; seems the state of LA and TX were just as good to him as me.
Cheers,
J
On an almost lighter note, I was able to have myself and my steel-horse (Bon Jovi) properly weighed. 7 weeks ago today, when I left Atlanta, I tipped the scales at around 198 or so. As of this morning’s breakfast (cheers Amy), I was 187. Let’s just say that the bike provided some comic relief with it coming in around, ah – 70 lbs - bags included – a photo of both from yesterday.
After parting ways with the pablove team, and waiting for a chance to chat with the mayor of Blythe, I was thinking about something that occurred to me a few days back, but that I have yet to share. This trip, for all it’s merits, has been a severe case of sensor overload. The elements, whatever they are, become very much a part of me – dirt, rain, wind, etc, etc; for safety sake, I guess I give credence to every sound, no matter from where it comes. And, while I’m traveling at around 70 lbs or so, I am able to do it very quietly – as I realized a few weeks back when I came upon the family of mule deer.
So anyway, the other day after making the trip up, down and into Superior, AZ, I was caught completely off guard by a sound I’ve never heard – at least in this case. The grades going down into Superior range from 6 or 7 %, complete with winding curves, and limited shoulders, but limited traffic. At one point, though, the road heads straight into a tunnel cut through the mountain side – sending you at what seems like 10,000 mph. Half-way through the tunnel I heard an echoing, high pitched buzzing sound – throughout the entire tunnel – that of my freewheel…
While it sounds basic, or simple – it was really something else.
I was able to score a copy of the final leg of the ACA route into San Diego – cheers Andy – after having dropped my map in PHX. Much to my surprise, SD is only 150 miles roughly from here. Not sure what to think really at this point. The first 150 miles were a lesson in “holy shit, I just lost my cell phone – where am I, WTF am I do out here, etc, etc….” Fingers crossed that the this next 150 are smoother.
Also, I want to thank Ellijay from PHX for giving me the road map of AZ. He left mid way through the evening en route back to Vegas. And thank you as well to Ray, who owns a gas station in Wickenburg, AZ. He shared with me his travels – hitchhiking – across the country; seems the state of LA and TX were just as good to him as me.
Cheers,
J
