I am going to write this real fast. Just wanted to keep up with the updates and not sure when I'm going to cross another internet cafe. Well I'm well north of Fort Bragg, California. Things have been good but tough. The hills are relentless and winding for miles upon miles. They have steep grades which makes it even more ....fun? But in all seriousness, the hills and difficult wind is all subsituted for unbelievable picturesque landscapes. The camping is relaxing and always get to meet great people. There was one large family camping in some grounds near San Francisco that made me feel like my surname was Clarke. They really took care of me and fed me amazing food. I got to try Aboloni which is a large mussel about 8 inches in size and really delicious. Very expensive if you were to buy one... It would cost about $200. But if you go down and grab it yourself your allowed 3 of them. But no scuba tanks are allowed... only a snorkel. It was a really cool process and community knitting type of food. Because it is not easy to prepare.
It's funny to see sea lions and to hear them in the morning when camping near the beach. Sometimes being lucky enough to see dolphins playing in the sea. I have yet to see whales but apparently it's not that uncommon. It's also interesting to watch these little birds, I'm not sure but maybe they are a sparrow or something similar in size. They chase away these massive black birds (maybe a raven?) But I think the smaller bird is protecting their young and chasing away these bigger birds that are about 5x their size. It's always a great sight to see this small birds bravery. It's courage is motivating in a strange way.
One last story, an older guy camped next to me lastnight. He was a funny guy, his hair was perfect and he was really well manored and kept talking about his hiking that he has been doing and how he is getting paid to do it. I acknowledged but he kept bringing up how he was getting paid to have vacation. I thought maybe he was wanting to ask him what he does for a living. So finally I asked him of what he did. He said "top secret" he stopped talking and went into his tent. I didn't know if he was serious but it was a funny way to end a conversation.
So keep warm and safe
Godspeed
Matthew.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Days off....
Well things have been going really good but where I thought I would be able to catch up on sleep, I am that much more tired. After leaving San Diego I received a call from a friend who knew someone on the coast route. He suggested a great detour for me. His brother who is a flight attendant out of Santa Cruz offered me a free flight to Manchester, Tennessee. My friend based out of Chicago had also provided the opportunity to have a free ticket to the festival called Bonnaroo.
At first I knew that this would be impossible and an unrelated activity for the trip. But after talking to organizers of this trek and thinking of the possibilities I thought it may work. 80,000 people and a amazing PR opportunity and maybe a break from the saddle seemed like a great idea. But there was another problem in my mind, I have been limiting contributions to carbon emissions to the atmosphere along this journey and this would be a big contributor for not being a zero emissions trip. However, the hardest part would be whether I could make it Santa Cruz on time. I decided to go for it, 900 kms in 4 days.
During the ride up to Santa Cruz to make the flight I encountered many problems. Some parts of the route weren't biker friendly as I initially thought and I never enjoy riding on Interstate highways. But the road was long and winding and it the landscape was ever changing; it could be so beautiful and astonishing on how amazing the climate/terrain was. But riding over 210 kms everyday for the four days wore me down. My positivity had dwindled with my energy levels. My body had become so sore and tired that sitting on the bike seat was a painful experience. Instead of enjoying days of riding there would be long periods of hard riding searching for motivation. I luckily got to Santa Cruz on time and flew out to the festival. During the festival I started to realize that my body joints were really aching. I had not taken any significant rest in over two months. I have taken a day off here and there but very rarely. Up until San Diego I had taken only a handful of days and non were consecutive in a long time.
At the festival there was great music and great people. I got to talk to lots of people and pass on info about what I was doing. I had dreams to make it up on stage but that didn't happen unfortunately. Walking all day and night started to wear me down because I hadn't walked father than a kilometer in months. It's weird when every km/mile you move is on a bike how your body adjusts to that and it can make the simplest task, like walking very difficult. I know your probably thinking you can ride hundreds of km's but can't walk!!! But the reality for me is that my body just doesn't remember how to walk.... I live and breathe with my bike now and without it, I feel as if I'm missing an appendage. (a little drastic of an example sorry)
There was alot of youth at the festival and it was great sharing stories and talking to people about their family members or friends in their community with Developmental Disabilities. I got to share the stories with small groups and new friends. It's always great to hear the quirky stories of people with Autism and the passions. Or the heart of gold and contagious smiles that is so common with people Down Syndrome. And as always the conversations have the underlying point of how important it is for community integration and the chance for employment. Hopefully people will go on their word and talk to their employer about hiring some individuals with Developmental Disabilities. I've really noticed when talking to people how powerful this bike ride is. For example, if I go to the bathroom and I'm waiting in line and I start a conversation with someone. We share where we are from and how we got there. Usually the conversation is directed to me because of my peculiar method of arriving at that place. Then when I have this individual impressed with the ride I can start to divert the conversation to Developmental Disabilities. Sometimes it's easy and sometimes its not. But the bike trek makes such a great way to break the ice when moving the conversation to the important subject of the ride.
But now the festival has ended and now I'm back in Cali. about to head back on the road. But I am not rested instead exhausted from the long days, walking the festival grounds and talking to lots of different people about what I'm doing. The reactions of people are priceless when I tell them what I'm doing. Some people just call me crazy and it's hard to move the conversation past that point. Others look emotionally charged from the cause and really give me genuine support. Sometimes people walk away, and others ask 2000 questions. All reactions are good in there own way and I think learning alot on how to read human character traits for all types of people. This cause doesn't affect everyone and sometimes it's hard to get people to listen too. But it is a cause that involves a large portion of communities across the world and it is important not to overlook their qualities, but give them a chance to live a coexisting life with the "main stream" population. Working towards harmony amongst everyone in the community and showing love for one another is something we should be always working towards.
Godspeed
Matthew
Thank you so much Michael and Rob LaRiviere
At first I knew that this would be impossible and an unrelated activity for the trip. But after talking to organizers of this trek and thinking of the possibilities I thought it may work. 80,000 people and a amazing PR opportunity and maybe a break from the saddle seemed like a great idea. But there was another problem in my mind, I have been limiting contributions to carbon emissions to the atmosphere along this journey and this would be a big contributor for not being a zero emissions trip. However, the hardest part would be whether I could make it Santa Cruz on time. I decided to go for it, 900 kms in 4 days.
During the ride up to Santa Cruz to make the flight I encountered many problems. Some parts of the route weren't biker friendly as I initially thought and I never enjoy riding on Interstate highways. But the road was long and winding and it the landscape was ever changing; it could be so beautiful and astonishing on how amazing the climate/terrain was. But riding over 210 kms everyday for the four days wore me down. My positivity had dwindled with my energy levels. My body had become so sore and tired that sitting on the bike seat was a painful experience. Instead of enjoying days of riding there would be long periods of hard riding searching for motivation. I luckily got to Santa Cruz on time and flew out to the festival. During the festival I started to realize that my body joints were really aching. I had not taken any significant rest in over two months. I have taken a day off here and there but very rarely. Up until San Diego I had taken only a handful of days and non were consecutive in a long time.
At the festival there was great music and great people. I got to talk to lots of people and pass on info about what I was doing. I had dreams to make it up on stage but that didn't happen unfortunately. Walking all day and night started to wear me down because I hadn't walked father than a kilometer in months. It's weird when every km/mile you move is on a bike how your body adjusts to that and it can make the simplest task, like walking very difficult. I know your probably thinking you can ride hundreds of km's but can't walk!!! But the reality for me is that my body just doesn't remember how to walk.... I live and breathe with my bike now and without it, I feel as if I'm missing an appendage. (a little drastic of an example sorry)
There was alot of youth at the festival and it was great sharing stories and talking to people about their family members or friends in their community with Developmental Disabilities. I got to share the stories with small groups and new friends. It's always great to hear the quirky stories of people with Autism and the passions. Or the heart of gold and contagious smiles that is so common with people Down Syndrome. And as always the conversations have the underlying point of how important it is for community integration and the chance for employment. Hopefully people will go on their word and talk to their employer about hiring some individuals with Developmental Disabilities. I've really noticed when talking to people how powerful this bike ride is. For example, if I go to the bathroom and I'm waiting in line and I start a conversation with someone. We share where we are from and how we got there. Usually the conversation is directed to me because of my peculiar method of arriving at that place. Then when I have this individual impressed with the ride I can start to divert the conversation to Developmental Disabilities. Sometimes it's easy and sometimes its not. But the bike trek makes such a great way to break the ice when moving the conversation to the important subject of the ride.
But now the festival has ended and now I'm back in Cali. about to head back on the road. But I am not rested instead exhausted from the long days, walking the festival grounds and talking to lots of different people about what I'm doing. The reactions of people are priceless when I tell them what I'm doing. Some people just call me crazy and it's hard to move the conversation past that point. Others look emotionally charged from the cause and really give me genuine support. Sometimes people walk away, and others ask 2000 questions. All reactions are good in there own way and I think learning alot on how to read human character traits for all types of people. This cause doesn't affect everyone and sometimes it's hard to get people to listen too. But it is a cause that involves a large portion of communities across the world and it is important not to overlook their qualities, but give them a chance to live a coexisting life with the "main stream" population. Working towards harmony amongst everyone in the community and showing love for one another is something we should be always working towards.
Godspeed
Matthew
Thank you so much Michael and Rob LaRiviere
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