Bye Bye Cali.

I just left California and now in Oregon. It's been awesome to be able to ride along the coast, with the Pacific on one side and the forests and mountains on the other, but like I mentioned before the hills are relentless. I have met more cyclists lately and it's been good to camp out with them to have the company in the evening. In the early stages of the trip at points I have to admit it got pretty lonely. It’s great to meet and swap stories with all these other road warriors here. The coastal route, Highway 1, is a popular route for cyclists because it is so beautiful and it’s challenging.

Thing is, every single person I meet warns me about the headwinds going north. I have felt them. Up to now, they haven’t bothered me that much. What bothers me is that everyone forewarns me about the HEADWINDS. Sometimes I can put the thought of those dreaded headwinds in the back of my mind and enjoy the ride. Not easy to do when they’re blowing in your face and they are the FOE.




When I last wrote on the blog I was very naive about the fires around me. I talked to my mother and she was worried about it. I told her, "ahhh mom, don't worry. The news always makes it sound a lot worse." Shortly after that conversation ended, I talked to a social worker on the street about her community and how they help people integrate with Developmental Disabilities. How they get jobs and so forth... She told me about how fast the programs fill up and there is only a few businesses willing to take the responsibility of hiring someone with a disability. She was a very compassionate person and said she is always lobbying for more jobs in the community. Near the end of the conversation, we started talking about the smoke in the distance. There was a fire on the mountain about 4 miles from where I stood. There was 90 serious fires burning around California. The new travel office and 12 homes burned near the town.... I couldn't believe the news was actually accurate. I rode on the rest of the day and had no problems with fire. But there was times when I was riding through a thick haze of smoke that burnt my eyes and caught in my throat. That got me pedaling a bit faster and I didn’t think of headwinds once.



One of the most amazing things though was to ride through the redwood forests.... the trees were gigantic and camping under them was such a overwhelming feeling. If you love the environment and if you’re a tree hugger like me, these are a lot of tree to hug. Some of them are over 20 feet in diameter and 300 feet high. Unbelievable. The Avenue of the Giants is one place you don’t want to miss.


So as I'm a week away from Canada. I can't believe the speedometer reads 7600km. It's been a long time and I can't wait to be home. Some things have changed over the last months. My farmer’s tan has become hilarious. When I jump in a shower, it looks like I’ve got a white suit on! I’ve managed to shave most days (hey Dad, you listening?). I’ve managed to get a bit of laundry done here and there (hey, Mom, ditto?). But I also hope this trip has made me mentally tougher. The hills or mountains at the beginning that I thought I would never make it up, I did it. Now I love to push myself up them, only looking forward to the descent. The winds that used to make me want to cry, now they are nothing but a cooling breeze. The ride is such a great analogy for life. It's not easy and filled with lots of ups and downs but it’s a ride.



Happy Canada Day all. I’m going to see if I can hunt down a flag here.

Till next time Godspeed
Matthew