Tired of I.T! » California

The adventure continues..

Dave — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:26:20 +0000

The adventure continues..
Posted on: Wednesday, September 7th, 2011 at 3:26pm

Who would have thought that even though I didn’t make it into the Live@YVR finals that I wouldn’t get a chance to live inside of an airport for an extended period of time? I’m writing this from Milwaukee, Wisconsin where I have been for the past 8 hours waiting for another plane to connect me to my destination, New York City – for the third time of 2011, making it a trifecta of unintentional Big Apple Visits. Running on no more than 4 hours of sleep in the past 48 hours (and who knows in the past 7 days leading up to it) and carrying nothing but a laptop, a few credit cards, a toothbrush, 2 pairs of socks, 2 shirts and the pants I am wearing it’s surely been a different way of travel. Since 5am on September 6th I have been in an Airport or Airplane – Dude, where’s my bike? Enjoy some run on sentences and sleep deprived quality wording below:

The day before I headed over to the Burningman Festival I stopped in Fernley, NV to take up an offer for a free nights stay in the biggest, newest hotel in the city – A fantastic way to rest and shop for groceries for the next week, as you may recall that the Burningman Festival requires radical self reliance – meaning you need to bring in whatever you need to survive for the week (among other things). The intended ‘rest’ night had me up until 3am helping people on the east coast of the United States who had the rug pulled out from underneath them due to the imminent hurricane (Irene) set to destroy their areas shutting down airports, and cancelling their flights. I had an abnormal amount of air miles that I wasn’t using and decided that I was donate them to these people finding alternate routes for them to get down to Black Rock City, NV on time. They all had to drive considerable amounts of time, and board multiple planes to get to their destinations but made it on time to the festival weary but excited that they could make it. I burned through all of my remaining air miles for this, feeling good that I could help fellow travelers out reach their destinations. Due to this late night I didn’t get the sleep that I desired and awoke early in the day intending splitting the final 150km trek into 2 days. Leaving at 10:30am I rode up a very familiar route that I have travelled in the past reminiscing of the laughter that was shared with the various car guests, the music soundtracks that were played, and remembering the excitement and energy we had after long 30 hour drives from Winnipeg, MB Canada. While my journey has been a bit longer than the 30 hours, I spent the time smiling, stopping at many areas I normally wouldn’t be able to stop at in a car, and listened a fantastic selection of “greatest hits’ from years past. I stopped where I usually would stop at the gas stations and markets and talked to many other travelers and employees, before finding out that there was another cyclist about 20 miles ahead of me from Kentucky. Knowing I wouldn’t catch up to him I took my time over the hilly state route 447 before being flagged down by a bunch of smiling travelers having roadside tacos. They bought me a taco as I explained some of my story to which they replied that they were the friends (and partner) of the other cyclist up ahead, too coincidental. I had past the point of no return and forced myself to push all the way into the festival grounds due to good weather conditions, minimal wind, and some spare reserves of energy – likely adrenaline at this stage however I couldn’t maintain a constant speed due to the fact that I was constantly being stopped by other travelers (not complaining, really!). Some times I was even stopped by friends of mine from Vancouver and we shared brief reunions on the side of the road while large RV’s and cars passed by with people complimenting us with honks and cheers.

By the time I made it to the gate it was full on dark, and I missed out on some of my many signs that string along the 5 mile entrance to the city, yet noticed two moving silhouettes in the distance – 2 more bicycle tourists! Brad was the cyclist from Kentucky, leaving July 30th and pedaling across the Rocky Mountains nearly non stop (save for a few days where his ass said otherwise) and Alexandra who came in from California (but who was a Canadian resident!). We laughed for a while and I left them behind as I had early access privileges and their story of biking didn’t seem to please the gate attendants forcing them to turn around for a few days in the closest city of Gerlach with the rest of the early birds.

I won’t go into much detail of the festival itself – but throughout my time on the Playa I managed to: not run into anyone who I expected to meet up with, gave away free tickets at the front gates after spending 2.5 hours of dark times listening to some obviously fake stories, and some sad stories in between – the smiles and hugs I received when I gave the gift tickets over weren’t worth the lead up in my mind as it set me on a dark path for one day, inhaled who knows amount of playa dust, experienced near freezing conditions in the evening – some of the coolest temperatures I’ve ever seen on the Playa at this time, met a bunch of new friends, interacted with all different forms of art, and made sure I got enough sleep each night. In fact, not once did I stay up all night to watch sunrise! I came close though, but the experience was a different one as I opted to stay conscious of my mind throughout the week instead of pulverizing it with random chemicals or adulterants. The city was nearly double from when I last visited and struggled with 6 years of huge changes to the city as opposed to dealing with them incrementally year by year. Nice touches is the fact is that they Alphabeticalized the street names for easier navigation, the bathrooms were in ok shape for the entire week (yet still the residents of the city need to learn some lessons about cleaning up and not leaving garbage/messes inside of them). I couldn’t help but wonder about the new younger crowd that has appeared to see if they would be able to start stepping up and contributing to the art movement, as I noticed a definite lack of creativity in some of their camps, and certainly no addition to the mutant vehicles – Although they seemed to be all filled with smiles, and a lot less jaded than us crusty old timers

On the day that the man burned, I had hit my saturation point and was looking for my time to end at the festival – too many people, my feet had erupted in blisters all at once the night before causing extreme discomfort. I started thinking of ideas on what I should do, as my ride heading back to Vancouver wasn’t leaving until Monday afternoon. Instead, I devised a plan with a new friend who I had been spending an awful lot of time with throughout the week to go for a road trip back to their house in Los Angeles. There was a little bit of a meltdown with their passenger and I offered to ride along as navigator and chaperone finding the passenger an alternate ride home. Emotions can run high on the playa, and this was purely damage control. I left my bicycle, all of my possessions with my Vancouver contactknowing that whatever happened everything would work out and we set off on Sunday morning heading out of the festival grounds stopping in Reno at the Peppermill Casino/Hotel. I never mentioned this before in the past, but when I was in Eureka I started communicating with a real friendly person who I had assumed was from Reno. He had mentioned that he wanted to help me out with some of my bicycle parts that I was looking for, and I declined, simply looking for a proper mailing address to send stuff to. It turns out he lived in Las Vegas, 450 miles away which would have been an awful long drive either in a car, or ride on a bicycle. Cliff, is a hard-core IT guy as well who went out of his way and ordered all the parts I was looking for, not to mention a nights stay in the hotel, much welcome after 10 days of living in the desert without proper showers, malnutrition and hard-core sunburns. I also was able to pick up replacement tires from Schwalbe as we finally closed the door in my warranty claims – both front and rear tires were replaces and I ordered a few more spares for the Africa trip at wholesale cost. The generosity of people, random strangers, and kindred spirits still never amazes me – I’m in love with you all in the world, keep staying positive and cool!

We left the Peppermill at 10am in Reno and made our way over to Los Angeles, spent the next 12 hours sharing stories of our past, joking around, and sharing different types of music that we had loaded on our IPods, and found they were quite in sync (really, this is a rare occasion fro the nonsense that I listen to). I had intended on catching a flight out of Los Angeles back to Reno to catch a ride back to Vancouver, but somewhere along the lines we came up with the idea that I should fly to New York City to spend additional time together! My friend left Tuesday morning at 6am on a direct flight, yet I was stuck with dealing with a last minute flight that had me jump through 4 different Airports to make it to NYC. Once I arrive there we’ll figure out how we’ll deal with getting me some clothes as it’s pretty poor weather compared to what is going on in the west coast. I’ve never really done anything like this in my life, but not too worried in the slightest, living in the now, and enjoying every minute of this new change in plans. I still have to make it back to Vancouver for the wedding in the next few weeks, but already plans are falling into place for further airline travels a few days afterword’s. It certainly solves the problem that I have no where to live in Vancouver!

Oh yes – I should probably write that I now have booked a flight to Africa, October 17th I’ll fly from Vancouver BC to Frankfurt, Germany to Lagos Nigeria then over to Johannesburg, South Africa reaching the final destination of Cape Town, South Africa. I’ve spent more time in airports in the past 2 days than that little set of flights will consist of, but look forward to it as I managed to find 1st class tickets the whole way with air miles. As mentioned before I eliminated any other air miles that I had in my possession helping other people make it to Burningman Festival so getting “home” when I hit my biking saturation point might be a bit weird, but what else is new? Chaos!

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California Statistics

Dave — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 15:29:43 +0000

California Statistics
Posted on: Monday, October 25th, 2010 at 12:59pm

My route while traveling through..

Information

Info:
Formed: 1850
Population: 37,253,956 people
Area: 163,696 sq/ kilometres
Languages Spoken: English, Spanish
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. Nicknamed “The Golden State,” it is the most populous [4] and third-largest state by land area, after Alaska and Texas. It is home to the nation’s second- and sixth-largest census statistical areas and eight of the nation’s 50 most populous cities. Its five largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, and Fresno. California’s capital is Sacramento.

California’s diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast to the west, to the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the east, to the Mojave Desert areas in the southeast and to the Redwood–Douglas fir forests of the northwest. The center of the state is dominated by the Central Valley, a major agricultural area. California contains both the highest (Mount Whitney) and lowest (Death Valley) points in the contiguous United States. Earthquakes are a common occurrence due to the state’s location along the Pacific Ring of Fire, with about 37 thousand recorded annually.

The name California once referred to a large area of North America claimed by Spain that included much of modern-day Southwestern United States and the Baja California peninsula. Beginning in the late 18th century, the area known as Alta California, comprising the California territory north of the Baja Peninsula, was colonized by the Spanish Empire as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1821, Alta California became a part of Mexico following its successful war for independence. Shortly after the beginning of the Mexican-American War in 1846, a group of American settlers in Sonoma declared an independent California Republic in Alta California. Though its existence was short-lived, its flag became the precursor for California’s current state flag. American victory in the war led to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in which Mexico ceded Alta California to the United States. Western areas of Alta California became the state of California, which was admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850.

The California Gold Rush beginning in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic change, with large scale immigration from the U.S. and abroad and an accompanying economic boom. Key developments in the early 20th century included the emergence of Los Angeles as the center of the American entertainment industry, and the growth of a large, state-wide tourism sector. The late 20th century saw the development of the technology and information sectors, punctuated by the growth of Silicon Valley. In addition to California’s prosperous agricultural industry, other important contributors to its economy include aerospace, education, and manufacturing. If California were a country, it would be the eighth-largest economy in the world and the 35th most populous nation.

California’s climate varies from Mediterranean to subarctic.

Much of the state has a Mediterranean climate, with cool, rainy winters and dry summers. The cool California Current offshore often creates summer fog near the coast. Further inland, one encounters colder winters and hotter summers.

Northern parts of the state average higher annual rainfall than the south. California’s mountain ranges influence the climate as well: some of the rainiest parts of the state are west-facing mountain slopes. Northwestern California has a temperate climate, and the Central Valley has a Mediterranean climate but with greater temperature extremes than the coast. The high mountains, including the Sierra Nevada, have a mountain climate with snow in winter and mild to moderate heat in summer.
Snow on the mountains of Southern California.

The east side of California’s mountains produce a rain shadow, creating expansive deserts. The higher elevation deserts of eastern California see hot summers and cold winters, while the low deserts east of the southern California mountains experience hot summers and nearly frostless mild winters. Death Valley, a desert with large expanses below sea level, is considered the hottest location in North America; the highest temperature in the Western Hemisphere, 134 °F (57 °C), was recorded there on July 10, 1913.

The culture of California is a Western culture and most clearly has its modern roots in the culture of the United States, but also, historically, many Hispanic influences. As a border and coastal state, Californian culture has been greatly influenced by several large immigrant populations, especially those from Latin America. California is a true melting pot as well as an international crossroad to the U.S.

California has long been a subject of interest in the public mind and has often been promoted by its boosters as a kind of paradise. In the early 20th Century, fueled by the efforts of state and local boosters, many Americans saw the Golden State as an ideal resort destination, sunny and dry all year round with easy access to the ocean and mountains. In the 1960s, popular music groups such as the Beach Boys promoted the image of Californians as laid-back, tanned beach-goers.

In terms of socio-cultural mores and national politics, Californians are perceived as more liberal than other Americans, especially those who live in the inland states. In some ways, California is the quintessential Blue State– accepting of alternative lifestyles, not uniformly religious, and preoccupied with environmental issues.

The gold rush of the 1850s is still seen as a symbol of California’s economic style, which tends to generate technology, social, entertainment, and economic fads and booms and related busts.

State of California Website

Wikipedia Entry

Pictures

View at Flickr">

Journal Entries

The following is a list of journal entries I wrote while traveling through. Click one to read!

2011-09-07 – The adventure continues..
2010-10-25 – California Statistics
2009-10-17 – Phase 2 summary
2009-10-12 – Day 30 – In and Out
2009-10-12 – Day 30 – Making a run for the border..
2009-10-11 – Day 29 – Escaped from Los Angeles
2009-10-11 – Day 29 – Straight into Compton..
2009-10-11 – Day 29 – Need a LAXative
2009-10-10 – Day 28 – I think?
2009-10-10 – Day 27 – Front row viewing..
2009-10-09 – Day 27 – Morale Boosters
2009-10-08 – Day 26 – Things unravel..
2009-10-08 – Day 26 – Easy ridin’
2009-10-07 – Day 25 – Break the Chain!
2009-10-06 – Day 24 – Back on the road
2009-10-05 – Day 23 – Well Deserved Relaxation
2009-10-04 – Day 22 – Clairvoyant
2009-10-04 – Day 22 – More off course oddities
2009-10-03 – Day 21 – No pants party in a No party zone.
2009-10-03 – Day 21 – Drastic Change of Course
2009-10-02 – Day 20 – I left *nothing* in San Francisco
2009-10-01 – Day 19 – A roof over my head?
2009-10-01 – Day 19 – So close to the Bay Area
2009-09-30 – Day 18 – Leisurely Riding with good crew
2009-09-29 – Day 17 – Foggy Rehabilitation
2009-09-28 – Day 16 – Multiple Repair Kits required
2009-09-27 – Day 15 – Heat: 103 – Dave: 0
2009-09-26 – Day 14 – Eureka!
2009-09-25 – Day 13 – Crazy Climbing
2009-09-24 – Day 12 – Crazies in Crescent City
2009-09-24 – Day 12 – Time limited….
2009-09-22 – Day 10 – Found shade, and Wifi!

Statistics

Totals:

Total Days: 21	Total Cost: $0.00 ($0.00/day)
Distance: 2,014.00 km (Most: 2009-10-11 – 202.00 km)	Food Cost: $0.00
Ascended: 0 metres (Most: 2011-09-05 – 0 metres)	Drink Cost: $0.00
Energy Consumed: 0 calories (Most: 2011-09-05 – 0)	Equipment Cost: $0.00
	Transportation Cost: $0.00
	Lodging Cost: $0.00
	Entertainment Cost: $0.00
	Misc Cost: $0.00

Below shows the statistics while traveling through the area. Click on a date for more information!

Date	Location	Distance (km)	Cost
2011-09-06	Los Angeles, CA, US	0.00	$0.00
2011-09-05	Los Angeles, CA, US	0.00	$0.00
2009-10-12	San Ysidro, CA, US	161.00	$
2009-10-11	Dana Point, CA, US	202.00	$
2009-10-10	Leo Carillo State Park, CA, US	147.00	$
2009-10-09	Refugio Beach, CA, US	133.00	$
2009-10-08	Oceano, CA, US	98.00	$
2009-10-07	San Simeon State Park, CA, US	120.00	$
2009-10-06	Big Sur, CA, US	55.00	$
2009-10-05	Pebble Beach, CA, US	0.00	$
2009-10-04	Pebble Beach, CA, US	84.00	$
2009-10-03	New Brighton State Park, CA, US	99.00	$
2009-10-02	Half Moon Bay, CA, US	60.00	$
2009-10-01	San Francisco, CA, US	139.00	$
2009-09-30	Bodega Bay, CA, US	87.00	$
2009-09-29	Gualala, CA, US	87.00	$
2009-09-28	Fort Bragg, CA, US	97.00	$
2009-09-27	Legett, CA, US	75.00	$
2009-09-26	Meyers Flatts, CA, US	140.00	$
2009-09-25	Patricks Point State Park, CA, US	86.00	$
2009-09-24	Crescent City, CA, US	144.00	$

Phase 2 summary

Dave — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:05:44 +0000

Phase 2 summary
Posted on: Saturday, October 17th, 2009 at 2:05pm

I felt I would take a little break from the blogging after reaching Mexico, just to recompress, collect my thoughts, and give my muscles a chance to yell at me for what I did to them.

I had the opportunity to stay with a family in Spring Valley, California until Saturday, allowing me to catch up on lost business opportunities, and to plan an exit route, back to Canada. Lois and Bob, hosted me and gave me access to a house where I had the ability to catch up on laundry, do my cooking, and sleep, while the building sold as it was vacant. With a crystal clear view of all of Tijuana, it really felt like being at the top of the world. I had a great time talking with the two about my thoughts, their thoughts, some esoteric and some just fun – also having an opportunity to teach each other things that are a part of our life. I hope to see them again in the future, and to give them a red carpet welcome as they provided to me.

Life in the past few days, has been incredibly – let’s just say, uneventful. I’m not carefully applying pressure variably to each brake to ensure the rim does not get too hot during one of my memorable warp-speed descents. I’ve back reverted to not looking at every human’s eyes that comes into my peripheral vision, giving a nod when they finally catch mine, and I’ve decided to put a new pair of socks on every day. Honest.

30 days on the road was a test, less than a year old thought to first bike around Europe, which has somehow grown teeth and evolved into an around the world journey, starting this upcoming March.

I passed, I’d say with flying colours. I didn’t get the t-shirt with my name monogrammed on it, but instead got an outline of one with a tan that’s going to last well into the winter.

Add to that, a few more grey hairs, , as well as managing to sprout some blonde and red hairs on my face, due to the fact that I’m growing a beard to cover up the multiple 1-2 inch lacerations on my face from a night of joking and fun. Funny – looking back on anything in my life, I’ve never been hurt outside of joking around. Maybe I should stop, and just be boring for the rest of my life. Unlikely.

My sleep situation has improved slightly, and I’ve yet to see if my stress levels are going to rise up pre the trip – I’m sure there are going to be incidents, but I’m now in an understanding in my mind that I’m in “tie up loose ends” mode – Dealing with selling my house, the rest of my possessions, finishing my tenure at the place I do business with, assigning Power of Attorney status to people to carry out my affairs while gone – and getting as much face time with people in my life that I care about – including animals.\

Cycling through the USA opened my eyes to a lot of different cultures – It’s amazing how a simple county change can bring out an entirely different type of person, mannerism’s, and culture’s. California, with it being 17 days of my 30 day tour (I’m not counting the time I spent “down”) with its massive expanse of land proved this – I almost have to go back and read the journals closely to remember what happened throughout it due to the rapid fire succession of events, sights, and towns that were passed through.

I managed to make it through the entire state without any rain other than “spitting” which it turns out I missed by 2 days, with the reminents of a typhoon soaking the entire coast of California, sometimes in record amounts. Sometimes it became rather cold in the morning due to the fog that rolled in, but I was soon stripping off clothing partway throughout the day to ensure I didn’t overheat.

I climbed an awful lot of hills and set some personal bests, in terms of distance and amount of hours in the saddle, pushing my internals to their extremes, and taking notes of each of the reactions, so that I may ensure that I either prevent, or encourage that behaviour in the future. My first statement I’d like to retract is that I didn’t see the beauty of Big Sur. Once written it cannot be erased, but I did find its rock cliffs and oceanic views to be mind boggling.

I managed to do the entire ride without listening to music on a device the entire time. This is incredibly bizarre considering that it is a major part of my life, doing weekly radio shows, and in tune with progressive “not entirely danceable” music, but listened to what my head told me, allowing it to wander, fully appreciating all 5 senses in their glory (with the teeny exception of my week long bender on pain-killers, and things sort of became a bit rounder).

My equipment, wholly over packed worked out well, with the exception of my stove. I’m quite disappointed that it didn’t last in the field much longer than 3 weeks considering it is labelled as “Expedition”. I’ll be re-evaluating my list, what needs to be coming with me in the future, potentially leaving things back at home, for when I’m joined by others, as I sure don’t feel like cooking gourmet when I am on my own. The bicycle outperformed itself and the issues that were experienced I can take ownership for lack of improper maintenance, and will be taking steps to alleviate in the near future, with great curiosity and enthusiasm (Does anyone have a bike stand to loan me for a couple weeks?)

Technology – still seemed to be a very important piece of the trip. I kept in contact with people regularly via instant message, but found that a speakerphone call over Voice over IP services like Skype were fumbly, unreliable based on the available bandwidth at the sites that I was receiving internet from and would be suited better with a headset, whether blue tooth, or corded. Just another thing to carry with you, is the first thing in mind. My second statement that I’d like to retract is that McDonald’s offers free wifi at all locations – untrue. I’ve since moved onto Starbucks, with their 2 hours a day limit, and full intend on modding a netbook/laptop to include an external antenna just because. The GPS, while a dream to get me out of situations in big cities, required charging, and had be constantly looking down at the time of day, distance travelled, and speed of my bicycle. While interesting stats, they also detract me from the situation at hand which is why I have my actual mileage cyclometer hidden upside down on my down tube. I might want to look into a Dyno Hub, which are available to output DC voltage – but only after I burn out my existing hub to not waste my gear.

I learned something new this trip – and that is “New Pain Overrides Old Pain”, having some pretty spectacular throbbing sensations in my stomach, my face, and my behind. The excruciating pain that I went through each time seemed to disappear when a new one would come in. I still can’t feel under my bottom lip down to the bottom of my chin properly as it is very numb, my middle finger on my left hand is still tingly at the tip, and well the pain in the behind, is well, behind me. My saddle is now fully broken in, and now very comfortable. I had minor muscle pains throughout the trip, and towards the end during my marathon phase song twangs in my knee. Throat had a lump in it for the last 10 days, but solved by more water, and by spitting often (likely due to my face injury).

I’d recommend this trip for anyone who has the time for 45 days, to really chill out and see the things that I’ve seen. I don’t regret doing it at the pace I did whatsoever, and find that it was just right for me. I had some constraints and was lucky to pull off what I did all considering. I met a slew of people that I can call friends from all sorts of walks of life. The cyclists were all unique in their own way, and all had their stories to share to captivate me and further become intrigued at the concept of touring. Let’s face it, in a car – you miss so much – Bicycle Touring is where it’s at. Nearly every person I met was friendly in different towns, whether it was for a brief conversation, or an offering of food, the various eye candies that I experienced in Oregon and California, and the monetary donations that I received. The families who gave up their houses for me to stay at are in their own league of awesome, however.

I felt safe in almost every situation, short of being in the cities where the despicable thieves, predators, and hooligans collect, simply a matter of population growth I suppose, and see no reason for anyone to have the need to bring a weapon with them on tour, also voiced by another tourer who I met, who is continuing his trek all the way down to Argentina. Good luck to him, and may he stay safe in other countries. Communication goes along way to defuse situations, and karma is a wonderful thing for those who step outside of their boundaries to make sure that you are safe

I probably could have done better on the eating front, but managed even with the lack of the stove on the second half. The caffeine dosing that occurred regularly was not only to assist in situations but also I like it, but can get costly. Drinking alcoholic beverages also brings up the budget, but a good way to end a hard day of riding, especially with a group of people chatting away with headlamps pointed sideways on their forehead in the darkness around picnic tables.

To say that I’m excited for the next phase, to go across and see my home land would be an understatement. The website will be a bit quieter until that time in March, however I plan on posting some reviews of equipment, instructional articles, and planing out new features for the website, like weekly audio programs, more videos that I took over the span of the trip, and more work on the user interface. I just damn well keep things be. Sorry, it’s in my makings.