Just made it to Oregon! Chilling at a Starbucks past Astoria right now. Last night we camped at Cape Disappointment state park and it was unbelievable. Very cool beaches and a good site. Started biking at around 9am today. Fuck the bridge over the Columbia River. Can't believe that biking over that is legal. I felt like I was going to get hit by a car and fly into the river lol
We're averaging around 60miles a day which is pretty good for my schedule.
write a book about your hobo experiences
did you stop in astoria?
Quote from: antmaster5000 on August 13, 2018, 11:02:36 AMWe're averaging around 60miles a day which is pretty good for my schedule.
jesus befuddlement
Quote from: Samus Aran on August 13, 2018, 11:39:06 AMwrite a book about your hobo experiences
and agreed srsly
Didn't really stop in Astoria haha just flew through
Sorry I intended on updating this thread more but I have had less time than expected.
Long term bike touring is a wild lifestyle. Been riding ~6 hrs and ~70 miles a day. Wake up at 630/7, make tea and eat some fruit and breakfast snack food (need to start making oatmeal). Pack up and ride 15-20 miles to the next town and hopefully find a Starbucks (lol) to get caffeinated and abuse their WiFi/charging. Usually do two more 20 mile stretches before we camp. So far we've done state or county parks every night, except for one night where a nice old couple let us stay on their private campsite for free, and another where we stealth camped off the highway. The hiker/biker spots are $5-8 at state parks so don't really mind paying in exchange for water, often a warm shower, and peace of mind. My buddy is on a tighter budget and would rather stealth camp every night but that is not for me as much lol
Just rolled into Eureka CA and am hanging at a Starbucks. Have stayed at some absolutely gorgeous state parks and rode some amazing stretches on the 101. Also some horrifying stretches lol. The red wood forest has been amazing as well. Saw some Elk from afar this morning.
Anything I should be excited for before I get to San Fran? Have about 280 miles and no idea what to expect.
The area from Northern California to San Fran is very beautiful and covered in trees and some nice mountains (nothing like WA).
It's a long long travel from there though since California is so god damn long.
I like the coastal towns up north like Bodega Bay. They're some small towns with ocean access.
cycled down the Avenue of the Giants yesterday and it was definitely a trip highlight so far. those redwoods are sexy
those fuckin redwoods bro
I drove the ave of the giants last year and stayed in eureka for a couple days too
Eureka is an interesting place.
Lol I got weird vibes from eureka. Didn't hang out too long though.
Started on highway 1 yesterday (which I'll be on pretty much until Cabo, crazy). Planning to arrive to San Francisco on Friday and will spent Saturday enjoying the city. Going to hopefully get some work done on my bike and hit some good cafes and breweries.
Also my gf bought plane tickets to Cabo to arrive Oct 2nd and booked us an Airbnb for a few days before we head back hocuspocus;
gonna stay on skid row with the other hobos?
Have you made a skin suit out of other hobos yet?
Quote from: antmaster5000 on August 22, 2018, 08:43:18 AMLol I got weird vibes from eureka. Didn't hang out too long though.
Started on highway 1 yesterday (which I'll be on pretty much until Cabo, crazy). Planning to arrive to San Francisco on Friday and will spent Saturday enjoying the city. Going to hopefully get some work done on my bike and hit some good cafes and breweries.
Also my gf bought plane tickets to Cabo to arrive Oct 2nd and booked us an Airbnb for a few days before we head back hocuspocus;
re in for a treat, the highway 1 is the best highway I've ever driven on in terms of sights and places to stop.
After bodega bay, San Fran and San Jose you'll hit the central coast (Mooro bay, San Luis obispo, Pismo, Avila) it's so beautiful around there. I'd check out Avila beach or at least Pismo if you're close and wanna see a solid California beach before you hit San Diego.
Plus Cabo is one of the best places to vacation in Mexico (though I want to check out Tulum one day). El Archo the water cave is a nice place to get a boat dinner/tour to.
Eureka and stuff is just small mountain town, they have all sorts of nut cases up in just about any mountain- but plenty of amazing people too. Just easy to find those hill billies lol.
How are you getting all your stuff back up when you're done
throw it in the ocean of course
Started in Seattle and did the Olympic peninsula first with a group of friends. Then me and one other guy continued south on the 101.
Thanks for the info reaper. Highway 1 is awesome so far. Less massive huge hills and more steep but short hills. Very pretty though.
Going to get my bike packed in a bike box at a bike shop and then fly home with it. Usually an extra $60 or something. I've seen terrible videos of the workers just throwing your boxed bike around and people having wheels and shit bend akudood;
Oh for sure highway 1 is pretty incredible and perfect for a long bike ride. That sounds like a blast.
You should challenge yourself and walk all the way home
Too hardcore for me
This is the first night I've split up from my friend. He wanted to go 85 miles today, stealth camp, and then only have like 35 to go to San Francisco tomorrow. I decided to procrastinate some miles and only do 50 today and stay at a nice state park. Hung out in a cool cafe and talked with the owner for a while. Just have to crank out ~70 miles tomorrow and I'll be crossing the Golden Gate Bridge hocuspocus;
Nice 👍
chilling in SF at my riding partner's friend's apartment. never been to this city before but it is sure overwhelming compared to being on the coast lol
also I had the first bike shop I found fix my rear wheel (loose spokes, wasn't very true) and almost immediately my chain was skipping. went to the next shop I found and they had my get a new chain (which needed replacement) and it is STILL skipping. going to go to hopefully my last bike shop tomorrow to take care of the skip and replace my handlebars and throw on some new brakes that I bought. kind of stressful to cram all this bike work into a short period of time in a new city but it will be so nice rolling out with all the things that have been annoying me the past few weeks being fixed
also im going to post some pics for u guys soon
Well $170 in total parts and labor my bike is feeling like new again. Wasn't expecting to spend so much but oh well. Also bought another pair of wool socks, another pair of padded underwear, and a reflective vest. I realized I wear all gray and it has been super foggy so I probably just blend right in with the road akudood;
Yeah make your ass stand out as biking is incredibly dangerous due to cars.
First time in San Fran? Oh boy I bet, it's not like a lot of cities, especially in California. Very dense and quite small, lots of great public transportation. People watching is probably pretty top tier there in San Fran, especially near the piers.
LA is a whole different type of city- it's built for cars and extremely large area.
Yeah it's been a trip. Went to a small party in an apartment of some well to do young tech workers and I felt very out of place in whatever clothing I have lol
Leaving today though. Got a warmshowers host lined up in Pescadero so just a 50 mile day which is kind of nice. Will probably grab one last nice cup of coffee before we head out lol
And yeah we are thinking of just avoiding LA as much as possible lol. We might have someone to stay with in Long Beach which would be perfect
dont die strong david boyah needs your activity
Ty cmongler maintaining my sub 10% quota is what I look forward to upon my return
Quote from: antmaster5000 on August 26, 2018, 10:39:14 AMTy cmongler maintaining my sub 10% quota is what I look forward to upon my return
your particular sub 10% is still very valuable to us lol
you are a defender of doodthing after all
so pls do continue to be careful >.<
i need my daily biking adventure journal entry fix lol
TY <3
Just talked to some dude in a cafe for a while about my trip and he inquired about my tattoo and I legit think he might join boyah lol
William if u see this hello and it was nice talking to you
Also everyone keeps asking if I am a dental student or dentist based on my tattoo and I might just start going along with it for simplicity's sake lol
Quote from: antmaster5000 on August 26, 2018, 11:32:13 AMTY <3
Just talked to some dude in a cafe for a while about my trip and he inquired about my tattoo and I legit think he might join boyah lol
William if u see this hello and it was nice talking to you
YES YES YES
once again our foremost defender has made doodthing proud
hi william welcome to boyah happydood;
Quote from: antmaster5000 on August 26, 2018, 11:32:13 AMAlso everyone keeps asking if I am a dental student or dentist based on my tattoo and I might just start going along with it for simplicity's sake lol
oh god lol
Don't be afraid to preach the good word of Doodthing and Boyah with gusto. baddood;
(https://i.imgur.com/QijR7kF.jpg)
loaded
(https://i.imgur.com/o5Ep8UA.jpg)
naked
(https://i.imgur.com/P7vCwRu.jpg)
camping
(https://i.imgur.com/imG8490.jpg)
strongbad camping
(https://i.imgur.com/YTqpmXx.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/YhxAOpI.jpg)
photo dump!!!!
how huge are your calf muscles by now
last night we stayed with a warmshower's host (cyclists housing cyclists sorta thing) and it was this extremely eccentric couple in their 60s who lived in a yurt during the weekends (we camped next to it). the woman was literally crazy (self identified psychic, coould talk to people after they died, etc), and the guy was a software developer working at a startup. both were very nice and super engaging. they bought us sushi for dinner and gave us beers (but they didn't drink lol). they also had two adorable dogs that we got to pet. the guy gave me a tour of his property and showed me all his marijuana plants that had died since his water pump broke lol
very fun and weird night
Quote from: Detective Spatchcock on August 27, 2018, 10:26:00 PMhow huge are your calf muscles by now
they are actually swole as hell dude. im such a skinny guy but my legs are huge lol
Quote from: antmaster5000 on August 27, 2018, 10:28:10 PMlast night we stayed with a warmshower's host (cyclists housing cyclists sorta thing) and it was this extremely eccentric couple in their 60s who lived in a yurt during the weekends (we camped next to it). the woman was literally crazy (self identified psychic, coould talk to people after they died, etc), and the guy was a software developer working at a startup. both were very nice and super engaging. they bought us sushi for dinner and gave us beers (but they didn't drink lol). they also had two adorable dogs that we got to pet. the guy gave me a tour of his property and showed me all his marijuana plants that had died since his water pump broke lol
very fun and weird night
this is the most stereotypically california thing i have ever heard LOL
i mean this could be a gtav subplot
Quote from: Magyarorszag on August 27, 2018, 10:55:02 PMQuote from: antmaster5000 on August 27, 2018, 10:28:10 PMlast night we stayed with a warmshower's host (cyclists housing cyclists sorta thing) and it was this extremely eccentric couple in their 60s who lived in a yurt during the weekends (we camped next to it). the woman was literally crazy (self identified psychic, coould talk to people after they died, etc), and the guy was a software developer working at a startup. both were very nice and super engaging. they bought us sushi for dinner and gave us beers (but they didn't drink lol). they also had two adorable dogs that we got to pet. the guy gave me a tour of his property and showed me all his marijuana plants that had died since his water pump broke lol
very fun and weird night
this is the most stereotypically california thing i have ever heard LOL
i mean this could be a gtav subplot
i live in California and agree. when i read this i was not surprised by anything.
The people in California have been so damn nice
We had a stretch of 5/6 days where some stranger made us dinner WTF
The other night we stayed with a guy we met briefly in a cafe and he treated us to a chinese all you can eat buffet. Trip highlight
The next night we met a family at a state park campground that got us drunk off shitty beer and made us dinner. Also gave us weed muffins that we ate the next morning and we did our whole (although short) 30 mile day in one stretch without any stops lol
Staying with a cool guy from warmshowers in Santa Barbara. Hes taken us all around to cool spots and been super accommodating. Cool town.
I'm having fun hocuspocus;
I'm planning on hitting up some beaches in Malibu this weekend, I don't have a whole lot of free time since my fiancée will be with me and she has piles and piles of homework and studying. Kind of unlikely to actually meet up.
Anyways that is so tight your experiences with California people are super enjoyable sounding. Chinese buffet is the best.
Enjoying a break day in San Diego. LA was a bit of a slog to get through, but I'm loving it here. Today is my last full day in the states, too. Luckily we lined up a Warm Showers host in Tijuana for tomorrow night, which means we only have ~26 miles to put in. This should hopefully take the stress out if the border crossing and the chaos of riding through Tijuana (from what I've heard). The guy we're staying with has a lot of feedback and is excited to host us- said we could stay as long as we want. Strangely enough he is in Seattle right now and will be getting back to Tijuana the same day we arrive lol
Finally bought some new earbuds so I can get back on the podcast grind. The sound isolation isn't as good as mine that broke but they are better than nothing. To ease my mind from boredom while I ride, I've progressed (regressed) to hitting my vape pen all day long lol. Going to hand it off or throw it away before the border crossing of course, but it will be missed.
And then just a few more weeks and I should be in Cabo! Crazy how fast time flies. We estimate that we're around 2/3rds done with the trip.
also I've been updating my Instagram story pretty religiously if you are interested in looking at different pictures of my bike from the same angle lol
Quote from: antmaster5000 on September 06, 2018, 04:02:18 PMalso I've been updating my Instagram story pretty religiously if you are interested in looking at different pictures of my bike from the same angle lol
I was gonna ask for the link but it's in your sig!!!
For your convenience hocuspocus;
hello from Tijuana!
crossing the border was pretty chill. we almost walked out without getting our passports stamped (how is that allowable in the system?) but luckily we knew roughly what we needed to do so we asked for help and got our 180 day tourist visas without pain
biking through downtown TJ was fine but Christ the highway was hell. Somehow survived and made it to playas de Tijuana, which is just the coastal part I guess. Much mellower and doesn't feel like the TJ that you hear people whine about. Our warmshowers host lives in this area and is very pro-tijuana and has talked up it's excellent craft beer (best in Mexico?) and music scenes. He's taking us out for drinks later so I guess I'll be the judge of that. He also reassured us that the highway gets much better and that stealth camping will be extremely easy most of the time. A good change in pace coming from LA lol
Also ate 5 tacos and am excited to consume roughly 4000 more during this month
Cycling the highway in Mexico is pretty interesting
The shoulder is worse or non existent compared to the states but the drivers are about 10x more considerate. Many give you a nice wave, peace sign, or yell encouragement as the pass. A nice change in pace from the us where there is so much disrespect towards cyclists that drivers are willing to put your life in danger and pass with minimal room.
Food is cheap and so are hotels. Weather is hot as fuck but we've found that if we start our day at 7 and get most of our miles in before mid day we can avoid the heat for the most part.
We stayed in a really small town last night and the only restaurant was a pizza place. My friend and I split a large pizza (terrible idea) and while it wasnt a bad pizza I think I overdosed on lactose (am intolerant but usually just fart a lot) and have had diarrhea all day. Pretty sure it is from the pizza and not water.. hopefully. We've filtered water a little bit with our hand filters but after doing some research I learned that if I want to be 100% safe from giardia (which I've had before and was hell) the filter isn't enough and I need to boil too. After the diarrahea scare (that I think is over) I'm going to fuck the environment and buy bottled water only. Will cost me less than a dollar a day and is well worth it for peace of mind.
Also shipped my vape pen home in San diego (RIP) which was probably good since I was perpetually high almost all day every day lol. I did buy new headphones so getting blazed and spacing out while riding has been replaced by podcasts, which is much better lol. Hit me with your recommendations.
Overall I feel very safe and am loving the cheap food and accommodations. The water scarcity and heat are a bit of a challenge, but we just have to plan our days strategically and we'll be ok. My mediocre Spanish has been improving slightly and locals have been mostly happy to work with me which is really nice. I feel bad when I can't understand everything they're saying, but I certainly have enough to get by and have minor conversations.
Our mileage has been all over the place. We need to average 41 miles a day to get to Cabo in time to meet my gf (our mileage throuhhthe states averaged out to 60-65 a day so no prob) and we're aiming for 50 so we can work in a couple break days and enjoy ourselves more.
Hope you guys are enjoying hearing about my weird trip. I'm having fun but I fantasize a lot about getting home and binging overwatch and getting back in the swing of things. And being able to be more active on boyah of course giggle;
Quote from: antmaster5000 on September 11, 2018, 03:46:28 PMAnd being able to be more active on boyah of course (https://boyah.net/forums/Smileys/default/giggleocto.png)
this is more important than ANYTHING
Quote from: antmaster5000 on September 11, 2018, 03:46:28 PMHope you guys are enjoying hearing about my weird trip.
I look forward to every entry. giggle;
you have convinced me to spend $600 on a bike lol
i would but biking around Boston would definitely eventually lead to my death
Quote from: Detective Spatchcock on September 12, 2018, 08:02:46 PMi would but biking around Boston would definitely eventually lead to my death
rofl i certainly couldn't rely on biking as a regular means of transport in my town either, that has a much higher likelihood of ending badly than i'm at all comfortable with
but there are several truly great bike trails on long island that i've wanted to experience for ages, and i'd need a new bike for that anyway
i probably would have spent no more than $150 on some walmart piece of shite without strongdavid's advice though lol
Quote from: Magyarorszag on September 12, 2018, 08:00:12 PMQuote from: antmaster5000 on September 11, 2018, 03:46:28 PMHope you guys are enjoying hearing about my weird trip.
I look forward to every entry. giggle;
you have convinced me to spend $600 on a bike lol
DUDE have you done it already? Feel free to ask me any questions or let me know if you want recommendations. I'm a huge bike nerd and am addicted to buying bikes (bad addiction) and would be happy to help
also I'm literally biking through the desert right now lol. I wasn't expecting to have service for 4 days and feel really lucky to have found WiFi today (day 2)
It is a fucking jungle of huge cacti everywhere and huge boulders. It's like an alien landscape. I'm carrying 4.5l of water every day and drinking most of it lol. It's like 78 degrees in direct sunlight with minimal wind and no shade. It's kind of terrible lol
I'd read in a blog that you could ask the police officers in the town I stayed in last night for lodging and they'd point you to a deserted medical dispensary to sleep in for free (not weed lol) this was 4 years ago though so I was curious if itd hold up. we arrived at 4pm yesterday after putting in 79 miles (maybe my longest and hottest day lol) and went to the police station after buying some cold beverages and shit. The police had apparently lost the key to the medical dispensary (lmao) but they let us stay in a huge aircraft hanger type multi-purpose room. I have some pics on my IG. I wasn't going to set up my tent but at night hella bugs and bats came out.. fuck that so I set up my tent and slept well. My friend went outside to pee at one point and saw 5 cows (desert cows?) being barked at by dogs lol
Oh also we realized two days ago before this barren desert stretch that we we're almost out of pesos and that there wouldn't be an ATM for like 350 miles. We were freaking out and thought we might have to take a bus back like 100 miles to withdraw money in a prior town. Luckily after asking around in broken and stressed out Spanish we found a place where we could get cash back. Thank God. The first time this whole trip where I'd been genuinely freaking out. Got like $250 USD which will stretch until we get to civilization again. Its crazy though- nobody accepts cards. I have this piece of plastic that represents lots of money but it is meaningless out here. Crazy
Just finished day 3 of riding 70+ miles and having to carry a fuck ton of water in hot as fuck conditions
I don't think I've ever been as exhausted in my life lol. One more day at this pace tomorrow. I'm dreading it tbh. Listened to a whole podcast where two comedians talked about their favorite sandwiches (the topic) for an hour. I was already so hungry and honestly it just made me angry lol
I've been following this guy's blog on crazyguyonabike (cool web 1.0 website that is the hub for bike tourists) who did the same ride years ago, and have been following a lot of his recommendations. I downloaded almost all of it offline and I'm so thankful I did.
It's crazy, though. He is like "this restaurant has free camping out back." So we roll up to this restaurant at the end of the day and after ordering are like "...do you have a space for us to camp please?" And they're like "ya sure" lol. And they have WiFi which is why I can post now. Also WiFi is pronounced "WeeFee" in Spanish lmao. I've never gone about my life in a stranger way.
wow that really is a web 1.0 website lol
lol I know right
If you want to read about the trip from my friend's perspective (and hear about our many disagreements lol) here's the blog he's keeping. Hes going to keep going after I finish in Cabo. He wants to go to the tip of Argentina but I'm a little skeptical that he'll make it that far
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?doc_id=20480
nice stache david
Quote from: C.Mongler on September 14, 2018, 07:27:39 PMnice stache david
thx I think I can grow facial hair at the rate of an average 17 year old
Quote from: antmaster5000 on September 13, 2018, 06:41:03 PMAlso WiFi is pronounced "WeeFee" in Spanish lmao.
i pronounce it like that sometimes lol goodjob;
Quote from: antmaster5000 on September 13, 2018, 09:03:46 AMQuote from: Magyarorszag on September 12, 2018, 08:00:12 PMQuote from: antmaster5000 on September 11, 2018, 03:46:28 PMHope you guys are enjoying hearing about my weird trip.
I look forward to every entry. giggle;
you have convinced me to spend $600 on a bike lol
DUDE have you done it already? Feel free to ask me any questions or let me know if you want recommendations. I'm a huge bike nerd and am addicted to buying bikes (bad addiction) and would be happy to help
not yet because 1. $600 is a lot and 2. i couldn't even use it right now anyway and by the time i could it'd be approaching winter lol
but a decent bike is high on my list of things i need to buy and has been for a while
realistically i probably won't until spring 2019 but you are the first person i would seek for advice on such a matter girl;
Quote from: antmaster5000 on September 14, 2018, 07:13:13 PMlol I know right
If you want to read about the trip from my friend's perspective (and hear about our many disagreements lol) here's the blog he's keeping. Hes going to keep going after I finish in Cabo. He wants to go to the tip of Argentina but I'm a little skeptical that he'll make it that far
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?doc_id=20480
How does he plan to get across the Amazon rainforest? befuddlement
also i hope you brought an ample supply of sunscreen lol myface;
yeah please shoot me a message ill be happy to help
that is a good question. I know he's going to take a boat around the Darian gap which is supposedly insane to cross (I didn't know about it until he started planning his trip) but besides that I think there are known routes for everywhere else
@sunscreen
lol oh yeah huge on my priority list. I finished my second bottle (upgraded to spf50) a while ago and right after buying a 3rd this nice guy who owned a restaurant we were chilling at for a while for the wifi gave us a full bottle of fancy spf50 spray. I guess Mexicans dont need it lol
Also we finished the hell stretch of 4 70 mile desert days and just did a chiller 45 mile day to a fairly populated little town. Off the recommendation of another cycle tourist we stayed at this weird hotel that also has a camp site in the back that is pretty secure. They have nice amenities and a cool restaurant and bar with cheaper prices for cyclists lol. Taking a much needed break day here tomorrow as well to sit on my butt thank goodness. Just over half way through Baja
Did u guys know that the time zone changes to mountain time when you get to the southern half of Baja? (Baja sur). Doesn't really make sense and it really threw me off lol
be sure to stick an american flag in the northern half of baja california on your way back girl;
Damn this is crazy. I love hearing about just like, normal life in other countries. Keep updating us. I'm way into it.
Quote from: Magyarorszag on September 15, 2018, 10:00:48 PMbe sure to stick an american flag in the northern half of baja california on your way back girl;
HAH good one
(if u guys didn't know already I'm flying back from Cabo lol)
Thanks popsi I appreciate that hocuspocus;
Also my friend and I have decided that going south to North on the west coast would be the dumbest thing ever since you'll always have to cross the street to get to the beach or nice views. We've seen a few south to northers and have not been impressed.
Also we literally haven't seen one other cyclist since we started Baja (most people do it in the winter, go figure) but we did hear from some motorcyclists that there was a dude from Kenya cycling some distance behind us. That's the interesting thing- you can feel so alone and isolated but for all you know there are 10 other people cycling one day behind or ahead of you.
I'm loving my rest day. Not intending to leave the hotel at all besides to grab groceries for dinner and tomorrow's ride. The hotels restaurant has AC and fast WiFi and my body really needed to chill for the day. Making some good progress on 1Q84 too. Such a huge book but my progress in the book is almost 1:1 with the trip's progress. Don't think I would have ever finished this book in my normal life, and I'm glad I picked it up for this trip since it is probably a top 5 book for me (I need to read more murakami)
reading about the upcoming route being very hilly with minimal amenities and the upcoming temperatures (mid 80s before the sun is even up Christ) I'm considering taking a bus to avoid ~220 miles and 4 days of cycling and chilling in a nice beach town instead. I'd still have another 100 miles to bike to finish the ride and that would include a nice sounding warm showers host I've already made plans with.
Should I feel shame?
finish the biking DAVID!!! argh;
I know if I did chill for 4 days the whole time I'd just be like "fuck I should have just done the ride"
Especially since my friend is gung ho on doing it all and we'd meet up after I'm done chilling and I would probably feel some guilt lol
he's gonna call you a weiner and then make you drink so many smirnoff ice
do you really want that
No :(
Also we stayed at this place called La Casa Del Cyclistas today which is just someone's home who let's cyclists camp out back for 100 pesos. Has an accessible shower, bathroom, etc. Pretty neat spot.
Anyways, we rolled up, set up, went into town, and then came back after some food and some cyclist from Belgium turned up. This was MASSIVE since we haven't met another cyclist since we were in the states. Apparently this dude has been a day behind us for a week and kept hearing about us from stopping at the same spots as us. He finally caught up to us after we did a shorter day and he did a longer one. I thought my bud and I were all alone out here so it was pretty cool to meet another guy. Also he had been riding at a similar pace with another european couple.
Anyways here I am having dinner with my friend and three other cyclists and it is freaking mind blowing. I thought my bud and I were the only ones dumb enough to do this stretch in the summer. It's wild.
dang u guys are literally friggin' legends
we've been riding with the Belgium guy since my last post. Really cool guy and I'm so glad we ran into him
Apparently a week or so ago Jacob (the Belgium guy) ran into an old Mexican man while he was looking at a map on the side of the road. The man offered some help, and told Jacob that he could stay with his family in santa rosalia. Jacob had been messaging him a little bit ever since, and got permission for Ben and I to join him.
Anyways we roll into santa Rosalia yesterday after a pretty tough day. Very hot with INSANE headwinds. Made riding an absolute chore, even though it was a fairly low mileage day of ~45 miles. Was a fun town to spend the day in though. We met up with a member of this guy's family at his work, and he said to come back at 9pm when he was off. Okay cool. We hung out at the library with free WiFi, had coffee, yummy food, etc. Apparently the church in this town was made by same architect who made the Eiffel tower using the same steel. Interesting stuff.
We meet up with this guy at 9 and he has us follow him in his car about a mile. He doesnt necessarily drive slow, and it was kind of a fun experience trying to keep up with him. We get to his house after a huge hill climb, and are immediately greeted by his sweet family who speaks very little English. His mother in particular was funny and could not understand my Spanish at all and just gave me a blank stare when I spoke. We went into this dude's room and played fortnite and cuphead on his Xbox lol. His mom made us two amazing sandwiches each, and made us a room to sleep in. Ben and I shared a bed and Jacob slept on a cot. I learned in the morning that this was the mother's bed and she slept on the floor in the next room. Insanely kind.
She made us coffee and a huge breakfast the next morning. I had to repair a flat and we were off by 11.
Kind of a weird day of riding today too. Was super hot for the first ~25 miles and we had a draft line going for the most of it. All three of us were pushing it and we really flew through it. Then it started raining (?) and we trudged through to the town. The rain was definitely refreshing but a little harder than I would have liked and now my bike is all dirty lol. Better than the heat? Idk. Anyways we're in a cute little town on the beach and considering camping on the beach if the rain stays away.
An interesting couple of days and I'm really glad we have another member in our party. Im starting to get a little annoyed of my friend so it is good that we have a 3rd member for that if nothing else.
STRONGBAD OUT
reading this makes me want to do something like this but i gotta get my fat ass out of this chair first
You could always do a motorcycle or van trip or something to a similar extent. However there is some magic with bicycle touring where strangers really pity you because they think you're miserable (true sometimes lol) and really go out of their way to help.
Also am currently camping on the beach and it's fucking gorgeous. Going to wake up, make oatmeal and tea, and them bike an ez 26 miles to the next beach to camp at. So glad I'm out of the fucking desert. I was starting to really fantasize about the trip being over but I'm now remembering why im doing it. Less than 10 days of riding left and depending on the miles we put in I can probably take like 4 break days before I meet my gf lol. Very chill
yeah, biking seems like the most rewarding way to do it for sure. And if I started from here I would never get out of the country unless I went north, so that's kinda boring.
camping on the beach sounds amazing, btw
these updates have made mexico sound like a much more hospitable place than i perceive it to be
and america, for that matter lol
and i agree that reading though this thread has made the whole idea of going on a long distance biking journey sound pretty fulfilling lol
boyah biking field trip y/n
Mexicans (and people in general, which this trip has enforced) are extremely hospitable.
Let's see, since I last posted, I spent a day on the beach, some time in Loreto and then re-entered the desert.
I think I've camped on beaches maybe 3 or 4 times now and it is very cool. It's totally legal to just roll up and camp and waking up with the sunrise is beautiful. Of course, it becomes stupidly hot within 30 minutes of the sun rising and id find myself dripping sweat while cleaning my dishes from oatmeal lol.
One beach we biked to after ~26 miles which had a restaurant that was recommended by various blogs. Unfortunately it was definitely off season and all they had were hamburgers and soda. We were planning on spending all day there, and this was kind of a bummer since i finished 1Q84 (amazing book, loved it) within an hour of arriving and they didn't have WiFi like I'd expected. The lady who owned the restaurant let me borrow some snorkeling equipment and I spent some time in the water looking at fishes. That was pretty neat, but regardless it was kind of a boring day. We left that beach and biked a mile to another one that we thought we could camp on for free (this one would have been 80pesos). There were palapas on the beach and we made a fire from scrap wood laying around and camped under them. In the morning some dude came around and said we needed to pay 200 pesos for camping in the palapas. We were annoyed since we didn't see any signs, and got him to go down to 100 pesos. O well.
The next day we cycled to Loreto which is the most touristy town I'd been at on Baja. Had a very nice plaza area and restaurants had menus in English. We stayed at a really nice RV park that had great camping spaces for cheap and enjoyed our time. We split a huge pizza and drank beer that evening. I'd been avoiding alcohol on Baja because water is so valuable and I don't want to become dehydrated, so this was a fun treat. Btw, that Belgium guy is still riding with us. Him joining us has been a huge highlight for me.
We hung out in Loreto until the next evening, planning to cycle another 20-30 miles to a beach for camping before we left the coast and re-entered the desert. Before we left we met some Mexican cyclists who were taking a long stop in Loreto. They took us to where they were staying and gave us fresh clams and dates. This couple was posting up in large towns for a couple weeks at a time showing short films they'd made and selling merch (that they carried on their bikes!). Cool people to meet and we left Loreto a bit later than we'd planned. We made it to the beach after dark but had no problems as we all have lights. This beach was maybe the worst yet, as it was super sandy, mosquito ridden, and there were people partying very close to us while we were trying to sleep. Didn't even bother cooking dinner due to the bugs.
The next day we had to conquer a large ~1300 ft hill within the first 10 miles. The rest of the 70 mile day would be an easy downhill/flat, but I was kind of intimidated nonetheless. The hill was of course not as bad as I'd envisioned and we ate 2nd breakfast at a restaurant after the peak. I saw two tarantulas crossing the road on this stretch which was kind of wild. During the flat boring part after the hill, a car pulled up to me and an older Mexican lady said "David?". Wtf? I'd contacted this woman on warmshowers about a week prior and she had said she would be out of town but I should talk to her daughter. I'd totally forgotten, and I didn't even respond to her message. I felt bad, since she was so nice! She gave us cold water and reassured us that we could stay with her daughter in La Paz. We contacted her daughter last night and of course she was happy to host us. I have a surplus of time before my gf arrives in Cabo, so I'll have two days off in la Paz at a nice homestay. Very serendipitous that I ran into her mother on the highway since I'd disregarded the earlier messages.
Last night we stayed at another RV park that had been highly regarded by past blogs. It had a pool and all other amenities we needed including wifi. We're doing longer days now that we're in the desert but we'll be coastal soon enough.
After today I have 3 more days of bike riding, and 4 rest days. 2 in la paz, 1 in todos Santos with another warmshowers host I'd lined up, and one in Cabo the day before my gf arrives. Hoping to use that last rest day to find a bike shop that can pack my bike up for me.
Pretty bittersweet that it's coming to and end, but this last week and a half on Baja will be some of the best (due to minimal cycling lol). I'm looking forward to being unemployed for a good week when I get back and binging overwatch for a couple of days lol
Also @popsi if you are interested id look into routes around where you leave. i've had some amazing experiences over the past year just doing weekend trips. not quite the same as a extended tour of course but still very fun and novel. and good to get your feet wet before you commit a lot of time
enjoying my time in la Paz so much
It was so freaking lucky that we met that warmshowers host on the freeway a few days back, since the setup is perfect. It's a mother who lives with her daughter (the mother is in California atm) and they have hosted literally over 400 cyclists over the past few years. I heard stories of there being a dozen cyclists there at a time lol. Makes me glad that we're in off season since we have the space to ourselves. Jacob, Ben and I are sharing an air conditioned room (fucking amazing to have AC) with full amenities. The daughter of this lady is a doctor and is busy during the day, and gave us a key so we can come and go as we please. They also have two pugs that are fucking adorable. There's a couple who lives in a van also staying there (an Italian dude with dread locks and a Japanese girl) who have been traveling around Mexico for 10 ish years. Neat people but I had trouble connecting with them.
I spent yesterday biking around town and eating way too much food. I probably ate over 5k calories lol. Also chilled in our air conditioned room and watched shit on our phones. We met up with the Dutch couple I mentioned before for drinks at a bar, and said goodbye to them.
Day two is now, and I've been enjoying a fancy cafe in the nicer part of town. Jacob just left to catch the ferry to mainland Mexico to continue his trip to Panama. He's going to take two weeks in Guadalupe to take intensive Spanish classes (good idea). Very sad saying goodbye to him- this dude saved the trip for me. I realized that a lot of the negative thoughts I'd been accumulating were due to annoyances with Ben, and having a travel partner that I really clicked with was huge. So strange spending a week and a half becoming close friends with someone and then saying goodbye probably forever lol. The nature of traveling, I guess.
For the rest of my time in la paz I'll probably do some errands and do some work on my bike, and then chill at the house more. We are riding 50 miles to Todos Santos tomorrow where we have another host and break day lined up. There is a craft brewery close to our host's spot and a beach 3km away so it should be a nice spot to spend some time. Then one more day to Cabo where I'll pack up my bike and pamper myself with my girlfriend hocuspocus;
drink a sex on the beach for me buddy
will do brother hocuspocus;
Seen any sexy Latina girls
they're really into gringos
Yeah too many
Traveling would be much different if I was single lol
(https://i.imgur.com/bNAz5gB.jpg)
Me n the bois
Strongbad you must have calves of the gods by now damn
damn everyone has some nice lookin calves
It is going to be sad watching muscle atrophy set in while I inevitably ride much less during Seattle winter. Never before have I been able to see veins on my thighs lol
veins happen when your body fat percentage is between 6-9% teehee
I was inspecting my thighs after you posted that and my veins are gone. I've chubbed up from my rest days in Baja sur lol
Yesterday's ride to todos Santos was p chill. Got a flat on my front tire like 3/4 of the way there and threw on my spare tube since I'm tired of patching shit on the side of the road. Decided to patch it once I got to my host's house. We rolled up to the Todos Santos Brewery first thing, and enjoyed our first craft beers since Tijuana. V fun. Our host met us a couple hours after and we walked to his place.
Our host Kevin is a guy in his 60s who has been living on Baja sur for about 6 years now. Not retired (just extended travel, kind of neat), and has rescued two street dogs and cats. The dogs are incredibly obedient and well behaved. He gave us lots of beer and treated us to tacos at a local spot. He is in insanely good shape and is a vegetarian which is impressive in Mexico. He does a lot of cycling, surfing, and backpacking in the nearby mountains. Always brings his two dogs too.
Woke up this morning and went to check my bike tires, since we were planning on riding an hour to a nearby beach. The tube I'd put on yesterday was holding up but my REAR tire was now flat. I've lost count of the number of flats I've gotten on Baja alone and not investing in tires with better rolling resistance is probably my biggest regret. Anyways, I took it off and found some wire lodged in my tire and the adjacent tube puncture. Removed and patched it, and decided to go buy a new tube from the town's only bike shop since my tube had like 4 patches already.
Also Kevin made us a huge breakfast of eggs, potatoes, and oatmeal pancakes with great seasonings and condiments. Staying with people like him has really inspired me to cook more when i return.
Turned out the bike shop is closed until the 1st so I'll have to rely on my super patched tire. Luckily I only have one more riding day so I should be okay without an unscathed backup tube. Shits so annoying regardless.
Quote from: antmaster5000 on September 24, 2018, 02:57:51 PMDuring the flat boring part after the hill, a car pulled up to me and an older Mexican lady said "David?". Wtf? I'd contacted this woman on warmshowers about a week prior and she had said she would be out of town but I should talk to her daughter.
She was able to recognize and name you, while driving, despite never having met you before? Am I understanding correctly? befuddlement
that's honestly amazing lol
Quote from: Magyarorszag on September 29, 2018, 05:04:53 PMQuote from: antmaster5000 on September 24, 2018, 02:57:51 PMDuring the flat boring part after the hill, a car pulled up to me and an older Mexican lady said "David?". Wtf? I'd contacted this woman on warmshowers about a week prior and she had said she would be out of town but I should talk to her daughter.
She was able to recognize and name you, while driving, despite never having met you before? Am I understanding correctly? befuddlement
that's honestly amazing lol
I left out an important detail: when we met that mexican couple in Loreto they showed us a WhatsApp group that is basically warmshowers in Mexico on WhatsApp, and they posted about us and where we were. This lady was also on the group so she knew roughly where we'd be. Also there are so few people cycling Baja during the summer (dec-jan is when most people do it due to the heat) that it was likely that the guy she saw on the highway was the one who'd messaged her (keep in mind that Baja is basically just one highway all the way down)
Was still very neat but not totally unrealistic
Quote from: antmaster5000 on September 29, 2018, 10:32:07 PM(keep in mind that Baja is basically just one highway all the way down)
now that's interesting
Are there basically no residential areas beyond that one highway? Is that the case for both BC and BC Sur? befuddlement
I mean there are a few exceptions but I'd go as far as to say that 99.9% of Baja lives off the highway, or on a city off the highway. I think that the scarcity of resources (water esp) really enforces this idea.
Baja is really fascinating, though. If you want a fun 1-2 week adventure I'd totally recommend driving the peninsula. You could do everything that I did (camp on beaches, eat amazing food for cheap) without having to bike lol
Yeah man you've convinced me to get a bike and take some trips this summer. This sounds like an amazing experience
That's awesome! Let me know if you want some bike recommends.
Oh also to finish up my boyah bike blog
I ended up finding a different bike shop in todos Santos to buy a new tube which was SICK because the next day I got a flat that would have sucked to fix. Thank God.
Our host Kevin wanted to take us to this cool beach through some trails, and just as we were about to go it started to downpour. We were sitting on his deck drinking energy smoothies while it happened. We waited it out (rain lasts for like an hour here) and trekked on. I was immediately a little bitter since I had just thoroughly cleaned my bike in la Paz and here I was riding it through newly wettened mud. And it got worse. Apparently itd been rainining even harder in the mountains and there were certain sections of this trail that were flooded with a freaking river of rain water to the point where we had to dismount and carry our bikes over. After a few crossings like this I was not happy (it was a rest day for Christ's sake) but I held my tongue. We made it to the beach and Ben got a flat tire but luckily we had everything we needed to fix it. Didn't even spend time at the beach because it'd taken so long to get over the floods that the sun was almost down and we had to get back. We took an easier route back with less flooding and I went to a pizza place. The three if us split three large pizzas and a lot of beer. The last pizza had bananas on it lmao.
I hosed my bike off in the morning at Kevin's and regreased my chain. Good as new. We made breakfast and coffee and said goodbye to Kevin and left for Cabo San Lucas. Was going to be a 48 mile day with good scenery along the coast. My last longish day. We wanted to find a restaurant at about the 20 mile mark to chill at but nothing ever appeared so we rode straight to Cabo which was a long stretch with no breaks. Coming over the last large hill and seeing Cabo San Lucas in the distance felt amazing. We checked into our hostel downtown and spent the evening drinking beer and eating tacos. I got a little drunk for the first time in the trip really. Ended up at a bar full of Saints fans watching the game vs NY and we ended up getting roped in and riled up with them. Ended the night on the roof of our hostel talking to a photographer from Canada who was here for a wedding. He showed us a great taco spot nearby and then we all retired to out air conditioned rooms.
The next day was 18 miles to San Jose Del Cabo, which was the end of it for me. We did the cycling in one stretch, only stopping at a beautiful viewpoint to watch the surfers that Kevin has recommended us. Made it to a bike shop that I'd called a week prior and they were able to sell me a bike box and pack my bike for ~$20 which was great. I was not looking forward to doing that myself. Kind of sad packing it away but I'm really looking forward to giving it a hardcore clean and reassembling in the states.
We're in a "surf hostel" on the beach for $16 USD/night. And have been lazing around since yesterday. My girlfriend flies in today and I'm going to meet her at the airport with all my shit and we'll head to our Airbnb near town center. San Jose Del Cabo is much less perpetual spring break like San Lucas. I'm excited to spend time with her until we fly home Friday (which I'm also excited for).
And that's pretty much the end of my trip! Was a weird way to spend a couple months but I'm so glad I did it. I've wanted to do an extended tour for years and I am alreay planning my next one hocuspocus;
Also I think boyah got more info on my trip then any other network which was unexpected lol. It was fun writing paragraphs for y'all. Thanks for reading happydood;
okay now bike to washington dc ill make u a cheeseburger
I would like to do a cross us ride at some point but I've decided that the next ride I'll do will be the great divide mountain bike route in the summer of 2020
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Divide_Mountain_Bike_Route
north south again? boooo hissss
I know lol
That ride was already on my radar and it's what the Belgium guy we rode with had done prior to Baja and he made it sound so sick
Plus I could fulfill my dream of building up a vintage no suspension 26in steel mountain bike for ~bikepacking~
American Discovery Trail or bust ya lil argh;
Lmao maybe that'll be summer 2022
apparently a good 800 miles of the trail aren't surpassable via bicycle but there are 'alternate routes' lol sillydood;
Ok I'm down let's do it mongler
I can still build up my dream bike for that ride
Here's some inspiration of what I have in mind btw:
(https://i.imgur.com/UXJFySe.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/rugWrW0.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/QUcPgvc.jpg)
It's tight because Craigslist is flooded with these mountain bikes and you can get a quality one for under $200. Then it's just $100-200 more to replace parts and put on drop bars (you don't want the flat bars that are default for mountain biking because you'll want more hand positions for long rides).
But man they look so fucking fun to ride around and the steel frames from the 80s and 90s will last forever bcuz steel is real
Quote from: antmaster5000 on October 02, 2018, 06:42:07 AMAlso I think boyah got more info on my trip then any other network which was unexpected lol. It was fun writing paragraphs for y'all. Thanks for reading (https://boyah.net/forums/Smileys/default/happydoodmi9.png)
thx for sharing it was fun wrench;
having read through this thread, i am most certainly going to be preparing for the 2020 boyah biking adventure nyandood;
PLS UNSTICKY
pls resticky i will be haunted by ghosts if not
David wanted it this way
thank u for respecting my wishes
dang i've never been so haunted before
this was a good thread hocuspocus;
i enjoyed your instagram stuff when this was happening too
hey thanks man hocuspocus;
it was a pretty wild couple of months tbh and this was a good outlet for my text ramblings (though I had fun on insta too). been thinking about it a lot this summer, since my focus has shifted from bike adventuring to working my ass off working. Ive been telling myself that I'll build up a gravel bike and ride the great divide mountain bike route (look it up- so damn cool) next summer but idk if it'll actually happen :(
Quote from: antmaster5000 on July 28, 2019, 11:16:45 AMbut idk if it'll actually happen :(
any real reason it can't? just go for it my guy