I’d like to step back a bit from the philosophical and talk about a few more prosaic topics. (Editor’s note: I realize I’ve gotten a few days behind. I do have content for those days, and I’ll be posting it as I can, trying to catch up. Fear not, I’m not abandoning ship!)
First of all: Sandboarding! What a fun thing. I’m really glad I stopped; I had to bust my tail to get there before they closed, but it was worth it. This trip is all about having new experiences, and falling on my ass while sliding down a giant hill of sand on a modified skateboard-esque device definitely fits the bill. The weather was beautiful, and my guide was awesome. I had an hour on their special custom board. Sand Master Park is one of the only places in the United States where you can do sand boarding, and they are - as far as I know - the only place that builds their own boards. The experience is a bit like surfing, a bit like skateboarding. The guy told me that there’s a place called Sand City just south of Santa Cruz where you can also go sand board, and now I really want to try it out.
On a slightly more philosophical note, I’m re-learning on this trip that it really is about the journey, and not the destination. Florence is the inflection point between my Pacific Coast trail experience and the Transamerica trail. It’s one of two places to start the TransAm, the other (more popular) spot being up in Astoria, OR. I hung about in Florence today trying to psyche myself up to get started. Biking by the start of the trail, I looked around for signs. I’m not sure what I was expecting - maybe a plaque? Maybe a choir of angels? What I got was a very average suburban-looking corner with a Safeway where I bought some AA batteries. A part of me was a bit sad that there wasn’t more fanfare. I found myself thinking about people who came the other way, all the way from Virginia, like my friend Jessica is about to do in a few weeks, and after all those miles, they end up here, in Florence, at the end of Highway 126, at the Safeway. But then I realized: what would it really matter if there was a plaque? This journey is about the *journey*. In this case, that’s painfully obvious; nobody rides their bike across the country because they really need to get to Florence and have no other way to get there (well, not most people anyway). But really, what this trip teaches is a truth that is universal, if sometimes harder to see; it’s an “edge case” that forces us to recognize that beginnings and ends are just things that we as humans invent, and that the reality of life is a constant flow of change. In some ways, every day is a new beginning, and a new end. When I first left on this trip, I was apprehensive, and I remember I went back inside my apartment 3 times, making excuses not to leave. But what’s surprised me is that I keep doing that, keep making little excuses not to get started, almost every day. Most days I wake up and I putz around more than I should. Even though I’m having an amazing time and am looking forward to getting on the bike, for some reason it’s always a little hard to get started. It’s like cold water; I know it’s going to feel great once I get in, and I’ve done it a thousand times, but for some reason I still pause at the shore.
A few people have asked me about my gear, so I’m going to make a list here and comment on what has worked and not worked for me so far.
GoPro, with board from cam-do.com and the flexible extendable arm attachment, spare battery and battery charger - This has, by and large, worked great. The extendable arm was a great purchase, it’s rock solid and it allows me to adjust the GoPro to see out over the top of my pannier, and stay focused on the road. The only problem I’m having is user error - I keep forgetting to charge the batteries. Other than that, this has been great. The cam-do.com board allows me to have the camera wake up and take a picture every 60 seconds, which is invaluable for battery life.
eTrex 10 - Amazing. The perfect device for this trip. It does three things for me: keep a GPS record of everywhere I’ve been, tell me how far I’ve gone, and tell me what time it is. And it does all this on two AA batteries that last for days and days. I love this thing. My only complaint is that I was too cheap to get the one with a real altimeter, so it uses some kind of “interpolation” from a pre-set map, and that just doesn’t work very well. Part of me wishes I’d spent extra on the eTrex 20, which has a real altimeter - but also has a color screen which makes the batteries drain faster.
U-Bolt, medium size
Gottlieb Handlebar pannier - I got this because I can’t hang a real pannier off my frame, since it’s a carbon fiber bike. It works great. When I weight it down too much, the bike becomes a bit harder to maneuver by hand, which is annoying but not a deal breaker.
REI camp towel, small
Air pillow
Silk bed liner with pillow insert - Honestly I’ve only used this twice, it wasn’t worth the expense
Two Sports basement plastic bottles - this is an area where I regret not investing more money. These bottles make my water taste funny after only a couple of hours.
Giro helmet, Planet Bike cycling gloves, cycling strap for pants - fine
Mavic Energy Frame shoes - these are racing shoes, out of place for touring, but it’s what I happened to own. A lot of folks told me to get SPD clips, and they might have been better, but I already had these, and so far, they’ve worked out perfectly fine.
Cheap Amazon.com sleeping bag and tent - So far, I’ve only used the bag twice (as a blanket) and I haven’t pitched the tent once. This is the difference between “credit card camping” and honest-to-god camping.
Eton crank AM/FM/WB radio/LED/charger - this was intended for emergencies. I haven’t used it yet
Goal Zero solar panel w/Switch back up battery - the one disappointment. This basically hasn’t worked well at all, which is unfortunate.
Basic toiletries - razor, small thing of shampoo, small thing of soap, travel toothpaste, toothbrush, vitamins, ginkgo biloba (for the elevation sickness)
3 pairs of shorty socks, 1 pair of boxers, 1 swimsuit, 1 pair regular “Street shorts”, 2 pairs of bike shorts, 3 quick-dry athletic shirts, 1 pair Lulemon quick-dry pants
MacBook Air 11”, with charger - the traveler’s best friend
Seat cable lock - I haven’t been using this, although I really should.
Small 9-in-1 bike tool
Very small travel knife
Tire tools, chain tool, spare tubes, frame pump
Eyeglasses, sunglasses
Lululemon backpack
Full set of ACA maps
iPhone w/charger
Wallet, keys
If I think of anything else I’ll edit.
