all done

i finished the coast to coast mission yesterday afternoon (Tuesday 8th April). I arrived at the Pacific coast in san diego on a windy overcast day. unfortunately there were no crowds lining the streets cheering me down to the sea but Brad picked me up at the beach so at least i had a place to stay last night. had a fun day riding through the hills behing san diego and coming down the mountain. decided to treat myself to a decent lunch so i went to an italian restaurant in Lakeside. couldn't quite believe it when the waitress said: "do you want the buffet?". i had to ask her to repeat the question before demolishing about 5 plates of pasta, pizza and salad. then caught the end of the champions league footie game betwwen liverpool and arsenal and had a pint. then i ambled down to the coast using the momentum of my belly to take me down to sea level.

the whole trip has taken six and a half weeks including breaks i took in austin and new mexico. i feel like i should be getting back on my bike but i have to keep telling myself that its all done. anyway i am hoping to do a bit of cycling in northern california through some of the redwood forests but i will have to see. i wonder if i will get used to life not on a saddle! am going to get a CD made with some more photos so please wait for me to get round to it. think i will write some conclusions about the trip at a later date. just need some time to reflect and take it easy.

last bit

i ended up staying in Quartzsite for a rest day as i met a nice teacher called Kurt who was my age. we went to mexico on saturday to drink a few beers in the sun and listen to mexican music. the border town was quite strange as there were lots of shops selling medicine to all the retired americans. chilled out in the afternoon watching the semi finals of the college basketball tournament. am starting to enjoy american sports much more now.

on sunday i did a big day of over 120 miles. at first the scenery was rough desert terrrain but that slowly turned into flat field of lush green wheat crops with the odd palm tree (I imagine that is what the nile flood plain looks like) and then i travelled through sand dunes at a place called Glamis where there were loads of people riding quad bikes (some of them costing over $100, 000 for the buggies). finally made it to brawley which is in the imperial valley (below sea level).

monday was a challanging day as the wind was against me and from el centro the road was terrible. the bumps indeed vexed me and the steep incline pasted ocotillo on the highway 8 vexe more! it was tough fighting the wind and going uphill but i eventually made it to Jacumba which was a chilled but slightly rundown village. it is supposedly the drug capital of the states being on the border with mexico in the hills but i saw no evidence of any of that instead i met loads of really nice people, one of whom Jerry from yugoslavia, let me sleep in his shop and bought me some beers and a sandwich. he was an interesting man who was very bright and we had a long chat before i slept on the carpet.

almost there!

i ended up having a great time in phoenix even though i didnt warm to the city. stayed with jay who was a cyclist and it was fun to chat with him about his trip across the states and have a few beers. also i bumped into a friendly guy called terry and i went over to his house for some pasta with his wife. thanks terry and heather!

on thursday i rode through downtown phoenix and out of the city with terry who very kindly guided me through some nice areas and quiet roads for cyclists. yesterday afternoon was fairly uninspiring as the road was staight and uphill all the way to wickenburg. stopped off at a grocery store run by vietnamese people in a place called wittman. was really strange as everyone seemed high (perhaps it was all the meth-amphetamine that i hear is rife in small town america?). one guy even said he would come to england in a couple of weeks and asked if i wanted to phone home on his mobile.....i politely refused the generous offer! camped in wickenburg and raced all the mexican kids around the RV park trying not to win (was quite hard as i still have that bording school competative streak). read my book outside a mcdonalds in true hobo style. getting used to this lifestyle.

today has been a pleasure to cycle as i have made lots of progress without too much effort as i have been going steadily downhill most of the way. keep passing loads of RV parks where all the retired people from the north of the states come down to avoid the cold (snowbirds). it is a odd because they pick some pretty uninspiring places to park themselves for the entire winter. am now in quartzsite (just short of the california border). think i have 240 mile till i finish the trip so it should be 3 more days to go.

epic scenery to artificial suburbs

i manged to get my tent semi fixed with the help of an ex-marine Tom, who was starting his first tour aged 68. it was at loads of strange angles but it did the job in the end.

on tuesday i got an early start and without much wind i managed to rinse it on the arizona highway 60. went through apache territory which reminded me a bit of tibet as the surroundings were stunning but the local people lived in realtive poverty, shifting through the post office in the morning (i asume to pick up their pay outs). also on many of the native american land there are huge casinos which i think is a bit off key as the only jobs many of the indians have is working in an industry that many people feel is morally degrading. however i had a so much fun cruising that i made Globe by lunch and then Superior by the end of the afternoon. i managed about 100 miles in fantastic weather and i think i am actually starting to enjoy climbing up hills. seems a bit strange to me as well! the ride coming down was breath-taking as the road winded down through bare rock faces (sometimes at a 7% slope which was fun but a little scary at times with all the lorries passing by). managed to get a trailor to sleep in at an RV park where the woman said i should borrow her car to do some shopping. nice 1!

this morning i think i have seen the best views all trip. just past Superior there is some incredible scenery with huge cacti, rolling hills covered with yellow flowers and if thats not good enough, mountains with impressive outcrops of rock. then it was all downhill from there, in both senses. coming into phoenix (tempe/apache junction if you know it) was extremely surreal. loads of 1 story houses spread out in the middle of the desert but all with nice little gardens and trees. it is so artificial and the architecture is offensive. There are all these gated estates with the same house replecated over a whole block and then the next block will be a different style of houses. it seems i am in lego land and they even have golf courses with lush green turf in the middle of this monstrosity. i apologise to all phoenix residents but after the views of this morning i cant say i am too impressed. am staying with a cyclist tonight so hopefully i will see some of the cooler stuff that phoenix has to offer. i havent actually made into phoenix after cycling for about 20 miles through the city! aparently it is 90 miles from end to end.

think i have only about 400 miles till i reach the pacific ocean so i should be done in less than a week. cant believe it is coming to an end.

done new mexico and into arizona

emory's pass turned out to be not so bad and i hauled myself up the mountain without too much problem until i got over the other side where i was hoping for downhill bliss but instead was faced with a few more climbs and a fierce wind forcing me to peddle. it felt great to get that beast over with and i luckily managed to find a brilliant place to stay. i got in touch with pat at very late notice but she incedibly let me stay in her spare trailor and cooked me some delicious soup.

pat packed me up with choc chip cookies the next and they were devoured pretty quickly! passed through silver city and some nice mountains with juniper trees. then as i was sweating profusely up a gritty hill i bumped into janet who said "Wait, are you a brit?" having seen my flag. she was very sweet and invited me for a second breakfast! love it! met her husband larry and had a great chat as we were on a similar level about politics etc. ate some really good rosti which i havent had for ages and that gave me just the boost i needed. from silver city it was a nice downhill stretch and i made it to buckhorn at about 2:30pm where i decided to take the afternoon off as i was about to turn west into a powerful wind. finished reading a capote book and ate some pizza and.....slept in the laundry room. thankfully i am getting used to hard surfaces and slept like a baby (tranquilized by fatigue!).

today i have been over 2 passes but have made it to stafford where i got my tyres pumped up. got my second flat earlier in the morning but managed to fix it pretty quickly to my delight. actually quite enjoyed fixing it this time and manged to keep my trousers fairly clean. keep on meeting loads of retired cyclists coming the other way which is awesome. hope my limbs will still be able to carry me over mountains in 40 years time! well i guess now i have my second challange of the day: to find a roof over my head. love the unpredictability of not knowing where i will end up sleeping!

forage to the north

in el paso i had an awesome time with Emiliano's family who looked after me and took me out. Had a great night eating mexican food and checking out the city from the mountains with Emiliano's sister and Jesse. The following day i decided to go up to santa fe in northern new mexico so i rented a car and drove for about 4 hours north. santa Fe is a cool city with loads of adobe houses (native american style mud houses with wooden beams) and i strolled around the square and surrounding area in the afternoon. luckily alan who i contacted through a cycling website let me stay in his house at very late notice.

woke up early on thursday and drove up to taos (on the scenic route) passing snow capped mountains and stunning vallies with bare rock faces. in taos i checked out some of the art and museums and went to visit some 'off the grid' sustainable earthship housing. was cool to see loads of these houses made out of recycled materials such as tyres and bottle etc. later in the day i went to jeff's organic farm where i stayed the night. Jeff is an artisit who owns about an acre of land which he farms vegetables and chickens. there were about 5 people living there and we ate an incredible dinner made be chooch. had a really relaxed time sitting by the fire chatting to the characters. i wish i wasnt renting a car and i could stay longer!

yesterday i drove all the way back to el paso and got on my bike at 1pm. i cycled over 80 miles in the afternoon following the rio grande river past las crusas and hatch. i couldnt make it as far as the lake i wanted to get to so i managed to stay in an old trailer owned by a mexican family. they were really kind and cooked me some dinner. wish my spanish was a bit better as i could only communicate with the children.

today i have a long climb up to emory's pass which is the highest mountain of the trip. it is 8500 feet so i am a bit daunted by the task! now i am in hillsboro so i guess i should get back on the saddle.

definitely over half way there!

so i left Marfa in gale force winds and of course i get my first puncture. simply rubbish but i was up for the challange of fixing it myself as there wasnt a bike shop within 30 miles. manged to get the tyre fixed in about half and hour to the detriment of my trousers which are now black. so there i was crouched behind a picnic table getting shelter from the wind in the middle of the desert changing my inner tube. it was certainly character building! with my instant oatmeal blotched hoodie and the greasy trousers i have managed to amplify my hobo states to new levels (and thats not mentioning my gritty beard!) So i fought the winds and i got miserable on the 74 miles to van horn but there was some relief. a prada shop in the middle of the desert. brilliant. an artist with ambition showing us lesser mortals what can be done with a bit of creativity and vision. yup it was quite a surreal sight but it added context to the whole marfa experience.

yesterday i bike over a 100 miles and was in high spirits as it was mostly downhill with little wind. made it almost to el paso and loved being on my bike! what more can i say, it was just the complete opposite of the day before!

am now in el paso where i have got an apartment to stay in. i met maritza and art in marfa for about 2 minutes and they said i could stay in their place while they were camping in arizona. amazing. cant believe how much everyone trusts me especially as i look ridiculous (with my socks tucked into my trousers or sporting some heinous cycling top). now gonna take it easy for a few days as i have plenty of time to make it to san diego.

man to...... hobo

i was feeling grogy on a cold blustery morning as i was packing up my tent in the sanderson RV park, i managed to break one of the poles. oh dear.....that now makes me an official hobo/tramp! that day was pretty good as there were few cars on the road and the arid mountains encompassed my horizon (photos wont do justice to the panaramas). the wind swirled around me and gave me grief at times but i made it to marathon for lunch and pushed on to alpine. just outside the town i met Tom who was running across the states. unbelievable! he puts me to shame. he said that he ran 74 miles in 1 day. ridiculous. can you imagine doing not just 1 but 3 marathons in a day. in alpine i met up with julie who was a friend of james from del rio. we went back to her other james' place where i enjoyed the evening sunlight with my washing in the machine and sipping on a cold shiner beer. pure luxury! julie cooked some delicous mexican food for dinner and it felt good not to be reading in my tent in the cold!

the next day i felt extremely fresh after waking up in a bed and got a lift into alpine where i cycled through some spectacular mountains and then down to desert country to Marfa where No Country for Old Men was filmed. Marfa is a random arty town in the middle of nowhere and has some interesting minimal art and some great falafel and pizza. stayed all afternoon strolling round the galleries and chinati foundation. that night there was a concert and i saw 2 interesting bands one from norway and the other band was Dodo form San Fransisco. they were both seriously talented but the best thing about the night was watching all the wacky locals get their groove on (young and ancient!) Luckily a chilled guy from one of the galleries let me sleep on his couch as the duck tape didnt fix my tent.

beauty from solitude

in del rio the guy who stopped his car outside the city to chat to me took me out for lunch. thanks james! after that it was a bit of a battle into some head winds but is was worth it as i passed Amistad resevoir and up into real desert country. made it as far as the seminole canyon state park where i put up my tent for the night over-looking to an incredible canyon. chatted to a group of students who lived on a ranch as they were being taken care by the state due to family problems. they all seemed so animated and asked me hundreds of questions whilst copying my English accent. anyway, it made me appreciate life a bit more thinking what they had all been through.

woke up feeling cold. it sure gets chilly in the desert at night! today has been incredible. partly because i have had a tail wind but mostly because i have been cycling through some breath-taking landscape. the foreground is barron, filled with cacti, small bushes and sand but in the background are these divine rounded mountains lying in a distant haze all around me. it feels pretty special to be all on my own in these surroundings. not only that but there are also some cool canyons and rivers which are hidden for miles and suddenly appear in front of you. am now in Sanderson which seems to have adopted some of the tuscon monastic trees which makes the town look idylic even though it is nothing special. managed to do 80 miles with 3 hours of sunlight still left but the next town is 55 miles away so am gonna take it ezi here.

keep on forgetting to say that i got the grant for my job in iceland. the training starts on 5th May so i should be going out the day before. am so chuffed, bring on iceland!

windy!

yesterday day was tough and i cheated a bit. the weather was horrible and i was coming up to this pass when a couple of cyclists pulled over in their truck and gave me a ride for about 15 miles. there, ive doneit. off my chest. anyway it felt good to be out of the headwinds and stinging rain for a bit! from camp wood i had a hard ride to brackettville through some arid countryside and constantly fighting against the wind. finally made it to bracketville and was in a very bad mood as i bike to a campsite where they had no hot water, so i had to bike back to a motel in this fierce storm. got into my room, hopped in the bath and devoured about 6 potato salad and cheese sandwiches (my own concoction). spirits were indeed raised until i watched a bit of fox news which is the most offensive channel. cant believe that they can call themselves news! upsetting. they are ridiculously anti democrat.

have now made it to del rio which lies just next to the mexico border. am tempted to hop over for the afternoon but there doesnt seem much point. the roads are starting to get pretty boring but i guy just pulled over in his car and said that the next couple of days would be the best in my whole trip. bring it on! adios amigos

hill country

i left austin on sunday morning and felt in good shape after a 3 day rest although i think my liver took a bit of a battering! rode about 40 miles to wimberly without taking any breaks. had lunch in blanco and as i was leaving the town a woman passed me on the road, she said her husband was english and invited me for tea. rocked up to the house and looked round the gallery as the englishman was an artist and a real character. he was still producing work aged 85! we all went for a walk around the hills and had a cup of tea. after that rest i pushed on through hill country going up and down loads of hills with little traffric till i reached sisterdale. i biked over 100 miles and felt pretty good but in dire need of a beer! the only shop in the village happened to be a bar so i met lots of friendly locals and had a few drinks. one of the guys was Willie who was shot in the head and was left for 6 hours before he was taken to the hospital. his forehead is crumpled between the eyes and he still has the bullet in his brain, apperntly it is too far in to take out.

the next day i woke up on the sofa on the porch of the bar and cycled to comfort where i had a cup of tea before making it to kerrville. from there the road starts to climb along the guadeloupe river which is a beautiful emerald green colour and surrounded by rounded hills. at hunt i met some really nice people who bought me an ice cream. so far on monday i must have chatted to about 10 people who were all very interesting. it makes me think that cycling is the ONLY way to travel as you meet so many brilliant people and learn about all sorts of things. on a bike there is no schedule and not always a destination so it is perfect for random unexpected meetings. finally i made it over more hill to the lost maples state park where i camped and met a lovely family who gave me a beer and some stawberries and even cooked me pancakes this morning! legendary! Thank you Dwayne and Stephanie!

Now i am in camp wood after some tough hill and slightly sketchy weather. got my mud guards blocked with mud and got a lift with some teachers and met some kind cyclists called Ray and Dave from Michigan who helped me as the rain came down. the weather has improved a bit now so i must push on.

I love austin

arrived in austin on wednesday lunchtime and it was like a breath of fresh air. after cycling through rural texas and swampland for so long it was an incredible feeling to arrive in austin where there is so much life, energy and colour. entered the east of the city and it was like being in mexico: the people, shops and restaurants were all mexican. found a vegetarian place almost immediately. makes a change from meat filled southern cooking in the small non descript towns that i have been going through. met up with a freind of friend called suzanne who amazingly let me stay on her very comfy leather couch in her fully furnished (antiques and all!) apartment. just cant really put across how much i loved austin. everything is unique and corporate america is hidden away as the high streets are filled with loads of independent friendly stores and restaurants.

the south by south west music festival is probably one of the best music festivals i have ever experienced. firstly it goes on a week! secondly there are over 2000 bands playing. thirdly there are probably more than 100 venues including bars, clubs, parks, coffee shops, bridges, street corners. literally music is everywhere, and the quality is ridiculous: folk, country, rock, hip hop, avant guard. saw an array of music including the raveonettes and dizzie rascal. there were countless bands i have never heard of but had so much talent. i think i am converted back to live rock music, djs just dont cut it when it comes to performances. forthly people watching is hillarious from the new york hipsters to the metal goths to the old school punks. austin has the attittude that everything has to be original and so there is no monotony like other cities and even though some people might try too hard it is still better than no effort at all. to top it all off the weather was perfect between 25-33 (80-95) degrees. oh yeah, i forgot to say, i hardly paid a cent for anything including the music, beer, food and even icecream. it just doesnt get better than that.

too much to say and i have to get on my bike (hail and rain comin). last night i slept on a couch on the porch of a bar, it was surprisingly comfy and i slept amazingly well although that might have had something to do with the beers i had with some of the locals (one of the guys called willie had been shot in the head and still has the bullet in his brain! good lad). will write again soon. now im in kerrville.

texas has been going well. apart from some heavy showers yesterday. Reid and I have been loving the rolling countryside of eastern texas. it could almost be England stangely enough. the fields are dotted with trees and hedges. the ranches are all pretty old with brick chimneys and wooden exteriors. the towns are definitely unique though with their wild west feel (saloons and all). at the moment we are in a small town called LaGrange so hopefully i should make it to austin tmrw. I hear there is a music festival so i am looking forward to taking some time off for a texan shindig.

We took the day off yesterday, due to a storm, in village called independence, where we had a few political discussions. interesting but cant say i gained too much from the locals who seem to be paranoid about muslims in a major way. still i enjoyed seeing what the average texan feels about these issues and i can see where some of them are coming from at times.

We camped on Saturday by lake livingston which was stunning but pretty cold. reid has his canadian sleeping bag which is fine for -20 degrees but i have been freezing my nuts off!

now i cant wait to get to austin where i might be abole to choose something from a menu and hopefully see the south by south-west music festival which starts on Friday. one thing is for sure, peanutbutter sandwiches for lunch are starting to wear thin so I am hoping to eat something which isnt brown! have to Bastrop so i can camp in the national park there. inabit

howdy texas

so its sad to leave lousiana as the people were so friendly. at every gas station or library people have stopped to have a chat. last night we were going to camp near a town called Deridder, but it was forecast to rain so the woman let us sleep inside. we paid $5 and we had a hot shower, kitchen and plenty of space.

today Reid and I pushed on. it was a hard morning battling against the wind and freezing rain (not far from us it was snowing) but we made it into texas and thankfully changed course further south so we were riding with the wind and the rain stopped so our spirits have been raised somewhat. Reid is proving to be a fantastic partner on the road and we have been chatting on our bikes and pushing ourselves a bit further. Reid is 33 year old carpenter, and is from Bamff in the Rockies. He has done a fair bit of touring so is a good source of info. however i am not letting him near my bike as he seems to break everything he touches! at the moment we are in Buna so im on the lookout for a curry house but i dont think i am going to find one. most of these town have little individuality which is a shame but the people tend to make up for it as they always have something unexpected to say. 4 states done, 4 to go....

got a buddy

so the storm hit and Reid and I got soaking but we managed to find a pikey caravan where we took it easy. i took the following day off so Reid decided to have a rest too. Had a nice time in St. Francisville having some local food and getting suplies.

yesterday was a solid day of cycling. 90 miles. yes we were knackered but made it to a brilliant campground which had a bar nextdoor. encountered some sketchy banter from the locals who dont seem to have made it into 21st century but it was entertaining none the less. had some cajun crawfish for dinner which sorted me out after a few drinks back at the bar. think i am gonna save some money after this trip in london as it doesnt take much to get drunk now. love it.

today we have made it to oberlin for lunch after some pretty shocking roads but it has been flat so progress is being made. bumped into a woman from Reading who is cycling around the outside of the states. she was just starting the trip and raising money for kids in venezuala. Its been fun having reid about as he bikes at a similar pace and it's amusing to discuss the backward hillbillies. hoping to be in texas tomorrow.

thru mississippi

since i last wrote i've done quite a few miles! havent had a chance to write as i have been in proper rural mississippi and on sunday everything closes. I made it through alabama in a day from forest gump shrimp town i rode through Grand Bay and finished up in Hurley, which is just across the border in Mississippi. camped behind some buildings and was rudely woken up in the middle of the night by the sherif who wanted to see my ID. didnt even see their faces as i was grumpy and half asleep, but everything seemed to check out as i had permission from the land owner.

The scenery was relaxing as i cycled through loads of country roads which winded through pine forests and avoided any serious traffic. Passed tiny towns such as Vancleave and Perkinson and finally made it to a stunning camp ground at Roger's Lake where i set up my tent and cooked some food on my new propane burner and mess kit.

Had a cup of tea with Ruth, the old lady who runs the campground. She told me all about the History of the place and about all her grandchildren so i was a bit late in starting that morning. It is so peaceful cycling in the morning when there is a hint of mist and the longhorn cattle gaze at you peddalling away. sundays are especially quiet as most people are at home or in church. everything closes down apart from the odd gas station or supermarket. Met the first cyclist doing the same trip as me at lunchtime, just before the Louisiana border. Greg had been going for a lot longer than me but was enjoying the trip apart from the uphill bits! Crossed into Louisiana and stocked up in Bogalusa. The city smelt pretty bad and a man said i would go to hell because i didn't believe in a religion, so i didn't stay for too long! The next town i got to was Franklinton so i had to have a break there but there was little to see. made it Bolivar, a tiny hamlet, where i decided to spend the night. met a guy who was mowing the lawn outside his house and asked if i could camp in his back yard and said "No problem". The man was called Shaggy and had a long white beard and a bandana saying 'biker' on it. he turned out to be an absolute legend and i chatted with him and his friend for ages as i built up a fire. was pretty hard understanding everything as i was in proper redneck country but i liked the comedy of the situation.

Today I have made it to Jackson, passing through Clinton. Just met a nice guy from Canada riding the same route so am gonna chill with him during the storm which is about to hit with lots of tornadoes. over and out.

sweet home alabama

camped in a state park in alabama last night. was really close to the coast and it was pretty funny sight. my tiny 2 man tent in a sea of RVs. managed to lose my tent pegs somewhere but luckily Fred, retired pensioner from mitchigan, helped me out and even took me for my first wallmart experience which was cool. Fred manouvered the cart around aisles of just about everything including spare car tyres!

got up early this morning and cycley along a peninsular where i caught a ferry across to Dauphin island. have been biking pretty quickly this morning as the wind has been behind me. am now in Forest Gump or Bubba shrimp village (Bayou La Batre) which is pretty basic and i feel like i really am in the the south now. somebody even called me Bubba when i opened the door for him! Could be through Alabama by the end of the day. Bring on mississippi!

florida finished!

so i finished last post on a bit of a rant but all changed at lunch when i met some retired teachers who paid for my lunch. cheers guys! that afternoon i managed to decend from a ridge and the wind died down. felt much better about my right peg and slowly made some progress off the route 90 and into the atmospheric southern countryside with swamps, grey dead trees and some lovely streams. finished the day on the smooth blackwater trail where nature surrounded me and not a car in sight. of course when i got to the bike shop in Milton it was the one day it closed early. sods law, cant beat it. decided i need a feast after a tough day on the saddle so i went to Dave's Catfish resaurant and got 'all you can eat' deep fried catfish. after 4 of them i decided i would probably burst if i ate much more. apparently people have dealt with 14 of them.....i didnt take on the challange. spent my first night in a hotel and enjoyed having a bath but felt a bit lonely for all of a few minutes before i fell asleep.

feeling good today. no wind, blue skies and alabama in my sights. had a few hairy moments getting to Pensacola going round Encambia bay which is epic (especially when you have been in the hills for a few days). had a quick break at a bike shop to oil my chain and pump up my tyres and then made it through the city surprisingly quickly. am now at Gulf Beach which is just before the alabama border. the sand is white like caster sugar so i am going to take it fairly easy this afternoon as i am planning to take the ferry tomorrow morning across Mobile Bay. 1 state down, 7 to go.

windy!

yesterday i pushed hard against the wind and made it further than i was expecting but then again i did get up at 6. ended up in a nice town called DeFuniak Springs where there is a beautiful pond surrounded by stunning wooden houses which all seem to have rocking chairs on their porches. i felt battered by the wind and put my bike up next to some historic building where an old woman was doing some gardening. i asked where i could pitch a tent and she wasnt sure but said i could stay in a house that she was renovating. couldnt believe it! the first person i asked again came up trumps! Marie was really sweet and even gave me a spare key. my legs felt pretty sore so i didnt make it far for some food and settled in with a pizza.

woke up this morning feeling very stiff and contemplated seeing a doctor about my ankle and knee on my right leg. after finishing the remains of the pizza and cheesy bread i decided to stubborn it out. the first half a mile was not pleasant at all and so i decided to lower the seat on my bike and it felt much better. think my legs might be different lengths as my right leg always stretches a bit more than my left. pushed through more wind which often tried to stop me in my tracks. met a woman a petrol station who said that her legs were different sizes and that she got them readjusted a couple of times. so am not doing amazingly well but i am not going to quit yet. am almost through florida and i want to make it to the golf of mexico. lets hope the wind stops soon. also i just had to bike 2 miles to get to the library. i can now understand why Bush invaded Iraq as you have to drive everywhere even in small towns, like Crestview, in order to use basic services. America needs cheap oil without it they would struggle as i cant see many of them cycling around!

conditons giving me grief

well I left steve and samantha all packed up with stuff from their store which they gave to me without letting me pay. one of things was 'monkey butt powder'! lets hope it doesnt get to that! so i made through tallahassee up and down loads of hills..... and more hils all the way to Quincy which is a classic american town straight out of Happy Days. the sun was blazing down and i think i am slowly ridding my self of my pastey british skin. made it to a small town called gretna where i played some horse shoe throwing with a large group of african americans who took the piss out of my lack of ability! loved their banter, think they would fit in well down the local boozer. the undulating scenery seemed endless but it was all worth it when i got to lake seminole which is right by a town called sneads. was the perfect reward for a hard days work. whilst enjoying the view i bumped into a fellow cyclist called Alan who said i was welcome to take a shower at his place. Alan turned out to be a great guy and we went out for some cajun fish. i stayed at his place and went to bed very early as i was shattered.

woke up riculously early today at 6 and said goodbye to Alan. the weather forecast was horrendous so i got going under ominous clouds. thankfully i made it to marianna for breakfast and the heavens opened. timing essential. after plenty of twisting and turning past the armadillo, snake and frog roadkill i stopped for a break at cottondale where the owner of a fruit shop opened his store just to give me a free orange and apple. dont know what i did to deserve all these lucky meetings. anyway it is almost lunchtime and i am taking a break from the 20-30mph headwinds at chipley. great library by the way, wonder if there is some mafia boss in town trying to appease the locals. Hasta pronto

properly going

since i last wrote i have been doing some serious miles but am trying to take it fairly easy so i dont burn out. I carried on west through Live Oak where i had my first proper mexican food which helped me on my way to a small town called Lee and that is where I started to get worried...asked at a hotel where the nearby campsite was. A polish guy appeared and said "you from europe, you are brother, you stay for free here." He showed me the room but didnt have the key and instead of opening the door he took a piss in the garden before searching for the key. of couse he had to show me his 2 sports cars and his jeep and of course i had to listen to pink floyd on his Bose speakers. he finally went to the back of the hotel and searched in the garage and i thought he was going to bring out a gun but thankfully it was a drill. he attempted to take down the door but stopped short of knocking it down. Then he went to reception where his son gave him the key.....very strange behaviour indeed. anyway the room was alright in the end although it was very messy. I locked myself in, had a bath and slept like a baby, thank god!

woke up sunday morning and had some waffles, chatting to the waitress who seemed to be really interested in icelandic water. fair enough. anyway it was a stunning day and i just kept on riding and loved it. really felt great about the trip and wasnt stuck in any introspective quagmire but was in fact just enjoying the scenery and the blue sky. cycled through Madison which is a beautiful southern town with all those drooping trees. is it wisteria? Stopped in Greenville where Ray Charles grew up and then decided against the short cut into Tallahassee and am well pleased about that decision. rode to a small town just south of Tallahassee called Woodville where in the first shop i went in to i met the manager steve and his wife samantha who said i could camp on their lawn. in fact they took me out for chinese with their cowboy friends (clinking with each step!) and i slept on their couch. awesome, cant believe how kind the americans are turning out to be. both steve and samantha were such great people and I feel so fortunate not only because of their kindness but also to be doing this trip. so far so good!

heading south

my last night in new york was great! went round to lien's friends apt in brooklyn where dennis and sandy provided some great entertainment. managed to find a chinese bus on tuesday morning which was "10 dolla" and smelt rather like chicken and was full of non english speaking people. got to philly a couple of hours later where i strolled around seeing some of the sights where american independence was born and was very temped to have one of the famous cheese steaks but had a veggie one after much deliberation...clearly made the wrong choice! had an incredible afternoon feeling like a 6 year old as there was a star wars exhibition in the science museum. i lapped it up. wez would be so jealous as there were loads of the original costumes, models and clips of how they made the films. linked up with marty and played dodgeball with his friend Emiliano in the gym. absoluely classic! could have been in napoleon dynamite.

the following day i helped out in marty and his mum's catering business before catching the train to north carolina. thought i had got a rubbish seat as the rather large black lady in the seat next to me was sleeping and we didnt chat for a couple of hours, but how wrong i was! turned out that she used to be A&R for warner records in new york and london in the 80s & 90s. chatted about music all the way through virginia. got picked up that afternoon by rachel and jean in Raleigh and later saw kalla. we all had dinner and went to a bar where there was an 'irish' rock band playing. was hysterical especially when this dude, who looked like Mr T started doing a riverdance jig like crazy to the last song, medalions going everywhere!

Thursday was chilled as I was feeling a bit hungover so kalla and I went bowling and played a bit of crazy golf etc. had dinner with the girls who provided some of the most random conversations i have ever had. thanks jean! hopped on the train at 9pm and thankfully slept pretty well.

Arrived in Jacksonville, Florida where Jim met me at the station. I met Jim on a cycling website and he turned out to be legend. he took me for some breakfast and showed me the bike shop where i had ordered my bike though Brian who knew everything there was to know about cycling. Finally at about 2pm I started the ride with Jim who came with me for the first 15 miles before heading back to jacksonville. feel really fortunate that Jim and various other friends have looked after me so well. will have to return a few favours in the future. biked till about 5:30pm after picking up a few supplies. set up camp in a forest not far from route 90. of course it was a bit of nightmare as i had never put up my tent and there were loads of mosquitoes. however i finally put up my tent and got a fire going and scoffed down a tin of baked beans and felt very much alive and happy to have started the adventure. that was until the lightening in the middle of the night felt very close to death at one point! do you think it is ok to be in a tent if lightening strikes? i have no idea and felt like it was a distinct possibility!

Today, I woke up a little wet from the torrential rainfall and packed up my stuff as quick as possible to avoid the mozzies and got on my way. so here i am at lake city with plenty of riding to do in the afternoon. well done if you made it this far!

The Big Apple

Arrived on Wednesday 13th February feeling excited about the prospect of checking out New York and catching up with lots of friends. NYC has certainly lived up to my expectations: iron fire-escapes, yellow cabs, tasty bagels and high-rise buildings. However I have had many unexpected experiences. Walking round Manhattan on Thursday I happened upon Chinatown and it was like teleporting to the streets of a Manchurian town, embroiled in the hustle of tonal Mandarin like cellos yo-yoing around my periphery. On Friday I was consumed by grannies ordering their fresh pasta in Italian in Little Italy in the Bronx. Then walking down 125th street in Harlem and soaking up the fashion flexed in the heart of Black culture, jewelry and sneaker stores engulfing me on both flanks. At many times I have been shocked by the diversity that oozes from every district. I even thought the architecture would be more homogeneous but the neo-gothic style is often shadowed by unique blends of brick and mortar like the residential brownstone houses in Brooklyn near Prospect Park. Sitting in cafes has been one of my favorite activities with customers ordering their own unique specifications and chatting to the person behind the counter who always makes it a pleasant exchange. It's such a small thing but coming from the icy service we expect in London it seems truly special.

Has been great to catch up with friends from Japan and old family friends from the time when I was born in Connecticut. Lien has kindly had me to stay in the Upper East Side and others have met up with me for drinks or a meal so it has been enlightening to hear everyone's angle on the city. On Sunday I visited a Kerouac exhibition so I am now fully geared up for many days of travel On The Road!

off tmrw

can't believe I've talked myself into this!