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.