day+2+022, originally uploaded by globalagent007.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Today: 2:26:34 (time of actual peddling); 30.9 miles / 49.44 km
Total Trip (from Grandview Park, Vancouver): 5:27:36 (time); 68.4 miles / 109.44 km; average speed 11 m/hr; max speed 36.32 m/hr; average cadence 53
A day can change everything.
Yesterday all I could see were miles of painful and frustrating cycling made worse by the facts that I’m not allowed to listen to music while I ride and I miss my boyfriend. Today the blinders are off. I see more. There are some seriously cool people on this trip, and by being on it, I’ve met so many more already. On my way to Starbucks to steal the wireless internet and email said boyfriend, I ran into a group of people on the street corner handing out lovely delicious, free, vegan food. They apparently do this every Sunday. I thought to myself, if I can’t grab the free grub while biking to Mexico for charity, when can I? So instead of walking past the strange, happy hippies, I stopped to chat. While eating some gorgeous guacamole we talked microcredit. Someone else on the street corner eating the free food came over to talk. His name is Willow. Willow is a surfer-type – shaggy blond hair and a tanned winded face with a relaxed attitude and a guitar strapped around his chest – and also an amateur film maker. He has taught himself how to shoot and edit. He also makes music. Willow’s outside right now interviewing Adam. He’s going to make a video for us and post it on youTube. I think that’s pretty great.
While Willow films, our ride leader, Emma, is showing our hosts her skills on a uni-cycle while the cooks brew up a second batch of ‘bean mush’ on the BBQ and a few neighbourhood kids rip around on their mountain bikes. I think someone’s trying to figure out what to do about the dishes. The sun is setting and the mosquitoes are coming out, which should drive a few of us who are over 21 to the nearest pub. I hear this town is great for coffee and beer. Kyle, the awesome guy who runs the Hub – our host organization for the evening – made me one of the best americanos of my life when I rolled in. I think it only thorough that I find out if he’s also right about the beer.
I’m sitting in the office of The Hub. Kyle kindly cleared a space on the desk for my computer. On it, though pushed to the edges, are dozens of random items, from a bike tools and henna paste to a pamphlet titled “fighting for our lives: an anarchist primer.” The walls are covered in pinned-up postcards, photos, flags and sketches. The office itself is crammed with boxes and loose stuff, and it’s the best spot to sleep tonight. There has already been some tension about who’s going to get to sleep on the floor, as the rest have to find space on the concrete floor of the bike shop. Glamorous, this is not. But it is fun.
Today we biked from South Surrey to the border where we played some fun photography games under the Peach Arch: snakes in a blender produced some especially good shots. We then rode the 25 miles or so to Bellingham, largely along the quiet country roads of Whatcom County. There’s something particularly painful about knowing you are only going 7 miles and hour and your destination is Mexico. That said, there’s something quiet and magical about cycling; you see things on a bike you’d never see in a car. On a bike you’re on the shoulder of the road and can peek over bridges to see the lily pads in a pond or the subtle interaction between two old friends as they do yard work or appreciate the dilapidated barn that’s quietly sinking into a field of tall grass and dandelions. The smells are great too. It might not be quite so idyllic on the 101, but today was warm bordering on muggy; the air was soft. It smelled of sun on fruit bushes and sometimes of cut grass. When I didn’t want to throw up or cry, it was really quite nice