Goodbye two skinny legs! (for now)

What a photo! What a moment. The last and final image you will see of this trip. Its easy to hide behind a fake smile but what you see here is legitimate. A snapshot of the joyful exuberance we felt as we saw the sign to Mexico! I wasn't emotional like I had predicted, just excited and eager to see Mexico. During the days in which I experienced those moments of total freedom and happiness on the bike I debated carrying on. I imagined what it would be like to just keep going. As if the road had no end. I imagined just saying to everyone. "Sorry I can't come home yet, I'm not done!" But I knew that it was time to come home, I knew I had achieved what I needed and I was content in the knowledge that I will hit the road again one day soon and next time I will go even further. After all when you think I did just cover 2033 miles in only 36 days! So where to next.........?

Joe and Ted I speak to you now for the future so you can look back in years to come and see what it is you achieved in the summer of 2010. Most people were in the office while the sun shone through their window maybe wishing they were somewhere else, maybe not. Some may have been lucky enough to take two weeks off and relax by the pool, others may have not. Some may have dreamed that one day they would go travelling and some may never actually live this dream. Too busy and caught up in the race to step out and make it happen. Joe you had an idea, a burning obsession to get on your bike and cycle across America. A short term goal that you set about making happen within 6 months of the dream manifesting in your head. You didn't think of the consequences, the money you didn't have, the career you haven't yet started or all of the other reasons you shouldn't have gone. You just knew that if you didn't go then while you had the chance, while your lungs were strong and your legs were working you may never have gone. So well done to you for doing what you wanted and reaching a goal which you could be proud of! Never stop making crazy dreams up in your head, never stop doing the things that make you happy and don't grow up without a battle!

The long way home!

Final statistics:

Trip date: June 28th- August 14th 2010

Total Miles: 2033

Average speed: 11.33mph

Total days cycling: 36

Total hours in saddle: 147.79 hrs

Total hours of sore ass: 14.79 hrs

Starting Body Weight: 70kg

Finishing body weight: 72kg

Punctures: 1

New chain: 1

New wheel: 1

Mexico to USA queue time: 3 hrs

Total spend: £2000

Thanks Ted!

Thanks for the company Ted, the laughter, the jokes, the beers, the stories, sharing the food, sharing a tent, sharing underwear when I got desperate, thanks for the moaning, the incessant whining for public transport, thanks for being patient with my impatience, and being tolerant of my intolerance. Thanks for staying behind when I needed space and thanks for waiting ahead when it got dark, thanks for using my beard trimmer more than me, and thanks for letting me use your camera more than mine, thanks for swapping ipods when we got bored and telling stories to pass the time. Thanks for Canada day, thanks for Independence day, thanks for eating all those fat burgers with me so we could justify their consumption, thanks for feeling just as gross as me after those burgers, thanks for being the slowest one out of any campsite, and thanks for sharing the oatmeal, thanks for buying the jiffy pads which you used to half clean my cooking pans with, thanks for San Francisco, thanks for taking that shot! Thanks for all the memories of Canada to Mexico! Proud of you and so glad we did this trip together. We hit the Catalina Wine Mixer and we 'got 'r' dun!

Hola de Mexico!

My first attempt at blogging in Spanish. Not perfect but those who speak spanish should get the idea. Things were really starting to get weird around here when every time Ted looked away my hat was growing in size each time! Believe it or not this hat actually started off about the size of a cow boy hat!

Dancing in Tijuana!

We really were in a whole new world crossing the border. You could throw a stone to the US its that close yet the difference in heat, smell, sounds and culture were so far away from the corporate America we had just left. The smiles on the faces of Mexicans were as warm and welcoming as the heat. The authentic music was a nice change from the hip hop beats of West coast rap. I took in as much as I could from this crazy busy border town knowing that one step down the wrong block I could find myself in the cross fire of a gang shootout. Two blocks in one direction and even the police wont go to the neighborhoods, 3 blocks in the other direction and it could be the police stopping us and rolling us for all our possessions. With this in mind we spent the morning exploring downtown then made our way back to the border to find a queue longer than the eye could see. 3 hours long to be precise in 35 degree heat!

Tijuana!

After negotiating a taxi to the nearest hotel. We found ourselves in the heart of Tijuana. 50 US dollars for a double room, t.v and shower which we were very pleased with. Then out of fear and with a general sense of wisdom we paid a young taxi driver 20 bucks to take us around on a whistle stop tour of TJ. Starting off in a real local Mexican restaurant we kicked things off with dos cerveza's and a wicked meal. We then hit a couple of bars and ended up in a very seedy part of town. The Koh San Road of Tijuana. The town was full of fat American guys with young Mexican women or bars full of rowdy drunk naval officers letting off some steam shall we say! I would not recommend TJ to you and won't be returning any time soon but still another great experience and glad we went!

Getting some fresh fruit in the morning from a street vendor. I put my Spanish to good use here and was surprised with how much I remembered after not studying much lately.

The border!

It took only 5 minutes to walk the 500 metres from USA to Tijuana. No passports were shown to anyone and I breezed straight on through. Unfortunately Ted the gringo was randomly spot checked but passed through with no trouble. Little did we know that it would take a lot longer than 5 minutes to cross back into the states the following day!

We finally made it. Two guys from London traveled by pedal power 2000 miles this summer from Vancouver to Mexico. 99% of the people we met told us not to enter Mexico. Warning us of the dangers of drug trafficking, gang war shootings and tourists being held hostage near the border. Some even warning that the policia would stop us at any time and simply demand cash from us. Cash we didn't have, but a sense of failure for not crossing the border and spending a night in Mexico would surely leave a sense of regret on both our consciences. So after 10 minutes of deliberation the decision we both always really knew surfaced and simultaneously we said "fuck it lets do it, lets do Mexico! We have come this far lets prove them wrong. Lets live it, experience it and hopefully survive it unscathed!

This is the chilling image we were first given as we arrived at the border of Mexico. Armed guards and possible drug traffickers or cartel gang members through the cast iron bars which if not now will one day surely become their home for many years. Or alternatively they could spend their last days in a mass grave decapitated sending a message to anyone else battling for the top spot. This photo taken only 1 mile to Tijuana, a place which only 3 years ago was a popular destination for many young Americans on spring break was a telling image of the very real and ongoing drug war happening in Mexico as the new President tries to stamp out all the drug cartels. I doubt he planned or imagined that by wiping out the big bosses that it would result in an all out civil war between young cats all desperate to gain dominance and become the head of the cartels he was so desperately trying to dissolve!