OTIS AND THE BIKE RIDE

It's About Time That It's Not About Time Anymore

Monday, July 2, 2007 - Day 11

I got a late start today. Went to bed a little later than I should have, so consequently I slept in a little later than planned. I was going to go in with Poncho to his shop to take a thorough look at my bike. He went in around 9 or 9:30, and I think I woke up around 10:30. I contemplated staying another day in SLO, knowing I could use a day of rest. It seems as if every morning I wake up wondering if I should ride today, but after being awake for a few minutes, I can't wait to get back on my bike and continue on. I guess that's a good thing.

Before I left, Karin gave me a sleeping pad to put in my hammock. It's a cheap one, but it should help insulate my back a little bit. Thank you, Karin. Said goodbye and started heading north to San Simeon. I think I rolled out of SLO around 2 or 2:30. Good thing it was not a far ride today. The road was mostly flat, some hills here or there, but nothing like I had two days ago. There was some headwind, but it also wasn't as bad as it has been.

I was thinking a lot today about time; about my time throughout the day and my time on this trip. I have found myself getting anxious frequently. Much of that has to do with my late starts. I have to hustle to reach my destination before dark, especially if I am camping or if I'm not quite sure where I'll be staying. That's no fun. Much of the pleasure of the ride is stripped from me when I am worrying about daylight. So some changes need to be made. I need to make some earlier starts to my day, really get my shit together in the morning. Also, if I do get a late start, I need to try to make a shorter route for the day. I feel like I should reach the end of my riding day no later than 6:30, certainly before 7. Lately, though, I've been pulling up to my destinations around 8, 8:30, sometimes later.

Also at times throughout this trip I have become too anxious to reach my destination. While this adventure does have a destination, that's not really what it's about. If that were the case, I could have just taken a train or rented a car or bought a motorcycle. I would be there by now, soaking up the few rays of the Canadian sun. The whole purpose of taking a bicycle was the journey, what lies in between L.A. and Vancouver. I purposefully set no time limit for this trip for a reason. I don't want to be rushing to get anywhere. I wan't to make it all the way to Canada, and I would ideally like to do that before it starts getting cold or rainy season sets in, but if it takes that long to get there, if I find some great things along the way that beckon me to stick around for a while, why not stick around and enjoy it? I must work on keeping this mentality. Plus, when I think about it, after I'm done with this trip, then what? Where do I go next? I have no home, no job, not much money. This adventure is my life right now, and so far it's great. Why would I want to cut it shorter than I have to?

Camping tonight at San Simeon. They have hiker/biker camping here, which is nice because it's so cheap - only $2. I can afford that. Not the best sites, though. There are hardly any trees, and the few standing are pretty far apart. I thought I was going to be out of luck. I tried tying from one tree to the campsite marker post, which only stands about 3 feet high. That put me mostly on the ground when in the hammock. After rigging that up, I decided to try between two trees that were what I thought would be too far apart. They were just barely close enough. I had to tie one of my side support ropes to a bench on another site. There was no one there when I set up. Because the trees were so young and limber, when I put my weight in the hammock, it sagged quite a bit, almost to the ground. It will have to work.

Just after dark a family pulled up into the site that my hammock half occupies. Oh joy, they have four little kids, and they're loud. This should be fun.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to have to backtrack a mile or two, to head back into the town of Cambria. It's a tiny tourist town with overpriced food, but they have internet there, and I'm not quite sure where I'm going tomorrow. I'm pretty close to Big Sur, and hopefully I can make it there tomorrow.

Music selections for today:

Mason Jennings - Mason Jennings
Otis Redding - The Very Best of Otis Redding
Van Morrison - Moondance