Nogales to Phoenix, and then to LA

  Times like this, I wish I had taken more pictures during our week long adventure in Mexico, because pictures definitely are worth 1,000 words sometimes.  Monday morning, we loaded up the van, truck and trailer.  We made our way to the church Sue and Sil attend down the road to pick up 3 other volunteers.  The car ride wasn't too bad.  It did remind me that I would much rather sit on my own bike than to be crammed in the middle of two smelly men in the back of a bumpy van.  It didn't take us but 20 or 30 minutes to get across the border and maybe another 15 minutes to get to Manitas Que Hablan. As soon as we arrived we started unloading the van and truck.  The volunteer crew and the founders of the the first deaf school for all ages in Mexico met in the main room of the school.  The school consisted of 3 classrooms, an office, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, and a large room in the front of the house.   In 4 days we planned on tearing up and putting in a new roof, updating some of the pluming and installing a hot water heater, and painting all the rooms, ceilings, and doors.  
  Manitas Que Hablan was the vision of a women named Tere Valenzuela.  Tere's vision was to see her daughter, Daniela,  a chance at living a life with choices.  Before Tere started to move her vision into a reality, there was no chance for the deaf Mexican population to make a living outside of begging.  Sadly, this statistic also holds true for the blind and mentally challenged communities.  Manitas now educates 46+ deaf students year round, ranging in all ages.  

  Soon after being introduced to the Manitas community/family we were introduced to the media and the mayors wife.  Once the excitement started to settle down, we got to work in the house.  After the main room was painted the men broke out the ladders and got to work on tearing up the leaking roof.  The students and women got started on tapping up the walls and painting the 2 classrooms in the main house blue and later putting a second coat on the main room.  After a long day of work,  Tere and her family joined us for dinner downtown, compliments of the mayors wife.  Dinner was a bit awkward, being that only Susan, Silvario, and Monica were the only people from our group that spoke decent spanish.  We still managed to have a great time and great food!

  Tuesday, we woke up and had breakfast around eight.  The guys strolled back up the ladders and the women got started painting the office and doors.  We took a break every couple of hours.  The women that worked as tutors or teachers at the school (were also brothers, sisters, and mothers of the students) made us breakfast and lunch each day.  The work days consisted of starting at 8 or 9 and finish cleaning up by the time the sun was down.  I showered Tuesday night with a solar shower bag...the sun had stopped hitting the bag a few hours prior, so it wasn't quite as warm as I had hoped it to be, but I did manage to get yet another good nights rest!

  Wednesday...we did more roofing, pluming and painting.  I didn't have much to do with the pluming, or the roofing (unfortunately)...I just know it got done, which is quite a beautiful thing!  We finished up painting the bathrooms, and doing some touch ups on the other rooms we had already worked on.  Monica and I moved on to the classroom next to the main building.  The texturing job on the walls was a bit thick and rough, so it was a bit more tedious to get it done.  With the help of some students and Matt joining us here and there we got it done in a good amount of time.  That night Alejandro, Tere's son, took us to a karaoke bar with some of his friends.  We enjoyed some singing, dancing, drinking.  We were even able to chat between Monica, and Alejandro's friends, the translation worked quite well.  It was a nice way to wind down from the past couple of days.  

  Thursday, Julie and I worked with the students on creating white boards for the classrooms, office, kitchen, and entrance.  It was fun to work closer with the students on a project, a little less strait-forward than painting.  We started to finish wrapping all our projects up around the house.  

  I would like to give a special thanks to Alma, a women that had accompanied us from the time we arrived has been one of the most powerful people I have ever met.  She works with the United States to help provide better living situations for many people in Nogales.  Alma works along side non-profits, like Manitas Que Hablan, to allow people like Tere to get the means they need to create a sustainable business.
 Friday before we left we had to finish up some last minute adjustments on the pluming situation and pack up the rest of our gear to get going.  All in all it was a great experience to be able to create a new relationship with beautiful people forming a new avenue for a community in need.      

  We made our way back to the states after saying our goodbyes.  The following day we accompanied Robert to a bike race close to Tempe, AZ.  We helped set up and run kids through a bike safety course for We-Cycle.  Sunday, Sue and Sil drove us from Phoenix to Los Angeles so we could catch back up with our schedule.
Los Angeles has been such an interesting experience.  My original thoughts when we first got here was a bit of a shock that this place actually exists.  It kind of caught me off guard I think.  After a day or two it finally started to sink in.  We road around Beverly Hills, and Bel Air, hiked the cliffs overlooking Los Angeles, and road down the coast.  
  Last night I filled my cup of noodles with some hot water from a gas station and had some peanut butter for dessert.  My most recent feelings, the ones I have been longing for, I think, have finally come.  I miss the "normal routine".  I miss the little things.  A cup of coffee, knowing where I am going to sleep each night, opening the refrigerator, turning a switch to have heat in seconds, a warm shower, a choice.  To end our first week in California, we slept on the cliffs of Santa Monica, in our sleeping bags, listening to the ocean and the cars pass.  Around 3 AM, night life started to die down, but the waves were still coming in.  It was a beautiful thing.  
 It has been 3 weeks now since we have gone more than 30 miles on our bikes and I am so ready to get back on the road!

  

Phoenix to Nogales

   We road about 60 miles from Camp Verde (http://www.cvaz.org) to the Happy Valley area (about 30 miles North of Phoenix) last Sunday, March 31st.  We stopped off to grab some dinner and catch the  rail into Phoenix on this exit.  The group met at Red Robin for a delicious donated dinner.  We were collectively looking on our smart phones for the light rail going into the city.  Defeated, we asked our waitress, who didn't seem to have much of a clue, either...  At this point,  the light rail we were looking for did not exist.  We collectively decided it would be better to split off into smaller groups for the night.      Ryan made it to Phoenix earlier in the day; Ashley and Julie got a hotel room; Elijah, Matt, and Victor found camp a couple of exits down; Martin, Monica and I hopped back on the highway right before the sun set to attempt to hitch a ride.  We were inconveniently posted up beside a jail, but some how we managed to squeeze our bikes and the three of us into John's home/van after about 10 minutes of waiting.  John was on his way to the last leg of The McDowell Mountain Music Festival with his friend and three dogs.  About an hour later we were dropped off in downtown, outside of the festival.  Marty discovered the light rail we had been looking for.  He was on his way to go visit a friend at Arizona State University.  Monica and I were going to find a place to camp (sleep on the street), and decided we should probably grab a beer first.  A guy at the CVS suggested the Crescent Ballroom on N 2nd Ave. and W Van Buren St.  On a side note, (something that took us a few days to get used to) Phoenix has a road called Central.  On the East side of Central, are streets, while the West side of Central are Avenues or Drives, fyi, if you ever decide to check Phoenix out.   When we arrived to the Crescent Ballroom, Tim, a fellow Philanthropistic soul, noticed the heavy load Monica and I were pedaling with.  He invited us to chat at his friends table so we could explain ourselves.  In the end Monica and I enjoyed a Grateful Dead cover band and had a couple of beers, thanks to Tim's generosity.  The two of us originally planned on picking a spot somewhere downtown to crash for the night.  Ryan, again, was already in the city.  We were talking to him while we were at the bar about where he was staying and what his plan was.  The couple he had found on warmshowers.com invited Monica and myself to stay for the night as well.  So, the two of us were pleasantly surprised to see that the couple was just down the road from the bar we were at.  There is nothing like a night ride in a warm, quiet(ish) city, but we were tired from a long day, and ready for bed.  We arrived at some lofts with a great view of the city and the Diamondback field, such a great end to the day.
  I met Susan and Silvario the next morning while they made us breakfast.  Our immediate connection with Silvario was when he told us about his touring experience from Saint Augustine, Florida to San Diego, California.  He was the type of rider that wanted to take his time and enjoy the views and people at whatever pace he wanted.  While his friend, Robert, that joined him (who we met later) wanted to keep the pedal to the pavement. As we wrapped up breakfast, Susan and Ryan had talked about some volunteer work we could do at the local Community Center she supports.  Silvario walked Monica, Ryan, and I through the neighborhood to the community center.  We helped distribute and restock some food for the pantry that serves families in the neighborhood.  At 3:30 the kids came in for the extended school day.  Helping them with homework, reading, and doing some arts/crafts and games while waiting for their parents to pick them up.  It reminded me of when I went to ESD in elementary at Prairie Trail, back in Flower Mound.  I can appreciate how this ride has sent me back to my past from moments we ("adults") tend to forget about.  Anyway, after a not so long, successful day with the kids, we made some enchiladas for dinner and waited for the rest of the group to arrive.
  As you can imagine, 9 smelly cyclists/bikes, and 2 experienced parents, crammed into a decent sized loft, wouldn't be so comfortable (for most people)...so we decided to stay at another warm showers profile for a couple of nights to lighten the load on Sues and Sil while we stayed in town.  Marty was still at the University, so Matt went ahead and joined him down there for a couple of days.  Ryan, Monica, Elijah, Victor, Julie, and I made our way across town to stay in Blaise's warehouse, behind his house.  He trekked from San Francisco to Seattle on a Penny-farthing!! (Much respect)

  After hanging out at Blaise's for two days, we headed back to the city.  I hung out at a coffee shop all day looking for jobs at summer camps and ski resorts.  At 4 we went to check in at the Renaissance.  I was able to get a room donated for the night.  At 5 we went to Bike Labs (bike shop) to get our bikes worked on and hang out with Robert.
  Robert is a good friend of Sil and Sues, and founder of We-Cycle.  We-Cycle is a non-profit organization that collects recycled bicycle parts and either builds bikes from scratch or donates parts to people that cannot afford new parts.  We-Cycle doesn't only sell/donate bikes to homeless people or people that don't have a means to get to work, but they also educate these folks on how to maintain the condition of their bikes.
(Check them out on Facebook or  www.We-cycle.org  <<very impressive site!)
  I left early to go check out a potential partner for The YP.  I found a yoga studio down the road I wanted to take a class at.  They incorporate hammocks into the practice.  I didn't make it in time for the class, but was still able to talk to the guy that started the donation based classes.  He also created a clothes making business.  Currently he has 120 employees that were jobless, and most didn't have any skills to get a job.  They make shoes, clothes, boots, belts, jewelry.  He donates the children's clothes to other organizations/non-profits.  I am hoping we will be able to get some of those clothes to Casa De Lus in Honduras.
(Whether your into yoga: http://ra-yoga.com or clothes: http://ra-apparel.com check it out and get in touch with Roman!)
  It was quite a blessing to have met Sil and Sues.  Through them we had met so many lovely people willing to give back to the community.  They also gave us more opportunities to fulfill our goal in volunteering on our journey, something we haven't had much luck with for the past 3 months.  When they invited us to join them in Nogales, Mexico to help make some repairs on a school for the deaf community, it was hard to say no!  We left the Renaissance the next afternoon and headed back to Sues and Sil's.  Monday morning we were packed, loaded, and about 4 hours from the boarder.

Post 2

  Mikheal Maxwell.  What a guy, let me tell you.  He blessed us miles back (Pensacola, FL)  with great stories, tasty food, shower/washer/dryer, a roof over our heads for very cold/rainy nights, he extended his resources out for us, and fed us even more tasty food.  He still continues to support us.  It is humbling to see a complete stranger (as of a month ago) become a young philanthropist with us in spirit after a few short days.  Mikheal is currently going to school to become a social worker.  He has such a beautiful, full, beating heart.  Mikheal has been a lot of places on this earth.  Maybe more situationally and emotionally than physically.  It was definitely a weekend to remember.  His neighbors were also kind enough to fix us up some eggs, bacon and pancakes before we made our way to the next state.  (Thanks so much Mikheal for everything.  I am sure we will all be keeping in touch).
  Our next couch surfing extravaganza started out with quite a kick.  We were on our way into Slidell, LA.  Maybe a quarter mile from Ken's house.  We all turn to look at a loud rustling in the bushes to our right.  All of the sudden Ashely is on the ground under her bike and we all take a few seconds to try and figure out if what just happened was real.  Ash was T-boned by Bamby.  (What the hell...right?  Are you serious right now?)  It still amazes me with all the space the deer had to be startled and run off, it managed to run dead into one of our riders...it was crazy!  A scrape to the leg and extreme soreness was a given.  Nothing immediately threatening though.  When we got to Ken's we were all so mentally and physically exhausted.  We had some great stir fry and snacks.  Hopped into the hot tub for a bit and hung out to come back down from the adrenalin rush.
  The ride the next day was so beautiful.  The sun came out to play with a slight breeze and the open road beside the swamps.
  To fast forward some, we did some not so productive hitchhiking.  It was definitely adventure worthy.      Moving from gas station. to gas station... to getting some free burgers and fries, to hitching a ride to another gas station in the next town (about 10 minutes out)....to riding to a casino down the road... to then riding to a walmart down the way and getting a ride to another truck stop....to being exhausted at 1 AM....to falling asleep inside the subway at 3 AM...to finally setting up tents behind a brick wall at the truck stop...to sleeing at 4 or 5 AM for six beautiful hours.  In the end we all made it safe and sound to my Aunt Mare and Uncle John's home in Houston (minus Elija and Martin, who decided to ride the way).  Mind you, this all happened well within 24 hours...thanks to a generous, loving mother willing to give us a hand (and rent us a Uhaul).  Thank you!
  Getting to Houston, meeting our newest edition to the young and wild family, Victor, and seeing John, Mare, and cousin Jacky.  I was very pleased :)  It was a great weekend to regroup and visit.  The visiting part was rather significant for me.  As most of my family, along with myself (me being one of the worst of all) is terrible as sitting, being, and visiting with each other (as most "normal" families do, rather often).  (It was great seeing the three of you this past weekend, I would like to keep in touch with my Lesters more often :)).

All for now,
Mac and cheese is calling my name ;)

Post 1

  I will try my best to give you a taste of where we have been in the past 3 weeks.  I haven't written much about where we stay and where we are headed because I don't feel like I can do it justice, but I will try my best.

  We have stayed with a range of different folk from Little Talbot Island (East of Jacksonville FL.) to New Roads LA. where we relax for an extra day today due to a storm forecast.  Luckily, so far we have had nothing but sunshine and a slight, cool breeze.  I am very pleased with life.  

  Seven other individuals and myself gathered in Little Talbot at the National State Park that kisses the Atlantic.  We stayed 3 or 4 days camping, building and riding bikes, packing and unpacking panniers, telling our stories, and talking about why we each decided to join the ride.

  I think we are all a little surprised on how well we interconnected from the beginning.  We all bring a variety of flames to this bonfire.  The practiced communication, open/honest questions, the mixing pot of opinions, and beliefs creates quite a unique but solid base.  With a structure like this, there needs to be a rich range of flexibility.  So far, it seems like we are all willing to contribute  patients.

  The day we arrived to Kim & Nathan's home outside of Tallahassee, I wasn't sure if I had anything left to give.  I was close to shutting down for the evening.  Getting inside, strait to the shower, and to bed for me.  When we made our way inside my heart softened some.  Just enough for me to stick it out and visit with many kind people.  That night they were celebrating a Pagan ritual for the dark moon.  Basically it was a way to release negative energy you held onto.  We had some great talks and tasty food with Kim and Nathan for the remainder of the weekend.  

We have stayed with a handful of very loving churches.

Lamont Baptist Church
Taylor Church in Sanderson, FL
Lighthouse God's Gym
Village Baptist Church

The food and shelter  has been some of the greatest gifts I have ever received.  When you strip yourself away from all (or most) comforts of life, there is a chance for a radical detox and a chance at a larger volume of awareness of the mind body and spirit.  I believe the beauty in this "detox", is that it looks so different for everyone.  

That's all for now.
More couch surfing stories under way.
Thanks for the patients.
Cheers

50 Shades of Red

  From the moment that I decided this ride was going to happen for me (some 3 months ago), to the moment that I sit here now with 7 strangers, becoming more like family as each day passes,  I haven't asked and sat or pondered why I was really doing this ride.  All I really knew was that it must be done...I was feeling the itch to travel yet again.

  After having almost 3 weeks of riding down now, the layers of distraction are starting to dissolve.  Fast.  There is no where to go to find other peoples problems, or to amuse myself with daily chores, work, or partying.  There is nothing but plenty of time, pedaling, thinking about what I believe, how I perceive relationships I have or have neglected to have.

  Every once in a while I will come back to that question.  I guess my answer is I am here to jump into myself.  To begin a process of occupying myself.  I don't think I have had much control of myself in the past.  But what does it mean to "find yourself"?  Have people simply figured out certain equations and questioneirs to fill out and come up with an answer to all of your problems?  (Obviously not..)  How do people usually go about "finding themselves"?



God will become more significant.  What that looks like will take a lifetime to discover I am sure.  I do believe I make understanding (things in general) harder than it has to be.  At this point, I have decided, God consists of the most beautiful things my eyes have seen, the most terribly fearful things I have laid eyes on and everything that is not so black and white.

"Shall we"

I am alive :) 

and doing great!

It has been a week since I have started The Young and Wild Expedition 2013.   If you don't already know, it is a cross country bike ride from Little Talbot Island, Florida to San Diego, CA and then up North to Seattle Washington...5 months, 8 riders, $40 a day for food.

Along the way we are working with local nonprofits and spending time doing community service projects.  

So far everything we have encountered has been exactly what we needed in order to be prepared for what is headed our way in the next few weeks.  

A couple of days with rain

Damp cold nights

Wet rides on bike trails

Camp fires

Beach time

Building bikes

Cleaning bikes

Laughing

And "House keeping"

As of today, as a group, I am completely confident in the ability in every member of this team to succeed in this ride.  We will, together, be breaking physical and mental barriers we never imagined.  Personally, I have learned a lot about myself in ways I can't quite wrap my head around yet.  This will be a rather weak post unfortunately due to a lack of sleep and lack of understanding exactly how to put into words what I am feeling.  I am feeling more alive from day to day as I am pushed further and further out of my comfort zone.  Things I have always avoided feeling or thinking are slowly but surely washing up to shore.  

The sights, people, riding, and food has been so amazing so far.

I will have wonderful stories of generous hearts and breathe taking sights to share as the universe unfolds our journey to us.  

"People were putting themselves where they weren't supposed to be.

And I wanted to be there too."

-Jeff Johnson

Stay tuned :)

ROUTE ITINERARY

Young and Wild Expedition Bicycle Route Itinerary

1. Jacksonville, FL: Arrive Wednesday January 2, 2013—Mentor Orientation
1. Friday January 4—Rider Orientation
2. Jacksonville, FL to Atlantic Ocean Ride (and back): Sun. Jan 6: 30 miles
3. Jacksonville, FL to Sanderson, FL: Mon. Jan 7: 40 miles
4. Sanderson, FL to Live Oak, FL: Tues. Jan 8: 45 miles
5. Live Oak, FL to Lamont, FL: Wed Jan 9: 60 miles
6. Lamont, FL to Tallahassee, FL: Thurs Jan 10: 30 miles (205 total) 

7. YWE Option-Adventure 1: Fri Jan 11-Sun Jan 13, 2013

a. Tallahassee, FL to Blountstown, FL Monday Jan 14: 55 miles (260 total)	a. Tallahassee, FL to Port St. Joe via Weekend Adventure: Fri-Sun: 160 miles Jan 11-13
	b. Port St. Joe, FL to Blountstown, FL Monday Jan 14: 55 miles (420 total)

8. Blountstown, FL to Panama City Beach, FL: Tuesday Jan 15: 60 miles
9. Panama City Beach, FL to Destin, FL: Wed Jan 16: 50 miles
10. Destin, FL to Pensacola, FL: Thursday Jan 17: 50 miles 
11. Pensacola, FL to Gulf Shores, AL: Sunday Jan 20: 35 miles
12. Gulf Shores, AL to Mobile, AL: Monday Jan 21: 60 miles
13. Mobile, AL to Biloxi, MS: Tues Jan 22: 65 miles
14. Biloxi, MS to Slidell, LA: Wed Jan 23: 60 miles
15. Slidell, LA to New Orleans, LA: Thurs Jan 24: 40 miles:

16. New Orleans, LA to Baton Rouge, LA: Sat Jan 26: 110 miles
17. Baton Rouge, LA to Lafayette, LA: Mon Jan 28: 90 miles 
(Back up option: Opelousas, LA: 65 miles): (855-1,015 total miles)
18. Lafayette, LA (or Opelousas, La) to Lake Charles, LA: Tues Jan 29: 90 miles
19. Lake Charles, LA to Beaumont, TX: Wed Jan 30: 95 miles
20. Beaumont, TX to Houston, TX: Thurs Jan 31: 85 miles
21. Houston, TX to Eagle Lake, TX: Sat Feb 2: 70 miles
22. Eagle Lake, TX to Shiner, TX: Sun Feb 3: 55 miles
23. Shiner, TX to San Antonio, TX: Mon Feb 4 : 90 miles
24. San Antonio, TX to New Braunfels, TX: Tues Feb 5: 35 miles
25. New Braunfels, TX to Austin, TX: Thurs Feb 7: 55 miles
26. Austin, TX to Georgetown, TX: Fri Feb 8: 35 miles
27. Georgetown, TX to Waco, TX: Sat Feb 9: 80 miles  (1,545-1,705 total)
28. Waco, TX to Cleburne, TX: Mon Feb 11: 65 miles
29. Cleburne, TX to Fort Worth, TX: Tues Feb 12: 35 miles
30. Fort Worth, TX to Mineral Wells, TX: Wed Feb 13: 55 miles
31. Mineral Wells, TX to Breckenridge/Hubbard Creek Lake, TX: Thurs 
Feb 14: 55 miles
32. Breckenridge/Hubbard Creek Lake, TX to Abilene, TX: Fri Feb 15: 60 miles
33. Abilene, TX to Snyder, TX: Sat Feb 16: 80 miles
34. Snyder, TX to Lamesa, TX: Mon Feb 18: 65 miles
35. Lamesa, TX to Hobbs, NM: Tues Feb 19: 70 miles
36. Hobbs, NM to Carlsbad, NM: Wed Feb 20: 70 miles
37. Carlsbad, NM to Carlsbad Caverns National Park: Thurs Feb 21: 30 miles 
(2,030-2,290 total)
38. Carlsbad Caverns National Park to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, NM: Fri Feb 22: 40 miles
39. Guadalupe Mountains National Park, NM to El Paso TX
Excursions to Mexico: Sat Feb 23: 110-120 miles
40. El Paso, TX to Franklin Mountains State Park, TX: Tues Feb 26: 20 miles
41. Franklin Mountains State Park, TX to Las Cruces, NM: Wed Feb 27: 40 miles

42. Las Cruces, NM to Elephant Butte Lake State Park, NM: Thurs Feb 28: 75 miles
43. Elephant Butte Lake State Park, NM to Cibola National Forest, NM: Fri March 1: 90 miles
44. Cibola National Forest, NM to Belen, NM: Sat March 2: 60 miles 
45. Belen, NM to Albuquerque, NM: Sun March 3: 35 miles
46. Albuquerque, NM to Grants, NM: Wed March 6: 80 miles
47. Grants, NM to Zuni Peublo, NM: Thurs March 7: 80 miles
(2,770-2,930 total)
48. Zuni Pueblo, NM to Petrified Forest National Park, AZ: Fri March 8: 70 miles
49. Petrified Forest National Park, AZ to Winslow, AZ: Mon March 11: 70 miles
50. Winslow, AZ to Flagstaff, AZ: Tues March 12: 75 miles
51. Flagstaff, AZ to Grand Canyon National Park, AZ: Thurs March 14: 80 miles
52. Grand Canyon National Park, AZ to Peach Springs, AZ: Tues March 19: 120 miles
53. Peach Springs, AZ to New Kingman-Butler/Kingman, AZ: Wed March 20: 40-50 miles
54. New Kingman-Butler/Kingman, AZ to Boulder City, NV: Thurs March 21: 90 miles
55. Boulder City, NV to Las Vegas, NV: Fri March 22: 30 miles
56. Las Vegas, NV to Sloan, NV: Mon March 25: 30 miles
57. Sloan, NV to Mojave National Preserve, CA: Tues March 26: 80 miles
58. Mojave National Preserve, CA to Newberry Springs, CA: Wed March
27: 90 miles: (3,475-3,645 total)
59. Newberry Springs, CA to Barstow, CA: Thurs March 28: 25 miles
60. Barstow, CA to Yucca Springs, CA: Fri March 29: 80 miles 61. Yucca Springs, CA to Palm Desert, CA: Sat March 30: 40 miles 62. Palm Desert, CA to Ramona, CA: Mon April 1: 90 miles
63. Ramona, CA to San Diego, CA: Tues April 2: 40 miles
64. San Diego, CA to San Clemente, CA: Fri April 5: 65 miles 65. San Clemente, CA to Los Angeles, CA: Sat April 6: 80 miles 66. Los Angeles, CA to Ventura, CA: Tues April 9: 80 miles
67. Ventura, CA to Santa Barbara, CA: Wed April 10: 35 miles

68. Santa Barbara, CA to Santa Maria, CA: Thurs April 11: 80 miles (4,260 total)
69. Santa Maria, CA to Morrow Bay, CA: Fri April 12: 60 miles
70. Morrow Bay, CA to Big Sur, CA: Sat April 13: 95 miles
71. Big Sur, CA to Carmel, CA: Sun April 14: 25 miles
72. Carmel, CA to Mount Hermon, CA: Mon April 16: 75 miles
(4,345-4,515 total)
73. Option Adventure 2: San Francisco v. Yosemite NP 
Wed. Apr. 17- Thurs. Apr 25, 2013

Mount Hermon, CA to Mountain View, CA: Wed April 17: 40 miles	Or to San Jose (with intent to Yosemite NP): Wed April 17: 35 miles
b. Mountain View, CA to Half Moon Bay, CA: Fri April 19: 30 miles	Or San Jose, CA to Modesto, CA: Thurs April 18: 95 miles
c. Half Moon Bay, CA to San Francisco, CA: Sat April 20: 35 miles	Or Modesto, CA to Yosemite NP, CA: Sat April 20: 85 miles
d. San Francisco, CA to Berkeley, CA: Tues April 23: 15 miles	Or Yosemite NP, CA to San Andreas, CA: Tues April 23: 70 miles
e. Berkeley, CA to Napa, CA:  Thurs April 25: 45 miles  (4,260-4,680 total possible miles ridden)	Or San Andreas, CA to Sacramento, CA: Wed April 24: 60 miles
f. Sacramento, CA to Napa, CA:  Thurs April 25: 70 miles:  (4510- 4,930 total possible miles ridden)  (250 miles difference)  (Total difference in miles ridden: 670)

74. Napa, CA to Santa Rosa, CA: Sat April 27: 40 miles
75. Santa Rosa, CA to Mendocino, CA: Mon April 29: 95 miles
76. Mendocino, CA to Garberville, CA: Tues April 30: 80 miles
77. Garberville, CA to Eureka, CA: Wed May 1: 75 miles
78. Eureka, CA to Redwood National Park, CA: Thurs May 2: 45 miles 
79. Redwood National Park, CA to Crescent City, CA: Fri May 3: 50 miles
80. Crescent City, CA to Brookings, OR: Sat May 4: 30 miles
81. Brookings, OR to Gold Beach, OR: Sun May 5: 30 miles
82. Gold Beach, OR to Bandon, OR: Mon May 6: 55 miles
83. Bandon, OR to Reedsport, OR: Tues May 7: 55 miles
84. Reedsport, OR to Eugene, OR: Wed May 8: 85 miles
85. Eugene, OR to Salem, OR: Fri May 10: 75 miles
86. Salem, OR to Portland, OR: Sat May 11: 60 miles
87. Portland, OR to Tillamook, OR: Tues May 14: 80 miles
88. Tillamook, OR to Astoria, OR: Wed May 15: 65 miles
89. Astoria, OR to South Bend, WA: Thurs May 18: 45 miles
90. South Bend, WA to Olympic National Forest, WA: Fri May 17: 85 miles
(5,310-5,980 total)
91.Option Adventure 3: Olympic National Park v. CityWeek Seattle: 
Sat May 18-Thurs May 23, 2013

a. Olympic National Forest, WA to Seattle, WA: Sat May 18-Thurs May 23, 2013: (CityWeek:Seattle ): 85 miles: City Week: (5,395- 6,065 total miles!)	a. Or, Olympic National Forest, WA to Forks, WA: Sun. May 19: 110 miles
(180 miles difference between options) (850 miles difference between total mileage able to be cycled)	b. Forks, WA to Olympic National Park, WA: Tues. May 21: 65 miles
	c. Olympic National Park,

WA to Seattle, WA: Thursday May 23, 2013: 90 miles (5575-6,245 total!)

92. Seattle, WA: Fri May 24: 0 Miles—The ride is complete, the record is broken!
--Final debriefings, finishing up last assignments, preparing for final Celebration!
--Riders start flying home: Hang out
--Sunday: All Riders must have flown home by end of day; Continue to hang out and not ride a bike!

• •

-Quick Facts-

• Approximately 5,395-6,245 miles ridden 
• Expedition lasts 142 days
• Approximately 94-99 days of riding
• Approximately 38-43 days of rest/non-riding

• Riding through 11-12 US States (includes unmarked possibility of Georgia)
• Avg. Mileage per day: 57 -64
• Approximately 1 million total calories burned
• Unlimited potential for growth Approximately 2,000 pages to read
• Approximately 20-30 lectures to attend
• Unending exploration, growth, community 
Hundreds of new places, things and landscapes to see Thousands of people to meet, network with and help out.