Hopefully I won’t be around for a part III…

This morning I went back to the Greyhound station to wait for more buses to come through. While waiting, a local guy walked in. He said he was waiting for a walker to come on the bus. I told him I was waiting for a lost bike. “Are you a rider?” “Are you Sam?” It was Sam Hughes picking up a Continental Divide Trail hiker. I though Greyhound lost a walking-aid of his. Sam lets hikers and bikers camp in his yard in Hachita and transports them to and from the trailheads. We were at one point planning to camp in his yard. Who knows if that will happen now.

We waited for the bus, which was late as usual. An hour and a half passed until the bus finally arrived with Phil – the CDT hiker. Unfortunately, the bus did not have my bicycle. The driver said he’d check in El Paso and call me if he found anything.

I am unsure what I will do if I cannot locate my bike in the near future.

Well, I finally arrived in Deming, NM. The supposedly 36 hour ride actually took 45 hours. That’s Greyhound for you, I guess. The ride was longer because I couldn’t get onto my transfer bus in Dallas – it was full. Unfortunately, though, my bike and gear made it onboard and the baggage guys wouldn’t let me take it off…even after knowing I would be on a different bus. They said it would be waiting for me in my final destintion…it isn’t.
So I’m now in Deming trying (unsuccessfully) contact Greyhound about my baggage. If I get them back in time, I may be able to make Hachita on the 24th. If not, I will try to meet Mathieu and Auke in Grants.

And to top it off, this blog is being hit hard with comment spam. I’ve changed settings so administrative approval is needed before comments are posted.

The school semester finally finished and now I’m back home in Chicago. I only have two weeks until the trip begins. Here’s what the plan is for the first few days.

First of all, I found two riding partners with the help of Adventure Cycling’s Companions Wanted list. Both are gentlemen from the Netherlands. Mathieu van Rijswick is from Eindhoven and Auke van der Weide is from Heerenveen. Mathieu is a scientist/engineer in his 60’s who did mountain climbing back in the day. Auke is an architect nearing his 40’s who, I’m told, has a talent for photography. They are flying into Tuscon, AZ and will ride three or four days to Hachita, NM (the first town on the route where we will meet). Their ETA in Hachita is May 23 or 24.

To get to the start of the route, I am taking a Greyhound bus from Chicago to Deming, NM. The bus leaves May 20 at 21:30 and arrives May 22 at 09:00 (yes, it’s a 36 hour ride). When I arrive in Deming (hopefully on time, but probably not), I will likely rejoice that bus ride from hell is over. Seriously though, I’ll assemble my bike, pick up food and last minute supplies, check for updates from Mathieu and Auke at the local library, and ride to Rock Hound State Park where I’ll spend the first night. It’s only 15 miles from Deming so even if Greyhound runs late I’ll be able to get there. Worst case scenario – I’ll find a hotel in Deming.

The next morning (May 23) I will affix all my gear to the bike and ride back into town to check the status of my partners. Hopefully I’ll find out whether they’ll be in Hachita that night or the next. I’ll either ride to Hachita (60 miles) or back to Rock Hound for another night. When I get to Hachita, I’ll finally meet my riding partners. I think the plan is to leave much of our gear in town and ride to the border and back (90 miles) that next day. Beyond that, I have no concrete plans. As Lau Tzu said, “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving.”

A lot could go wrong in those first days – the library closes early on the day I arrive in Deming and is not open the next day. I may need to find alternative ways to access the internet. Even then, Mathieu and Auke may have the same problem and not be able to let me know which day they’ll get to Hachita. We certainly have to work out some contingency plans so we can successfully meet.

About this time next month, I’ll be in Antelope Wells at the start of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. It seems so close, yet there’s so much I need to take care of before I can begin the trip. Between now and then I have to finish the school semester, move out of campus housing to a landlord house, and travel back to Chicago. I’ll be there for the two weeks leading up to the trip.

And now, back to working on the three projects due this week…

During the summer of 2008, my family went on an Alaskan cruise. In Skagway, we decided to do a “bike tour” excursion. Basically, the tour company drove our group of riders to the top of a mountain pass and let us ride 20 miles back into town. On the way down, we stopped at several pull-offs and scenic overlooks. At one of them (where this picture was taken), I saw a man with a fully-loaded bicycle. He was riding up the pass and stopped to fill water bottles by a roadside waterfall. Before then, I had never thought of using a bicycle as a means of long distance travel. Being a shy person, I did not approach him to find out about his journey (which I regret). I’m sure he had a great story to tell.

Anyways, while we were taking in the scenery and he was hydrating, a sightseeing tour bus drove up to the overlook. Out poured twenty-some tourists, like paparazzi, armed with their cameras and forced smiles. Some rushed to the guardrail, others to the traveler, both trying to digitally capture the memory. This guy had just ridden 15 miles up a steep grade with a fully-loaded bike. He felt the grade in his legs and the altitude in his lungs. The tourists were on a comfortable bus, waiting for the next stop to snap an interesting or pretty picture. It was the ultimate juxtaposition of pure and superficial experience. Tourist destinations and guided tours seem shallow in comparison to the intimacy of riding through an area. I wanted to experience the true nature of things like the bicycle traveler. As the cliche goes, the rest is history.

After Alaska, cycling became a large part of my life. Up until then, I never rode much beyond going to work. I dove in head first, starting with a 30 mile ride that left me with cramped legs and a sore rear. I must have thought the discomfort was worth it. My ride log shows I did another 30-miler the next day and racked up 165 miles by week’s end. I have ridden consistently since, went on a short tour last year, and am now only six weeks away from my Great Divide bike trip. Who knows what would have happened if that man and I never crossed paths…

My mother uncovered a picture of the cyclist: