Sorry this is so long. I just had a lot happen and a lot to say. I would have broken it up in various pages, but i'm limited to 12 pages with this web service.
Round 1

Yah everybody! So I’m in Sacramento having a crazy fun time. Today I’m heading out to the coast where it’s nice and cool, and rolling south on hwy 1. Not sure where I’m going exactly, but I’m sure it’ll be great. Eventually I’ll hit San Diego, but I’m in no hurry to get there. So let me back up a bit and start at the beginning…….


Wednesday June 4
Getting Ready and Getting Sore

Wednesday was a day of lots of preparation. I still wasn’t sure if I was going to trailer my motorcycles (CBR929, CBR600RR, VFR 750 street fighter) out to the Grandfolks house in California or ride one. Since I had a lot more road ahead of me than money in my pocket, I decided to save some money and ride my CBR600RR (ha, ha Gavin, beat ya to it!) out there.

My cousin Elaine was getting married and my dad and baby sister Christy where flying out from North Carolina for the wedding. Since my brother and both sisters live with me now, we all decided to drive out and turn it into a family reunion. I was stoked to have my brother around to help me ride my bike across the Nevada desert.

For all you non motorcycle kids on my list, this motorcycle is made to get you to the checkered flag at a race track, not take a rider and luggage around the country. It is horribly uncomfortable. Crazy hard seat, high foot pegs, low handle bars. If you’re curious here’s the link to info about it:LINK

About 7:00 pm we head out of town and I watch my brother wheelie my new bike onto the freeway. We took turns riding the bike and sleeping in the car until we got to Reno. Long, boring, uncomfortable ride across that flat expanse of land. There’s something peaceful and soothing about being alone with your thoughts in the middle of the night, even though your body is screaming at you to get off and stretch.

About 3:30 am we stop at a cool little state park between Carson City and Reno. I hit the dirt, pulled my sleeping bag over me and was out.


Thursday, June 12
Fun Roads and Fun Family

My siblings are crazy! I needed about five more hours of sleep and they were up and ready to roll. We got out of the park before the ranger saw us and made us pay for our camping spot. First stop was at Heidi’s Restaurant for breakfast in Carson City. If you’re in that city, you have to eat at this place for breakfast (corner of hwy 50 & 395). Absolutely Incredible!

I took over the motorcycle after breakfast. I was so thankful to be out of the ugly desert and into the beautiful foothills of the Sierra mountain range. Occasionally I got really far ahead of the car and had to entertain myself at a more leisurely pace. I got a lot of practice doing long wheelies on the empty roads (even snuck it into third gear a couple of times). We headed south past Topaz Lake and headed into the heart of the Sierras over Sonora Pass.

I’ve never gotten motion sickness on a motorcycle before, but this road has such amazing elevation changes (many of them mid turn) and such a variety of turns that my head was spinning and my tummy had butterflies. It was kinda dirty and I lost both ends mid corner at one point. Spicy riding and crazy fun!

Grandma lives on the other side of that fun road in the town of Sonora. I was enjoying the ride, but I was really happy to get off that motorcycle and see the grandfolks.

That night we had a big fish fry with the whole family. I was great seeing everyone again. My cousin has a really nice bass boat and enters a lot of fishing competitions. He’d been saving up his catches for a while and we got to enjoy his effort that night. Excellent!


Friday, June 13
Yosemite National Park and the Sickest Road Ever!

That morning Me, Ben, April, Aimee, Christy, and Aunt Becky piled in Bens car and headed towards Yosemite. My dad was riding my motorcycle. That man is crazy! He rides amazingly well and it really made me happy that he was enjoying my new toy. We took a shortcut that he remembered from his childhood. OMG!

This road is barely one lane, bumpy as hell, descends probably 2000 feet very quickly through a series nonstop tight switch backs and S-turns. Crashing is not an option as death off the cliff would certainly follow. Dad rode to the bottom and I got to ride back up.

For you non bike types this may be more detail than you want, but you bike guys can certainly appreciate it! First gear if you want to spin it up a bit on the exits before getting on the brakes for the next turn or second gear if you want to tap dance all over the gear box. I’ve never done so many snap wheelies in my life. You’d be getting on the gas pretty hard coming out of a corner and go to flick the bike to the other side of the tire and the road would just drop away and the front end would continue to climb. Off the gas to get the front down and on the brakes to keep from riding off the cliff, then do it again for the next set. That’s what I call fun!!!!!! This road is Lees Ferry road if any of you find yourself in Sonora.

Yosemite was just a quick trip to get a taste of the beauty there. We enjoyed some chow on the pizza deck of curry village, and went to show the little sister Yosemite Falls. On the way out of Curry Village, we ran into my friends Joey and Stacy. It’s always fun running into friends in a random place. We went and check out the falls, watched the climbers from El’ Cap meadows and headed home.

To all you climber pals. I may be coming back to Yosemite sometime in July. I’d love to go climb something if any of you are in the valley. I only have my shoes and harness, so I’d need to bum your gear. I’d even be happy to be a jug monkey if you want to do something big. Leme know.

That’s it for now, I’m about out of battery on my laptop. Thanks to all you that have written me back. It helps combat the inevitable loneliness that’s a part of traveling by yourself. I’ll try to reply individually to each of you soon. Thanks everybody!

miah
Round 2

So the last time I sent a note I was in Sacramento and talking about Yosemite and the days preceding it. Now I’m down In San Deigo and have some serious caching up to do!


Saturday, June 7

Usually I’d rather go to a funeral than a wedding, it just seems less tragic (yah, I guess I’m a bit jaded about love). My cousin Elaine and her new husband Frank put on a party fun enough that I want to go to a wedding every weekend! Those crazy kids had a beautiful outdoor ceremony down by a pretty little river, and a reception that was crazy fun. Probably 150 to 200 people where there, lots of food and lots of Champaign! What a great time with the family, just dancing and cutting loose.

Sunday, June 8

Today the group dynamics changed. Ben, April and Aimee (my brother and sisters) drove back to Salt Lake. I had some choices to make: what to take, what to send back with them, what to put in a box and send to San Diego. I knew I wanted to surf, skate, rock climb, camp, swim, hike, work a bit, promote my TNI business, and enjoy all the fun roads on my bike. Weight is the enemy of motorcycles. Put much stuff on the back seat and sportbikes handle like crap.

After a couple of hours of trying different things I decided to err on the side of minimalism. No tent, no rain jacket, no hiking boots. One change of cloths, laptop, sleeping bag, skateboard, climbing shoes, and a few misc. things. My total load came in under 50 lbs. Not bad for over a month on the road!

That day ended peacefully, but the Shit was about to hit the fan.

Monday, June 9 – Wed June 11

I thought grandma was going to die, I was afraid my dad would go with her. They got so horrifically sick that night. Throughout the day reports came in about other people getting crazy sick. My uncle went to the hospital, and while he was there a panicked woman ran in the hospital yelling “I have 8 more in the car!”

At first we thought it was food poisoning, but it turns out it was a vicious stomach flue that was going around. Aimee and April got it on the way back to Salt Lake, Dad and Christy took it to Atlanta where my mom got it and I think she managed to spread it to Florida! All in all about sixty people came down with this bug.

Everyone in the house I was staying at got it. I was just waiting my turn. Luckily I’d been drinking Tahitian Noni Juice, and taking a multi vitamin with Noni in it. This stuff is full of nutrients, gives you all kinds of energy, and boosts your immune system. If you haven’t yet, go to my web site HEREand buy some of this stuff! This juice rocks and sales of it are paying for my road trip. I’m no virologist, but I was using the stuff and I didn’t get sick, while everyone else did. Go figure.

Thursday, June 12
The Journey Begins

My journey truly begins. Dad and Christy had flown back to North Carolina, I was not sick, and the bike was loaded up. I hugged the grandfolks bye, pulled on my helmet and gloves and rolled down the driveway.

I didn’t get too far down the road before it occurred to me that I had absolutely no idea where I was going. Yah I had a map and I wasn’t lost or anything, I just didn’t have a destination.

There’s something liberating about not knowing what road to take (in life or in travel, for those that needed it spelled out :) and if you did know which road, not knowing which way to take it. It is also a really scary feeling until you remember that it doesn’t matter. No matter where you go, what you do, or what’s going on in your life, all that matters is enjoying the experience, learning from it and being thankful for what you have.

My heart was bursting with happiness at the complete freedom that I was enjoying. I decided to visit Columbia State park to think about a destination. Columbia is a really cool mining town that has been restored to its original state. I walked around for a while taking pictures and bouldering on the rocks that surround the park.

Just as I was rolling out of the park another motorcycle with luggage rode by. I decided to follow him for a bit. He was traveling at a fun pace on a beautiful fun road. Since he was heading in the general direction of Sacramento and I’d never been there, I decided that would be a fine place to go.

A couple of tanks of gas and sore ass later, I roll into downtown Sac. This is one beautiful city! I stopped for a cup of coffee and remembered that a good friends brother lived in town! I looked him up (John) and he excitedly gave me directions to his house. I love how things just fall together on the road (more on that later!).

That afternoon we went and watched a wakeboarding competition out on the river in Old Sacramento. A fun session of skateboarding and people watching followed. I had such a fun time that first afternoon that I decided to stay a while.

Alrighty folks, the batteries are getting low, and I’ve probably board you enough for one segment. As always if you want me to take you off the list, just let me know. I soooo appreciate all the great letters from you guys. Take care, and in the immortal words of Joe Dirt “Life’s a garden, Dig it!”

miah
Round 3

Thank all of you for your encouraging comments. Not all of this trip has been roses as you’ll probably see in this update, and reading a friendly note really helps with the down times.

On that note, maybe I’ll just start with the here and now.

Being out on the road, never being sure of anything, having tons of time to think about everything, all this intensifies everything you feel. You’re so completely vulnerable that you wind up experiencing your emotions in extremes. I’ve been blessed to feel the extremes of joy, beauty, and thankfulness. But inevitably the pendulum swings the other way too. I’m in San Diego. This is supposed to be one of the highlights of my trip. Two of my best friends in the world are here, and I was so looking forward to seeing them both. Right now I wish I hadn’t come at all.

As the situation stands, there are some unresolved and possibly irreconcilable issues with one of my friends here. Some of you know about the situation, and hopefully at least one of you understands it.

There has also been some poor planning in regards to who was going where when. That’s just amplified a crummy situation. I don’t want to go into detail in this public forum, but suffice it to say that love can be the hardest thing sometimes. There is no judgment here, and there is no blame. It’s just a yucky situation for everyone involved. I pray that peace can replace turbulence and belonging can replace loneliness. For you praying folks out there, send one up for me and my friend. This issue is simply bigger that me, and my friend could sure use some intervention from on high.

OK, enough of that crap, you guys are all living vicariously through me and you don’t want to hear about my little sob stories. Back to the show!

We left off with me rolling into Sacramento and fate handing me a friend and a place to stay.

Friday, June 13 – Monday, June 16

My time in Sacramento was a great chance to plug back in, get some work done, get caught up on my journals and just be at peace with everything. The city of Sacramento is really beautiful, but it was the people I met that really made this portion of the trip incredible.

I stayed with John and his girlfriend Deena. These guys are awesome! They really know how to make a guest feel comfortable. I should have felt bad for being such a bum, but I think they liked it! They were amazingly considerate and giving. They fed me, took me out, introduced me to their friends (cute ones too!), did my laundry, let me monopolize their internet connection and just generally showed me a great time. I’m taking notes from these kids on how to be the perfect host!

One of the highlights was a late night skate session. Me and John skated and Deena rode her cruiser around downtown till about three in the morning. There is something powerful about skating a city at night. You’re going slow enough that you notice the little things, but fast enough to cover a lot of real estate. Every city has a unique energy to it. In the stillness and quiet of night, that energy gets amplified. I don’t know if it’s the danger of drunk drivers, or gangsters, or cops, or trying to judge the landing off a set of stairs or a ledge that’s bathed in the streetlights. Whatever it is, your nerve endings and your mental focus is on a whole new level. At one point the danger feeling kicked in really strong, we got the hell out of the alley we were in just as several car loads of gangsters rolled in. Me thinks it was a fight club in action. Time to go.

To all you killer Sacramento folks, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. I hope to see you all on the return leg of my trip!

Tuesday, June 17

Back on the road. Sacramento was delightful, but it was time for the unknown once again. I took John and Deena to a late lunch as a thank you for taking such good care of me, stopped at the house of the cutest girl in Sacramento (you better believe I’ll be seeing you again Cara!) and headed towards the coast where it hopefully wouldn’t be so damn hot.

The ride was really pretty, rolling hills covered with golden grass. About half way to Monterey the wind picked up. One long stretch of road threw me some really fast curves, and some crazy strong wind. For those of you not in the motorcycle world, wind sucks, wind really sucks, especially if you’re on a little sportbike and doubly if that little sportbike has luggage. The wind just beats you up and wears you out. It got cold too. I stopped in some little place with antique farm equipment that numbered in the hundreds, got gas and bundled up. On to Monterey.

I was really happy to get to that city. I was cold, tired, sore and hungry. I really hoped to meet a nice person to put me up, but I wasn’t feeling too sociable. I walked around downtown for a little while. Usually there’s a little inner voice that I’ve learned to listen to. It wasn’t speaking to me that night. My wonderings became aimless, so I got back on my motorcycle since I didn’t know what else to do.

Up the street I pulled into a Safeway to buy some bagels and tuna for dinner and breakfast. The little voice told me to talk to this cute girl in line, but my fear of rejection said “Don’t do it!” even louder. I nibbled on a bagel in the parking lot and looked at the map for a camping spot. This staggering drunk bum comes up and gives me money so I can go buy him beer. He was so drunk that they wouldn’t sell it to him, so he needed someone to go get it for him. I politely declined, but still talked to him a bit. He picked up on the fact that I needed a place to sleep and offered to share his camp with me. I was so tired and done riding that I almost took him up on his offer. Thankfully a couple walking by told about a place only 5 minutes away.

I headed up the hill and found the signs pointing me to Veterans Memorial State Park. This place is way up on the hill above downtown Monterey. It was really cool finding a camp this rustic, this close to a city. I didn’t want to pay the $20 dollars to put my sleeping bag on the ground for the night, so I found a couple that was sleeping in the back of their truck, and they let me park in their camp and sleep there.

I was thankful for some good conversation and a good beer before I hit the sack. These folks were in mid move up to Washington. We had a lot in common and had traveled to many of the same places, so conversation came easily. That night, in spite of my exhaustion, sleep remained elusive. It wasn’t the last time.

Some unexpected financial issues back home, the San Diego situation, life in general, all these things weighed heavily on my mind. The point of traveling is to get away from those things for long enough to put them in perspective. But that night, there was no perspective, just a brain with busy thoughts and feelings of dread that never went away.

Ok kids, just writing about these things are making them come back in my mind. I think it’s time to go swim out to sea on my surfboard and get pummeled by waves until I figure out how to ride at least one of them in to shore. Wish me luck, and send up a prayer.

miah
Round 4

You guys rock! I was pretty down when I sent out that last update. I got so many great and encouraging comments from everybody that it really helped me put everything in perspective. Thank you all so much! It’s easy to forget just how blessed you are when your faced with opposition, but we all have so many things to be thankful for. I for one and most thankful for all you guys.

Enough of the touchy feely stuff. On with the MAN SHOW!

Raise your hand if you’ve been down HWY 1 between Monterey and wherever it flattens out. All you guys that have done it on a motorcycle, raise your other hand. Now gime a WHOOP WHOOP! You guys know what I’m talking about!

Wednesday, June 18

I packed up my sleeping bag, said thank you to the folks that let me share their camp site and rolled out of Monterey. Not too far down the road I was greeted with one of those yellow caution sighs us motorcycle kids love so much: Sharp Curves Next 78 miles. Oh life if good! This road follows the contour of the mountains right next to the coast. Sea cliffs everywhere, spectacular views of the ocean and the mountains meeting, excellent variety of turns, all this made for one magnificent ride.

I need to ride this stretch of road two more times. Once on a bicycle or something much slower so I can stop every half mile, walk around, smell the air, and truly soak in the beauty; and once with my leathers on, the luggage off, and some sticky tires that would help me get away with the foolishness that is sure to follow! Note to self: one click more preload and a qtr turn more rebound dampening for the return leg J (motorcycle jargon for you non bike types)

After 78 tire chewing miles things flattened out a bit and the road ran right along the coast. I was still enjoying the beauty, but was not expecting the experience I was about to have. Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd, and the crowd I saw was drawn to the beach by a crowd of Elephant Seals.

I have never seen anything like this in my life! I’d seen pictures of seals, and sea lions and the such, but I was blown away by these creatures. Just a few years ago they were on the endangered species list, and here I was looking at a herd of probably five hundred of them sunning themselves on the beach, fighting, swimming, and doing whatever it is they do. A grown elephant seal weighs in the neighborhood of five thousand pounds. Yah you heard right, nearly three tons! And to see that many of these huge animals in one place was beyond description.

I sat there for probably an hour just trying to comprehend and appreciate the special gift I was seeing (jen, I wish you could have seen it too). I got back on the road, enjoyed some long wheelies down the coast and eventually stopped in San Luis Obispo for lunch. I was greeted with an entirely different kind of beauty. All you single guys out there, move to this town! Nuff said :)

That night I stayed with my cousin Mat and his wife Audrey on the naval base by Ventura. It was great having a roof over my head for the night and a belly full of pizza. That night I had a really hard time falling asleep again. I finally just got up and replied to all my emails until about 4:00 am when I finally drifted off.

Thursday, June 19

Comedy in Malibu. My cousin and a couple of his buddies from the base went down to Malibu to try to surf. First time for all of them. I was chuckling because surfing is not one of those sports you just jump on a board and do. I personally think It’s one of the hardest sports to learn. I sat on the beach and enjoyed them getting trashed on the waves for a few hours, then went on my way. I was tempted to surf, but it was really cold and I knew I’d be chilled for the rest of the trip on my bike.

Being the genius I am, I timed my entrance to LA to correspond with rush hour. Great. It’s a good thing lane splitting is legal, otherwise I have been doing some law breaking. No way was I going to sit in that traffic. It takes a lot of mental energy to split lanes for very long. Your dodging mirrors with your head and elbows, you might scoot between cars with only inches on each side of your saddlebags, and all the time trying to anticipate the actions of all those thousands of drivers you are passing. By Long Beach it was time for food and coffee to calm my nerves and aggression.

I got in to San Diego about 9:00 that night. Two of my friends live right on Ocean Beach. It was great seeing Angie. I was all jacked up on Starbucks and happy to be stopped for a while, so it was a joyous reunion. We strolled down to the main drag, drank a pitcher with some of her friends, played some pool, then it was time for me to take my tired self to bed.

Friday, June 20 – Saturday, June 21

Two of my friends from Salt Lake (Trent & Natily) were down in Carlsbad seeing a couple of their pals and doing some surfing. It’s so cool when random situations align themselves to put friends in the same place at the same time. There’s a book that talks a lot about that that I highly recommend: “The Celestine Prophecies”.

Saturday was my first chance to surf on this trip. Boy did I get my ass kicked! I just didn’t have it in me that day. I got so tired so quick, never did stand up and just wound up getting beat up by the waves and my board. I loved it! It was especially great being able to surf with my friends.

We were all staying with Loren and his girlfriend Martha. Super nice folks. They took us out to Sushi at some place in Vista. Ohhh my, I love Sushi! And this was definitely the best sushi I have ever had. This place has a deal where after you buy three rolls everything else is half off. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much really really good sushi! If any of you California folks want directions, let me know. This place rocks!

Sunday, June 22

Sunday was a bad day, and it kinda set the tone for the next several days. Trent and Natily dropped me off in Ocean Beach early in the morning. There was supposed to be a key under the cup by the door. Nope, no key, nothing. Angie was in Arizona for a few days and I was locked out of the apartment. My helmet was in there, so I couldn’t go anywhere. I left my surfboard and my stuff next to the front door hoping it wouldn’t get stolen.

Angies roommate is my ex girlfriend who I dearly love as a person, but she has chosen to have nothing to do with me. Naturally the tension in that house is pretty high. I totally feel bad being there and not being welcome, but I want to see Angie and have fun and Angie wants to see me.

I spent the next five hours writing in my journal and writing a letter to my ex, hoping for a peaceful resolution this situation. Thankfully that evening there was a going away party for one of the guys I had met my first night in Ocean Beach. I was thankful for some friendly human contact and some good conversation. About 10:00 pm I checked the door to find it open. My ex had gotten off work and unlocked it for me.

Monday, June 23 – Thursday June 26

My daily routine looked something like this. Get up, go surfing until I’m too tired or hurt to surf any more, take a shower, eat breakfast, grab my laptop, drink coffee and work or write or contemplate my situation, eat, ride my motorcycle, either skate, surf, or wander around all afternoon, go to bed. Repeat. Road trip adventure this aint.

I wasn’t having much fun and I was starving for human contact, but I was able to find peace about my ex and our situation. Nothing has changed in reality, but in my heart I have peace. If I needed to be lonely and depressed for a few days to find that peace then so be it. That’s all a part of the human experience I’m out here for.

Last night (Thursday) I took off from Ocean Beach and came back up to Carlsbad to see Loren and Martha. I wound up hanging out with their neighbors all afternoon and having a great time! These guys are from NC (like me) and were out here just trying to make a go of it. Super nice folks and I am totally excited to spend more time with my new friend Dana (your beautiful babe!).

I know this update is probably pretty boring in comparison to some of the others, but that’s part of the experience too. All you guys that are new to the list, just let me know if you want me to send you the old adventures, and to everyone out there, THANK YOU TONS! I have some awesome things that I’m looking forward to, so the spice should be back for the next round. Now that I’m all caught up it will be much easier for me to more clearly share the experience and the thoughts and emotions that accompany it. Thanks again everybody. I look forward to hearing from you!

miah
Round 5

Since my writing has pretty much caught up with the trip, I think I’ll just make this my journal instead of keeping two. except of course for the things no one should know about. I hope this doesn’t come out all jumbled up, and too raw, since dates and judgment often get thrown out the window as I just write the experience instead of the facts.

June 30, 2003 – Monday

Last night was my first night on the streets (on this trip anyway). I talked about cities at night a couple of installments ago when I was relating my time skating in Sacramento. Well when you’re homeless, and by yourself, in a strange place the night takes on an entirely new edge.

I rolled out of San Diego in the morning of the 29th. It was pointless. I did my best to have fun, respect friends wishes, and bond, but I guess it wasn’t time for all that. I was just time for me buck up, see just how much abuse I could stand, then ride away with my head high.

Each mile I put between me and San Diego made the burden lighter, by the time I got to the twisty roads of Hwy 79N, I was giggling. By Hwy 371 I was chuckling. By 74 I was laughing my ass off. I don’t know if it was the fun and beautiful roads, or the absurdity of the Diego situation, but whatever it was my face hurt.

By Hwy 243, it was time to clear the head, get my butt off the seat, downshift three times and see if I couldn’t drag some saddle bags. You bike guys have to do this stretch of road! It’s between Palm Springs and San Jacinto on the map. Wow, Wow, Wow. I’m just glad I remembered to crank the rear down a bit before I took off.

I hit Riverside pretty late in the evening. I was tired but stoked. Starbucks is my magical office since I have wireless internet access there. I fired out a few emails, did some work, made some calls and tried lining up a place to sleep. Nada, the LA connections fell through. Fate stepped in though and guaranteed the evening would be just as wonderful as the day. Fates name was Angelina. We talked, laughed, swapped stories, had dinner and enjoyed a lovely time together. It’s really a bummer that she lives in Riverside, because she’s the kind of girl I could take home to mom.

It’s also a bummer that I couldn’t crash at her place. For one I don’t think she’s “that kind of girl”, and for another her parents don’t approve of strange boys sleeping in their house (yes I know I’m going to hear about this one from a bunch of you jerks). So after a goodnight hug I find myself alone in a strange place.

I wandered aimlessly for quite a while trying to figure out what to do. The map said no camping anywhere near, so I was on my own in the city. Parking decks are a good place to start when you’re in an urban environment. The roof of this particular one was abandoned so I was able to take some time to get a lay of the land, look for shadows, and vulnerable buildings, and get a general plan together.

Decisions, decisions. I investigated a giant storm drain that was exposed in what will become the foundation of a big building. If I had my flashlight I possible could have made it to downtown. I decided against that, as construction workers usually start pretty early and I didn’t want to be sneaking past moving bulldozes to get out of my 50 foot hole.

There was a roof that I accessed by jumping from a handrail onto the adjoining buildings. Naw, it just didn’t feel right. From that roof I could see shadows that I didn’t see before. On the way to those shadows, I found two viable options, one over a wall that I could scale into the pumping machinery for a high-rise. The other behind some rubble in a sketchy parking garage.

The shadows took me to a fence that went around an orange orchard. I darted from shadow to shadow along the fence line looking for a break in the barbed wire. One of the rules of urban spelunking is to leave yourself an easy exit. Besides I had to consider my bike. This was much easier when all I had was my skateboard. No quick exit, no sleeping in an orchard.

I did come across a field behind one of the foreign exchange student dorms. No one was out and all I could hear was the sounds of my feet on wet grass and the police helicopter overhead. In this field was a basket ball court that was recessed in the ground about five feet. The edge closest to the building made a nice dark shadow that you would have to be in to see through.

I tested it out by laying on the pavement for about half an hour. This gave me a chance to enjoy the still warm concrete that was warming my back while the damp air cooled my front. There was something comforting about laying in the shadows with nothing but my t-shirt between me and my concrete bed. The security I expected never came. I walked back to my bike looking for a discrete way to park my bike close by without being seen.

The road that led to the back of the building and my new home was closed. I didn’t notice it before since I came through the back of the field. This was a good thing as I didn’t have to worry about security, teens making out, drunks looking for trouble or anything else. My bike easily got around the gate and it was time to sleep.

Damp, cold, night. I left my shoes on and my sleeping bag in my saddle bags. My fleece jacket and my riding jacket where my only warmth. They did the job until about 4:30 am when the sprinklers changed the equation.

Ok dudes and dudetts, I’m getting booted and need to fire this off. Wish me luck as I may be doing it again here in Fresno tonight.

Night all

miah
Round 6

Wow, how time flies. Leme just start where I left off last time.............Sleeping on the streets and waking up to the sprinklers.

June 30, 2003 – Monday

So I noticed before I picked this particular shadow to sleep in that the grass in the area was wet. I took that as a sign that the sprinklers came on in the evening not the morning. I’ve made the mistake in the past of not considering the sprinklers and thought I was ok, but I’ve learned that wet grass in the evening doesn’t necessarily mean no sprinklers in the morning. Luckily I heard them come on in an adjacent section and got out of there before being greeted by a spray to the face.

Denies was open so I spent the next couple of hours there drinking coffee and recovering from a fitful night. I usually sleep well past dawn, so it was really cool being on the road as the city came awake and seeing everything in that moist morning light. I was heading north on I-15 looking forward to a crazy fun day on Hwy 2. Hwy 2 runs through the heart of the San Gabriel Mountain range and was the twistiest thing on my map.

I headed that direction and kept seeing “road closed ahead” signs. I was having too much fun to believe a few dumb signs. Great views, great turns, on fun bumpy, kinda dirty roads. Just the way I like it. Well, after about 15 miles or so of fun I came to the gate. I explored the trails around trying to figure out a way around the gate. Nope. Hard to hike, and impassible on my motorcycle. I almost took my luggage off and laid my bike on its side on my skateboard so I could roll it under the gate, but I didn’t want to do that to my skateboard.

The only other road that went the general direction I wanted to go looked pretty crummy on the map. It was long and straight, but there were these seven foot humps in the road that kept things entertaining. At 80mph the bike got kinda light and you got that funny feeling in your tummy over each crest. At 110mph the bike was air born and that feeling transferred to my throat. Hell yah!

I stopped for a while in Bakersfield to work, then again in Fresno to find a place to sleep. I think that’s where I was when I sent off that last update. A Highway Patrolman told me about a camp site that was relatively close. Millerton Lake. I headed out there and found a great spot overlooking the lake, crawled in my sleeping bag, looked at the stars, listened to the sounds of the lake and drifted off. The ground feels really nice when you’re tired and sore, and sleep is wonderful knowing you’re in a safe place.

7/1/03 – Tuesday

Most bike guys love those perfectly paved beautiful third and fourth gear roads. For some reason I get the most pleasure out of crumbly, dirty, narrow, county roads. It forces me to be really cautious, the bike still slides around a good bit, and it’s still just as fast as the freeway. I had a great time on my way to Yosemite by simply staying off the main drag for as long as possible. Maybe one of these years I’ll do a cross country trip trying to stay on roads that don’t show up on your normal map. That sounds fun! Anybody want to join me?

Traffic coming into Yosemite was relatively light. I had a nice spirited ride into the park, took a detour to Glacier point before going into the valley. For those of you who have never been there it is simply impossible for me to explain the scale of this place. The park is bigger than Rhode Island, and there are cliffs all over the place that are nearly a vertical mile over your head. Waterfalls cascade off the cliffs and a beautiful river runs through the middle of this incredible sight. WOW.

I went searching for some pals that were supposed to be living in Yosemite Valley. I didn’t find them that afternoon, but I did make tons of other pals quickly. Camp 4 in Yosemite is climber central. There are always climbers from all over the world living there at any given moment. I met loads of really awesome people and had a great afternoon and night swapping stories, watching the crazier ones balance on some 4x4 posts and doing this silly head first boulder problem down a squeeze chimney. Those Brits had a game for everything. Most entertaining.

July 2 – Wednesday

I spent most of the day just sitting by the river watching tourists try to put their boats in the river. I can’t tell you how close I came to peeing myself. There were fat women with their video cameras falling into the river, rednecks with floating trampolines with a tag along beer raft, a Korean couple that thought it was the eco challenge and paddled like mad over the top of kids on inner-tubes, husbands that yelled at their wives because he was paddling the raft in circles. I mean it was non stop entertainment!

I ran into my friend Kelly that afternoon and had a joyous reunion. I hadn’t seen her in years so we were both stoked to catch up on all our stories. I also got to take a shower that night. That may have been the highlight of the day, except I didn’t have any soap or shampoo, so I kept having to sprint across the bathroom to get the pink soap from the sink. Glad no one came in. I’m sure they didn’t want to be seeing that!

There was an employee dance that night that I snuck into. True to form I didn’t have much fun. I don’t know, but I have a hard time enjoying myself at dances. I just have so much fun doing so many other things. I got lost walking back to my motorcycle in the dead of night. After much confusion and a couple of backtracks I found my bike and made it back to the camp site.

July 3 – Thursday

There was a 41 year old Harley woman that was traveling by herself and staying in the campground. We decided to go riding up to Glacier Point and take some pictures of the bikes in action around this incredible corner with an unparalleled view. She doesn’t ride nearly as aggressively as me, so I got to play on one wheel a lot. Leme tell you, wheeling through those long tunnels at 80mph gives you one insane sensation of speed. Your headlight is illuminating the jagged ceiling and your peripheral vision is just screaming at you to put your wheel back on the ground.

Anyway, we had a nice ride, got some good pictures (I need a web site to put all these pictures and stories on – anybody want to help?). That afternoon she went rafting and I went looking for more friends. Well the new friends name is Garian. We spent the rest of the afternoon jumping off the bridge, sunning in the sand, riding my motorcycle and talking over dinner. Nice time, great girl.

July 4 – Friday

Out of the valley I go. I decided I’d been lazy long enough and packed up to search for Abbie. I knew she was someplace around Tioga Pass. After a fun ride, and asking a load of people if they knew this girl I learned that she was working at Tioga Pass Resort. As soon as she saw me she jumped up, ran across the restaurant and gave me one humongous hug. I’ve been having a great time meeting new people and having great conversations, but it was so refreshing to spend a lot of time talking about a bunch of things with one of my close friends. Thank you Abbie, you’re awesome!

July 5 – Saturday

Good food, good coffee (been missing that!), and a good nap took up the day till around noon. Itching for movement, I hiked up over the ridge in front of the lodge and realized I could have just followed the road a half mile and gotten to the same lake. I hiked around the lake, found a secluded spot and jumped in for about 30 seconds until I found the breath to crawl out of that crazy cold water and put my clothes back on.

On the way back to the lodge I saw a sign that said “BBQ this way!” I didn’t feel like walking the two miles there and the two miles back, so I got my bike and motored up there. I always wear my safety gear, but since it was only two miles of gravel I chose to ride up there wearing what I had on. Shorts, sandals, sun glasses. Fishtailing sure is fun!

That night me, Abbie, and this cool girl Joey went to visit the hot springs in Mammoth before going to the sushi party at their friends house. These hot springs are at the end of a series of dirt 4 wheel drive roads. I had fun riding my bike on them, but there were a few deep sand sections and some technical rutty, rocky sections. On soft deep sand those fat tires on my bike just float. The bike feels like it’s steering from one wheel in the center of the bike. Scary stuff. There were all kinds of people out there so we decided to go eat sushi and dip another day.

There were like 8 or 10 cool girls at this sushi party. While talking to them I realized that we shared the same set of friends, and I had actually met one of them on a previous trip to Yosemite. That sure made hanging out with a bunch of new people really nice. My friend Aaron was pals with these girls, so we called him and he came over.

It’s astounding how small the world really is. I’m out here meeting new people and running into old friends through them. Sometimes it is just so obvious that you are doing exactly what you should be doing. Perhaps it’s the contrast of San Diego situation that is really making me aware of how fate is helping me out. Soon I just need to make a list of all the things that have fallen into place to make this trip phenomenal.

Ok, its Sunday July 6 and I’ve been caching up on my laptop all day and am looking forward to hanging out with my friends some more tonight. Take care everybody, and I hope life is treating you all well. I enjoy your notes and can’t wait to actually sit down with all you salt lake buddies. For you new folks, just let me know if you want me to send the past updates. More to come soon! Thanks again everybody.

miah

Round 7

Ok, you guys will like this one. I certainly did! It has been exactly one week since I sent out the last update, and I feel like I need another week just to detail how much fun I’ve been having and how much I’ve learned about people, life and business!

I’m tempted to start in the middle with me looking out of my 19th story room in the Marriot in downtown San Francisco, but let’s just start in the woods where we left off then graduate to the city.

July 7, 2003 – Monday

After finish up some really good pecan pie and earl grey tea, and letting a nice but unprepared guy from Australia borrow my sleeping pad, I strolled to the back of the Tioga Pass Resort towards my friend Abbie’s trailer where I’ve been staying. I had butterflies in my tummy. It wasn’t because of the pie and it wasn’t because me and Abbie are “play pals” (we’re not). It was because I was kinda scared and really excited about our plans for the morning. Seeing the mountains around me bathed in the half moon light, and the sky packed with a multitude of stars, breathing the pure cold mountain air, all served to make me feel so grateful for the gift of life. Knowing that in the morning I may well be tempting that gift definitely made me take special notice of this beautiful night.

I made sure to savor my breakfast of sweet granola and milk and good coffee. We got our little group together. Each of us had filled our chalk bags and camel backs, packed a snack and our climbing shoes. See, today we were leaving the ropes at home. No ropes, no rock climbing gear, no back up plan. Nothing but our skill developed over years of practice and our ability to keep fear from taking over while we move precisely up over a thousand feet of beautiful granite.

The climb is called Cathedral Spire. It is a beautiful white face that dominates the skyline once you hike the uphill hour to get to it. The air up there is pretty thin. I’m guessing the base of the climb is around nine thousand feet, with another vertical thousand to the summit. We got to the base and stretched and joked around a bit. There were a couple of parties hiking up below us with huge packs full of ropes and gear so they could do the rout too. That was our sign to get climbing. Climbing shoes on, chalk bag open, smiles on our faces we made the first moves up onto the face of the rock.

The climbing was relatively straight forward and we covered ground quickly. Occasionally we stopped on a ledge to drink some water, laugh at a joke, take some pictures, and just enjoy the trees and other climbers getting smaller and smaller. There were a couple of sections that required some thought and planning. Mistakes are not an option when your feet are smeared on a little nubbin and your hands are searching for some small anything to keep you on the rock with nothing but 800 feet of air between your legs. This my friends is living. All the other nitpicky things that dominate our daily lives don’t exist when your mind is filled with nothing but the move above you and the consequences of a mistake. Experiences like this really serve to help put life in perspective.

After this climb I hugged my friends good bye and hiked next to an impossibly clear river back to my bike. Somehow the river wasn’t quite so beautiful on the way up. Somehow I didn’t realize how gray the granite was until I compared it to the gleaming white of the occasional snow piles. Somehow the smell of the pines escaped my notice before this climb. Why do people do drugs to amplify their senses? Just go solo a big ass rock and live through it, ride that perfect wave, hit that set of turns just right with your back tire stepping out just enough on the exit, or whatever it is that takes you outside of your comfort zone. It’s so easy to live life complacently, but that’s not living. Get the fuck off the couch and do something! Life’s to short and precious to accept mediocrity!

I’ve spent the last three days in a Business Builders Summit in San Francisco. I went to this thing because I have so many friends that are struggling through life, and I run into so many people that are satisfied with poor health, or a small pay check. I’ve long know that I’ve been blessed with the ability to write my own ticket, and I just spent a lot of money learning how to help other people write their own ticket too. I’m excited about showing people the tools to get out of debt, or to be able to take that vacation, or have more time to live life instead of simply existing. I’m excited about being able to give back.

Thisbit below was written by Mark Twight back in 1996. (REMOVED TO SAVE SOME SPACE. i'LL TRY TO FIND A PLACE FOR IT LATER. IT KICKS ASS!!) Mark is one of the top climbers in the world and an excellent writer. When I feel myself slipping into the rut of life I read this and remind myself of the kind of life I want to live. I have so much more I can write but I also have so much more life to live, so I’m going to go live a little and let you get pumped up by this essay below. If you haven’t yet, get me your current address and phone number, we’re going places my friend! Look for the next update soon!

Miah

PS. All you Salt Lake pals, I’ll be home in a day or two. How about a big get together?
Last round: (

Thank you to each of you that made this trip so wonderful and to each of you that encouraged me and just listened while I told my story. There were countless amazing sights and experiences and some life changing hard times. Six weeks on two wheels. Wow. It’s almost hard to believe I’m home!

I suppose I should finish my story before I forget what happened and before you guys get pissed that I left you hanging.

July 7, 2003 PM

That morning I had soloed Cathedral Peak and was feeling quite appreciative of life. I rode back down to Yosemite Valley to say good bye to my friends there and I headed out of Yosemite. It was dark and the road was twisty. It was the first time on this trip that I rode the curvy roads at night. One key aspect of riding a motorcycle well is to look well ahead of where you want to go. At night it adds a new dimension to the ride since you’re looking into the darkness around the corner that your headlight has not got to yet. The feeling is hard to explain, but when your bike is leaned into a turn your headlight isn’t illuminating much road in front of you, so your awareness needs to be razor sharp.

After a couple of hours of curves, the last set of which were some really tight 20mph turns (or so the sign suggested) I was getting pretty tired. The climb all morning definitely served to drain me a bit too. I saw a sigh for camping at some state recreation area and hit the dirt.

July 8

I really have a problem paying for camping when I’m traveling like this. If I was in an RV, or putting up my tent for the week, then I wouldn’t mind paying, but when I come in at midnight, sleep for a few hours on the ground and leave soon after the sun comes up, I don’t want to pay.

Well the ranger in the site thought differently and he wanted to charge me $30 for the night. I politely but firmly declined, and after quite a bit of arguing we agreed on me paying the day use fee of $5.50.

I needed to go west out of the camp ground, but looking back east at the turns I came in on was too much to resist. I headed back up the mountain I descended the night before and boy am I glad I did! No traffic, perfect blacktop, great camber, no side roads, crazy fun first and second gear turns (1st is good for about 80mph, 2nd for over 100mph, recommended speed was about 30mph). Great road, by the time I was headed back down the hill the tires had warmed up enough for me to drag my toes from time to time. It turns out that I had nearly 40 more miles of this great road heading west too! Great way to start the morning!

I was tired and hungry by the time I rolled into Oakland. I found a Starbucks and worked for several hours. I also found my friend Mike Fortney over the bridge in San Francisco. Me and Mike grew up in the same neighborhood in North Carolina and have had many super fun times over the years. I hadn’t seen him in probably 6 years so it was awesome seeing him again.

That afternoon we went skating downtown. Just like old times. There was no fog in San Francisco that afternoon so watching the bay turn red and seeing all the lights on the bay bridge and the city around me come on was a spectacular sight. All the more so since I saw it from my skateboard as I rolled down the waterfront.

July 9

More skateboarding. A handful of us hit this crazy spot I’ve seen in videos over the years. It’s on the top of some abandoned military installment that used to guard the bay. I spent most of my time taking pictures since it was such a crazy place. Thick concrete jail cells, gunnery bunkers, and cool hips to skate. Fun stuff.

That night I checked into my hotel. OMG. I couldn’t believe it. The Marriott in downtown San Francisco. After sleeping in the dirt in Yosemite, the streets of Riverside, and wherever I could find a place for my head in the preceding five weeks, this was absolute luxury!

The company that was sponsoring the business seminar I attended, Tahitian Noni Internationalpaid half of the room costs for attendees. Most generous on their part. It was so nice being able to unpack all my stuff, and make the room feel like home (19th floor overlooking the bay!) and take a shower.

July 10, 11

Wow! Twelve hour days packed with more information that the average human mind could absorb. I feel so fortunate to have been invited to this amazing Business Builders Summit. Take a minute and read these names and topics, it truly is relevant to you.

Speakers I heard included:

• Jack Trout, Best selling author on marketing. He spoke about Branding, Positioning, and Building a Personal Business Strategy.

• Bill Dyszel, Author of Palm Pilot and Outlook for dummies. He spoke about computerizing your business.

• Willie Jolley, Award winning speaker who’s on a short list of amazing speakers including, Colin Powel, Christopher Reeve, Margaret Thatcher. He spoke about Overcoming Barriers to Success.

• Terry Savage, Best selling author on personal finance. She spoke on Money Management for Your Small Business.

• Mechele Flaun, Heads a brain trust that tracks trends. She spoke about Understanding Upcoming Trends in Creating Your Business Strategy.

• Kathy Burlison, she is the program manager for H&R Block. She spoke on the Tax Advantages of Owing a Home-Based Business

• Leigh Stevens, She is a consultant with Franklin Covey. She spoke on Resource Allocation and Time Management

• Kelly Olson, President of Tahitian Noni International. He spoke about Building and Executing your Personal Business Strategy

The closing dinner was a fun time with Ian Adamson, three time Eco Challenge winner, giving a presentation on overcoming challenges and building a world class organization.

Scientist, Dr. Ralph Heinicke received a lifetime achievement award for discovering the amazing health benefits of the Noni fruit.

You guys get it yet? I couldn’t believe I was surrounded by so many successful and amazing people! This is exactly the kind of knowledge that I was searching for. Thank you, Thank you!

There is one story I just have to tell. It is simply amazing how small the world truly is. I was in a Taxi going to china town. One of the men in the cab with me was attending the Seminar too. Well, we got to talking and it turns out he was from Hendersonville, NC. I told him I started and sold a carpet cleaning business in that town after I graduated high school. He about choked. Turns out he had recently purchased my company from the gentleman I sold it to! What are the odds?

July 12

On the road again. Not for long though. I rolled up to Sacramento to see my friends John and Deena before the sprint home. I was planning on going to the World Superbike races in Monterey, then to see the grandfolks in Sonora, but 6 weeks on the road had cut into my finances pretty heavily. I was able to generate income while traveling, Here's howbut not enough to make it a perpetual trip. Maybe next year I’ll have it figured out so that the more I travel the more I make.

July 13

I wanted to visit Garian, the cool girl I met in Yosemite, so I headed down to Davis to spend the day. It is HOT in central California. We hit the pool and had a delightful time. Her roommate Tanner is a really cool guy too and we had a good time talking smack about Garian and her mom.

July 14

Try this. Go outside where it’s 98 degrees. Get a 2x6 board. Sit on it. Now bend yourself into a fetal position while seated. Point about a dozen blow driers at yourself (they don’t blow at 100mph, the bike does) and maintain this position for the next 12 hours without passing out. Well that was my day. One hard, painful, hot, miserable day trying to get home. The damn highway patrolman had no mercy either. At least he clocked me on a slow portion of the trip (106 in a 75). It was really really nice getting home, but I was just about too tired to care.

Now what? I’m home, my soul is larger, my brain is fuller, my wallet is emptier. I suppose it’s time to buckle down, use what I’ve learned and enjoy my home, my friends, and my family. Maybe next year I can turn it into twelve weeks on two wheels. Or how about this, anybody want to go to Tahiti with me Click to Find out more? I might just have some free passes! Ask me and I’ll tell ya.

Thank you again to everyone that took such good care of me on the road. I can’t imagine the loneliness I would have faced without you. You guys that had encouraging words for me during the rough parts of the trip, you hold a special place in my heart.

Even though this trip is over and daily life resumes, please make an effort to stay in touch. Thank you all for listening to my story.

Your friend,


miah