Category Archives: USA

city, history, national park, travel, USA

West to East

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So on arrival back to San Diego, I found that the juveniles had got a plea bargain & pled guilty to chasing me with the baton & stealing my money (a much lesser charge than bashing Andrea’s face & attacking the other guy). I needn’t have arrived home a day earlier, rats. But it didn’t matter too much as I had the next leg of the journey to prepare for. The next few days were pretty cruisy doing mundane stuff – haircut, posting maps, return of rental car (over 3000 miles in eighteen days), pack up bike, order a whole heap of bike stuff to meet me in Pennsylvania (things I’d been putting off replacing until I got to the cheaper shops of USA – shoes, Camelbak, chain, tyre, grips, small tools & so on; I think I saved about thirty to forty percent) – & also took the Turners out for a large authentic Mexican meal & spent a bit more time down at the Cass Bar.

The day before I left San Diego was the final pack & also a little thing called Independence Day. As my bike was packed up & the car was returned I didn’t have too many means (except a long walk) to go & check out the crazy crowds down at the beach – but I didn’t have the inclination to be swamped by people either. Beverley & Chris put on a BBQ for about ten people – great food & red, blue & white cup cakes & also root beer floats for a bit of tradition. From the deck, we could watch about ten different fireworks displays down towards San Diego & Ocean Beach. I’ve seen some pretty big & impressive fireworks before (Sydney, New Year’s 2000 springs to mind); but I haven’t seen so many displays in such a short period of time before. Lots of big explosions & also some pretty cool shapes made by the pyrotechnicians; the only drawback of being able to see so many displays at once was that the distance somewhat muted the bangs & one couldn’t feel the wave reverberate through one’s body. To bed relatively early (11.30) to get up again in five hours…

Beverley & her friend Bronwyn kindly got up & took me up to LAX, I tried to stay awake. Uneventful check-in, even though my bike was oversize; on the flight to Philly I enjoyed looking down at all the canyons & then peeking down to the cropping plains as we got further east – the plains, or what I could see of them, were greener than I could see (& obviously a lot greener than the environment I’d been used to over the previous four weeks). Approaching over Pennsylvania, I could begin to see a few more details – a nuke plant, a few quarries, a lot of golf courses & once again, generally a lot of trees & woods. Then down over the Delaware River to land more than half an hour early, bags straight off the carosuel & Jessica waiting right outside – smooth. Jessica & Doug (American friends I meet in Palmerston North in 2004 while they were on sabbatical) live in a small town thirty or so miles north of Philly – we had to pick up their two kids (2 & a bit years & 5 months) from Jessica’s sister’s place on the way home. Once off the freeways & driving down what the English would call B-roads in to small subdivisions I was impressed again by all the trees & lush green grass (apparently June provided a lot of unseasonal rain for the area). Clearly a lot more water available for growing things here than in California. The house that Jessica’s sister & family live in, while also I would say is a typical American house – it was completely different from the Turners’ in San Diego. For the climate I suppose – steeper roof, two storied, huge basement, large garage, lush lawn, Stars & Stripes flying, & strangely (to me) no fences or hedges between neighbouring houses (I would soon get used to seeing a lot of this) – hard to describe just how familiar (too any movies & TV programs) it seemed. After spaghetti & meatballs & letting the kids run around the soccer field chasing balls it was off to my home for the next few weeks.

Doylestown is a very quaint little town with a lot of old row houses & has a nice town feel to it (as opposed to a series of subdivisions with a strip mall plonked somewhere near by) & some nice skinny streets. D & J live not far from town in another very nice leafy area. Saw another fireworks display (postponed from last week) & in to bed after a long day of travelling (lost three hours along the way, but getting up at 4.30 I wasn’t too fussed). Monday was a recovery day & a orientation around Doylestown – drive around, check out the college Doug is a professor at, meet a few people, assemble most of bike (still waiting on package to arrive with the chain) & plan a few things. I’m off to New York City on Friday for five nights – can’t wait.

Tuesday (today) was up too early, despite the alarm not going off, & on the train in to central Philly (the express takes about seventy minutes). Today was to satisfy my history bent walking around the Independence National Park – lots of historic buildings to do with the drafting, signing & proclamation of the Declaration of Independence, rooms that housed Congress & the Senate once upon a time & being the Monty Python fanatic that I am – how could I not visit the Liberty Bell? Although, when visiting the bell, Sousa’s tune was playing – so the whole place seemed a bit silly after that! A great day wandering around (a lot – sore feet again) looking at all sorts of all things & enjoying the parks & very pleasant weather.

Some trivial, & some not so, differences from CA I’ve noticed so far – the traffic lights have yellow housings, there are far fewer SUVs & pickups and the predominant minority has changed from Latino to African-American, unfortunately there are nowhere near as many mountain bikes on cars going to trails (although there is still the group in the city devoted to fixies). Home in time for dinner & fantastic dessert Jessica was trying out the recipe for – a sherbert & frozen cream-cheese mixture – how to describe taste? There wasn’t a whole lot left.

Except for the little mugging episode (which I escaped relatively unscathed), my time in California was fantastic – I did a lot of cool sightseeing things, but it was mostly made by all the various people I met. All the very generous mountain-bikers who took me places & showed me some great trails & scenery – but most of all the wonderful hospitality of the Turners in San Diego & getting to know them eighteen years after they left Papamoa & New Zealand. Thanks all.

engineering, roadtrip, travel, USA

Bay Area & home

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For my day in the Bay Area I couldn’t resist taking my bike over the Golden Gate Bridge (I had planned just to walk around downtown). So it was off on the train with my bike in to downtown San Francisco just after rushhour on Tuesday (you can’t take your bike on BART during rushhour) – this train was the first commuter one I had been on that had carpet & cloth upholstered seats, after a few years’ use they looked rather grubby. The day had started out rather gloomy, so I put my NZO Dusters on for the first time in ages – they are great riding pants as they have the velcro straps around the ankles to prevent fights between the chainrings & cuffs. I began to regret this decision when the sun came out & it warmed up – but it turned out that the wind picked up a lot & it clouded over again later on. Rode around the front, just cruising, looking at various things, avoiding all the other tourists (most walking, some on bikes). After about five miles made it all the way to the GGB – it’s always slightly strange to be somewhere new, but familiar having seen photos of it for years. The fog had come in, so the tops of the towers were shrouded.

Thankfully it was a tailwind heading back to the city, but on the way I got distracted by the Exploratorium for about three or four hours. This would have to be one of the best hands-on science museums I have ever been to. I didn’t manage to even get around the whole place – it was full of lots of little exhibits to play with that demonstrate all sorts scientific principles – sound, light, physics, the mind, living world & so on. Of course being school holidays, there were kids everywhere so had to skip a few exhibits. My inner geek fed for a while, I rode back to the waterfront, had clam chowder in a sour dough bowl (as you do in SF, at least if you are a tourist). With a couple of hours to spare, I spied a hill with a tower on the top that I figured would provide good views of the city. It took a fair while for me to ride around the base of the hill on one-way streets finding the correct road to start climbing – but I eventually did & made a rather steep ascent. The viewing area at the top was a bit of a have – the bushes had grown up so much you couldn’t really see anything. I suppose that is what the tower was for. Coit Tower was built in 1933 & is 210 ft (64 m) tall & provides a great panorama of the city; there are also so pretty cool murals in the base (New Deal funded Public Works) & the original elevator is very slow.

I took a flight of stairs part way down the hill & was confronted with some very steep streets, this is looking back up one that I carefully screamed down (there was a busy intersection at the bottom).

With a bit of time to kill before my bike was allowed back on the train, I cruised around the inner city streets during rush hour – good fun. Another cool thing about being in the inner city was seeing all the tricked out fixies – I’m not sure I could ever ride one of those.

Back in Berkeley, I took my host (Brian) out for dinner – great clam pizza & Belgian beer.

The following morning it was up early again & on the road at seven for the drive back to San Diego. I had been told the Pacific Coast Highway 1 was a great scenic drive – I joined it at Santa Cruz. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy & there wasn’t much too see (perhaps I’ve been spoiled by coastal roads in NZ & Australia) – however, the road was very twisty & a great driving road. Somewhere around there I curiously passed some big fields of artichokes (“Whoops, Mrs Miggins…”). Also heard the most amusing thing on the radio since I got here (Hamish & Andy doesn’t count as it comes from Melbourne). The two presenters were saying how they were sick of all the negativity & doom & gloom in the American press at the moment & America was in fact the best place in the world to live (of course). They wanted listeners to ring in & elaborate on what they liked most about living in America – the first presenter got things rolling by talking about freedom of religion. The second was a lot stupider & proceeded to say that the best thing about living in America is that it has a single currency – unlike Europe (which is a collection of states, not too dissimilar to the United States for the purpose of this subject) which has a different currency for every country!

Lunch in San Luis Obispo – a very nice little city & I stumbled upon a great Italian restaurant. I would have stayed the night in San Luis Obispo if I didn’t have to get back for court tomorrow as the riding is supposed to be very good. Off again to battle the LA traffic, which was predictably horrendous. Pulled in home after twelve hours & over six-hundred miles – by biggest day driving yet. So that was the end of my little southwest road trip – nine days & 2600 miles (4160 km). The rental car is now returned & I’m starting to think about packing for my flight to Philadelphia on Sunday. While I don’t really want to leave California, I can’t wait to get to the East Coast & see Doug & Jessica, meet their new (since I saw them last five years ago) family & visit NYC & DC & other friends there.

Oh, didn’t have to go to court in the end – the juveniles pleaded guilty & got a first strike (apparently they pleaded guilty to chasing me & taking my money, as it is much the lesser charge when compared to assault). Also, just had a big spend up on MTB gear – new shoes, cleats, Camelbak, chain, grips & various other tools. Over $NZ600 for about $NZ400 – also helps in that I can leave the old stuff behind here & save a bit of luggage mass. Of course, July 4 preparations are in full swing…

national park, roadtrip, travel, USA

Yosemite, but no Sam

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Up again too early, checked out & on the road north by eight. Was driving north to get to the east entrance to Yosemite National Park. Was great driving up the side of the Sierras – I was surprised to see snow still up there, but I suppose they are reasonably high – they are quite spectacular in places. Once again tried taking photos out the car window (which are now a lot filthier after all those great gravel roads over the weekend)

Started the long & winding road up to Tioga Pass & almost got to ten-thousand feet again. As I opened the window to pay to get in (I’ve now been to so many National Parks in the last week, that it was cheaper to upgrade to an annual pass – although what exactly I’m going to do with it now, I’m not sure) I was attacked by also sorts of horrible biting insects. So on the next few stops at picturesque lakes I covered myself in repellent & stunk for the rest of the day. The drive from the east of the park to the west (where Yosemite Valley is & where most of the tourist & vacationers go) was absolutely beautiful – nice Sequoia forests, reflective lakes, impressive granite peaks. By now I was up amongst a little snow – not something I was expecting from my Californian summer road trip.

There were plenty of cars parked on various verges & lots – many people going for quite a few days hiking in Yosemite & I can see why. Joined the masses driving in to the valley & then the masses already there. Another shuttle system here to enable so many people to move around. Unlike Zion, there were plenty of people staying here in lodges or tents & having an extended stay – also saw a lot of people hiring small inflatable rafts & floating down the river. Took a small walk up to Mirror Lake – after the small mountain lakes I had seen on Tioga Pass it was rather disappointing. All the waterfalls in the park come from snowmelt – so at the start of summer they are still going. Yosemite Falls are the fifth highest in the wall & the largest in North America.

I had to take a photo of this little guy because I keep forgetting to say that I have seen so many squirrels scurrying off the singletrack on my rides – this one must have been used to people as I walked right past him & he hardly flinched. The granite cliffs were spectacular (although I preferred the rock at Zion) & the largest granite monolith in the world is in Yosemite.

Yosemite is the number one big wall destination for climbers in the States & apparently if you looked closely you could see them up there camping out half way up the El Capitan (1000 m) – I can’t have looked closely enough.

Rest of the day spent driving two hundred miles to stay with a friend of Anna-Marie’s in Berkeley. It got nice & warm (110 oF) driving from Yosemite (funny to think I had just been in snow), but I was surprised as how much cooler it was in San Francisco. But apparently the place is known for not having the weather I’m used to in San Diego & other southern California places.

bikes, MTB, roadtrip, travel, USA

Just Outstanding

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Another deep sleep after yesterday’s exertions (& not quite as chilly) & I awoke when the dogs were let off at about half past six. Another great meal from Sam – a lot of French toast with a nice dash of cinnamon & other goodies. Decamped & loaded the truck with bikes (I had to borrow a spare Juicy 7 from Bill, my brakes were still faded & it wasn’t the pads) & we all drove in to Kernville & gassed up (running short on gas was a bit of a theme for the weekend). On the way saw my first American bush fire – a spotter plane, chopper with monsoon bucket, countless fire engines (Forestry Service, Bureau of Land Management, Kern Valley Fire Dept & who knows how many other agencies) & a troop of kitted up firefighters crossing the river & hauling a lot of weight up the hill side. It seemed to be relatively out of control – I didn’t get burnt.

From the west shore of Lake Isabella, we drove up to the top of the ridge & past a skifield (it’s strange seeing an off season ski field surrounded by pines – back home it’s usually all rocks), found the trailhead, & left for the lake. With different front brakes I was somewhat tentative hauling in to more great corners, & Irmina was similar with pretty poor rear brakes. Still it was another great trail – more dirt (& therefore more dust – one had to keep quite a distance behind the previous bike to facilitate useful vision) & nice corners & yet more cases of the trail suddenly turning to rocks. It was mostly in trees, so no great vistas – but did get in to this very cool tunnel of overgrown junipers (“I say, those are my juniper bushes”).

Shortly afterwards, we hit another good climb (what is with these climbs when you are going down a hill??) – well practised & not at such an altitude, it was another good middlering grind. I emerged on to a fire road & waited for the others. Apparently we were to follow the fire road down a while & then head in to the trail again. Much to our disappointment we never found the trail again & after riding up hill for a mile or so, trying to find it, had had enough of the sun so we blasted all the way back down to the lake & met Sam. As this was almost the end of our weekend together we got all our belongings in the correct vehicles & headed back to Kernville for a great last meal at some cafe (Sam got out of cooking this time).

Saying goodbyes the others headed back to LA & struggled on very tired north a couple of hours & crashed in some overpriced motel with a very poor shower (I was very much looking forward to ridding my skin of two days’ worth of dust & sweat). I think that may have been the end of my west coast mountain biking – a shame that, I had an absolute blast & really enjoyed the challenge of riding on different surfaces, some good climbs, fantastic downhills, great scenery & best of all riding with some super people that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. A big thank-you to those that shuttled, showed me rides & were just generally good riding buddies.