And now...

I'm leaving today for Tokyo.  I'll be biking from Tokyo to Seoul, Korea over the next 30 days.  Follow my progress at pedalpedalpilgrim.blogspot.com

Thank you

To all of the people who went out of their way to help me...
My mom and Dad
Randy and Nooshin
Dave in Brooklyn
Marvin in Ephrata, Pensilvania
Anna, Rose and dad in DC
Afton Babtist Church in Afton, VA
Nannies in Catawba
Ned and whole Riritan group in Catawba Valley
Lizard and family in Virgire, KT
Charlie and Linda in Paint Lick
Arnold Lucas and Family in Big Clifity
Upton fire department
Jane in Hodgenville
Ken and the Methodist men in Marble Hill, MO
Chester in Marble Hill
Wayne Swayers in Ellington
Jerry Spaulding in Wellington, KS
Eileen in Sharon
Ashland Babtist
Art department and Josh at Panhandle U, OK
Jim in Stratford
Vernon Girard family Nara Visa, NM
Crossroads cafe Logan
Town of Encino
Suzan and theTown of Mountainair
Jeff in Socorro
Kathy and Nita in Pie Town
Maryland couple (forgot their names) in Pie Town
Troy in Globe, AZ
Tracy in Phoenix
Karin and the city of Brawley, CA
Amy daily in Brawley
George in Jacumba
Tom from SanDiego area
Trav and Maia
And others. People i talked with on the phone especially my girl Seeun.
Everyone I met along the way were helpful to me.

Day 54: the end

Woke up this morning to frost, the high elevation leads to cold nights. But it warmed up quickly when the sun started shining. Within minutes of riding I had shed all my warm layers. The ride west would take me up and down a few times. The last big climb led to the last freeway ride. At the top, on the on-ramp I met another biker. He came up from the valley and was just getting ready to go back down, so we rode together. After 5 miles of freeway we exit and follow old 80 the rest of the way. The road alternates through suburban and sub-countryside with more houses and traffic as we reach lower elevations. Finally we reach his destination, but I have 25 more miles of urban riding to the coast. By this time the winds had picked up and clouds covered the sun. SanDiego was expecting a windstorm, but not until tomorrow. Still it was cold and windy as I rode through stoplight after stoplight. Finally when I came to the city I was able to ride down Balboa drive that winds through a nice city park. From there it was just a few blocks down hill to my final destination! Finally I was finished. I got off my bike and walked into the Amtrak station. It was getting dark, and by this time too cold to go to the water so I decided to skip the formality and just get on the train and go home (my new home) to Oakland. It's been a long trip and somehow this day feels no different than any other.

Day 53: up the last mountain

After being coaxed out of bed by the sprinklers I got my stuff together to bike south toward El Central. The road was flat and full of cars. From there I turned west on a course that paralleled interstate 8. The road was rough, but traffic was low. I pedaled through Plaster City, it was just a drywall factory surrounded by empty desert. Finally the road ended. I ate lunch in a small diner then headed onto the interstate. The climb started immediately. It was steep, the sun was hot and it went continuously to 3000 feet. This is where bikes can exit the freeway and old highway 80 starts. The road dips south and runs close to the Mexican border. This is where I stopped, at the small community of Jacumba. They had a nice library in their big town park. This is where I pitched my tent. Just 200 yards from the border fence. I climbed most of this mountain but there will be more climbing tomorrow.

Day 52: through the desert

From Blythe I rode south at first through more fields but soon the desert began to show. After a while there were mounds of dark rock and the road narrowed and the dips got deeper and steeper. It was like a rollercoaster, slow up, fast down, over and over. This gave way to dunes, pure sand dunes. I rode through 7 miles of dunes. On one side, heavy use by ohvs on the other side unspoiled Imperial Dunes National Park. After a few more miles of desert the farms were back. The town of Brawley invited me to pitch my tent in some nice grass by their public pool. While there a local invited me to come eat food at their house. I ate thanksgiving leftovers and we talked. Now I'm back in my tent tired from 90 plus miles of riding.

Day 51: palm trees and farm fields

After a long day riding I've reached my last state. Last night it didn't get very cold, the climate here is about perfect this time of year. The ride out was nice because it was a slight slope back down most of the day. But the traffic was terrible because it was the end of the holiday weekend. With lots of traffic I feel like it's a race and I'm in last place, being passed by everyone. I rode part of the day on the freeway, part on a small desert road. After 90 miles I crossed the Colorado river into Blythe, California and everything changed. There were crops, it was green, palm trees all over and homeless people everywhere. Seriously I don't know why but I saw at least 8 or 9 in this little town, so it seemed camping was a bad idea. I got a hotel. I'm getting close to the end.

Day 50: back on the road

After a tasty breakfast with my hosts I followed the canal out of Phoenix. From the edge of town it's a gradual climb to Wickenburg. It was just over 50 miles so after lunch and a break I decided to shoot for the next town, Aguila. It turned out to be a nice little town with a new library, a nice park (with green grass), a gas station and a restaurant. All things I could use. After a cool drink from the gas station I cleaned up at the library then ate stake at the restaurant and pitched my tent at the park. As I lay in my tent I can hear Mexican music playing, it's festive, but I'm tired. Tomorrow I'll try to reach the state line.