Pedaling away from home again…..

….to seek the Continental Divide Trail in New Mexico and ride it towards Canada.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Divide_Trail

Staying in our home country, exploring nature and people right at “our front door”. 

We pedaled south to Pacifica -the first day- with Jacquie and Charlie - stretching our umbilical cord. Even though my adventurous heart keeps seeking the places further away from me, from what I know, I am also deeply attached to all I know, care and love. Not really a combination/competition, but a complex sensation I’ve been trying to balance my whole life.

“On the road again” definitely feels super good for the first miles and maybe even days…..and then the weather, temperatures, the too-steep -hills, an aching older body, lack of food, starts playing a role in calming down that high feeling of “being free again”.

Watch this little video introduction of our first days:

https://youtu.be/VeNSrW9oQ8I

Reality on the road sets in: adjustments to finding the simple things we take for granted at home: Food, shelter and safety. Not a struggle more like an adjustment! Should be a no-brainer here in the US of A…

In the desert - here in the Central Valley- the wind is favorable, but the people in that little community of “Blackwells Corner” didn’t want us there. 

“Blackwells Corner is an unincorporated community in the Antelope Valley of Kern County, California. It is located 50 miles west-northwest of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 650 feet. Blackwells Corner is at the intersection of California State Route 46 and California State Route 33, and was the last place James Dean was seen alive prior to his death in a car wreck.

The name honors George Blackwell, who started a rest stop there in 1921.”

Their church appeared well kept and the beautiful lawn was secure with a fence and a lock. Every one of those Christians I asked when knocking on their door, gave us a straight, none negotiable “No” to my question: Is there a little space for our tent, behind a building, so we can get out of the wind?

We don’t need anything else! We have enough water and food….

“No”

Ok, a bit puzzling…..

…we found a pretty good set up behind a utility shed and the night was peaceful and quiet.

Let the people be….

Six days of riding, Gurly and I need to get reacquainted. Last time we pedaled noticeable distances was in March 2020 to Monkey Bay, Malawi. That is more than a year ago. Well, it’s happening and today we are resting in Buttonwillow near Bakersfield to respect our need for self care.