Tehachapi

11th of June 2021

Two phone calls started the day. One from my uncle in Berlin and the other from Coby at home in Marin.

Good wishes send us into the saddle and up the long haul to Tehachapi. I have to meditate every time I want to say the name correctly….somehow I don’t get the accent on the right syllable.

Highway 58 from Bakersfield. We called a few bike shops, because bicycles are not allowed on highways in CA. The alternative would be a long winding dirt road…probably super steep in places. We are climbing up to 4000 f. I’d rather follow the railway - which is what 58 does. 

“Take side roads up to the place were Bena joins the highway”, we were told. I like that name Bena - sounds to me like a sweet, little honey bee with fuzzy, gentle curves and stripes: a little road meandering through golden, fuzzy hills. A pleasure to bee here!

https://youtu.be/hGgP6DlII7g

Quiet humming Bena merged with 58 a quarter way up the mountain, but there the traffic was horrific! A nice big shoulder though and a sign that said: “No pedestrians (then something was whited out), no motor -driven cycles.” I guess we are good! We would have done it anyways, but it’s a bit more relaxing to know we are “in the legal”

And, we had a nice cool tailwind which would disappear for a little while and the sun burned down on us harder. My black cycle shorts and black saddle sucked up the heat. I noticed it when I stood up out of the saddle, pedaling, to get some air between my legs, sat down again and my crotch was on fire! It’s all part of it….

The traffic was slow - bumper to bumper. Drivers had enough time to give us thumbs up, making positive remarks … screaming “yeah, ride on” “you guys rock” and so on and so forth.  We got water bottles handed to us out of windows and one sweet Latina handed us two cold bottles of fruit smoothies. One was mango, apple and orange, the other strawberry, banana and apple. We stopped on the side for sub(-ing a-)way sandwich one foot long with Black Forest Ham and all the shavings. 

We purchased it before the climb started. 

I loved that climb!

Few days later

….but even more: I loved Tehachapi!

The introduction of friendly welcoming locals was for real.

Next to the tiny airport was a little park indicated on the map as a potential camping area. “Temporarily closed” said the sign when we got there, but the gate was open and the friendly airport people said they don’t know anything about the park, gesturing: just go ahead and do what you want.

The place looked awesome! Shade trees, water spickets, park benches and GREEN GRASS.  I didn’t get it, I was too excited! James did though: sprinklers! Yes: everywhere….I could now see the dreaded sprinkler heads that could pop up any minute. Someone in the neighboring trailer Park behind the fence confirmed: “Yes, those things pop up every night right around the time I get drunk….”

8pm sharp - each section (and there were 4) got watered for an hour. At midnight we finally made our decision in what area we could safely pitch our tent.

A quick little dinner on the concrete and off to bed we went.

Tehachapi had a lot to offer and I was hoping to spend the next day exploring this little jewel of a mountain village. 

We were willing to dodge the sprinkles again the next night, but we packed up our stuff for the day in case something else revealed itself where we could spend the night. 

So we had a leisurely breakfast - keeping on the dry side of the edge of the park when the sprinklers popped up again! Doesn’t this part of CA know we are in a drought? Seems like a big waste…

Sitting there wondering……when a young man shows up setting up a Sunday mid day BBQ.  We introduced ourselves, talked a bit and before we knew it, we were invited to have lunch with the locals right there, we were also invited to wait for his wife and children to be introduced and possibly spend the night at the family’s dwelling. 

We had a date! Everything is so much more relaxing when one knows where to put ones heads for the night. So we spend the day in Tehachapi - had an interesting museum visit at the Tehachapi Depot Museum ….all about the train:

The famous loop where the train tracks go around in a loop to ease the percentage of the climbing grade.

                                                                         The Loop!

And then the German Bakery: Kohnen’s Country Bakery had us in its claws for the rest of the afternoon. We ate and we ate and we ate some more…..We drew attention with our loaded bikes and talked and talked and talked some more until it was time to head out to see the family.

A family experience in Tehachapi.

We landed (both parents are pilots!!) in the midst of a loving family and were treated to be part of a slice of their lives.

Even though they are in the midst of moving across country they had the space in their hearts and minds as well as in their -mostly packed up -home to share with us.

Our full bakery bellies had to be expanded so we can have a taste of what’s been cooking for dinner. Yum!!!

We all have our stories and not all parts of life are “pieces of cake” and how one takes the challenges and keeps the love and happiness at the forefront is how we choose to live each moment. 

I bathed in this pool of love and respect for themselves and each other. It was obvious to me how much this family has taken the challenges to learn and live each day as an opportunity. Something I like to take it to heart and live each day as a gift, because that is what it is!

Kids are a big help to let us marvel at the future. They show us the way and also keep us in the moment. 

https://youtu.be/sxgeziENGwY

I enjoyed Kiran’s curiosity

Elena’s enthusiasm to move her body

https://youtu.be/0yJmpnNgE3o

…and as a good bye present, she made me an anklet to remember!

and Jack- Jack’s voice and excitement

and Bethany and Michael’s openness, generosity and trust.

After a good night sleep in a real bed and without sprinklers to worry about, we woke up to a feast of Sunday morning waffles, freshly roasted coffee

and a few more hours with the family before we headed up another little climb and then all the way down to Lancaster, CA. - not without being stopped on the way on the same road to be handed a handful of ripe, juicy apricots right off the tree. Another friendly Tehachapi neighbor…..

Thank you Michael and Bethany! You all gave us most special memories to take with us where ever the wind, the road, the path takes us from here.