West Coast Motorcycle Project: Week 3 (10/15/18 – 10/21/18)
West Coast Motorcycle Project: Day 15 (10/15/18)
Day’s Stats:
11am to 5pm (6 hours on the road)
211 miles travelled
Made it back to CA
Went on a run this morning, took it easy and it felt great
Ate breakfast at Subway which was BOMB
Rode 77 miles without a break
I finally made it back to CA! Feels good to be home. I arrived at my campsite and am next to Jake again, the guy from yesterday, what are the odds?
I have a good feeling of things to come, like waiting for a wave (of good luck and good vibes). I’m going to bed now to rest up for tomorrow. GOOD NIGHT!
West Coast Motorcycle Project: Day 16 (10/16/18)
Day’s Stats:
9:00am to 5:30pm (8.5 hours on the road)
256 miles travelled
Made it to the Manchester campgrounds (the nice campgrounds I have ever been to)
BEST DAY OF RIDING SO FAR
Leggett, CA; CA Coastline, felt confident, built endurance
Today was probably the best day of riding so far. I mean the CA coast can’t be beat, it’s just gorgeous. I tried to stop often and take a lot of pictures on the Pentax.
It was curious talking to my Dad, he was wondering how it felt not working for a month. It’s crazy that since college he’s never had more than two weeks off. I’ve found that in the month of not working, I am thinking more lucidly and really connecting with myself. It’s like having a much-needed summer break. It’s an opportunity to pause, reset, and then move forward. I feel much more centered, aligned, and grounded.
I am really excited to e back in SF for a few days and then head down south to SLO. I wish I could do more of SoCal, but I want to save money and that will be another trip, that I think will be better off travelled in a car.
I am excited to go home and see family. Then to travel abroad and then to work somewhere abroad. I know I will have all great experiences and just want to start really focusing on what I want and visualize it often. Just acting like its already here. Like it’s a day dream and already here, like you’re living it right now. Just thinking of all the different scenarios, all the different visuals, smells and feels.
West Coast Motorcycle Project: Day 17 (10/17/18)
Day’s Stats:
9:00am to 2:30pm (5.5 hours on the road)
145 miles travelled
Made it back to SF!
Saw Jake on the road again
Ate health for the first time in weeks… (salad, an apple and some booch)
I made it back to SF! It feels great to be back home, but it is different. I know everything is the same but looks different because I am now different. This city is still home, but I am no longer grounded here. I am grounded elsewhere now. It feels like when I come back for a break in college in Maryland.
It’s good to be back at the house and see everyone. I’m also stoked to see Cate and get the roll of the film developed. I’m so stoked and proud I took this trip. I really want to continue to journal after this. GOOD NIGHT 😊
West Coast Motorcycle Project: Day 18 (10/18/18)
Day’s Stats:
Put the first week of the trip up on my blog
Worked out in the backyard
Checked in on my 401k
Bought a new suitcase
It feels good being back in the city but feel that I am a visitor here. That I am not tethered or anchoring myself here anymore and this is really a sign, I am ready to travel.
I was also thinking I would like to do something finance or logistics related in China. I was also thinking of all the improvements I will be making around the house in Maryland. How I can make it cozy and keep myself busy for a while. I could travel in short bursts, get a job, travel with Connor and Carlos, or even do a workaway in New York. Just food for thought.
West Coast Motorcycle Project: Day 18 (10/18/18)
Day’s Stats:
12pm to 5pm (5 hours on the road)
134 miles travelled
Start of my journey down south
Realizing how much I hate crowds
I think I had too much caffeine today which made me a bit anxious (1 mocha, 1 grape 5-hour energy and one small DD’s coffee).
I was thinking about how when people get older and get to a certain age they sometimes just settle for a relationship because it’s comfortable and convenient. How as you get older, you really feel the external societal pressure to be in a relationship and be married. But not necessarily to be in the “right” or happy relationship, but just that you are in a relationship.
Also, how lack of communication can ruin so many potential forever’s. How really being clear on what you want and what you feel, think and want. For me I get clear on these by being in nature, by being alone and by writing.
I was feeling all these weird warm, fuzzy things called emotions before dinner and knew I was in a weird caffeinated, delirious state. After I had some food and rested a bit, that really did the trick. But what really calmed me down was drinking tea. I just boiled some water and made tea, gently cupped my two chilled hands around the mud. Deeply and slowly inhaled the vapors through my nostrils and into the back of my throat. It immediately calmed me down.
The desire for freedom is a constant struggle between comfortable, predictable certainty and foreign, uncomfortable change.
West Coast Motorcycle Project: Day 18 (10/18/18)
Day’s Stats:
9:00am to 4:30pm (7.5 hours on the road)
125 miles travelled
Visited Bixby Bridge and McWay Falls
Got into an accident 1 mile south of Lucia
Got fucked on the tow and decided to sell the bike
Alrighty, so I was coming up to a construction stop along the coastal highway when an SUV cut me off and then slammed on their brakes out of nowhere. First off just a piece of shit move to do in the first place. I could either go left in oncoming traffic, go right and try to swing around the cars and potentially go off a huge cliff, or just try braking super hard. So, I opted for braking super hard, at first this worked and then I hit a patch of gravel which caused me to lose traction with the road. This caused me to slam on the pavement at 60 mph and slide 30 ft.
I was in shock. I was devastated that my baby was banged up and it fucked up my schedule for the trip. What is even more wild is that I walked away with literally not even one scratch. Just to reiterate I slammed going highway speeds, skidded 30 ft and walked away perfectly okay and in good health. That is a god damn miracle. A fucking Christmas miracle come early. A whole team of someone’s must have been looking out for me.
I was rattled but took stock of the situation. I am alone with a busted bike on a remote highway with no cell service. What’s even more crazy is the SUV drove away and twenty cars must have driven by and no one stopped to ask if I was okay. Thankfully a nice Swedish couple stopped, asked me if I was okay and then offered to take me to the next town to call a tow.
We ended up driving to Garda, stopped at restaurant and ended up calling a tow from SLO on a payphone. Like a 1980’s payphone with quarters because there was still no cell service. I was waited two hours, the tow finally came, he did not even take me out to dinner and then he fucked me. I had to pay $470 for a 40-mile tow and I was not happy but had no choice.
This is the view that I was stuck with for two hours, there are worse places in the world to be stuck.
I am complaining because I am still bitter about the cost, but the driver was a very nice man named Craig whom I ended up selling the motorcycle to. He was a boyish looking 40-year-old man with a thick, bushy foot twelve-inch beard; a moppy teenager haircut and a wild glimmer in his eyes.
Once we got to the tow yard, my friend Christy picked me up in Cambria and then we went to her house to hang out for a few days.
I feel pretty bummed, but also extremely lucky. I think it was time for me to end to California motorcycle era and potentially avoid something way worse. This is the blaze of glory in me ending my trip and an exercise in letting go.
IN OTHER NEWS, I actually got some amazing pictures today. Like some of the best one from the entire trip. So today was not all a wash. Please find a few below for your viewing pleasure.
