I'll name this chapter of my life, "Hotter Than Hell"

I pulled into Mexic... I mean, Brawley, CA, about an hour and a half ago. 72 miles from Palo Verde, through 90+ degree heat and sand dunes. I was boiling and at one point thought the rubber from my tires was going to melt into the pavement. They didn't, fortunately, and after nearly 7 hours of riding I made it. This was by far the most grueling ride of the tour and also the longest. I'm tired and don't think I've ever enjoyed a warm shower more than the one I just took. The trail I'm riding, the Southern Tier trail, runs from San Diego to Florida. The portion I just finished is considered by almost everybody to be the most difficult. Feeling pretty good about myself.

I am super beat and as much as I'd love to write more, I'm going to post some pictures instead and call it a night.

Wait, I thought this was a bicycle tour!

Have been taking it easy today in Palo Verde. I got my hands on a canoe and took if for a cruise on the river! Way fun. This nice little lady just stopped by my campsite (which has WiFi!) and offered to bring me a fishing pole to use. Canoe ride/fishing tonight? Sounds pretty awesome and makes me forget about the desert ride ill be on tomorrow!

Sitting around the campsite with three more cycling tourists, going the opposite direction. Peggy, Jim and Paul. Awesome people! Peggy and Jim have thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, which is my next goal and dream to conquer. Paul used a website called KickStarter to earn the money to travel the country on bicycle, taking portrait photographs of people he meets along the way. Very, very cool! Paul says, "here we are sitting within 20 feet of each other and were all looking at each others blogs to learn about one another." Ha! Gave us all a big laugh!

"And Now You Will Have The Sky"

Last night at the Palo Verde Bar and Grill I spent some time talking with a old-school hippie, John, quite a bit about a lot things. We talked about human nature, traveling on the west coast and many other things that just aren't coming to me right now. John came to my campsite this afternoon to wish me well on my journey and to give me a necklace he crafted himself. I am still blown away by the kindness and couldn't be more thrilled by it. It's a beautiful piece. I'm honored to be wearing it. I told him it matches perfectly with the necklace I've been wearing. It was given to me by an old friend back home. The main bead is planet earth and I told John that I always carry the world around my neck... He replied, "and now you will have the sky."

These types of things are worth more to me than any amount of money. This necklace is going to see many incredible places with me.

Palo Verde and the evil lagoon

I'm camping at a little RV/Trailer park in Palo Verde right now. It sits on the edge of a lagoon that houses the run-off from the farms around here. I've been instructed to not even touch the water!!! Geez. When are we going to learn?

I'm dreading my next day's ride... it's going to be 65 miles of rolling hills in the Southern California sand dunes around Glamis. It'll be hot, long and a real test of my patience and fitness.

The site has a new and temporary new look. To better accommodate Google AdSense, I've had to change a few things around. I only have an iPhone to use now, so waiting to get to a real computer before editing the sites appearance.

I took some pictures of the tainted lagoon and some visitors lurking around my tent.

Google AdSense and a new Domain

It is so hot! I'm writing this post in an air-conditioned Bar and Grill in Palo Verde and am not so excited about setting up a tent tonight. The heat is intense and its wearing me out! I ran into a rather large group of cyclists today at a Starbucks. They were riding with a chase vehicle that supplied everything they need, including shelter. I'm way more into self-contained touring, it feels much more rewarding. One of the ladies in the group crashed in San Diego and has massive damage on her face and knee. Throw a little more make-up on her and she'd be a shoe-in as an extra on the Walking Dead. Poor lady.

This blog was approved by Google for AdSense!!! Thanks to all the folks who check it out and read it! It's a way I can make a little money on the road. You'll be seeing some advertisements pop up here and there. If you see one that might be up your ally, go ahead and click on it and look around. Support the ads that will be supporting me :)

This blog is currently running through Blogger as TumultuousHippie.blogspot.com, but will soon be TumultuousHippie.com. It adds more legitimacy to the blog and will be easier to get to, if you haven't already saved it to your bookmarks.

I'm getting hundreds of views each day. If it can somehow get into the thousands, I could potentially live off of this blog. Kind of a stretch, but optimism got me here in the first place. Share it with whoever you can and try to check it out yourself as often as you can.

I love this life I'm living and the people I share it with.

Crossing a border by bicycle is up there on the list of cool feelings I've had in my life. I made it from one portion of this country, to another, without burning any fuel other than the calories from my food. I don't consciously pedal anymore. My legs are an extension of my bicycle, an engine and a gas pedal combined. My hands rest gently on the shifters and by pulling the triggers I can go from 15 to 25 mph, without feeling any added stress on my legs. It is the purest and most fulfilling way to feel speed and to travel. When I've been able to ride without a loaded bike, on flat ground, I can get above 30 mph. Damn good feeling!! Im no Mark Cavendish... I can only maintain that speed for maybe 4-5 miles. Averaging 15-17 mph on the tour.

Well, I'm in California. Arizona was incredibly beautiful! Prescott is a town I can see myself settling down in. Cycling is very popular there. The mountain and road bike scene definitely beats Colorado's and there are more bike shops than every other town I've been in, put together. Unfortunately, not much of a music scene going on in Prescott. "Phish who?" Denver is going to be hard to beat on that. They do have a Chipotle though!

Ill be in San Diego in no time. Going to see an old friend from High School and get my hands on a surfboard. I commuted by longboard in Denver for a summer, so I'm hoping it'll be along the same lines as that. Either way, it'll be rad to experience riding a wave!

It's easy to say I'm addicted to this tour. I'm loving every minute of it and I haven't thought about going home once. Denver has been my rock for so long, but I'm on a journey to find a place and a community that can better embrace a more sustainable way of living, peacefully. That reminds me, can't wait to see you, Gayle and Rich!

Wanted to give a quick shout-out to my friends Tyler and Alex. I credit a very large portion of my growth as a human and as a man to these two guys. Alex, you and your family are like a bright glowing light. Your children are insanely rad, Liza's beauty, on all ends, and wisdom are inspiring. T! You have been the best friend I've had in my adult life. You are one tough dude and don't take much crap from anybody (unless she's older and good looking ;)... love you man). You're one hell of a good friend and you've pulled me out of a lot of bad places. Thank you. I can honestly say that I would not be on this tour, had I not met them.

My lovely and incredibly successful sister (ex-Peace Corps volunteer and passionate educator/administrator... right on!) donated to the blog and is getting the second dreamcatcher from Quartzite. Thank you so much, Sade! I am so proud of everything you've done. You are such a positive role model, for me and the people that rely on you. I love and miss you!

Dad, listened to Corinna by Taj Mahal today and thought of the times we'd get a new album, fudge bars and drive around town together. I owe a great deal of thanks to you. You've taught me so much about life and the conversations we had leading up to this tour are highly valued. I'm your son and with that there will always be a portion of me that strives to impress you and make you proud. That piece of me will forever drive me to better things and a successful future. I didn't go to college, but have been hired for every job I've interviewed for and have succeeded tremendously at them. College cant teach a man to do that, only a good father that demonstrates confidence and self-reliance. I owe the professional skills I have, to you. I love and miss you!

Mom! You have been, by far, the most supportive and inspiring person I've ever known to exist. You are incredibly gifted... not just in your art or pottery, but in your soul and in who you are. You don't give yourself enough credit. You're amazing at everything you do and have been, for so long, the shoulder for everybody else to cry on. It's made you so incredibly strong and it fills my heart knowing you're my mother. This earth exists for no other reason than to have people like you live on it. Thank you for everything and I love and miss you sooo much!

To get into California, I had to cross the Colorado River :) Man, it was a beautiful sight to see. Now on the look out for the first Cali sticker for my bike (currently have Grand Canyon, Route 66 and Quartzite)... first place I tried only had stickers for the Grand Canyon. Ha. Go figure.

Love to EVERYBODY!! PEACE!!

One more left!

Wow! I just received another donation from an amazing lady, Sylvia De Leon. For her generosity and kindness, I'm sending her a line of defense to keep negative vibes from interrupting her positive dreams.

Thank you Sylvia :)

Thank you!

I wanted to write a quick post to thank the folks who have donated to the blog. It is so appreciated! With the extra money, Ill be able to enjoy a night in a hotel, a great dinner or new gear. It means an enormous amount to me to have such a supportive group of people following this tour. Over 5000 visits in the first three weeks... Right on!

Because I'm so stoked about the donations, the next two people who put something in will have a special surprise sent to them. A hint: they're from Quartzite, AZ, "The Rock Capitol of the World." (Include an address in the comments)

California!! There aren't going to be services for about 75-100 miles after I start riding tomorrow. Will try to post as soon/often as possible!

Love to all my family and friends!

Salome to Quartzite

I was planning on making it to the Cali border tonight, but after an already long ride, I saw the enormous climb that Ill have to take to get there. I called it quits in Quartzite for the day. Cali tomorrow and San Diego shortly after!

My legs are now just as burned as, well, the rest of my body. It's pretty awful.

My legs continue to impress me. On a climb today, I found myself shifting into higher gears and actually gaining speed. Riding up big hills at 20 mph makes you feel pretty damn good. It was awesome! A climb that I probably would have walked three weeks ago, was a cake walk and not even a problem. I've always wanted to race bicycles, but haven't had the stamina or muscles to compete. After this, I might have to enter an amateur cycling event.

Not a lot of pictures again, I haven't been taking that many breaks. Sorry!

Wickenburg to Salome

This was a really fun ride. Totally flat. Almost too flat, actually. Straight, flat road, with little to no scenery, for 55 miles. I listened to music while riding for the first time today. I can't believe I had waited so long. I had a blast! I pulled into Salome as the sun was setting behind a few peaks on the horizon. I was listening to some of my favorite stuff, the colors in the sky were incredible, I was completely elated, stoked on life, where I was and what I was doing... I couldn't hold it back, hate to say it, I cried. Out of complete joy, of course. I immediately began to laugh out loud at myself, while crying, which only made me laugh harder. Crazy fun. I'm staying at Shefflers Motel tonight, in Salome. Pink neon everywhere. I went across the street for food and ended up hitting the bar. Shared a beer and a shot with a cool fellow who ended up giving me a token for a free domestic beer, which I gave to the (very grateful) waiter. Payin' it forward. I'm in the hotel now, checking maps and watching that movie with Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher. Awful.

Sadly, for you, I didn't stop to take any pictures on the ride today. Fortunately I have some pictures of the gnarly plant life in Wickenburg, shots of my SuperBad SunBurns and a free appetizer from La Ranchero, that includes TWO salsas AND beans. Why doesn't every Mexican Restaurant do that!?