x-mas in berkeley

had a great xmas in berkeley with chels, ryan, and their folks.. julie and pete came out and we all cooked an amazing meal and drank wine.. great christmas

hanging out in oakland w krystof and steph...

SAN FRANCISCO!!!!.. WAT NOW??

we were looking forward to getting to san fran for so long, and now that we're finally here it feels strange... one mite think that we would feel a sense of accomplishment having finished our usa tour, but a restlessness immediately set in and i cant wait to cross the pacific..

crossing the bay by train..

we had to take the train across the bay to oakland where we planned on spending the nite.. there is no way to ride a bike across the bay which sucks because it costs like 7 bucks... we caught plenty of looks on the train due to several outbursts of joy as the fact that we had completed our 4000+ mile usa tour set in!!!

ALMOST BABY!!!!

we had a big day the last day and pushed around 90 miles of crazy shoulderless hills from santa cruz to san fran... limped into town around sunset

nectar of the gods...

riding a bike all day, eventually you come to realize exactly what ur body craves... DATES!!!

thru castroville en route to santa cruz...

artichokes and Brussels sprouts.... flew thru monterrey and didnt take any photos...

BIG SUR VIDEO...

this was all from a 24 hour period in big sur... great coast with tons of waterfalls, streams, redwood groves, black beaches, and a crazy sunset... the editing and transitions are a little choppy, but i really wanted to convey some of the sounds and how desolate it is out here.. sorry some of the riding shots sound bad from the wind..

BIG SUR...

big sur is a small town on the desolate 100+ mile cali coast between san luis obispo and monterey, but everyone seems to call the whole stretch big sur.. it's pristene, alive, and surreal.. you smell salt water the whole time and see some of the most beautiful sights in the country.. one of the best parts about traveling by bicycle is that anytime i hear water or see a grove of trees that i've never seen before, i can just set my bike on the side of the road and climb into the wilderness.. you notice alot more than if you were driving in a car at 50 mph.. i'm workin on a good video/slideshow that really gets the sounds of the waters..

eucalyptic utopia..

my love for eucalyptus is directly related to the russian bath houses of chicago and nyc.. the bath house is about $20 for the day and they have rooms nearing 200 degrees which you stay in until you almost die, then you throw your limp body into a pool of ice cold water around 30 degrees.. as if this isnt enough, a russian guy massages and washes you while hitting you with bunches of leaves in the hottest part of the hottest room.. its like heaven, in some rooms the eucalyptus is so strong that it will burn your eyes if you don't close them.. so you can imagine how excited i was when we camped amongst hundreds of eucalyptus trees, breaking the leaves open and spreading the oils on our bodies.. then cooking over a fire with the eucalyptus wood the sausages actually get like a sappy glaze that tastes like eucalyptus.. amazing