santa cruz (and the epic tales before)
well well well well well......im in santa cruz, ca right now at dan potthast's lovely home. there are three dogs lying around, and they loved to be pet. ive missed dogs on this trip. i dont know where eric last left off on here, and im too lazy to go back and read what he wrote, so fuckin deal or find yourself a new friend, you mother.
ok. let's start with the redwoods. they're insane. just massive. ive never really experienced anything like them. theyre not like the ocean in terms of size. standing in the ocean you get this feeling that you dont really belong there, or that you cant fully comprehend the size and complexity splashing before you. but the redwoods, despite their massive size, seem almost human. theyre big, but you can stand back and look at them and wonder how the hell they got so tall and old, and youve managed to clock in at a tiny 6 foot 1, with a lifespan of 70 years if youre lucky. it was nice to be surrounded by towers made of earth instead of towers of steel. fuck the city, im moving in with the redwoods. while seeing the redwoods i saw some elk doing their thing. they're pretty fantastic creatures. i ate blackberries while we watched them. blackberries are great and seem to grow everywhere out here. why doesnt new york have blackberries and redoods all over the place?
we had a string of rough days, goind 86 miles, 85 miles, 88 miles and 70 miles. that's a brutal four days, all without a day off. on the 88 mile day we climbed mt. legget. you can look it up on the internet or in bicycling tour books. it's an intense climb, with the summit being at around 1500 ft. but we killed it, then we had a 4 mile downhill ride of fury that was probably the most rewarding thing you couldve given us. then we hit the second big climb of the day, an 800ft beast that was as steep as a chimney. but we swept that mother fucker. when we arrived at the campground we were greeted with no food. awesome. the food was out (with the exception of the dinner food we were to eat later), and the campground was primitive (meaning no water, electric, bathrooms etc). at that point the ride was only 72 miles, but mike and crew told us of a campground that was 7 miles down the road that had electric and bathrooms and showers. we were told not to expect any more than a 10 mile ride. so with empty stomachs, sore muscles and much regret, we decided to trudge on. 7 miles turned to 16, all of which was mostly uphill. needless to say i was losing my fucking mind, but i rolled in, showered, ate some zucchini (sp?) and hotdogs and then listened to matt, dan and choi play guitar. by far the most intense day of tour, somehow nudging out the day that it rained for the entire 61 mile ride. i dont think i wrote about that story. maybe i will now....basically, we woke up and it was drizzling. by the first 1/4 mile i was already soaked. the entire ride consisted of hills. constant climbs that werent necessarily big, but were so plentiful and consistent that they just drained the life right from the heart. i had bathtub fingers the entire time. for about the last 10 miles it basically poured on us. i almost lost it a few times, and i honestly believe that for every mile we went that day we actually did 2. as dan said, the campground was there, but it seemed to keep moving slowly away from us.
ive described here the two most stressful days of tour, both mentally and physically. but it's awesome to look back and say, "hey, that was 100 miles ago and i fuckin did it." it's motivating. i never would have seen myself holding out this long. but this tour has been about limits. and i realize now that there cant be any out here. what choice do i have really? i dont think i can handle it so i sit in the van, or i go home, but id rather live with the pain in those moments of frustration and anguish than go home and sit comfortably on my couch. saying it was too intense, or that i wasnt in good enough shape is only saying that i quit. well fuck that. when choi said he couldnt ride any longer because of his knee, it really deflated me. it hurt seeing him sitting in the van while we were in the middle of climbing legget or riding along the coastline with no shoulder and no guardrails with logging trucks passing us on curves. this has become more than a tour of the west coast for me. i love seeing the coast and the beauty along the way, but ive seen myself do a lot of shit i never thought was possible. fuck, ive gone over 900 miles on a bike. i hadnt been on a bike since about 10th grade before this tour started. if you care about something enough there are no limits. there are two choices, and tho im not a star wars fan, yoda def said it best when he said, "do it or do it not, there is no try." or as ive been saying all tour, "get it and fuckin do it!" why hold back when there are 13 other people sticking it out? pain is nothing compared to that feeling you get when you see the top of the climb and you stand there waiting for your brothers and sisters. and when their helmets peak above the hill there's this feeling of accomplishment, both for you and for them, because you have done this and now so have they. and then there's that glorious ride down the hill that's as close to a victory lap as we can get. ok, im done with the motivational speach shit. as matt would say, ive been in need to drop some serious knowledge for some time now.
we rolled into san fran on thursday and eric, blake, brett and myself got a hotel. we ate some of the best pizza ever with dan, joel, matt and shannon. then we went to a bar, shot pool and then slept in a comfy bed. the next day we walked around san fran, hit up the bus and train to berkley and saw the plea for peace show at iMusicast. rx bandits headlined, with dan, mike and this band desa opening. it was an awesome show. the bandits really set it down, and i must say i'll be checking them out once i get back home. so that leads us up to now. tomorrow we ride again, doing an 80 mile day to big sur. it's going to be hilly as fuck, but with 2 days rest, i think we'll be ready.
unfortunately for now i must go. the dogs need to be pet and there are hoops to be shot. we're having a 2 on 2 basketball tourney today. with cookout and beers to boot. yay! until next time my friends....
smooches,
shawn
ok. let's start with the redwoods. they're insane. just massive. ive never really experienced anything like them. theyre not like the ocean in terms of size. standing in the ocean you get this feeling that you dont really belong there, or that you cant fully comprehend the size and complexity splashing before you. but the redwoods, despite their massive size, seem almost human. theyre big, but you can stand back and look at them and wonder how the hell they got so tall and old, and youve managed to clock in at a tiny 6 foot 1, with a lifespan of 70 years if youre lucky. it was nice to be surrounded by towers made of earth instead of towers of steel. fuck the city, im moving in with the redwoods. while seeing the redwoods i saw some elk doing their thing. they're pretty fantastic creatures. i ate blackberries while we watched them. blackberries are great and seem to grow everywhere out here. why doesnt new york have blackberries and redoods all over the place?
we had a string of rough days, goind 86 miles, 85 miles, 88 miles and 70 miles. that's a brutal four days, all without a day off. on the 88 mile day we climbed mt. legget. you can look it up on the internet or in bicycling tour books. it's an intense climb, with the summit being at around 1500 ft. but we killed it, then we had a 4 mile downhill ride of fury that was probably the most rewarding thing you couldve given us. then we hit the second big climb of the day, an 800ft beast that was as steep as a chimney. but we swept that mother fucker. when we arrived at the campground we were greeted with no food. awesome. the food was out (with the exception of the dinner food we were to eat later), and the campground was primitive (meaning no water, electric, bathrooms etc). at that point the ride was only 72 miles, but mike and crew told us of a campground that was 7 miles down the road that had electric and bathrooms and showers. we were told not to expect any more than a 10 mile ride. so with empty stomachs, sore muscles and much regret, we decided to trudge on. 7 miles turned to 16, all of which was mostly uphill. needless to say i was losing my fucking mind, but i rolled in, showered, ate some zucchini (sp?) and hotdogs and then listened to matt, dan and choi play guitar. by far the most intense day of tour, somehow nudging out the day that it rained for the entire 61 mile ride. i dont think i wrote about that story. maybe i will now....basically, we woke up and it was drizzling. by the first 1/4 mile i was already soaked. the entire ride consisted of hills. constant climbs that werent necessarily big, but were so plentiful and consistent that they just drained the life right from the heart. i had bathtub fingers the entire time. for about the last 10 miles it basically poured on us. i almost lost it a few times, and i honestly believe that for every mile we went that day we actually did 2. as dan said, the campground was there, but it seemed to keep moving slowly away from us.
ive described here the two most stressful days of tour, both mentally and physically. but it's awesome to look back and say, "hey, that was 100 miles ago and i fuckin did it." it's motivating. i never would have seen myself holding out this long. but this tour has been about limits. and i realize now that there cant be any out here. what choice do i have really? i dont think i can handle it so i sit in the van, or i go home, but id rather live with the pain in those moments of frustration and anguish than go home and sit comfortably on my couch. saying it was too intense, or that i wasnt in good enough shape is only saying that i quit. well fuck that. when choi said he couldnt ride any longer because of his knee, it really deflated me. it hurt seeing him sitting in the van while we were in the middle of climbing legget or riding along the coastline with no shoulder and no guardrails with logging trucks passing us on curves. this has become more than a tour of the west coast for me. i love seeing the coast and the beauty along the way, but ive seen myself do a lot of shit i never thought was possible. fuck, ive gone over 900 miles on a bike. i hadnt been on a bike since about 10th grade before this tour started. if you care about something enough there are no limits. there are two choices, and tho im not a star wars fan, yoda def said it best when he said, "do it or do it not, there is no try." or as ive been saying all tour, "get it and fuckin do it!" why hold back when there are 13 other people sticking it out? pain is nothing compared to that feeling you get when you see the top of the climb and you stand there waiting for your brothers and sisters. and when their helmets peak above the hill there's this feeling of accomplishment, both for you and for them, because you have done this and now so have they. and then there's that glorious ride down the hill that's as close to a victory lap as we can get. ok, im done with the motivational speach shit. as matt would say, ive been in need to drop some serious knowledge for some time now.
we rolled into san fran on thursday and eric, blake, brett and myself got a hotel. we ate some of the best pizza ever with dan, joel, matt and shannon. then we went to a bar, shot pool and then slept in a comfy bed. the next day we walked around san fran, hit up the bus and train to berkley and saw the plea for peace show at iMusicast. rx bandits headlined, with dan, mike and this band desa opening. it was an awesome show. the bandits really set it down, and i must say i'll be checking them out once i get back home. so that leads us up to now. tomorrow we ride again, doing an 80 mile day to big sur. it's going to be hilly as fuck, but with 2 days rest, i think we'll be ready.
unfortunately for now i must go. the dogs need to be pet and there are hoops to be shot. we're having a 2 on 2 basketball tourney today. with cookout and beers to boot. yay! until next time my friends....
smooches,
shawn
posted by thisischinaski at 4:10 PM
2 Comments:
shawn - this all sounds pretty amazing - i'm happy to hear things are going so well. there've been a lot of shows this past week or so and everyone i go to people ask the same thing - "WHERE'S SHAWN WALKER".
ps- this is jenn
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