Thursday morning was a little confusing.....I was told by the storage company that the space for my bike was ready but then told it wasn't as it had to approved by the bossman who wasn't around.......and then about 11am I got an email to say everything was good to go (or good 'to stay put' in storage terms I guess!!!).
So there and then I made the impulsive decision to ring the airline....see if I could jump on a plane home a few days earlier than planned and off I went.......dropped the bike off in San Pedro, completed the formalities and then jumped in a taxi to LAX.
Arrived in London after a 10 hour flight to a rainy and grey day (what else would you expect in April???) and made my way across London to get the train to Leeds.
The house is pretty much as I left it except for the rather large mound of mail sitting in my hallway......plenty of bills and final demands no doubt but they can wait until after the weekend!
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone back here in this part of the world for following my exploits and sending me messages along the way and to everyone in the USA that I encountered and helped me out. It has been a fun and entertaining 14,500 miles and I am looking forward to embarking on the summer leg of the trip.
Happy Easter to one and all!!!
Friday, 10 April 2009
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Angeles Crest Highway
The weather for this week in California is not great.....they are expecting a couple of rain storms, some high winds and a drop in temperature (oh what fun!!) and I must admit that since my thoughts turned to home at the beginning of the week I have finally started to feel pretty tired from the trip. So this week is going to be fairly quiet and battling with LA traffic is not something I get overly excited about!
Yesterday I took off north of the city to Glendale where I tried the Angeles Crest Highway. You may remember I tried to ride Highway 2 a couple of weeks ago but it was closed about 10 miles in on the eastern side of the route (the road was washed-out in places according to the forestry service). Well I decided I would check the same road out from the western end and while it is still not fully open I could ride up some of the way.
It was a nice enough run although I must admit that I left the hotel in my jeans and just a t-shirt under my jacket and by the time I got a mile up the Angeles Crest Highway the jeans had been swapped for the lined biking pants and a sweatshirt and the thermal liner for the jacket had been donned.
It was bright and sunny for the most part although there wasn't any great heat in the sun.
The clouds in the distance started to roll in and the temperature started to drop and so I decided to turn and start my descent back into the valley.
I headed back the way I came and pitched up again in Redondo Beach (after a couple of unplanned detours!).....on the way back I came off the 405 onto the 105 only to realise that it was an elevated highway and the wind was fierce as I climbed....thankfully I was only on it for a few miles.....
Yesterday I took off north of the city to Glendale where I tried the Angeles Crest Highway. You may remember I tried to ride Highway 2 a couple of weeks ago but it was closed about 10 miles in on the eastern side of the route (the road was washed-out in places according to the forestry service). Well I decided I would check the same road out from the western end and while it is still not fully open I could ride up some of the way.
It was a nice enough run although I must admit that I left the hotel in my jeans and just a t-shirt under my jacket and by the time I got a mile up the Angeles Crest Highway the jeans had been swapped for the lined biking pants and a sweatshirt and the thermal liner for the jacket had been donned.
It was bright and sunny for the most part although there wasn't any great heat in the sun.
The clouds in the distance started to roll in and the temperature started to drop and so I decided to turn and start my descent back into the valley.
I headed back the way I came and pitched up again in Redondo Beach (after a couple of unplanned detours!).....on the way back I came off the 405 onto the 105 only to realise that it was an elevated highway and the wind was fierce as I climbed....thankfully I was only on it for a few miles.....
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
L.A......city of the car!!!!
Not a great deal to report but thought I should check-in all the same to ensure everyone knew I was still ok.
I made my way down to L.A. on Monday morning (about 160 miles) in order to find myself somewhere to store the bike. I have decided to hold onto her, park her up somewhere and then return to the USA in about 3 months when the weather up north is more inviting to spend 3-4 weeks visiting places like Montana and possibly Canada's British Columbia.
Anyway....I had a couple of leads on storage companies that might be able to help but spent much of Monday afternoon sweltering in LA traffic (seems to be constant gridlock), getting lost and getting very frustrated at storage companies who were of no help whatsoever once I had found them!
Long story short.....found a company who will have a space for me by the end of this week....they are building me a little cage to lock my bike away in at this very moment.
I ended up in Redondo Beach on Monday evening and Tuesday morning I decided to have a day off the bike and I extended my stay in the hotel and had a lazy day walking along the beach and chilling out.
not quite Baywatch but you get the idea....
from the Pier at Redondo Beach
I made my way down to L.A. on Monday morning (about 160 miles) in order to find myself somewhere to store the bike. I have decided to hold onto her, park her up somewhere and then return to the USA in about 3 months when the weather up north is more inviting to spend 3-4 weeks visiting places like Montana and possibly Canada's British Columbia.
Anyway....I had a couple of leads on storage companies that might be able to help but spent much of Monday afternoon sweltering in LA traffic (seems to be constant gridlock), getting lost and getting very frustrated at storage companies who were of no help whatsoever once I had found them!
Long story short.....found a company who will have a space for me by the end of this week....they are building me a little cage to lock my bike away in at this very moment.
I ended up in Redondo Beach on Monday evening and Tuesday morning I decided to have a day off the bike and I extended my stay in the hotel and had a lazy day walking along the beach and chilling out.
not quite Baywatch but you get the idea....
from the Pier at Redondo Beach
Wednesday morning and I guess I should check out the map and make a plan for the day!
Sunday, 5 April 2009
Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Parks
the largest grove of the world's largest tree (apparently!)
End of Week 9:
Mileage on the bike - 21, 245
Miles ridden this week - 1, 516
Total Miles ridden - 13, 801
Back to Mariposa
all shiny again...
So I headed out of Sonora with the sun and the bike shining and headed south back down highway 49. The road was good and I was just taking things easy with a new front tyre and new brake pads front and rear......the road was full or twists and turns which was good fun until I came round a bend to find an old guy in an SUV (a great big 4x4) on the wrong side of the road - essentially he couldn't be arsed to follow the road (in an S-bend )and just decided to go straight between 2 bends and so was on my side of the road - but thankfully I wasn't going very fast as I had just stopped to take a couple of pics.....another mile in either direction and I might have been making the choice between the front of his truck or over the edge into the valley!
I first thought that I must have reverted back to UK-mode and it was me that was on the wrong side of the road but I pretty quickly established that it wasn't my mistake and it was him that was on my side of the road. I stopped in the middle of the road...he passed me and slowed to a near-stop and then looking in his mirror he decided against allowing me to respond and sped off......man I was so ready to deck the bastard......he nearly killed me for the sake of 10 seconds!
heading down into the valley and back up the other side
the other side looking back at where I came from...
...and the road snaking its way up the valleyI made my way into Mariposa and decided to park up early. Went back to the place I stayed in a couple of nights ago and they couldn't be more helpful....the 2 guys on the desk after giving me a good deal on a room were both out looking at the bike and asking me questions about the trip.
I headed into town and was in the 49'er Bar before 1630 enjoying a bottle of Moosehead (canadian lager) and soon ended up talking to Kevin, Kaela and PJ (pauline).....we played a little pool, fed money into the jukebox and had a few laughs.....Kevin eventually disappeared after way too many beers.
Kaela and PJ stayed on a while and I even ended up talking to PJ's fiancee, Ted, on the phone. Best wishes to you guys for the wedding and married life to follow! It was about 1130 before I left the bar (Randy the owner tells me I handle my beer pretty well......after 10 or 12 Mooseheads!!!!) and I headed back to my hotel for the night.
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