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Day 2,

July 24, 2003.

 

I woke up and started packing quickly before too many people arrive and start questioning about the tent in a no overnight place. :)

Some strange looking guy, with a bicycle, passing by the trail, stopped and started talking to me asking, what I was doing. He seemed a little lonely, and probably was homeless. He told me a story of how his good bicycle was stolen when he was sleeping in the park right under the bike. The guy also very much wanted to help me and was very detailed in describing how to get to Angeles Crest Highway.

I wished him a good luck and departed. It was close to 7 am.

In 30 minutes, I stopped for a breakfast at Mc Donald’s.

The bicycle was leaning against something outside so I could constantly see it.

 

In the lobby room, there were some construction workers eating their breakfast.  One of them, with a long mustache, was looking at the bicycle and seemed interested.

When I sat at the table, he asked where I was cycling from. I answered -Alhambra (which is only about 15 miles away).

The guy smiled and with a relief pronounced -you have so much stuff on the bicycle, that it looks like you are heading to NY! I told him that indeed, that’s where I was going. His smiled vanished and he silently kept looking at me and the bike. Before leaving, he wished me a good luck on the journey. :) 

 

Later on I noticed that most people ask two questions:  "Where are you going from?" and "Where are you going to?" Some of them ask both... :)

 

After a nice lunch, I start pedaling again but in few minutes there is a feel that something is wrong with the bike. When braking or turning, the front wheel felt strange. I stopped and discovered that the front axle was lose in the bearings and had a big play. I did have a wrench for the axle and stopped on a grass section under the tree. Took the bags off, released the wheel and readjusted the bearing until it was smooth and tight. Reinstalled the wheel with bags and kept riding. This took about 20 minutes and some dirty hands. The little tube of anti-grease soap helped to wash hands quickly.

 

Finally, I saw the beginning of Angeles Crest Highway. There was also a sign informing that the next gas station is 40 something miles. The sun was shining pretty aggressively, so I stopped at the last "76" gas station and filled up the bottles with water; washed face and threw a cup of ice behind the shirt. The road was gradually going uphill, so after few minutes of pedaling, I started walking. The shoulder was fairly wide.

 

Soon, road became a real mountain serpentine, with beautiful look outs showing mountain valleys and skyline Los Angeles. In about 40 minutes I was passing the golf course with nicely trimmed grass fields. I pedaled through the gates in search of water. After few turns on the golf cart roads, I saw a drinking water station. It was a king of bucket with ice inside and paper cups near it. :) Drank enough and filled up the bottles again. At that time I still didn't know how much water was required and only had two 500 ml bottles.

 

Next several hours I mostly walked, occasionally pedaling on the horizontal portions of the road. The scenery was strikingly different from the one I was used to for the past 5 months. I was walking in a great mood. Finally all the preparations were past and here is the actual trip. Some thoughts on my mind were of this nature:  walking... how will I get across the country at this speed? It is not going to be a short trip, that's for certain. At least I have time. Now that there is no job or particular time I have to be somewhere, seasons are the only limits. :) In two months it will start getting cold in Canada...  We will see.

 

Meanwhile the sun is shining and I walk by the dead rattle snake. It must have been run over. By the way, there are very many motorcycles riding along. Some of them move extremely fast on the turns, sometimes occupying the opposite lane. Well, if this snake would have been under the wheel of the motorcycle while it's going through the turn, it could very well cause a bad accident. By the way, the shoulder of the road occasionally has some crosses in memory of people that got killed there.

 

At one moment I see a strange looking cloud, with the right ellipse above it. While I was getting the camera out, wind changed the shape and here is what was captured. :)

 

Several hours passed by. What was on my mind while pushing that heavy thing up the hill? Yes, the weight! :) I started to think what I could get rid of. Old black pants with broken zipper were going first. They aren't the right color for being in the sun all day long anyway. I also left few other things... I dumped all that at the next lookout stop.

 

In the next several miles, I saw an older man sitting on the stone, not far from the road, in the shade. I asked him if he was all right. He said he was just resting. I asked him if he needed a cable that I was carrying on the bike. It's just one of those heavy cables with eyelids for the lock on the end. First, he said he didn't want it, but when I asked if he could just take it back to town and give to some kid, he agreed. I knew that I couldn’t carry it anymore, since I still had 2 more cables and a heavy U-lock. Some of them will go next. 

 

Meanwhile I found out that the man lived in Los Angeles, and was coming here sometimes to do this amazing job he was doing. He was picking up trash from the shoulders!   He was not getting paid for it or anything. Just he wanted to do something helpful and this road was meaningful to him for some reason.  He parks his car somewhere down the road and walks both ways picking up bottles, fast food bags etc.  I was very amazed by that encounter.  Few more minutes we talked about the mountains, he told me more about the road ahead and that after some tunnel, in few miles there was suppose to be a campground Monte Christo. We wished each other good luck and I kept walking further, - north on Angeles Crest Highway, through the San Gabriel Mountain Range.

 

Several more hours passed and with the sun lowering, it got a little cooler. Finally I saw a tunnel with a little pick-nick area behind it. I stopped to eat and rest. Some fruits and candies... little water left. Some more people pulled out and started preparing for dinner at one of the tables. To use the opportunity, I walked to them, (two older women and an older man), and asked if they could take a picture of me near the bicycle. For some reason they weren't very friendly - took the camera without saying anything and clicked the shutter. I thanked them but had a feeling the picture wasn't going to be good either. And indeed, not only my face was very strange on it; the picture was also off center. So, I just deleted it. :) This is one of the main advantages of the digital cameras.

 

Refreshed, and with the air being cooler, I got back on the road, which was now mostly leveled. Just about a mile after next turn, I saw a couple of little buildings, or trailers with few cars parked in front of them. It was some kind of store. I stopped and went inside with empty bottles. The man inside was wearing a hat, and I think had long mustache. He saw a bicycle, and that's probably why he was generous. He brought an old style jug with water and let me fill the bottles from it. Then I realized, they have to bring water here from the city. I also bought a can of tuna fish in oil, which was reasonably priced, at least that's what I though there, wanting something besides fruits and candies. The man also asked where I was going, and when I said about Canada, he was not surprised at all. Instead he abstractly said "-You are strange Europeans...  not long ago there were two young girls from England walking by... they were backpacking to Canada".

 

Well, :) maybe Europeans just appreciate the open space that Europe lacks. There are lots of Americans enjoying their continent as well.

 

In few more miles I saw a Monte Christo campground sign. Unfortunately the campground wasn't free. I didn't think it was necessary to spend 8$ to pitch a tent in a spot where an RV can be nicely parked next to it...; besides there was no water in the campground.

I rode few more kilometers and pulled off the road. The grade was steep and it was a hassle taking the heavy bags of the bike to get it down to the nearest glade.

However, I managed to set up the tent before it got completely dark. Then I was lying there glad that it's free and in a very inaccessible place, so another quite night is provided.

In the night, however I got really cold, and hat to put on whatever additional clothes I had.

 

It was obviously time to get a sleeping bag. Something was walking around the tent at night, but nothing else happened and I got enough rest for the new day to come.

 

Today's total - approximately 15 miles.

 

 

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