Thursday, January 17, 2008

WAY OF THE TWENTY-SOMETHING

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As long as I'm on the subject of biking, I figured I'd jump to August of 1993 in the photo archive— The nearly 500 mile ride down the coast with boards from southern Marin County to northern Orange County I took with my good friend Sean.
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My rig the moment before heading off on our way.
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A look before crossing south over the Golden Gate.
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Sean, first night's camp.
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Days later, lookin' back at the miles behind us after a fun morning session.
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Entering another realm. My favorite stretch of coast on the ride.
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Sean's balancing act on our way into one beach.
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Me about to pull into a closeout section at another.
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Sean stoked after a night slept on a turn out.
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Another look back to the north behind us.
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A large driftwood dwelling down below. Something I'm sure we would have missed if traveling by car.
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Central coast color. Marigolds, if I remember correctly.
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Sean and his imitation of a fabled species known as the Mexican Blanket Flying Squirrel.
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The day after the above photo was taken, a pedestrian in SLO walked out in front of us without looking and Sean jammed his knee into the gooseneck of his bike while avoiding impact with the kid. Together we moved on to a few more beaches south. But by the afternoon we made it to Santa Barbara Sean's knee was done. He crashed out at someone's house in Santa Barbara that night and I rode on and slept on the beach in Carpinteria. The next day Sean took the train home while I kept riding. By the time I made it into L.A. County, that same day, I could see a building south swell in the water. I kept on truckin' and made it to the Orange County beach pictured in WAY OF THE GROM in time for a late afternoon session of overhead sets with a 115 mile day under my belt. Later that night Sean and I were drinking beers together at a friends party, and the next morning I found myself day-dreaming through day one of a junior college chemistry course lecture.
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9 comments:

Danimal said...

that is insane. i need to get out more.

brownfish said...

I'll have to use my 5 y/o's favorite word. AWESOME!

R.T. said...

definitely one of the best experiences of my life.

Daniel said...

Awesome! I have always wanted to take a trip like that.

unidentified said...

Wild Child!!!!
Love the flying sQuirrel.
Seems that maneuver would've been the
cause of injury?

R.T. said...

the squirrel's one of my favs too. it definitely could have primed his knee for more injury than he would have sustained otherwise, i guess.

Anonymous said...

great post rt. thanks for sharing such a neat experience. you turned my frown upside down.

Unknown said...

true nomad style, i can digit.

R.T. said...

sean definitely has the nomad in him. not long after the bike ride he crewed on a sailboat from greece to the panama canal and on up to redondo beach.