DiViDe RiDE PaRT FoUr PaLoS ALtOs To RoCkY CaNyOn

That Night was cold. The coldest so far. The first night I didn't even have to use my Sleeping bag, and I tried to sleep just in my emergency bivy alone, but in the middle of the night I had to fetch my sleeping bag.

I am not used to sleeping on the floor, repeated nights in a row. The biggest issue I was having was a pillow. The smarter man would of probably purchased an inflatable version and brought it along, but I thought I could make do. For a moment I wondered if there was some ingenious way I could with my current kit solve the Pillow Riddle.

I added layers and packed up then sat on my tyvek groundcloth and put down some chocolate calories, knowing that if all went well and I made it over the CDT as planned I would be heading into the Infamous Gila forest.

I was not intimidated by what I had heard about the Gila. It would be the first serious off road climbing of the route, but after the TNGA and the rumored Appalachian type nature of the climbs in the Gila I felt it would not be a problem.

Again the day started on a climb.

As I made my way off the mountain I tried to look at the scenery and not obsess on the approaching turn off pavement I could see on the GPS taking me towards the CDT.

Finally I see dirt and I make my way.

Immediately the track turns upward into a wicked 4 x 4 jeep crawler type track. I'm loving it, enter the 22 ring!

I'm pedaling along, enjoying the jagged off road track thanking god that I was riding something that was more a kin to my preferences. Up and over I go, and then, something I didn't expect happens.. I peak out to a mountain top and I am way off track. I think for a second that maybe it was like the TNGA and the green track was not 100% accurate on skinny trail, but after some back tracking, I top out again, descend and then spend some more time searching and searching, this time trusting the green track instead of doubting it.

AND finally, I find the entrance to the CDT!!!!

Excited I jump right in, ascending and riding narrow track with exposed side cuts that punished you severely for any margin of error.

Up and down, a hike a bike here and pedal there I was in Singletrack Nirvana.

I stop to layer down and prepare for the heat of the day that was rapidly approaching. The sun launches into the sky fast in the desert. Amazingly fast.

I continue on the track, enjoying the views and snapping pics watching the green line and seeing where this fun will end, Singletrack is HARD to come by on the Tour Divide.

Eventually the fun does end and the track dumps out into a group campground. I had planned an off route detour to re stock on water. I had intentionally metered how much water I took up and over signal peak CDT to avoid carrying extra weight.

Every pump I checked was not ready, or working. So on I moved and I continued with my original plan. The heat was beaming off the pavement. But it was mostly downhill as I made my way to a section that the map called Lake Roberts. Interesting enough.

I had ridden a couple of miles and was starting to wonder if I would see this ranger station. Just as I wonder I notice a cafe to my left. I approach the door and although its not open it says to ring bell.

I press the button and a bell goes off in the house on my left.

A lady rushes out and ask me what I needed and I ask if I could purchase some soda. She is nice and conversational, and after going through the usual particulars that I usually get about what I am doing and where I am going she ask me how much water I am carrying.

She apparently is very familiar with the direction I am heading and she tells me I don't have enough water. She gets me an extra container and offers me Ice and water for all my bottles, my bladder and the extra empty bottle she just gifted me.

I had a moment of clarity and asked her if she would sell me a sandwich. Frances handed me the menu and told me to order whatever I wanted. Indeed this was a cafe, but business had been slow, but she was more then eager to help out a fellow traveler and adventurer.

Frances was a marketing professor from Chicago who decided she wanted to change her life and come live out there in New Mexico. A better life. She told me stories about other people who she had to save who were bike touring and did very poor planning.

It was the best cheeseburger I had ever had. I ate and we talked, I used the bathroom, paid and left.

Before leaving I soaked my Specialized Sun arm protectors in water, my under shirt and the bandanna I was wearing under my helmet. I put this all on.

For years I have done lots of studying on how to survive and thrive in various conditions and I knew that in the Dry desert moisture gets sucked out of everything so even though it was hot, I was putting on as much layers as I would wear if the weather was cold.

I made my way towards the Forest road that would start my Trek across the Gila. After several miles I turn off the pavement and begin the climb up to the plateau. And just then I hear a familiar sound as my phone starts chiming from receiving voice mails and sounding off from receiving text messages. The symphony of sounds eventually subsided, for the first time in a day and half I had cell signal so I took a moment to respond to messages and make a few calls.

I was already feeling not so good. Was I still suffering from sleep deficit? Had I ate too much to late in the day??? No matter I persevered.

I got up on the plateau thinking the trail would flatten out, but no. I kept climbing. Once the climbing subsided, I then started hitting the absolute worst washboards I had ever encountered.

My motivation was low. My arms were experiencing fatigue similar to ripping out repeated push ups to muscle failure. I got into my aero bars but the position was hard to maintain in the washboards and it was just not as comfortable as I remembered or preferred.

I resorted to weaving left and right across the road trying to find the less washboarded spot. Tried to surf the very edge where the road was smooth, but they sharply graded the roads on the edges to form a drainage and I slipped and fell into the ditch.

This continued for several hours and my feelings of exhaustion persisted. I took breaks. Thoughts of quitting came into my mind and I would eat gummy worms and they would go away, and then I would repeat. I feared my arm fatigue would mean me slipping my grip and hitting my face on the bars.

The day persisted. I would spend hours going up only to finish the rewarding downhill in less than 3 minutes. I kept thinking how much easier this would be coming from the other way, how much more downhill I would have.

It was hard to gauge my progress and where I was on the map. I was really beating myself up cause my progress was miserably slow. Although my pace had been fine at the beginning I had really lost some serious forward momentum this past day and a half.

Its funny how the your own mind will kick your own ass. And I was in full on ass kicking mode. Just beating myself up about it all.

After what seemed like an eternity I was descending when I spotted a campground and a sign that said Rocky Canyon. Along with that sign I saw a car of all things.

I spoke to the campers. Chit Chatting mostly. I asked them how far Black Canyon was and he said 4 miles and she said 8 miles. I looked at the elevation profile sheet and felt at my exhaustion level it was better to just camp. This spot had a picnic table and a porta pottie, why not.

Thinking strategy I felt it best to go to bed early again and see if more rest would make me feel better. I felt so defeated, so tired, that continuing the race was mentally in serious jeopardy.

I had no appetite. I did my best to choke something down and then when I laid down, It took all my concentration to not throw up what I had just ate.

More to come.


Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

DiViDe RiDE PaRT ThRee SiLvEr CiTy to PaLoS ALtOs

I opened my eyes and there on the opposite couch was Jamie Thomson possibly working on something city related.

Jamie is a former Tour Divide finisher, owner of the bike house and city council man and bicycle advocate.

I felt feverish. I looked at my droid, I had slept four hours. I had hoped to sleep alot more but that's what I got and I needed to get going. The plan for the evening was to camp somewhere up on signal peak as I made my way across the new CDT addition to the Great Divide Mountain Bike route.

Before I left town though I had a list of things I wanted to do. Grab an espresso, grab something hot for dinner, grab about 2 days worth of food. The little things.

Everything went perfectly smooth, but I found it so hard to buy 2 days worth of junk food and then carry it all. Eventually I sorted out all my kit and got going out of town, up and up into Palos Altos.

By the time I made the town of Palos Altos darkness had firmly planted itself for the night. I could not located the rumoured spicket. I was feeling incredibly tired still. Just out of gas. Had my Coyote run the night before been too much of a sacrifice after sitting around for two weeks and doing nothing? Would I be able to recover from this? These are the games my mind was playing with me.

I was conflicted I had just spent what seemed like a lifeless trip up the mountain into the Palos Altos and now I didn't much feel like going forward. My clock was all messed up too, technically at 6pm at night I had started day two, LOL. Hilarious.

SO, instead of going forward I followed my own sage advice, listened to my body and pulled into the Buckhorn allegedly the oldest Saloon in the universe. I sat outside for a minute, reflecting. Trying to figure out why I felt so crappy? Was it sleep deprivation?

Just as I am sitting contemplating my lack of well being, three intoxicated gentlemen stumbled out of the saloon, one drunker than the next.

Noticing a guy in cycling clothes with a fully loaded bike always inspires a million and one questions.

So there we are, I'm pulling out maps, I'm letting them lift the bike, I practically laid out my kit for them to look at. One of the guys was worried about my safety and spent a good 30 minutes warning me about fires which I assured him if they were in my path that I would be re routed.

Two more people came out, one of them a cook, and feeling hungry I asked if they were still serving dinner, I figured I was out of energy, at a pit stop, I might as well, eat and have some drinks and enjoy this tour as much as possible.

BUT, much to my disappointment they had stopped serving. I had picked up a Giant Burrito before leaving Silver and I asked if I could eat go inside drink some beer and eat my food. They said of course and I pulled out my jacket and went in and sat and ate and drank and listened to them converse.

I like people watching, I'm an anthropologist so its something that I do often not only as a citizen of this planet, but as a social scientist. And the best way to people watch is for me to blend in the room and be seemingly invisible. As weird as that may sound considering everyone in the place was dressed to be hanging out in a bar and socializing and me all decked out in cycling attire.

It seemed like they were starting to close up and the guy asked if I wanted another drink. I declined and paid my fair, got layered up cause the night had become chilly and went off on my way.

Feeling a Lil buzz of beer, I quickly discovered that the town of Palos Altos was the peak of profile and I went downhill Immediately after leaving the saloon. Then a Lil rise and even more downhill. The moonlight was revealing a forest. TREES actual TREES I hadn't seen TREES in weeks.

I kept rolling on, and then started seeing people who were camping at the Roadside available sites. Kept my pace going and when the road started turning uphill the fatigue started to return. I zoomed out on the GPS and I saw where the turn off was for the CDT. As tired as I was feeling I had to think about the long haul. This was not a 300 mile race this was a nearly 3000 mile epic and I needed to conserve, invest and think about the future.

SO, I decided to try and spot a bivy spot. Kept my eyes open and noticed a spot to set up camp. I hiked across a dry creek to a nice wide open spot next to a rocky out cropping. For the first time I was using the inflatable mattress that Jeff Tomassetti's nephew had been nice enough to lend me. Usually whilst bikepacking in Florida I either use a hammock or hobo camp on benches, I had never used the mattress. Even the first night I bivied at Soldiers Retreat I didn't use a pad, I just laid up on the sand. Thankfully it was very user friendly and after some adjustments and trying to figure out what to use for a pillow I fell fast asleep hoping that some healing rest would re energize me and give me strength for the next day.

To be continued,

Take Care,

The NaKeD InDiaN

DiViDe RiDE PaRT TwO SoLDiErS ReTreAt to SiLvEr CiTy

I sprung from my sleep like a jack in the box that had reached its peak of full crank and clown music.

Looked around and could see nothing but desert sand in all directions, speckled with cacti and mountains.

It had been 2 hours since I had fallen asleep and I immediately packed my things and did what I had to do to get on my way.

My clothes were covered in salt as was my face. Considering I had been riding all night in what I thought were tame conditions I felt filthy as if I had been wallowing in a sand box at the local playground.

I took a second to soak it all in.

The remoteness.
The crisp chill in the air.
But didn't linger long before I was up and pedaling.

Although I had only slept for two hours I felt very rested, and immediately dug into my top bags for food.

The chocolate was still in a hard state as I pedaled along wondering when this sandy section would end, secretly cursing myself for not doing better route study. Time was just hard to find as my busy life wash drain spiraled into this event.

I continued on and before long I saw a street sign of all things in the middle of nowhere. AN animal that was long like a goat but ran like a deer, two of them tearing off after they spotted me. Climbed some big climbs and then dropped down a sweet canyon before I finally started seeing actual trees.

Some bigger climbs came along followed by some white knuckle rutted dirt road downhills that were bringing a smile to my face, leaving me thinking that finally I was seeing some variety from the previous hours efforts.

Finally I found the end of the dirt and hit pavement once again. I took a bit of time to eat a little more food before my chocolate returned to a melted state and drank some water before riding the pavement section all the way into Silver City.

AS I made my way down the pavement I started to feel fatigued. I didn't know if it was the fact that the temperature had gone from cool to hot so fast or the fact that in the past 30 hours I had only slept two, but I was hurting. It bothered me that I was hurting so much so early into this 20 plus day epic.

I was contemplating all this in my head when a car sped by and quickly stopped. I wondered if I was already being SPoT Stalked, but that wasn't the case at all as I saw Lloyd's familiar face emerge from the car.

He gave me a run down of everything I had done in the past 14 hours, which I smiled at, and asked me if I was OK, before he jumped back in his car on his way to complete the errands him and his wife were performing.

I cant say enough about Lloyd, truly a superstar. A Former Sheriff for the entire area, Judge, etc, this guy was all around Bad to the Bone.

The climbs were long riding into Silver City. I kept thinking wow, this would all be downhill if I was coming from the north. But I kept the cranks turning and geared down intently looking at my GPS and that way point that let me know I was getting closer to my goal.

Here I was climbing what seemed to be the longest climb of all stretching for what seemed an eternity. When I got to the top I felt dazed and dizzy, dismounted from the bike and literally sat there on the hot pavement with my eyes closed hiding behind my bike since it was the only form of shade for miles and miles.

I couldn't understand why I felt like warmed over crap so early in the race. I was hungry but couldn't eat, thirsty but tired of drinking so I chalked it up to sleep deprivation.

After a few moments I commanded myself to get up and go forward. And just like that I crested the hill and off in the distance maybe a mile or more away I could see a gas station/convenience store. The only thing I could think about was getting a DR. Pepper. Yes, sugar and caffeine that's what I needed to recharge my body.

I got to the store ran in and bought a giant Dr. Pepper. I asked the lady behind the counter how far was Silver City and she said, its right at the bottom of the hill. Wow, I was not even a mile away and it was all downhill.

I rolled into Silver City at 1030am, turning left towards the Gila Hike and Bike shop to have my Rear Derailleur adjusted. That took no time at all, and I backtracked to where I had turned off to sit down and eat a gigantic burrito and drink even more sugary laced caffeinated beverage.

One advantage to having been stranded in Silver City, I knew exactly where I wanted to go and after my meal I pedaled toward the hostel, greeted and chatted with the people inside as I washed my clothes and took a shower before laying down to rest a little more.

It had been a LONG night, and although I was not 100% satisfied with my effort it was time to attempt to recover from the pain I had experienced on my way into town.....

Part 3 Tomorrow,

Take Care,

The NaKeD InDiaN

DiViDe RiDE PaRT OnE AnTeLoPe WeLLs To SoLDiErS ReTreAt

There I sat in the Lobby of the Comfort Inn all dressed up waiting on UPS and FEDex. Both companies were locked in an Overnight delivery battle, unbeknowst to them.

UPS won, and my Cargo Net showed up first.

Fed Ex second and I Installed my pedals and finally after 4 full days of waiting I had finally put my bike back together, although with a set of borrowed pedals and a lent front wheel.

As I rode around the parking lot the Aer0 bars just didn't feel right. They felt off center or a little too low, I really couldn't nail down what adjustment I needed to make to make them feel as sweet as they once felt when I had them installed on My Mamasita. As it was I didn't have much time to tinker with it either as I needed to make sure I had my last hot meal for what till I made my way back from the border to Silver City.

Circumstance is a funny happenstance, and be things as they made, the week before I left I tapered off the bike and then, little did I know I would get another full on rest week before I could roll out. I was happy nonetheless cause I finally got my bike and I was feeling so foolish and so sad about everything that had happened.

Those first few days I spent waiting where an endurance test all of their own. I would spend all day and all night listening for the bus' breaks and then sprinting from my hotel room to the Grayhound out back, with my heart full of hope, only to be let down when I discovered I was still bike less.

Eventually I got so so tired of that process of let downs after let downs that I left Lordsburg and decided to put all my faith in the hands of the universe and see what dreams may come. My time table was tight, and my patience was gone.

So, regardless that the adjustment could not be made to my liking I ran across the way an scored a big meal of nuggets and fries and sat and ate and chatted with a guy who wanted to do the same ride I was doing but on a motorcycle, access permitting of course. Either way, whether motor powered or not the route would be nice to do.

He was a gold miner of all things. AND eventually he wished me luck and was on his way and Lloyd showed up to give me a ride to the border.

I was all a ball of Nervous anxiety but I tried to keep my cool. I did my best to not think how horrible things had gone up to this point. Did my best to dismiss the feelings filling my head wondering why after so much dreaming and preparation the Universe would feel fit to throw me such a huge curve ball minutes before embarking on lifetime stroll I had long desired.

Lloyd and his clan are truly the salt of the earth. Enthusiastic about the route, he probably day dreams more about it more than I do, but alas, as I have the actual ability and chance to out and do it, He admitted to me that he did not. Sure he may be able to ride some of the flatter sections, but his health would not allow him to ever complete the route as its laid out from either north or south.

Before long we were on the stretch of pavement that last a good 65 miles and takes you to the border. Seemed like every five minutes we were passing Border patrol agents of all types. AND as I counted down the mile markers and listened as Lloyd imparted his detailed knowledge about that part of the world, I saw in the distance Antelope Wells, rapidly approaching, knowing full well that I would finally, after all I had been through, get to start the adventure I had longed for.

Once we arrived I packed up my calories consisting of chocolate candy bars, I looked at the time and saw that I could easily start at 6pm, there was simply no way I was going to sit at the border for 2 hours to wait for my advertised 8pm start time. So I went with it, got ready, got saddled up, had Lloyd take my pic and I was on my way, finally rolling north.

Immediately the first thing I noticed was that it was damn freaking hot and this cross wind from the west was already dragging me down. My legs who had not put in any real efforts in two weeks were sending messages of complaints, but I kept the pedals going.

Instantly my chocolate melted, not something I had planned at all, but still, I did consume a good 1200 calories so I had plenty of food in my stomach to last me at least a good 50 miles and if needed I had plenty of body fat built up on purpose to push farther without food. Not all my calories were chocolate either and after a few hours I opened up the bags of gummy worms I had and began consuming those bit by bit.

When I was traveling perfectly north, my pace would be massively impacted by the winds raking across the flat desert plain. But when I would go north east, my speed would be equally increased by the deflecting crosswind.

Quickly I watched as the sun started descending to my left and to my right I could see that the moon, a full one at that was starting to climb over the summits of the tallest peaks. I didn't even know it was going to be a full moon that night and was pleasantly surprised and full of child like joy that I would get to ride in the full moon light.

It seemed like every 15 minutes I would have to stop to speak to a border agent and explain what the hell I was doing out that late and where I was from, etc, etc. BUT I felt safe knowing they were out there watching and doing there job.

There were cows everywhere. Bats, flying their crooked sacred dances in the sky all around, the biggest I had ever seen. Jack Rabbits with tall sail like ears sprinting in every direction, and my progress was quick, and my energy was high.

Its funny how sometimes I have these great moments of clarity. I had over 1000 calories of melted chocolate, but the night air was cooling down exponentially fast. So I decided to zip open both bags hoping the chill of the night would reconstitute my food, an activity I named "leaving the fridge door open".

I was stopped by a border patrol agent once again and asked him if he knew of any publicly accessible water spickets in Hachita. He said NO, but then said, here and handed me a cold Gatorade from his cooler. I attempted to refuse the offer, explaining the race rules, to which he responded that I didn't know he would be there and that he would offer this cold drink to anyone he would see along the desert, so no rules were being broken.

In Hachita I did a hard target search and found no public water sources available at the time I was crossing. I had decided long ago, that I wanted to get going the first chance I got and it just so happened that the first chance I got was at night. In contemplating that I only saw positives, as crossing that hot wide desert plain in the middle of the day without taking the necessary precautions could prove to be a painful experience.

There was a grocer that would open early, but I had plenty of supplies to get to Separ and beyond if needed. I had been careful to plan enough food for the trip to Silver City and only needed one water top off in the 125 mile distance.

I found a remote electrical source, but NO water source and quickly made my way further north to Separ. I was sure that the Continental Divide store would have supplies.

Finally after 60 miles my tires were crunching dirt as I made my way onto the Service that ran parallel to Interstate 10.

Not long after I rolled into Separ. The parking lot was full of Semi Trucks parked for the night. I found the water pump on the side of the building and let the cold water run for a bit before filling all my bottles and my bladder. I ate chocolate and watched cars roll by, thinking that this bench would be a good place to sleep till first light. BUT no, that was not the plan, the plan was to pedal all the way to Silver City.

I rolled out again finally on Dirt and no longer on pavement for a good long while.

The Tall Palmetto pointy trees that lined the dirt road looked like Conquistadors holding lances. On the Horizon, several times I thought I saw, Ceremonial Adobe round houses. But all were mirages, my mind playing tricks on me. I was a little surprised that I would be seeing such things, but maybe these were the circumstances that Desert riding facilitated and a necessary part of the experience.

I was a man on a mission, big ringing everything since I started at 6pm, and attacking every small rise that came across my path.

Up and down, more riding into the distance that seemed to have no end. It all reminded me of riding the Ocala National Forest in some strange way, and it brought back memories of riding the Lake Okeechobee scenic trail. I thought of my friends, I thought of my family, thought of Rob and things from the past. And then I noticed I was weaving all over the road. At some point I had become dazed and had reached a point that I felt the only choice I had was to sleep for a bit and not risk a silly crash.

On my way to the start, Lloyd had told me to watch for goat heads and thorns if I needed to get off the road, I scouted a clean spot, threw down my Tyvek Ground cloth, rolled out my bivy and instantly fell asleep.


Part two tomorrow,

Take care,

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

ThE RuN of THe CoYoTe

Round these parts out here in the wild wild west, they have these fellows that run in the night called coyotes.





These fellas are not related to Harriett Tubman, nor is this an Underground Railroad. From what I hear, they are pretty awful people, but personally I have never met a Coyote.





BUT, I am the Naked Indian, the Singletrack Samurai, to me a Coyote means something else all together.





To me there is a lot of spiritual power in the medicine of the Coyote. To me it symbolizes the spiritual energy of the first leg of my journey.

And my Journey did not start with an ill fated bus ride. IN fact, if my journey begins at 1, then the bus ride is negative 10 all leading up to these unfortunate turn of events.

Monday, after calling greyhound to check on my tracer they said, its best I fill out a claim as they know nothing. I called the Local Office, just grasping at straws, and found out that my bike had showed. Minus the front wheel.

I updated the world, calls, texts, status updates and then took off like a bullet for the bike shop. At the bike shop they put me in Contact with Jeff Reese who not only loaned me a wheel to use, but also re Stans it and gave me a ride to the Corre Camino Bus service that gave me a lift back to Lordsburg for $2.50.

In Lordsburg I recovered my bike, began putting it together, only to discover that I was missing a pedal. It must have fallen out of the box. So crisis not adverted. Its awesome to be a part of such a supportive cycling community.

That morning I had received an email Greg Houston, owner, operator and creative mastermind behind f3-designs.com , who offered me an entire bikepacking kit, bags, everything to get going. This is the kind of community I am a part of, a complete stranger, who came of knowing of my existence through this Blog, wanted to help. Amazing.

After trying to contact the person who Jeff had set up for me to stay in Lordsburg, I was unsuccessful and needed a physical address as matters where time sensitive so I broke down and got another Hotel Room at the Comfort Inn.

As it stands, Edith sent me the cargo net I was missing. Chris Plesko sent me the pedals I needed. I called Lloyd, local Antelope Wells Shuttle runner, and he will be taking me to the start today, around 5pm, with an 8pm expected start time.

Like the Coyote, I will ride into the night. Eluding the Sun, finding the cool weather, and riding all night long, right into Silver City, where I will camp, restock, then Roll again towards Pie Town, chipping away at New Mexico, until finally its behind me. O, when will be that be, Hopefully before the end of the weekend.

I will post when I can, and update you from the trail as much as possible. If your not my friend on facebook, just look for me, facebook.com/singletracksamurai.

Take Care,

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

LeMonAdE

Yesterday's eve was rough at first.

I arrived at Silver city, not really knowing anyone, not really feeling comfortable. Stranded with the most bare minimum of supplies wears heavy on the mind. Combine that with the potential lost of the things you really worked hard to put together to conquer your dream and the mind starts to crumble under the weight.

I had a very weak moment. Thinking, What's the message in this most recent turn of events.

I lost all yes. But I didn't lose my GPS, nor my maps, nor my charger a half of my cell batteries. I still have my helmet and my cycling shoes along with my cycling clothes. So whats the message, again is what I am left thinking.

Obsessing about all the things I should have done different is no help at all either.

But yesterday EVE, my morale was spiraling and all I could think of was what the easiest way home would be, time to pack it up, FATE has spoken.

Andrew, who lives at the Bike Hostel and Jared, started hanging out with me and we spoke and we laughed and joked, and I started feeling better. Crisis adverted.

That eve, Andrew invited me to go to Pinos Altos to the oldest Saloon in the world. We went, had drinks, hung out then headed back.

The bed they gave me sits on the second floor where the Art Studio is located, and then perched nearly 12 feet off the ground sits the bed way up high, 3 stories from the level ground.

I slept like a rock in my high nested perch.

Got up today, got dressed and headed out on a bike That Andrew lent me, and rode down to have my first real cup of coffee. Rode around some more, stopped in at Hila Hike a bike, and then checked out a park and now I am sitting at the coffee house listening to Older Mature Hippies beating drums and playing guitars.

Not bad I guess.

You know what they say, when you get Lemons, Make Lemonade.

Take Care,

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

WheRe Do We Go FrOm HeRe...

I am supposed to be doing some hardcore pedaling right now. Instead I am in the business center of the Comfort Inn with no bike and no bikepacking kit.

For those that don't know, somehow my Greyhound experience has turned into a nightmarish ordeal when I arrived in Lordsburg New Mexico and my bike that was boxed along with my bikepacking essentials and my front wheel did not.

I honestly didn't even think that in the entire realm of possibility that this was possible. Thus I didn't have a contingency plan nor did I engage in 'hawk eye' observance of my luggage handling. I believe I took it for granted that this company could deliver me and my property safely to another location.

I indeed was wrong.

In retrospect it was a poor choice I guess to have chosen them and expected them to do what they are paid to do.

At this point, I pretty much am done crying about it ( I cried, not gonna lie) and I am in the process of initiating plan b.

I do have a back up kit, albeit not as refined and not as perfected as my original it should do well enough. I will have to ride a little harder and move a little faster to stay in front of any dangerous weather. Basically whereas in my previous kit I could handle serious rain and weather down into the 20's, with this kit, its more like down into the 40's. I guess maybe I can supplement that with good ole fashion news paper and plastic bags which I am not opposed to doing.

Greyhound will have to pay for this big time. There is no way that I am going to let their little policies and procedures dictate how I will be repaid if my bike and my essentials never appear.

I don't care what they say on the phone, I will get an attorney if I have too. It took me years of day dreaming, years of practice and years of experiences to culminate to this point in my life. Only to have my dream significantly handicapped by this company. It is a disgrace that they cannot do their job well enough with such a large Item, that I am inconvenienced in such a devastating fashion and nothing has been done on their part to assist a person that only has the clothes on his back and is for all purposes Stranded. They will pay, no matter how long it takes, war will be confirmed to be declared if my items never show and the this harsh mishap on their part will not go unpunished or unpaid.

So I am waiting for a Nice Gentleman that Matt Lee referred to me to take me to Silver City.

Once in Silver City I will make a couple of more calls to salvage my Plan A and if that does not manifest then I will fire off plan b and have a back up kit, a bag and a bike that is kinda broken, shipped to me so that I can finally and hopefully start pedaling towards Canada either Friday or Saturday.

Will I get to do the entire route all depends on the fact, that after I am done with Daddy Play time I have a family to support and bills to pay. My measly vacation pay was minimum wage for two weeks and the budget is tight and now it has grown even tighter.

Once In Silver City I will stay in a Hostel that Matt referred me too and slowly compile a back up kit, and slowly take off on the adventure of my life with the plan to ride as far as I can OR, if I decide to just suffer for a couple of weeks without money, finish this beast.

I Never would of thought this would have been possible. The transportation of me was fine, I trust Greyhound to transport a person, but never trust them with something you really need that you cant physically handle the entire time yourself. Lesson Learned, but they will still have to pay.

Ok, well I figured y'all wanted an update,

Not a happy post, but the show must go on, I am all dressed up and I need to do something with all the sacrifices and planning I made.

Take Care,

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

PiMBaR

Tradition.

Everyone should have one.

We round here have one we call PiMBar.

Its a bike race, adventure race, fun race.

Its a hell of a day on the bike, fun in so many ways.

For several Years, Mucaro MTB dot blog spot dot com and I have wanted to have what we would both call a good showing and for years it has alluded us.

First cause I was not well, then him, then me, then this year, not even a day before my PiMbar departure, I was feeling ill.

The whole way up to the race, I was a mess.

"Again" I thought.

"another year".

I hung in there though.

I just had to deal with what I had to deal with, in fact I was more concerned with my kit for the day.

I went with no backpack, putting all my emergency gear in a rear Carousel Seat bag.

I decided on Two bottles in the Feedbags and two bottles in the frame, no frame bag.

The bike was light and at 27lbs I thought I had done a great job with my kit for the days race.

When Rob and I got to Pisgah Forest Late that evening, I was feeling a little better, but was caught off guard by how cold it was.

So cold in fact that I decided not to put up my hammock and just car camp so I could get the most rest possible.

The best way to treat or prevent a cold is with adequate and replenishing rest.

The next morning I woke up, took some Day quil, ate my food and got ready to go out and have a spectacular day in the forest.

The TNGA was the last time I did any real climbing, admittedly I was nervous.

I had done the TNGA with only 18 gears and I had the opportunity on this day to finally test the BEAST in the mountains and try 30 gears on the climbs.

The morning went smooth. The registration fast. Was nice to see all the people I had not seen in a year. I really like them folks, gives the event an 'home away from home' vibe.

Eric and Erinna are an inspiration in what they have done for the Mountain Biking community and I fully admit, I was motivated by his skills and effort into doing what I do down here with Singletrack Samurai Productions.

Before long maps were handed off and even faster the start gun went off and we were told to read the passport before leaving the parking lot.

We did, and it paid off, big time.

Luis is a smart guy and tons of fun to be partners with. Usually I let him pick the route. And I am cool with whatever he comes up with. This year I recommended we hear what the other guys wanna do and shadow them. Less thinking for us, more fun to just ride, we went with it and it worked out well.

All was going smooth, in a matter of moments we were at checkpoint one. My climbing was going well, and I was pretty happy with it. As the day went on, I realized that it didn't take long to remind my legs of them 368 miles I did across Northern Georgia in the mountains.

When we were almost at Checkpoint 3 we came across some familiar faces, Rob Roberts and Mike Kanning, PiMbar aliases, BLACK OPS.

Rob had a furrowed brow with a look of concern, but was happy to see us as well, whereas Mike Looked frustrated. It wasn't long before they revealed to us that they had not read the passport and had not turned in the required Wooden Nickel before leaving the lot instantly getting a 2 hour penalty. Their race, was in essence a done deal, unless they pulled something BIG off.

We completed the checkpoint and continued onto 3 when I noticed that my head set would not stop klunking.

I stopped to make a repair and noticed that my star fangled nut had folded sideways inside. Luckily with help from Mucaro Mtb dot blog spot dot com and Rob from zero Horsepower, we were able to make a repair and it was literally good as new. I had my tour divide repair kit with me and luckily I did, cause the pliers on my squirt leatherman turned out to be the key item to a successful non bike damaging repair.

Black Ops decided to join the party wagon as it rolled across the beautiful landscape of pisgah forest. For once I actually took the time to site see as I whittled away the miles. For once I actually enjoyed the repeated cool creek crossings, and the conversation and the laughter. I was having a blast.

We popped out on the road, finishing our team trek as Black Ops took off for a potable water refuel and a compost porta potty assisted nature break. We finished off our break and rolled on. It was nice to be on a gravel road and my reawakened TNGA legs were just chomping up the terrain in such a pleasant fashion, that I was once again, caught up in the beauty of my surroundings and sounds of the bike as it crunched away gravel undertire.

As we emerged from a climb there was a respite on the hill, grilled cheese sandwiches and cokes, but by the time I arrived, there was no coke for me, and miffed I insisted we push on.

A screaming fun, team downhill later and Black Ops continued to their business and we split off with Rob and Rich up and up to the next checkpoint.

Again my pace was relentless and persistent and it was sheer pleasure. You have them days where everything just comes together, and I was having one of them days. Sure I wasn't on any kind of level that would of won us the race, but there were small victories going on with me, moment by moment.

Back up we went after another nice downhill... I cant remember what the name of the road is. But I knew it was not a long climb and my rhythm was right. I got my 22 ring up front and started putting in a perfectly balanced tempo. Not too hard, not too soft. Legs moving just right, not spinning, not mashing and started picking up speed.

I Pass Team Rob and Rich. Pass by Mucaro MTB dot blogspot dot com and spend the rest of the climb, with my team mate close behind passing riders all the way up. I have to say, the moment was exquisite for me.

This time when I got to the Grilled cheese spot, I was so hungry that I ate a ton of potato chips and drank lots of water.

We took off to conquer the 7 mile trek up the mountain to pilot rock.

Again, I was really enjoying the climb, gradual enough that I found the perfect tempo in my 22 ring and just flew up there till we got to the point that we had to do an ' all in your face' hike a bike the final 1000 feet.

When we got to the top we scored our fourth checkpoint, and contemplated briefly with the thought of waiting for team Rob and Rich. But I was against it, I know how much effort it took for us to get up there an Rob had been slowing down all day. I wanted to be done before dark, so onward we pushed.

The descent down the treacherous pilot rock took a long time as I carefully picked my way through the technical boulder rock strewn mountainside. Sharp tight, heavily penalizing switchbacks and super long 500 foot rock gardens. How quaint.

I made it to the bottom and without a break I was in the big ring attacking the course. It was time to chase who we could chase an beat who we could beat.

AND the attack was merciless.......


Till I ran out of food and water,........

And then it was a painful slog up pressley gap. Then a slog to the top of black mountain for the final descent. I was so starved all the sudden I was having to take the downhill slow cause I was having trouble focusing my eyes on the terrain.

And then, either my system found a good pocket of body fat to burn or that last bit of peanut m and m's I ate before descending clawhammer took hold, cause I started feeling myself again and was able to really attack the downhill.'

Down to the finish we were chasing team downs, completing our final passes 'Radical Rick style' on the fastest sections of lower black mountain determined to get as many spots forward as we could before the races end.

We crossed the finish line, completing our mission and finishing happy and strong and ready to eat.

That night the celebration was short.

There was more internal celebration going on as I dozed off while watching Ride the Divide on my droid, feeling like a champion for conquering the PiMbar to my level of satisfaction.

Thanks Luis for being such a heck of a team mate and competitor.

Take Care,

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

BaY to LaKe RiDe

The Transflorida project persist.

It does.

I mean it.

Rob and Mike Kanning have been working hard at making a mostly off road route from Downtown Tampa by the bay to a section where we could pick up the other half of the TransFlorida.

To make a Long story short, they did it.

Yes they did!

In keeping with shorter long stories, it was rad as well.

BUT, I'm sure you don't look at this blog for the short story, nah, you look to get all the details. So here we go.....

It was an early Saturday for us, Edith, Shelby, LIL'r NI and I packed up the car bike and all heading towards a Soccer Game in Winter Park Proper. It was one of the Shelby's Last game and I had not been to a one so I was anxious to see her in action.

I was also APPALLED that they were playing 6 on 6 soccer. After a brief and deep discussion with Edith, where I thought 6 on 6 was a disadvantage and she thought it was an advantage, we watched a pretty good match that ended in a tie.(in retrospect I think she is right, but dont tell her that)

After the game we went to Mellow Mushroom. For the first time since my birthday, October 24th 2010, I was gonna eat some grains. And it was Yummy..

After, we rolled out, heading to downtown Tampa so I could meet up with Mike and Rob to start our little overnight adventure.

The plan was for Rob and I to ride all the way to Clermont and for Mike to ride home after coming a certain distance. I wanted to ride all the way home from Clermont as well, I figured I needed the miles ya know.

After some Traffic induced frustration, Mike and I met up, I got changed, said my good byes and we went over to hang out with Dawn before leaving. Soon enough after hanging out for a bit waiting to see Dawn's Dragon Boat team getting a trophy, we decided it was taking too long and rolled out.

Now usually when I tour, I like to ride my ride. Ride my pace, after years of experience this is what works for me. BUT, I made a resolution to keep up with Mike and Rob, and as we made our way on pavement that soon gave way to grassy Levy's and technical under pass bridge crossings. I did a fairly good job of staying in contact.

It took a long time to get out of Tampa, but eventually after finishing up some sweet double track, mike Headed back and Rob and I had to figure out on the Fly how to finish the route. And we did without issue. In the process we rode through a nice neighborhood, and some really nice undulating dirt roads.

Sometime around 10pm or so we reached the Green Swamp and not even a mile into it, with only a mile to go to Rob's pre planned camp for the night, we found an actual campsite with all the amenities and since we were done early, we had plenty of energy to start a fire and have a little bit of fun.

IN the distance I could hear a motorcycle, and I admit it made me nervous, but eventually it faded away. We set up camp, I didn't have an air mattress so I made a pad out of Moss I gathered from around the camp ground. It was actually pretty comfortable.

Rob proved to be the more prepared rider as he pulled an over the head mosquito net out of his bike to sleep through the night. As I laid there with bugs buzzing my ears, I thought that his mosquito head net wasn't much different then the mesh sack I keep on the bike when I need to carry more food then I can fit on the bike. And I got up, pulled it over my head and presto, I had a mosquito net too. Ingenuity is the mother of all inventions, LOL.

I drifted off to sleep fairly fast and slept fairly deep only opening my eyes when sunlight broke the night at 615am in the morning. Since I felt rested and we only had an estimated 35 miles to Clermont, I got up and got dressed with not delay. I ate some chocolate and before long we rolled out into the chilly morning enjoying even more pristine Green swamp doubletrack.

As we got closer to Clermont we hit some super sandy patches and even a long section that I was forced to get off and push on, but it really didn't matter, although I was starting to get fatigued from a lack of water, my spirits remained positive and eventually before turning to the final 8 mile paved section to Rob's house, at the convenience store, I urged Rob to continue as I needed some time to digest and hydrate.

He did.

I must of ate about 1300 calories in about 13 minutes of mostly grain based items.

I paid the price about 10 miles later as I was feeling so sleepy that once I reached Killarney station on the West Orange Trail I had to stop and take a nap.

The lazy bogged down feeling persisted, as I got back up and kept the cranks turning towards my goal.

The clock was ticking and I was feeling so tired, that even the Older people on hybrid bikes were passing me on the bike trail (how embarrassing).

Eventually I reached winter garden and hit the local Coffee shop for some much needed espresso.

I contacted Edith telling her how I felt and she offered to come pick me up, but I wasn't having it, Winter Garden was way too far I instead told her to meet me in Apopka.

I rolled out and the espresso did the trick as my strength returned and my pace was strong and fast once again. It took a good, 3.5 hours to recover from my mornings deficit. I reached Apopka quicker then expected, with close to 130 miles covered for the day, much farther then the predicted 85 miles to clermont (was actually closer to 105).

I learned alot. Enriched grains and I during efforts just leads to sleepy feelings. I thought after the TNGA that it was the amount of calories but its actually the content of the calories that causes that sleepy feeling. The week before at the Tour De Gainesville I ate alot of calories comprised of mostly protein and potatoes and had no crash like what I felt after eating on this morning.

Lesson Learned.

The Bay to Lake ride may soon become part of a system that gives riders the ability to ride from the east coast to Tampa Bay or Break off more north and cross Santos and ride to Withlacoochee Bay, just plenty of options. I really enjoyed the route, and when I'm done with the Tour Divide, and I decide I want to ride a bike again, I will be back to ride it, but next time from coast to coast.

Take care,

Laters,


The NaKeD InDiaN

FuLLy LOaDeD FeRRy FuN

At one point all my rides were pretty chaotic. They involved hours of me looking at satellite photos and using the measuring tool to anticipate a turn that may or may no longer exist.

THEN along came Topofusion and the ability to sketch a track was born and for a couple of years I have become arguably one of the top off road route creators in the state.

But recently, I have learned, better said, craved, just going out and seeing what happens. I guess variety is the spice of life.

Awhile ago, Curt Reffner contacted me about doing a mostly off road route that involved a ferry crossing. Sounded like a good time, we made plans to do it, but at the last minute Curt had other pressing matters that needed his attention.

So the ride got put into the archives. And recently, I got my new bike, and recently I wanted to pack it up as if I was Touring the Divide and take it for a run.

So I did, I rode out from Edith's house, using the Dirtiest google map navigation suggestion to Fort Gates Ferry road some 40 something miles away.

As always I was pleasantly surprised by the route I was riding, dirty, scenic, back country,but then I came to a spot that required me to go straight where a fence was in the way. To my right there was a fence as well, but this one was labeled, "conservation area".

I hiked my way into the conservation area, hoped a fence,went through a gate onto some more pristine fire road. Or so I thought. Before long I was amongst big construction vehicles kept following the navigation instructions and came upon the tallest fence ever. As I attempted to skirt the fence in the distance I could see a 4 x 4 pick up truck coming towards me. I kept riding.

As it got closer I started wandering what they wanted, but didn't increase nor decrease my pace. Just then I hear a Honk and I stop to be confronted by a tall guy pretty upset that I was trespassing.

I explained that I was following a route, they got irate, got pretty confrontational, and I told them to call the police.

Eventually, there was a back and forth heated discussion. I was calm, but they were not. They were real upset and they were anxious to see me get arrested for my offense. Eventually, after speaking to the police they were told they could not hold me, so I hoped the fence and left, much to their dislike.

I didn't honestly know I was trespassing and I didn't see any signs saying to the contrary. In fact, I am now pretty educated on Florida trespassing laws and will be ready to educate anyone that attempts to pull something like this on me again.

For miles after, I was expecting to see the Police pull up and give me the business, but nothing. I kept the pace intentionally high, and nothing. Eventually I turned off the main road, and now it became a race against time as I had left late, and had been delayed, I knew the ferry only ran till 530.

And I didn't even need to do all the hauling ass I did. I made the ferry, crossed the river, got to the other side, treated to a plethora of wash boarded forest road. Before long I was in Salt Springs sitting down to food and beer.

I bought some soy candles for my girl and took off after some careful news paper wrapping and packing. I made it to the secret singletrack and started heading towards Sanford where I had planned to camp.

As I rode in the dark alone, I thought about the divide. Thought about all the time I will be alone from the ones I love. My kids, my girl, my family, my girls kids. And when I got to SR 40, instead of continuing on to Seminole forest to my solo camp spot. I turned east towards De Leon, towards my girl, towards home. I figured, I feel good, I feel strong, the bike feels nimble, the test was a success. I got twenty days or more to be camping alone in the forest, I think tonight, I wont be alone, not cause I have too, not cause I couldn't, not cause I was bonking, but because I wanted too.

The event is truly closing in fast and the last thing I need is more camping practice.

So the trip was cut short, about a 10 hour voyage, 95 mostly dirty miles and a Ferry boat river crossing. Thanks for the Idea Curt.

Take Care,

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

See

You ever heard of Mike Curiak?

He's prolly one of the many bad ass Ultra endurance doods out there and he most definetely makes my short list of heroes.

Lot's of my most recent bike builds where inspired by forum and blog post from said individual.

Most recently my new ride, the yet to be named specialized bike I bought has 30 gears.

Years ago, Mike was putting together custom cranksets with 12-36 rear cassette and a 29 x 22 front ring set up. Said the low gears where great in tall mountains. He said, the less you walked the better.

And this new bike I got now totally fits that description as my lowest combo is 22 x 36, I shouldnt be walking much. Two weeks from this day I will test it in Pisgah, but a week past last Sunday I took War on a little exploration ride.

There was no planning involved just a desire to find a dirty route to this spot by the St Johns river.

We used satellite maps on our phones and off we went. A turn here, a twist there slowly making our way to the spot. The grass got taller and next thing we know we came upon a creek. To dirty to wade through with some serious effort we got across via a log. More over head tall swamp grass and another creek crossing and we came upon a fence. To our left was some sweet tight twisty singletrack. We rode the twisty trail for about a mile and it dumped us out onto a familiar forest road. Everything turned out great, but the bushwacking and the on the fly mapping lead us to a snail pace of 5 miles in almost 3 hours LOL.

Eventually we emerged on pavement, bug bitten, and a little tired.

Interesting ride, but the low gears on the bike really worked out well, sure there were times I could of walked faster than I was riding, but it was an excellent adventure regardless, the bike set up with the gears just begs for off road exploration.

Take Care,

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

TDG10 a DeCaDe Of ShReD!!!

The Tour De Gainesville is by far one of the coolest group rides/events in the state. It also features one of the best tight knit mountain bike communities in the state. It is unique and special in so many ways, that I am not surprised that its been around for 10 years.

If you are a Naked Indian Follower/Fan/Friend you know my usual Modus Operandi, I went to bed Late on Friday and got up Early Saturday to head up to Reddick I 75 exit and meet up with Rob.

Got there a little late, unfortunately, but It the first time I was taking out the bike and I had stayed up late getting it ready. I may have neglected to let everyone else know but I got a bike with donations from friends/family and fans. Pretty nice too. Not the bike I had wanted at first, but like Edith said, this bike picked me..LOL.

And in true Naked Indian fashion this was gonna be my first ride on it.

LOL, immediately, as soon as we were off the line, I wanted to be in the front group and I was easily able to be in the front group, but I noticed I was having serious fork issues. Eventually, I decided that it needed attention and I went off route to find a shop.

Found a shop we pumped it up, I left, and not even a mile later it was back where it was. Needless to say I was frustrated a brand new bike, first ride and I already having problems. BUT, I got caught up in race mode and doubled my efforts on the route, having to navigate and push till I finally started catching up to people.

And I did, I was in a group again, and on one particular downhill that had my front end clunking, I decided that I need to attempt a repair again. Rode to another shop to check for leaks as my phone support Broadus from bike works Orlando had suggested and I didn't find the leak but I did tighten the valve core. I kept going, only to have it deflate again. So, reluctantly after more singletrack I went to the lunch stop, and saw Brian at Bikes and More and he found the leak (loose top cap) and repaired it. After 4 or so hours of riding and resourcefulness and really touring the town of Gainesville I was now gonna finally be able to ride my bike and enjoy without concern or worry.

I had started the ride with barely any food and Rob gave me some to take. At lunch I decided to Calorie up and wait for Rob, Derek and David hoping to ride with them for a bit.

And we met up, and It was pretty cool, and we got going, but I found quickly enough, that My arms were so tired from riding super buff with a bottomed out fork, I Felt fatigue in them like I had been ripping curls at the gym. The lack of sleep, the low initial start of calories was taking its toll and although we rode together for a bit, I told Rob to push on without me.

But I kept going and rode some of the most beautiful terrain that I had ridden in a while. And before long I came upon the final off road loop, and decided to go backwards so I could ride towards other riders and not long after that I made the finish, happy to be done, happy I persevered, coming away with some valuable lessons that day.

I had a blast!!!

Thanks Bobo and to all of the Gainesville MTB Community and to Brian at Bikes and More, support them, very generous folks indeed...

Take Care,

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

SuRpRisE SinGleTraCK

I made a challenge with myself to get on my bike everyday and ride for 30 days. So far so good I reckon, but I still don't feel like I am making the time I need to make to get some serious distance in.

Its Sabotage having to work for a living, but regardless, I am not going to cry, I will just do my best.

Saturday was spent entertaining LiL'r NI, Saturday Eve was spent hanging out with Edith, adventuring with a Tappas Meal and the Florida Film Festival. I always wanted to learn about Bobby Fischer and I am now an expert on the history of that entire Debacle.

Sunday was a lazy start. The hours at work are getting to me. I must have some sort of internal stress accumulating, cause after a great day spent at a Farm with food and loved ones, I found the motivation difficult to throw on my Superman outfit and go pedal for a few hours.

But, I went through the motions and decided I would go check out this new conservation area that I spotted up the road a week or more ago.

I got there rather quickly, hit the kiosk grabbed a map. A quick scan of the map showed me that I had about 16 miles of trails I could ride if I rode all the loops, so I set off. I had already started a bit late, but before long I was pleasantly surprised by how sweet the terrain was.

Out there I found an abandoned cabin, super cool, then a cold water creek crossing, how rad is that. New gates, and tons of land to pedal. Twisty sweet track all before me.

But then as I crossed a tall bridge, I got a bit lost. I went through a gate, noticed after a few minutes that I was off track and returned to find the last marker that I had missed. As I made my way back to the tent, I could see off in the distance a dog charging towards me. Whoops, I must of just been on private property, let me get on the other side of this fence so this dog cant get me, and I kept going. I found the markers again. I sat there and put new batteries in my GPS, and I could hear voices off in the distance. Felt a little bad for disturbing them, whoops.

The markers were red and it was WAY dark, more then I expected, I knew that I couldn't navigate the rest of the trail without a light. I felt like a jack ass for not bringing my light. On top of that the GPS had shut off long before I noticed and I didn't have any easy way to back track so I was stuck using google maps and following satellite visible lines to attempt to figure out my self extraction from this predicament.

I pedaled along, checked my position. Got to an intersection, took a chance and finally found some markers. Wondered around for 30 minutes before figuring out that I was not on the right track and went with the yellow markers hoping I would figure out where I was and eventually after riding the powerlines for a long while I found a road that headed towards 415 and looked kinda familiar.

Down the road I went staying in the middle as it was pitch dark.

Before Long I reached an intersection I recognized and then shortly after I was back on the access road to the park.

Once I got on the road, I tucked deep into the freddies and maintained an 18 mph avg till I reached the house.

Although I got lost, I was still feeling pretty good about the adventure.

Monday after work, I had to have my rematch. This time I took my light and was able to further figure out the lay of the land and then some, I see tons of potential for this place.

How sweet it is to add more off road riding to my already extensive local routes.

Take Care,

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

MeThOd MaN

Its Sunday Morning and I was craving miles.

Usually I am the constant planner. Looking at maps, tracing GPS routes and loading them onto my GPS unit. A Benefit of doing all the mapping I have done in the years is that now, I don't even worry too much, I kind of just go for it.

So after discussing with the clan what the plan was for the day, I decided I would get ahead start and meet them at the Marineland destination.

I had no route, but looking over the google maps on my Droid showed tons of promise. There is lots of green space and I am thinking I can make a northern dirty route soon (note to reader, this is how it starts, I look at a Map I see something I get an idea and I put it all together) Possibly pedal all the way to Jacksonville, now wouldn't that be clever.

Anyhow. I decided miles is what I wanted and I didn't have time nor the equipment with me to make an elaborate gpx track, so I told my Droid I wanted to use walking GPS guided directions to get to Marineland.

The response required 48 miles of foot travel at a ridiculous 22 hour estimated walk time, I could make it in less that four.

Rob, when he came back from California, gifted me a portable speaker with a built in MP3 holder that I Carbine clip to my bars. Pretty nifty thing cause it allows me to enjoy my music without having to use headphones. Since My droid is a capable droid, I can listen to my music and he will interrupt to give me GPS guidance.

I set out so happy to be on the bike. The air and the sky where perfectly clear. It was a slice of heaven by the minute. Not even 2 miles down the road, my rear tire deflates rapidly.

I inspect. Flip the bike. Remove the wheel. Take out the tube. Do what I think is a thorough visual and a thorough glove rub inside the tire to try and solve the flat issue. I find nothing, put in the new tube. Inflate the tire, flip the bike, get on and go. I flat again not even 1/4 mile later and I have no more tubes left.

Wow, I'm gonna have to call Edith to come get me two miles from her house??? Nah, I remember I bought a blue tool instant patch kit. They are stickers like the specialized ones and they got lousy reviews on the Internet. I found the hole, followed the instructions, and applied the pre glued patch. I TOOK THE TIRE of the rim and reinspected and found a HUGE piece of Glass. Why didn't I see this the first time??? Cause I didn't take the tire of the rim. Lesson Learned, going forward, when I flat with a tube, take the tire off the rim and inspect.

I removed the glass and I hauled ass.

And the patch worked. In fact, its still in there and working. Gonna buy more, I got like twenty tubes to patch, LMAO!!!

As I rolled along the on the Droids route that was laced with goats and horses, sky lines and small hills, the pavement gave way to dirt. A smile stretched across my face as I crested a small hill and find a big blue lake to my left. This route was NICE! LOL What I work so hard to do, my droid does with precision in seconds.

After a mile or two I was back on Pavement. I settled into the Freddie's and summoned up some sweet Tempo. The music was playing, the weather was perfect and I was ticking away the miles in a very efficient fashion.

Next thing I know, I find a store. My GPS said Cody's Corner. I had been to this store once before Long ago, but I came from a completely different direction. I was craving a coke and some sugary snacks, but the store only took Cash and the door was locked anyhow. LMAO.

I refilled my bottles and saw that in 8 miles I was supposed to reach US1 which would definitely have supplies. No time to sweat the snacks, 8 miles was nothing and it was time to fly.

I reached the US1 store, got 2 bags of gummies, 2 cherry cokes and continued on down the road.

I guess this is my strategy for The Tour, the Race. Its not about actual super fast speed for me, cause I know full well I will not be hitting the start line with my dream level of fitness. The key for me to kicking the Tour Divide in the ass is in the words of the Routes name. I am going to Tour the Divide. Speed Tour. 150 miles a day, Its going to take a couple of days to get used too, but I cant imagine that I couldn't get used to it as long as I stay patient and realistic.
So in preparation, every little episode while on the bike is a chance for me to refine the evolution of my Ultra Riding experience.

As I made my way down the road, the droid told me to turn Right, but I didn't see a road to turn into. I back track after he Demanded a U Turn and found an old overgrown double track road. SWEET!!!

I end up in a Sub Division and a couple of miles more and I am only 7 miles away from my destination. The Droid alerted me that there was an upcoming Toll road and I didn't have cash. I stopped at the bank, and kept riding. I got closer to the bridge and spotted an assortment of blue and red lights. Apparently there had been an accident and they re routed traffic by passing the toll altogether.

I climbed the bridge, up and over, then connected to a sweet bike path, passing riders all the while finally arriving at the beach to Rum Runners a cool breeze and great company.

AWwwww, Success!!!

Laters,

The NaKed InDiaN

The GhOstHunTinG GeoCaChiNg BikEPackInG TouR

NOTE FROM ME:
Sorry for the lack of post lately. AS always, I been SUPER busy, but I also wanted to let the fund raising post sit up there for awhile, still taking donations by the way and trying to come up with more ways to raise much needed tour divide funds.

The Last time the Dragons and I rode the ST Francis to Paisley wagon trail pain cave connector, EdWARd suggested that we do a bikepacking trip to the Ghost town of St Francis.

I thought it was a great idea and the original plan had been to leave Friday night and do a little 2.5 day trip.

Well, lord knows that I am an PROFESSIONAL ENDURANCE cable guy and I got stuck at work till Mid night that night and It just didn't pan out to go leave after the hellacious day I had.

So the plan evolved and we rolled out from my house midday on the morning of the impending SUPERMOON!

I had been scouting a new and even dirtier connector over to the Enterprise Railroad bed that makes up part of the Naked Indian Route. The plan was to take the Naked Indian Route over to Lake Beresford, hop off and then get over to De land and St. Francis. On the way we could stop and swim.

Simple enough.

BUT, I didn't really think this was a trip that warranted a two rope so I left it at home. Not really expecting to need it or use it. As we did a little fence hopping and got onto the old rail bed, not even 4 miles into the ride, LIL'r NI was already tired.

Ya, I admit, I lamented how long of a day this was going to be. No tow rope meant plenty of waiting and prodding and break taking, but we kept going.

Along the NK route we went and before we knew it, we were making our way along some big climbs in the back woods of Debary, when I spot a Yard Sale sign and tell the dragons to wait at the top of this hill while I ride to it and see if I can buy a rope. I had to do something, I mean we have all day, but we don't have all day... LOL

I come back to find LIL'r NI sitting in the shade, resting and scold him for taking his helmet off so often. I was a little embarrassed with myself how emotional I had been. The past few weeks had been hard at work, and frustrating off the bike. The day I rode 90 miles doing Journalism coverage for the Huracan I somehow aggravated an ingrown hair in my nether regions that turned into a cyst requiring a week of antibiotics and not needed vacation off the bike. All the self imposed and work related stress had worn through my normally patient demeanor and like I said, I was a little embarrassed at how emotional I was being.

BUT, I told the boys, I had no luck in finding said Yard sale and not to worry, The Lord will provide, lets keep moving.

EdWARd had recently dropped 20 or so pounds and has been riding his properly working Green Beast regularly and thus it showed on the ride as he was keeping up with my patient dragon training pace.

But LIL'r NI was way back there, and as we got close to leaving that gravel road backwoods section I spotted an Old Fallen Telephone drop cable and measured out a piece and cut it with my knife and now, 18 miles into the ride, HE was saved from having to work alone any further and could simply enjoy my pedal power.

BUT, the climbs, the heat and the messy mess of soft dirt of Dutchman Bends road make quick work of WAR as he dropped back further than he had dropped back any other time that day. It was funny as we made our way along that road to see a sign that said, "get out or get shooted".
Am I supposed to take such a poorly grammatical warning for serious? I didn't and we made our way to the secret back door to Blue springs. At this point we had 4 miles or less of sandy mess to pedal and once again, It was a elastic band effect as the Dragons and I rolled out together, but the WAR fell back.

Before Long, we were parking the bikes and boys changed into their swim trunks to go for a swim. They swam for about an hour as I people watched and listened to the sounds of everything that was going on around me.

They came back and I googled mapped a restaurant on route 8 miles away.

The miles clicked by fast and I kept War close and before long, we were doing a sweet downhill into Beresford with only a few more miles to go before reaching JC's Lobster pit.

We sat and ate and although the service was slow and the portions disproportionate, we strapped on our lights and headed out to ST Francis. As we made our way along the twisty skinny trail, we kept having to stop cause LIL'r NI was having stomach Cramps. Awesome.

As we got closer to St Francis we spotted a truck on a fire road. Uh OH.

When We reached St. Francis there was two trucks hanging out, and as I politely said Hi, we kept going hiking away from there Country Music, till I could barely hear it and the spirits guided me to a good camping spot.

I grabbed some giant wide ended palm frawns and asked the boys to do the same and we cleared out the leaves and dug a hole.

Soon enough we had a pretty fire going and we set up camp, and hung out, and snacked and talked and listened.

War was tired from riding all day, and he went to sleep and soon enough we all went to bed. I laid there awake for a long while watching Ride the Divide on my phone day dreaming about my impending adventure across the United States.

Eventually I drifted to sleep only to wake up to what I thought was someone walking towards camp. The sound was distinct and for a second I was sure one of the drunken party goers had decided they wanted to harass us, but after sprinting to my feet and shining my light around there was nothing to see.

The night was restless for all, foot steps everywhere, animals and owls singing symphonies that can only be heard when you venture deep into the forest. Although I had no proof, I am sure there are supernatural beings lurking on the old town site of St Francis.

The night was cold and I shivered most of the night, got up fast to build a fire to warm us all up.

After a breakfast of gummies and chocolate we set off to shred some new singletrack that I had not had the chance of riding before. The boys were both moving slow, as they are not used to riding and stopping and riding and stopping.

I was having a blast, enjoying riding something new, taking pictures and videos and once to make it to Deleon to spend time with Edith and Shelby and spend a lazy Sunday resting.

The wind was FIERCE when we hit the road. And I commanded Kailan to pedal as it was pure full body effort on my part to battle the wind and tow 100 plus pounds at the same time.

I chopped the day up into three goals.

Goal one, finish the St Francis singletrack.
Goal Two, reach the final resupply and grab some cold drinks.
Goal Three, reach the Deleon hang out.

Goal one was easy, and fun.

Goal two was fast, but hard.

Goal Three, just as fast, and just as hard as the road to Deleon is riddled with rolling terrain, up and down, up and down. All the while keeping a stray eye to my rear to make sure that Edward was somewhere back there.

Eventually, we locked into a sprint to the finish and Edward used his knowledge of his neighbor hood to beat us to the house. Good job my friend!

It was a great little trip. AND although we did hear lots of things, we didn't get any proof. AND although we wanted to Geocache, once the boys saw that we would have to pedal off route to find them, they were not as interested. Seems like the Geocaches in the Ocala National forest are designed for individuals with jeeps to trudge deep into sandy terrain, not kids or hikers on bikes or by foot.

The bike gave me a cyst, but after this ride, all traces of this cyst had gone.

thank you, I am way behind in my Tour Divide prep and have to CRAM to feel ready for this enormous challenge.

Take Care,

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN