It's been awhile since I have been on here and yet I have so much to say. It's been a very long month and I'm pretty tired but we are nearing the finish line.
I've been managing multiple social forums and trying my very hardest to get the word out. I want to meet our 20K fundraising goal.
Currently, we are at $15,362 raised. I've mentioned Bike for Kam on here a couple times. A 500 mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise funds and awareness for my rare condition; HIBM. The fact that I don't need to progress because treatment could be in the near future is something that lingers in my friends' mind.
I've nearly lost my legs and they don't want this to happen to my arms and hands. So they are riding cross country for me.
Currently the guys are on Day FOUR of the tour and nearly half way home. I've been busy with our bikeforkam.com website maintainence as well as logging their day to daily trips in an online journal.
Every day they text me a few pictures and at night I talk to them for a few min as they quickly convey the day they just had. I then try to recap the ramble into a cohesive daily journal. I thought I would copy and post what I've been blogging at Bikeforkam.com.
If you are a reader of mine please consider DONATING to our project and encouraging your friends to do the same.
I would love nothing more than to reach our goal and support all the team's hard work. It would be very encouraging to us. It has been a heck of alot of work.
Day ONE: Sunday, April 24, 2011
The guys departed the Golden Gate Bridge at 6:30 pm and managed to bike a few miles into the night.
Approximately at 9:30 / 10pm they started looking for a place to set up camp in Daly City. They found a golf course and followed a fire tail that led to a remote area where they wouldn’t be bothered and set up stealth camp. I’m told they set up their gear, ate some salami and summer sausage, danced (danced?) and hung out before retiring to bed.
I thought the summer sausage chow down was funny, because it was something they had talked about all morning and specifically had to hike to CVS to buy some before we drove to the Golden Gate.
To share with you the weekend we had together I put together a little video and picture montage. Every team member came into town from Los Angeles via automobile, train or plane, and arrived on different days.
There were some minor hiccups, like Ted’s train breaking down on Saturday night at 10pm, and Mikey and Hieu’s flight being delayed for a couple hours on Sunday morning which led to a late departure to Golden Gate. All in all a pretty successful departure.
Oh, except for the fact that we left Hieu and Mikey in the bathroom. We were on the road and realized they weren’t with us and had to turn around and pick them up at the house.
An honest mistake. Alot was happening that day. We had all been up since 7am on Sunday and Ted, Andres, Viet and Ben spent the morning prepping their bikes and gear and were all packed by noon.
Much of the afternoon was spent sitting in the backyard waiting for Hieu and Mikey’s delayed plane to land. As soon as they walked through the back gate at 4:30pm we were all anxious and ready to leave. Jason took me to the rented Uhaul van and needed a couple people to help get me in. The van seat was really high and he couldn’t lift me by himself. Mikey was one of the guys helping, so we figured he hopped into the van. We had a full van and the car behind was unaware that Mikey and Hieu went into the house to fill up their water bottles. It makes a great story.
I invited the team to stay and camp out at my home and cooked a big Saturday team dinner consisting of homemade pizza, Korean BBQ, Korean Spaghetti, etc.
It took me about two days to do all the cooking. As the condition progresses I have to plan out all my steps and what took a half a day to cook such a big a meal a couple years ago, may now take me 2 days if I want to cook with my usual standards.
We had a great time and I got a kick out of watching some very excited guys planning, showing off their newly bought gadgets they purchased specifically for the trip or from the next room listening to their chatter while all four of them laid on their camping mattresses in the dark.
It was a great weekend of team bonding and I was really thankful to have such great friends in my company.
Lots of food, lots of fun and lots of personal moments. I could write more, but I figured you may enjoy this post better through video rather than through words. I chose oldies Beach Boys, ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ because we were listening to the oldies radio station the entire weekend.
Thanks to all those who have supported thus far! Continue to pass it around and talk about our project among your social circle so that we may reach our fundraising goal!
Day TWO: Monday, April 25, 2011
The guys are doing well. Last night I talked with Andres and he gave me a 3 minute run down of the day’s events. I’ll try my best to recap here.
On Sunday night they rode into the night and set up camp stealth style behind a remote golf course lodge. At about 4:30AM, Monday, April 25, 2011 they were awoken by a downpour.
Quickly, they got their gear together and were back on the road by 5:20AM.
The first encounter they hit was Devil’s Slide. Between Pacifica and Half Moon Bay. Devil’s Slide is a steep, rocky coastal promontory. The terrain is characterized by steep, eroded slopes with natural gradients ranging between 30 and 70% and small coastal valleys throughout.
It was super sketchy, rainy, strong cross winds and no shoulder to ride on. Dangerous, foggy and big rigs constantly coming up the path, they managed to get through it safe, albeit a soggy and wet mess.
It took about 50 miles to arrive at the bottom where they stopped at McDonalds to dry off their socks and have a bite to eat. Despite the difficulty the moral and energy was high.
Most of their ride thus far has been rolling hills with no flat areas. Between Sunday (couple hours worth of riding) and Monday they covered about 88 miles in treacherous weather. Some of their stops included Devil’s Slide, Pescadero beach, Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz.
In Half Moon Bay they were surrounded by blooming flowers, cliffs and lots of surfers were out taking advantage of the nice weather. They saw a strawberry patch that gave discounts to cyclists and stopped for some berry love and fill up their water bottles. During their trip people and trucks have been honking and supportive of their journey.
At 5pm they stopped in Santa Cruz for a big pasta throw down and the guys were feeling the arduous 12 hour day of riding. As you can see in the picture above little Kam made it, too.
She had red hair when she left, but already is faded from the day’s events.
There hasn’t been any major disasters. Couple minor details like Andres’ chin strap on his helmet broke, so he used his scarf, tied it around his head to keep it on. It’s not just a fashion statement, yet a functional one.
They scoped out a bicycle camp in New Brighton Beach, Santa Cruz. They were excited to go there, so they could shower and clean up after a day of being drenched and cold. The morale is high and they are still cracking jokes with each other. I think they are enjoying the challenge.
Please continue to visit daily and read about their adventure. Join and support them by donating and/or passing around our project. Get your friends and family involved and DONATE today!!
Day Three: Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Again, it was Andres who called me up and shared the day’s events. He called me around 10pm and I could hear the other guys in the background trying to feed him any information that they saw pertinent to the day. Everyone sounds happy, excited and tired…and hungry!!
They send me pictures and txts of what they are doing as they are doing it. Which I appreciate. I sort of feel like I am there with them and love hearing their stories. They get alot of thumbs up and cheers from onlookers as some of the guys are still wearing their bikeforkam tshirts.
They woke up a little late this morning so had a late start on the road. Probably around 9am. They were pretty tired and whipped from the day before and slept through the night.
I believe when they made it to Monterey they came across another cyclist doing the same ride. He commented that there was a second landslide in Gorda and that he was taking the 100 mile detour to King City and then to
Nacimiento-Fergusson Road. So, they were stuck in Monterey.
Big Sur is region of the Central Coast of California where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. Big Sur, meaning “Big Mouth”, offers amazing and stunning views and its peak ascending nearly a mile above sea level.
Around 5 PM I got a call from them seeing if I could help trouble shoot the situation as well as look around Google maps since their GPS was not in working order. They were sitting as a group deliberating and deciding what to do. Should they try and sneak past the barricades and scale the wall at midnight or take the treacherous detour that would set them back 4 days?
Taking 101 would offer more logistic issues and then they miss alot of the beauty. They instantly sent me a picture of the wall that they were opting to scale.
It was this or they would have to go 100 miles inland and face a 2800 ft climb, and then go 100 miles back to PCH riding Nacimiento Rd. The road is well-paved and maintained over its length, but is winding and has precipitous drops at almost every turn. Nacimiento-Fergusson Road reaches its summit (2780 feet) seven miles from Highway 1. If you google the road it looks crazy, but gorgeous.
What was my advice? Well, I wasn’t sure scaling the cliff where you would need actual rock climbing gear and all they had was rope was the safest bet, but I tried not to go all “mom” on them and put myself in their shoes as well as see what decision they came to before I tell them it is a bad idea. I tried to put myself in their shoes, their shoes being that they are open for an adventure and taking chances.
So I got online to look at their location and the area in which they would have to detour. I sent them screenshots of the google maps I was looking at.
They decided to head back. Probably a wise decision. They lost time because of this dilemma and probably completed about 50 miles. They set up camp at Laguna Secca, sort of a park / racetrack, and this is where Andres recounted their day of gassiness, bobcats and huge tacos on the phone.
The Laguna Secca campground was a ghost town which meant all the more hot showers for themselves.
It’s the coldest night thus far at about 40 degrees. Their clothes are stinky and damp. They decided to do the 101 and hit San Luis Obispo where they will reconnect to the Highway 1.
It’s 130 miles from where they are at and it will probably take 2 days to get there.
From there they will hit Santa Barbara, another couple days, and then onward to Los Angeles. I’m not sure they will make it to Los Angeles by Friday. In fact, they won’t.
Everyone is getting stronger and better as a unit. The first couple of days was a little chaotic and they were learning how to use their bikes and how far they can stretch themselves. With bikes you have to listen to them and ride as it wants to ride. If you try to push it too much then you run into problems.
Also, this is the first time any of these guys have done a tour and all, except Ted, I believe has done some extreme long distance riding before.
So, they are learning team work, and each other’s pace, since each of them have different limits. I think this is one of the best parts of them. Being open to something new, working as a team and taking on adventure.
Andres fixed his broken helmet by rigging up a strap made from his underwear. They are eating like crazy and can’t seem to satisfy their hunger despite their daily 1,500 plus calorie intake. I'm guessing double than that.
They ate some amazing tacos in Monterey and are going through energy gels and protein bars like crazy. Nothing seems to fill them up. They stopped at a great farmers market on the side of the road and stocked up on fruits, nuts and great avocados for $1. Amazing farmland right up against the ocean where they have seen tons of migrant workers. Things they haven’t seen before and the beauty and lifestyle has made them think about other people’s way of living.
Despite all the food they ate throughout the day, and dinner, as Andres was talking to me Ben and Hieu were in the background cooking up a hot pot of noodles over the fire they built.
Last night they were stopped by a park ranger because he could see a mysterious light. UFO? No it was Andres’ christmas lights.
They spend alot of time looking at stars and constellations and experienced a meteor shower last night. Awwww, so romagical.
Tonight they are sleeping on top of the hill where you can see stars stretching infinitely in every direction.
Everyone is having a blast and every part has been better than imagined; the ride, the camping, the eating, the beauty and adapting to the unpredictability of it all.
Last night as everyone else was snoring like water buffalos he told me he could hear a large animal rummaging through their bags. He thought it was a bobcat and said that last night their food was ransacked by nocturnal squirrels.
”It’s (the bobcat) sniffing around my tent“, Andres texted.
”Butt gas him“, I replied.
Because of all the protein bars Andres has developed a serious gas problem, so serious that he thinks he should have it checked out once they arrive in LA and the team collectively agreed to put Andres at the back of the line so the odor is no longer streaming in their face.
As he was telling me his bathroom issues I told him mine. We share like that.
I told him yesterday as they were sending me pictures of all the beauty, the mountains, the ride, I was unable to get up from a simple toilet. My friends are climbing a mountain and I can’t even get off a toilet.
It’s humbling and it’s hard, and I won’t lie and say I didn’t cry while sitting on that white throne while hearing the *bing sound of my phone telling me another picture has been sent to me. I so wanted to be there with them. Heck, I’d be ok with just being able to do the simple things like rising from a toilet with ease.
I’m not the type that likes to sit on the sidelines, I want to be right in the middle of life and I want to do the types of things that my friends do. I want to experience it and not just look at pictures.
As I sit behind the computer upkeeping our website while typing out their daily tales and arranging their pictures so that others can experience their journey, I can’t deny that it brings up emotions. I don’t like to sit still and I want to join. I’ve always been sort of this type, I guess, but now I realize more than anything that nothing is free in life. Not even your body.
As the condition progresses I miss these things more and more. Seems odd since you would think that with time you would get over it or get used to it. But, I’m not sure there is ever a moment of completely getting over it. Time is no band-aid. You can learn from it, engrain it into your life and a sense of your being and who you are, but it doesn’t mean it’s never missed nor forgotten.
It doesn’t mean I am not thankful for what I have or that I’m not a happy person, but in those very silent and still moments, when I allow myself to spend time with the situation, it seeps back into my heart and I miss it all over again.
Don’t waste your life on not doing. Do everything with joy and give it your best attention and best effort. I believe this is why I am the way I am. Why I spend the extra time to do all this work for this bike project, spending time to log their journey, building a dense website, drawing, designing or cooking.
Even if the things I spend effort on may never be noticed by another soul, I still do it. It comes from deep appreciation for what I do have, knowing what I’ve lost and missing it that much.
If you are interested in knowing more about my thoughts on living with a debilitating and progressive condition feel free to stroll by my blog, www.greengreengrass.typepad.com. I haven’t been there lately, as I’ve been consumed with up keeping this bike campaign, but will return soon.
Please continue to visit daily and read about their adventure. Join and support them by donating and/or passing around our project. Get your friends and family involved and DONATE today!! Here is the pictures they have been texting me.
At the end of the trip we will upload a massive album for your enjoyment.
TO VIEW PICTURES FROM DAY THREE CLICK HERE