last set of photos are up

So I'm back in London now and am gradually being reintroduced back into society. I've stopped sleeping outdoors, eating 5000 calories a day and hiding my food before going to sleep every evening. I have to admit I miss the cycling, but I don't miss the camping.

The photos from the last part of my trip are up now, enjoy!

Heading back to the UK

I'm in San Diego airport, I'm all checked in and ready to go. I'm
definitely ready to come home now, looking forward to a break from the
nomadic life! I arrive back tomorrow - probably to the news that Obama
has been elected. Sad news that his Grandmother died the day before
his big day.

I've really enjoyed San Diego, mainly because the hostel was so good.
I've never really enjoyed staying in hostels so I wasn't looking
forward to this part of my trip. Actually it was great, I met loads of
good people, they had events in the evenings and volunteers came in
and cooked healthy 3 course meals for $3. Halloween is a big deal here
so everyone got dressed up and we went out to see a reggae band. They
are putting on an election night dinner tonight with a lecture on how
it all works (and as the results come in - i didnt meet many mccain
supporters there!) and I'm a bit jealous of all the others getting
ready for that as I was leaving. It's the hostel in Point Loma by the
way - check it out if you go to San Diego.

Thanks for all the messages on my last post - greatly appreciated :)
I'm going to organise dinner at the Bonnington Cafe in Vauxhall a week
after I get back so hopefully some of you can make it.

Finished!

I crossed the Mexican border into Tijuana today so that's it - I've
cycled from Canada to Mexico, and can now hang up my dusty cycling
shoes for a few days and relax on the beach in San Diego. I'm staying
here until I fly back to the UK on Tuesday.

I checked into my hostel yesterday so only had 25 miles to ride today,
but most of the route was through very busy city streets and the
traffic was stop/start the whole time so it was slow going.

It was quite surreal finally arriving at my final destination after
pedalling for so long. I was through to the Mexican side in no time,
didn't have to show my passport - just wheeled my bike through a
revolving gate and I was there. I had a beer and as usual people came
up to talk to me and ask questions about my bike and where I'd
started. It's a bit like being a minor celebrity!

Getting back to the US wasn't quite so easy. I had to queue for 2
hours, luckily I met someone in the queue who drove me and my bike
back to the hostel otherwise I would have had to cycle back in the dark.

So now I feel tired from the ride, slightly hungover from a night out
with people from the hostel last night, but really happy that I made it.

I'll put a few more photos from the final leg of the ride up tomorrow.

Sent from my iPod

I survived LA

The ride wasn't as bad as everyone made out, though there was one
crazy section where the pacific highway went by the port. I was
reminded of Ridley Scott's vision of LA in Blade Runner, heavy
industry as far as the eye could see. Lots of huge trucks zooming past
and no shoulder to cycle on, nice!

I actually ride out of LA tomorrow, but have done the hard bit now.

Sent from my iPod

LA tomorrow

I'm in Malibu at the moment, have splashed out on a more expensive
campsite (well it's an RV site with a few spaces for tents) so have
wifi and a hot tub.

Tomorrow I'm going to be cycling to Huntington beach in LA. According
to both the guidebooks I have and every cyclist I meet LA is the most
stressful place to cycle through in the known universe. One thing I've
learnt this trip is people do tend to exaggerate dangers/difficulty of
hills/quality of fish tacos from out of the way delis so we shall see.
Probably famous last words!

I'm likely to be staying in a motel tomorrow night so should be able
to post an update.

Sent from my iPod

Camping with the Hollywood A list

The place I was camping last night was called El Capitan State Beach.
Across the road is a resort called El Capitan Canyon which does
boutique camping with yurts that cost hundreds of dollars to hire for
the weeked. One of the other bikers on my site went to the grocery
store there, there was an guy with beard, hat and sunglasses who was
talking talking quietly and attracting attention to himself as he was
trying to stay incognito. Turned out it was Joaquin Phoenix. Lots of
Hollywood types go there apparently. Thing is I'm sure we bikers had a
better view as our site was right on the edge of a cliff overlooking
the sea - and it only cost us $5 a night!

I also found out that the fire I rode past a few days ago closed the
road a day later so I'm lucky I made it though in time. You can get
through another way but it's quite hilly.

Sent from my iPod

And now the end is near

Yep, I've almost finished! I'm in Santa Barbara having a day off, then
I just have 5 more cycling days to go. On Sunday i'll be in Malibu, on
Monday I'll be in the centre of LA then on Wednesday I'll get to the
Mexican border.

I've done all the major hill climbing now. I thought yesterday would
be an easy ride with only one high, but gentle hill. It's quite hot
during the day now though so I was completely knackered after the
first hour of riding. And only days before I'd been cruising over
much bigger hills in the appropriately named Big Sur - that was
definitely one of the highlights of the ride.

As I was riding through Big Sur I saw a couple of helicoptors in the
distance. When I got closer I saw they had huge buckets hanging
underneath which they were dipping into the sea and then flying over
to a fire that was just over the hill from me. I thought I'd come to a
foggy bit of the coast but it was actually smoke from the fire.
Luckily the road was still open, as was my campground.

Have seen lots of wildlife over the past few days, there was an
elephant seal colony that have taken over a whole beach, there must
have been hundreds. I have some video of them to put up when i get to
a computer. From my campground I can see dolphins in the bay. I
thought about joining them for a swim but the water is seriously cold.

I still need to find a place to stay in LA, there's a hostel that all
the bikers normally stay at in Huntington beach but it might have
closed as their phone number is disconnected. Looking round for
alternatives makes me realise that all I know about LA is through
listening to hip hop, anyone fancy a night in a hostel in Compton? Me
neither!

So I'm going to confirm the day I'll be flying back on Sunday. I'm
hoping to get a flight on Saturday 1st Nov, but if there's no
availability I know I can get one on Tuesday 4th (meaning I'll be back
on the 5th). And my ride won't quite be over until I get back to the
UK as apparently it's not too hard to cycle from Heathrow to central
London ...