Translocal Encounters: Oaxaca and Chiapas

Returning to the Pacific Northwest

2011-06-06T16:49:00.000-07:00

Again I am writing to report my latest activities during this transnational cycling trip that has unfolded with many wonderful and spontaneous experiences. I am writing this entry from New Orleans, Louisiana, a place I didn't expect to find myself until I started pedaling east a couple weeks ago. I met up with Kevin Stolle, a new friend from San Francisco, and Peter Welte, an old friend from Portland, in Austin, Texas. We enjoyed the city for about a week together, with enough time to regroup and decide on our next destination. We decided to ride to New Orleans, even though we heard about flooding all down the Mississippi River. We were able to witness some rather astounding scenery of flooded areas and spillways, and I am glad to have had the opportunity to see such history-making examples of the ever-changing river firsthand. Although we did have to alter our route a little bit due to flooded roads, which we adapted from the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier Route. I highly recommend their maps and routes, they are fantastic! Though don't expect to be the first cyclists that pass through very rural areas, because the routes are well-used and all the townsfolk pretty much expect you to roll in. It took us 10 days to ride 500 miles, because of the intense heat and humidity which were remedied with ice cream breaks and siestas in the afternoon. The route was spectacularly beautiful and almost completely flat, so that definitely helped motivate us. We even got to take the weekend off and hang out with cyclists and activists in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

I am having a hard time believing all that I have seen and done in the past few months. Sadly, I am nearing the end of a journey that will have spanned from the Winter Solstice almost through the Summer Solstice. I have crossed terrains and bio-regions of all types, from jungles to deserts to swamps, and traversed cultural and political climates as well. I am now certain that I am in love with the experience of traveling, particularly on my bicycle. Her name is Beatrix, and I feel particularly attached to this special two-wheeled friend because she has gotten me many miles and I am confident that she can help me get wherever I wish to go. I can't imagine going anywhere without her, in fact. It is incredibly empowering and inspiring to feel so free. Becoming a cyclist has been fundamental in realizing and acting upon my personal freedom to positively impact my life as well as the world. After you become a cyclist (and maybe you already have) you suddenly feel like the world is not so big and scary, social change is much more tangible, and that you have barely even tapped into your physical and spiritual potential. I strongly encourage everyone to enjoy the bicycle, adopt it into your life and you will not regret it.

Sending my love from The Big Easy, and looking forward to returning to Portlandia via train, after a train ride and short visit to Chicago (slight detour). Many blessings!

Photos from San Cristobal

2011-05-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

A typical street in the beautiful mountain town of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas.

Chiles! In a typical Mexican tianguis outdoor market.

View from the Iglesia de Guadalupe.

View of the garden where I worked - Rancho Esquipulas.

Veggies!

Nopal - amazingly nutritious and hardy edible cactus.

Rainbow chard.

Indigenous Chiapaneco campesino (farmer) Alejandro - we worked side by side.

Anarchists and Pyramids

2011-05-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not updating my blog for quite some time. I hope that you have not lost interest, because I still have lots of fantastically interesting stories to share!

I am currently back in Mexico City, staying with the family of the bicycle mechanic who I fell in love with way back in January. It is amazing to find myself here again, to enjoy more time with Edgar, and to get to know his family. I had a few reasons to return: to check out the first national anarchist congress, reunite with Edgar, and to spend a few days camped beside the Pyramids of Teotihuacan. I feel genuine peace in my heart and cannot believe how deeply I have fallen in love with this region of the world.

During March and April, I was working on a WWOOF farm just outside the center of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas (near Guatemala). It is a truly magical mountain town, surrounded by lush forests, autonomous Zapatista communities, and campesino villages. My life there was a dream come true. I was reminded of home by the Pacific Northwest-like climate, with cool misty mornings, midday sunshine, and afternoon drizzles (occasional downpours and hail, too!). I was living behind the organic restaurant and bakery, La Casa Del Pan, lovingly run by Kippy and Ron Nigh. I recommend checking out their website, with information about their seed saving project and agroecology efforts throughout Mexico. I was lucky enough to help out with their projects, in their huertos (gardens) in Chiapas as well as in the Organic Restaurant. I even helped deliver the veggies after harvest by bicycle!

I have had an immeasurable amount of luck and good fortune during nearly my entire adventure. I seem to always find myself in the right places at the right times. Unfortunately, I have not had such luck finding other cyclists riding north, which means that my return trip is going to take a different form. I knew that one of my very good friends from Portland, Peter Welte, was bike touring in the U.S., so I decided to see if I could track him down and possibly meet up with him. So, the next chapter of my journey will take place in the U.S..

I am finding it hard to believe that I will be leaving Mexico in a few days. I will meet up with Peter in Austin, Texas. I have never been to Austin, and am looking forward to the chance to explore a bit of the U.S., from the perspective of a vagabond anarchist cyclist fresh out of Mexico.

My next post will include lots of photos from my stay in San Cristobal... so stay tuned!

Many blessings

Photos to accompany last blog post... Journey from Oaxaca to San Cristobal

2011-03-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed this safe sex mural in some tiny little village - it was the first I had seen on this trip.

Cleaning my sunglasses - lots of dust and bugs get them dirty fast!

One night we camped next to gigantic greenhouses full of pesticide saturated tomatoes.

Camping next to the greenhouses.

Beatrix!

On the road - just after enjoying some amazing fruit.

Beginning the climb through the Madre Sierra Sur mountains.

Lots of climbing... (muchas subidas!)

As we descended out of the mountains we hit some rain.

Lots of fruit!!!!

Sleepy fisherman's village Puerto Angel. Our view when we woke up - spectacular, no?

Fisherman friend doing his work.

Little beachside village where we camped.

Upon leaving we ran into these men and their goats.

Pretty miserable stretch on the cuota (toll road). 35+ kilometers of climbing and nowhere to buy water!

Taking shelter from the torrential storm in a less than friendly comedor - refused to let us camp.

Bastante lluvia!!! (river from the rain in front of the comedor)

And after the storm!

How many kilometers is it to wherever the fuck we are going?

2011-03-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

The title of this post embodies the mindset of a touring cyclist. I left Oaxaca City with two Brits, Charlotte and Ned, after spending the night at Tierra del Sol which is a magical permaculture site just east of the city. Just after we left I realized that I had left my spare tire at the CIPO house back in Oaxaca City. I decided I could get along without it, so we continued on. We ended up having to backtrack a bit and head west on the highway again, and we stopped at a little stand to get some fresh squeezed jugo de naraja (orange juice). As I stood there slurping my delicious beverage, I realized that we were back in Santa Lucia Del Camino, the neighborhood where the CIPO house is located. So I was able to get my spare tire after all. After a good laugh, we decided that the cycling gods must be looking after me.

We set the intention to get on the road as early as possible, in order to make some distance before the intense heat of the midday. Most days we were able to hit the road by 7:30am, ride until about noon, take a long siesta, and then ride a couple more hours in the afternoon. The route from Oaxaca City to the Pacific Ocean was spectacular, though we had an exhausting couple of days with ridiculously steep gradients to get through the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains. We camped at 2,800 meters (over 9,000 ft) high in the mountains in a town called San Jose del Pacifico, which is known for its magic mushrooms. After this wooded, cold, and high elevation stretch of the route, we descended into what felt like the tropical rainforest, complete with heavy but warm rain and smothering humidity. Then we had a hilly but dry stretch until the coast of Oaxaca, the final destination a sleepy fisherman's town called Puerto Angel. We ended up taking a rest day there, where we hung out with the friendly and easy going fishermen and camped on the beach. The next morning we set out to leave bright and early but my cycling shoes were missing. I decided I could get by without them and continued riding in my sandals all the way to Huatulco, where we decided to stop for a swim and a long siesta. Just waking up from a nap on the beach, we saw one of our fisherman friends from Puerto Angel walk up holding my cycling shoes. He took taxis up and down the coast trying to track us down, and he shockingly found us. In his very relaxed and confident way of being, he says "no pasa nada" (don't worry about it), which obviously works well.

The last stretch of the journey through Chiapas was intense, to say the least. We had 40 kilometers of pure climbing, and hit a massive storm which forced us to cut the day short. We were feeling kind of unlucky when we got our first refusal for a camping spot at the only comedor (restaurant) for several kilometers. We weren't about to ride in a torrential downpour, either. After trying to hitch a ride and watching several empty pick-up trucks fly on by, we were feeling surprised that nobody was willing to help us out. After the unimaginable kindness and hospitality we had experienced in Mexico, it was a bit shocking to get the cold shoulder, especially in such bad weather. We then witnessed a spectacular double rainbow, along with a picturesque view of the sunset atop the valley, which seemed incredibly far away. This sight made us feel a little better, but we were still sopping wet cyclists without much hope for a dry place to sleep. Finally we flagged down a camioneta and got a ride up the remaining 12 kilometers into the mountains and arrived in San Cristobal de Las Casas.

I feel lucky to have made it so far and found so many marvelous people and places to spend time with. I have found myself in all the right places at all the right times and couldn't ask for anything more!

Last week in Oaxaca

2011-02-25T21:32:00.000-08:00

Friends from Spain, France, and the U.S. hanging out in a wonderful place called Jicara. It is a restaurant, an art gallery, bookstore, and has plants for a ceiling and weekly international movie nights.

Three friends being ninjas in the streets of Oaxaca.

Our friend Inti from Tlaxiaco, musician, poet, and a free spirit.

The aftermath of the people protesting the political oppression of the Mexican government - it was made clear that Felipe Calderon Hinojosa is not welcome in Oaxaca.

Helping carpenter friend build a loft bed.

I am sad to say that this will likely be my last post from Oaxaca. I am preparing for my departure next week, in the meantime I am wrapping up some the projects that I've started here. Looking forward to meeting the couple from England with whom I will be riding into Chiapas. They have a pretty interesting blog, too. During this last week here, I plan to visit one of the pueblos called Cacalotepec to do a site analysis for the community about their composting system and water conservation practices. I met a fantastic woman named Joan, and we decided to hold workshops here at the CIPO house to make art and multi-lingual botanical signs for the garden. I will post photos of the final product later. On top of that, I need to pay some attention to Beatrix, who is in desperate need of some love. Unfortunately, all my bike tools were stolen (my own fault, I left them on my bike) so I will need to look into purchasing replacements before I leave as well.

It is hard to believe that my time here in Oaxaca is nearly over, I feel like this place has become my second home. I am looking forward to the next chapter of the journey, and the opportunity to participate in a WWOOF seed saving project in San Cristobal de las Casas. I will likely be spending nearly as much time in Chiapas, and then returning to Mexico City for an anarchist conference at the end of April. From there, I hope to meet up with friends to embark on the ride back north, we will see what falls into place.

You may be wondering how the Spanish is coming along, and I must say I have improved a lot. I can functionally communicate now, though there is a lot of room for improvement. I have gotten over the embarrassment factor and learned to accept the feeling of vulnerability that goes along with learning a new language and culture.

BS Biblioteca Infantil y El Pedegral

2011-02-10T16:44:00.000-08:00

Entrance to the children's library.

Painting in the children's library in Oaxaca City.

Neat spiral drain.

These beautiful flowers (Bougainvillea) are everywhere... so amazing!

It costs 6 pesos (less than 60 cents) to take a bus to Huayapam from Oaxaca City, and there is a really cool family run Permaculture Demonstration there called El Pedegral.

Ultra cool reuse idea at the nursery (El Pedegral)! Love it.

Aquaponics at El Pedegral.

Many soils for many uses...

Everyone needs water!

Vermicomposting!

Happy day spent in Huayapam.

Los pueblos de Oaxaca

2011-02-04T16:41:00.000-08:00

There are thousands of little villages here in the state of Oaxaca, it is truly astounding. There are sixteen officially recognized indigenous cultures, the most well known the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs. The state is also said to have the most biodiversity in all of Mexico.

There is a wonderful woman named Yolanda here at the CIPO house, she has such a young and friendly spirit. Above is a photo of the road to her village. Although she is much older than me, when she speaks it's as if she is a little girl, because she has this innocent and youthful quality that is almost indescribable. She is from a pueblo called San Isidro de Aloapam, and she is of Zapotec origin. From washing her clothes to crushing chillies for salsa, she shines with radiance in all she does. She is so giving too, always offering to help you.

One thing that has been challenging, which I didn't really anticipate, is the difficulty to dedicate time staying in contact with friends and family in English. I enjoy full immersion so much and I feel like reading and writing in English takes away from that experience. For this reason I may not post as often and tell really intense stories on this blog as much as some of you may like. When I return, I'll talk your ear off, I promise!

CIPO-RFM

2011-02-01T11:16:00.000-08:00

2011-01-28T19:13:00.000-08:00

Reflection

2011-01-26T17:16:00.000-08:00

Bike tours are an interesting breed of adventure... you often wake before the sun rises, when there is barely enough light out to start packing your things and preparing breakfast. There is something oddly enjoyable about these moments before sunrise, when the light is even and smooth, and the air is crisp and still. The golden glow creeping over the landscape warms the earth, and you can almost see that particles move faster as they heat up. A blanket of life sweeps over, and the day has begun. Breakfast provides a nourishing energy boost, to fuel your body, mind, and spirit for a long days ride. Try not to think about how much or how little climbing there is ahead of you, because this does no good. Just feel the breeze and the sunshine combine on your skin, a climatic smoothie of a beautiful day, and savor it. Gradually you can sense a little stiffness in your pedals, and you know it is time to shift into a lower gear. It starts to get a little hotter, with your increased energy expenditure and the intensity of the sunlight. Your throat becomes dry, and swallowing reminds you that your sweat functions to cool you down, and your body requires rehydration. You unclip from your pedals under a small patch of shade, reach to take a swig of water, and feel drops of sweat trickle on your face and back. Your heart is beating steadily and reliably. Wheels roll again, setting into a proper cadence to conserve energy and enjoy the climb. Cars whiz on by, you can hear people shouting and honking, some of them nice of them to offer some of their life’s energy to encourage you. Almost to the top of the hill, the elevation is evident by the valley below, and you feel so alive that every cell in your body is engaged and thriving. You wonder if there will be more climbing, or some gratifying downhill to coast and cool your sweat, though you tell yourself that is does not matter. There is a curve with a somewhat apparent downward slope just on the other side, you feel the road flatten out, and your legs are feeling unbelievably powerful. Switching into more difficult gears, you begin to glide around corners. The smile on your face is evidence that life is good. There are many of these moments on a bike tour, steady climbing followed by a rewarding downhill. This is an analogy for life. Don’t spend all your time wondering and worrying about uphills and downhills, just ride and enjoy yourself.

It has been a while...

2011-01-23T19:08:00.000-08:00

A lot has changed since I last posted. I am no longer riding with the CIPO-caraVAN crew. I am now riding with 6 other cyclists, from Holland, Belgium, Texas, and Connecticut. We will be arriving in Oaxaca in a few days!

There is a story behind this... filled with exciting new turns and friends. Gil and Jocelyn wanted to get to Oaxaca as soon as possible, and I wanted to ride my bike, learn Spanish, and enjoy the cultural experience of Mexico. We parted ways in D.F. Mexico. They rode on into Oaxaca, and I stayed behind, with a fellow cyclist Rob Wade (from Victoria, British Columbia). Rob and I planned to ride into Oaxaca together, but he instead decided to take a bus to meet with friends (time sensitive). He gave me the contact for the cyclists from all over the world.

This brought an unexpected part of the trip... for the first time on my journey I was alone. At first I felt a little abandoned, but I am so grateful for having the opportunity to learn and explore on my own. Luckily I had a wonderful family to stay with (from couching surfing.com). I send my love and gratitude to Franco and Raphael Hernandez, for welcoming me into their home and helping me with my Spanish! Your home was beautiful and I will always remember your hospitality. Thank you for sharing Mexican political, economic, and religious histories with me, we had some great conversations over coffee and pan dulce.

Early one morning I was walking around aimlessly, reading signs in Spanish and shyly muttering "buenos dias" as I strolled along the street, admiring the beauty and life of Mexican street markets, or "tianguis" (Aztec word). They have such a rich feeling when you walk through them, it feels like a festival every day. All the fruits and vegetables, colors and smells, and friendly people willing to speak slowly and have patience with your minimal Spanish skills. They are all amazed and curious about a cyclist from Oregon, and often say something like "de verdad" (which is something like "really?") when I tell them where I am from and where I am going.

I filled my bag with colorful and unbelievably ripe produce, and continued walking to enjoy the scenery. After spending nearly an entire afternoon looking for a bike shop the day before, unsure of the correct word or phrase to find such a shop, I stumbled upon a little shop named "el hospital de las bicicletas". Surely, this is what I had been looking for, so I slowed down and poked my head inside. The small shop was covered in tires, tubes, wheels, and bike parts of all kinds hanging from every square inch of the place. There were two men who greeted me, "buenos dias". I told them of my travels, and they were very interested in learning more, so we chatted for a while about cycling. Edgar, the younger one, told me to come back in the morning with my bike, and he would take me around the city by bike. I agreed, quite excited to have such an opportunity.

The next day I was chiming with excitement about my new friend. We rode around in the sunshine, spoke broken Spanish and ate pan dulce. We rode to the Zoo, the Botanical Garden, the museums, and churches, visiting from 10 am until 7pm. It had been a long day, and we both knew that we enjoyed each other's company enough to do it again tomorrow.

So one thing lead to another, and Edgar and I connected on quite a profound level, crossing language and cultural boundaries to meet each other as human beings, lovers of bicycles, camping, poetry, and dancing. I invited Edgar to join me on my adventure and he regretfully declined, as he has too many obligations and loves his life fixing bikes in Mexico City. It was difficult to part ways, but I will never forget the time we shared together.

During my stay in Mexico City, I took a long break from cycling, fell in love, and Beatrix got a make-over, so over all I would say it went pretty well. I will look forward to the day I can return.

Some bad news... my camera is malfunctioning, likely due to the vibrations from being on the road. Unfortunately I wont be able to upload any pictures until I can resolve this. Though here is the photostream on Flickr from Michiel's camera. There are some gorgeous photos! Enjoy!

----> http://www.flickr.com/photos/cycleforwater/

DF, Mexico!

2011-01-11T06:40:00.000-08:00

Consejo Indigena Popular de Oaxaca - Ricardo Flores Magón (CIPO-RFM)

2011-01-08T14:19:00.000-08:00

OBSTINATE ENEMIES OF INJUSTICE

“There’s no need to hate in order to fight for freedom. Without hate one can build tunnels, erect dikes on rivers, without hate one can open the ground to sow grain, without hate despotism can be annihilated… rebellion does not imply brutality.”

Praxedis G. Guerrero, Puntos Rojos (1907)

I took some Sociology classes at PSU with an amazingly inspirational and passionate professor named Ben Cushing. My passion for agriculture and permaculture were reaffirmed and strengthened after taking his classes on globalization and social change. He has a teaching style that is democratic, dialogue-based, and encourages vulnerability and self-reflection. He shares stories of his experiences with an organization called CIPO, which I've mentioned before. This organization is based on principles that I strongly identify with. Below is an excerpt from the CIPO-RFM website. I will be staying with the CIPO community house in Oaxaca City.

The Consejo Indígena Popular de Oaxaca “Ricardo Flores Magón” (CIPO-RFM) is an organization of indigenous communities that support each other and work independently from all political parties and from all governmental institutions. CIPO-RFM has a home in Oaxaca City where anyone who wants to join us in our non-violent struggle is welcome. You can participate as an international human rights observer or in the variety of projects developed in our communities.

Our mission is the reconstitution and free association of our villages, to exercise autonomy and direct action on the magonista path:

To help the villages and workers to organize themselves liberally, not necessarily within the CIPO-RFM.
To promote, diffuse and defend our human, territorial, economic, social, political and cultural rights, as communities and as individuals.
To advise and help the communities, organizations, authorities and individuals, natives or not, that ask for our support in their struggle.
To encourage sustainable projects (production, services, commercialization, etc.) that allow a complete development of the native communities, safeguarding the ecosystems and respecting the people.
To investigate, document, analyze and diffuse the actions and stuggles of the communities.
To engage in the defense and the protection of our environment and territory, as well as to revalue the worldview of our communities.
To develop methods of alternative communication: radio, television, press, internet, etc.
To put in practice concrete actions to achieve authentic respect for diversity, and for the rights of women and children.

Cuidad Constitucion to La Paz

2011-01-05T17:07:00.000-08:00

We got to stay with a wonderful family in Cuidad Constitucion, Ricardo is a friend of Gil from a farm workers union. This was my first experience staying with a Mexican family, who graciously opened up their home to us. Most of the houses I have seen in Baja are very similar, modest dwellings made out of brick and/or concrete blocks, with a yard of sand a few plants (they had lemon and avocado trees!).We left a couple days ago and made it to La Paz (we got a ride in a pick up truck for last stretch). We will be taking a ferry over to Mazatlan tomorrow eve.

One difficulty is that I am feeling the intensity of the language barrier, as I am the only non-Spanish speaker on the bike tour. I am traveling with two men, one from Chiapas (native speaker) and the other is French, fluent in Spanish and English. I have overestimated my ability to pick up Spanish, a language I had studied in school for 5 years, though this is the first time I have ever been to a Spanish speaking country. I'm doing my best to study and practice, but it's still really challenging. There is so much to think about on a trip like this, let alone how to communicate in an unfamiliar language!

On another note... to supplement my academic pursuit, here is the list of books that I brought with me:

Rights in Rebellion by Shannon Speed
Uprising of Hope by Duncan Earle and Jeanne Simonelli
Campesino A Campesino by Eric Holt-Gimenez
The Essential Agrarian Reader by Norman Wirzba and Barbara Kingsolver
Comida, no bombas by C.T. Lawrence Butler y Keith McHenry, Traducido por: Elizabeth Van Dyck

Only crazy people bring a library on a bike tour!

Feliz Año Nuevo!

2011-01-02T14:17:00.000-08:00

In El Rosario, we spoke with several folks who recommended taking a bus through central Baja, because the roads are dangerous with no shoulder. It was also raining the day we rode in, so that made up our minds. We decided to take a bus from El Rosario to Loreto, avoiding some potentially dangerous road conditions. The bus cost $860 pesos (about $80). After a 10 hour bus ride, we arrived in Loreto, where we spent New Years Eve. We Left Loreto pretty late on New Years Day (after some celebratory debauchery), and rode along some gorgeous cliffs overlooking the ocean. We hadn't realized that our bus ride took us one hour into the future (time difference), so we had a little more daylight to ride longer. We found a little burrito stand and asked if we could camp behind it, because otherwise it would have been pretty shitty to hike with our bikes through some very thorny cactus plants and desert landscape. We slept for like 10 hours last night, and got up with the sun. Today we arrived in Cuidad Constitucion pretty early, giving us time to find internet access. We will be staying with friends of CIPO-VAN, and heading out tomorrow.

Beatrix is showing signs of carrying way too much weight. Alone she weighs 30.5lbs, loaded about 80lbs, plus my own weight, so she is carrying nearly 200lbs! Either I need to lose weight or lose some of the junk I decided to carry with me. I am carrying a bunch of books, which I think I'm going to try to mail to Oaxaca. Beatrix is strong, but the roads are rough and it's seriously straining her wheels. I've had a wobble for a couple days, and had to re-tension the spokes almost everyday. This morning when I attempted to pump up my low back tire, Beatrix fell over, snapping off the valve of the tube. Luckily, it's not leaking any air (as far as I can tell). Now I have to decide if I should just ride with a low tire or swap for a new tube with an intact valve. Today I rode with the low tire, and it wasn't too bad (but it's only going to get lower). Lesson: make sure Beatrix is stable when pump is attached to the valve!

2010-12-30T11:24:00.000-08:00

Food Not Bombs

2010-12-29T20:47:00.000-08:00

I made a video about Portland Food Not Bombs, because this is one of the best communities that I have ever been a part of. There is something so beautiful about the simplicity of such a movement. I hope to make it to the celebration in Monterrey, Mexico on my way back north.

Dia 5: Lazaro Cardenas, B.C. Mexcio

2010-12-28T17:07:00.000-08:00

We had an amazing night camped under some beautiful trees by a creek after leaving Ensenada. We found a pretty perfect secret spot, or so we thought... it turned out to be someone else's secret spot. There was a small garden, fireplace/stove made from stone, a locked food cabinet, and a picnic bench. There was even a flush toilet, which unfortunately drained directly into the creek through a pipe. So much of the world has absolutely awful "waste disposal" practices that destroy socio-ecosystems and spread pathogens, including Mexico. Please check out the Humanure Handbook to learn about techniques for life-giving, sanitary excrement recycling. This is a topic I've done extensive research on, so please ask questions! Also, in such a water scarce area such as Baja, there should be some serious water conservation efforts and it seems to be the opposite. One irony is that many food joints attempt to save money and water by using paper and plastic dishware, which is often then burned or dumped into rivers, canyons, and roadsides. It's pretty absurd how much plastic and garbage is discarded all over the place here, and it' so normalized.

The ride down Baja has been beautiful, with lots of coastal breezes and sunshine. Unfortunately, the desert provides a huge range of extreme weather, so we are hot and sweaty during the day when we ride in the blazing sun, and freeze our asses off in the below freezing nights. It makes for quite an interesting full sensory experience. None of us anticipated the very cold nights (though we should have known better, because it is the desert!). Gil and Jocelyn mailed back some of their warm gear once they got through the northern U.S., thinking that they had passed all the really cold weather.

Yesterday it started to get late and the chilly desert air was creeping up on us. We were in the middle of nowhere, but saw a small ranch and it looked like the only promising place that could offer some relief from harsh cold nights. There was a man and woman who lived there, and they graciously offered to have us stay with them. They offered a room in the original ranch house, a modest cob-like structure built in 1949. It would keep us quite a bit warmer than being exposed in a field, which was the only other option. They also offered to heat up some water for us to bathe. Apparently this is a very common way to shower in Mexico, simply heat a bucket of water over a fire and wash from it. It was already quite cold when we bathed, so it was wonderful to have hot water! We all slept great all nice and cozy in the little ranch house, and got up at 5 am to be on the road by the time the sun came up (we have to maximize our daylight riding time, because it's so limited!). It's so cold when we wake up that it's hard to get up, especially before the sun rises.

The roads have been good and bad, a pretty big range. Sometimes we have a shoulder the size of a full lane, others we have to squeeze between the reflective bumps and the ledge of the pavement. All in all, I'd say that all the warnings I got about Mexican drivers don't seem to be totally true. When there is very little space for us, drivers kindly pass with plenty of room. There have only been a few sketchy moments where a massive semi-truck whizzes by with only inches to spare, but usually vehicles at least honk to let us know!

Right now, we are using the internet and staying the night in Lazaro Cadenas, Baja California, Mexico. Tomorrow we will get up and keeping rolling! Click here for photos of our adventures.

Day 2: Ensenada

2010-12-26T12:18:00.000-08:00

We only made it to Tijuana on our first day, because we got a late start and it started to get dark. We ended up staying the night with Bomberos Tijuana (fire station). We got an early start yesterday and made it to Ensenada. I recorded some video which I will upload later. We are paying to use this internet, so I can´t say much, just wanted to let you all know that we are leaving Ensenada today, hoping to get 30 miles in (because it´s nearly 1pm and we want to find a place to camp before it gets dark). Access to internet in Baja is pretty bad, so I wont be able to post very often until we make it to Mazatlan (about 3 to 4 weeks). The weather has been great, and the ride is beautiful!

Adventure officially begins

2010-12-21T12:58:00.000-08:00

Leaving first thing in the morning for San Diego, found a ride with a super nice lady out of Bend. On Thursday, me and CIPOcaraVAN head south! Next time I post, I'll be somewhere warm! Yay!

Urbanism and Agrarianism

2010-12-20T21:20:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite fables as a child was the story of the City Mouse and Country Mouse. In the original tale, a proud town mouse visits his cousin in the country. The country mouse offers the city mouse a meal of simple country foods, at which the visitor scoffs. He takes the country mouse back to the city to show him the "fine life". But their city meal of cakes and jellies was interrupted by a couple of dogs which forced the mice to abandon their feast and scurry to safety. After this, the country mouse promptly returns to the country, saying,"Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear".

I have done quite a bit of reflection on this influential story of my childhood, as I now find myself delving into areas of study such as urban planning, ecology, community development, and agriculture. I remember doing a project in my high school literature class on agrarianism, in which I analyzed and compared The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and poetry of Walt Whitman. I have recently reaffirmed my appreciation for agrarianism, and find that it has been a major inspiration for much of my poetry and writing.

It seems that urban and rural themes are relevant in poetic and artistic contexts because they represent highly complex social, ecological, and economic phenomena. These themes evoke intense physical sensations. Imagine for a moment mental and physical reactions when participating in art depicting a dense urban core or a desolate wheat field. Observing contrast between urban and rural, built and natural, tame and wild, is highly appealing to our creative mind. But does the contrast only serve a purpose in art?

You might be wondering why this blog entry is titled Urbanism and Agrarianism. In reading The Essential Agrarian Reader, I am thinking about why these two concepts are set up against each other so often. The book argues that they are in fact not diametrically opposed or mutually exclusive. How is it possible that both appeal to our desires to meet our basic needs for water, food, shelter, right livelihood, love and community? Urban planners use tools such as the urban-rural gradient (shown below) in order to inform policy, zoning, and codes for human settlements. Many have brought up the fundamental flaws in these kinds of models, because even the most urbanized centers are still inherently "natural". They still exist within a context of ecological cycles, of climate, weather, species habitat and migration zones.

Snow storm

2010-12-18T18:50:00.000-08:00

These photos show the wonderful love and connection between me and my parent's dog Dulcie. She is a very special golden retriever, we call her "golden galoot". We went on a run together before the massive snow storm that blew in last night, now there is too much snow to enjoy a run with her (or train with Beatrix!). Below is a photo of the same spot, post snow storm.

Beatrix!

2010-12-17T11:58:00.000-08:00

This is my touring bike, Beatrix. She is all cleaned up, ready to put on some serious mileage.

Academia meets bike tour

2010-12-15T22:45:00.000-08:00

I am a student at Portland State University, but also a student of life. If I were to choose one word to best describe me, it would be inquisitive. I seek to understand the world - the economic, social and ecological framework of existence. I know I am not alone, as this is part of the human condition. Like instruments in a symphony or cells in an organism, the micro reveals patterns of the macro, and each part is intricately interwoven into the expansive universe. This spurs metaphors of making textiles, of weaving baskets and fabric. Maybe we learned this marvelous craft by watching and listening to universal patterns? Who knows. What this means to my life - I love to understand how things work, and I usually cannot ignore my urge to learn, teach, and participate in life.

I recently realized that I was not partaking in formal education because I had to - but because I enjoy the self-propelled nature of my learning process, and sometimes school facilitates that quite nicely. I feel that school is a great place to stimulate inquiry and practice valuable skills of communication. But I also know that these skills can be developed through other means - and often must be. There is too much cultural pressure to confine our learning processes to classrooms. Because students find themselves exhausted from this pressure and feel bogged down, they do not feel very inspired to further explore the world outside classroom walls. So why doesn't our culture place more value on less formal or experiential learning? I couldn't tell you, but I know that all of our lives would feel a lot more meaningful if we opened up classroom doors and really sank our feet into soil, water, and LIFE! It's not just about scientific inquiry, it's about experiencing the cycles and flows of Earth, and about having a relationship with all the other beings on the planet.

I have found some wonderful professors who seem to understand this - and they have agreed to help me integrate my passion for life and experiential learning into my formal education and coursework at PSU. I cannot thank them enough for being such inspiring people, who do not put the name "teacher" to shame. I am practicing theories that I've learned in their classrooms - and taking them on a bike tour through Mexico!

New found appreciation

2010-12-15T20:09:00.000-08:00

I fell in love with the high desert today. I was not in touch with this place before, and did not apprehend the beauty of it when I lived here. Feeling the urge to generate some of my own heat on a cold December day, I wanted to get outside and get my blood flowing. I roamed around on foot and by bike, seeing and experiencing the exquisite scenery in full. Feeling my heart beating fast and hard, and the crisp chilly air saturate my lungs. Listening to the distinctive crunch of slightly frozen soil under my feet, realizing the abundance of snow dusted sagebrush and juniper which surround me. And the golden sun glazes the stiff white clouds on the horizon as it slinks away for a few hours.

I am convinced that appreciating and embracing the inherent beauty within every moment is the meaning of life. Our sensation of that beauty calms us and reminds us that there is only this present moment, worry and fear about past and future events only distort and dilute our appreciation. So much of our acculturation is framed by this fear, and is directly related to our ill-health. Participating in life, by actually experiencing climate and weather, helps us get back in touch with our humanness. This facilitates a relationship with air, soil, plants, snow, sun, and other beings who co-inhabit Earth. Loneliness and confusion proliferate when this relationship is absent from our lives, we sense a deep and hollow void in our hearts. The cure is so simple - reconnect. Start the conversation, open up the dialogue again, and most important - listen.

Visiting family in Central Oregon

2010-12-13T12:21:00.000-08:00

I am visiting my family in Terrebonne, Oregon, home of the internationally renound climbing destination Smith Rock. I spent my high school years here, and am glad to be back. There are pristine lakes, rivers and mountains, as well as breathtaking high desert scenary and outdoor adventures galore. It is truly a great place to explore, I recommend visiting if you ever get the chance. The above photo was taken on a hike during late summer 2010, on the way to the South Sister summit.

This Saturday December 18th, I am going to Corvallis to visit my brother. From there, I am getting a ride with a fellow bike tourer to San Deigo, where I will finally hop on Beatrix (mi bicicleta) and get going for real. In San Diego, I will meet up with Gil and Jocelyn of CIPO caraVAN. The three of us will ride through Baja, take a ferry to Mazatlan, then ride to Mexico City, then to Oaxaca City.

This week is my last chance to get my bike ready for the journey south. For comfort sake, I am wrapping cork bar tape, installing visibility and safety devices such as a flag, lights, and bells, as well as a transitioning to a step-in clipless pedal system. I am also performing a high quality tune up to ensure that Beatrix is running smoothly. I'll upload a photo of her when she's all decked out.

Portland Central America Solidarity Committee

2010-12-11T15:18:00.000-08:00

http://www.pcasc.net/

I went to a teach in and met some folks who sit on this committee. I hope to integrate my learning and travels with this effort.

Art and Social Change

2010-12-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

I went to a talk about Green Patriot Posters, and this is one that I really liked.

Preparations & present moment

2010-12-06T21:00:00.000-08:00

I am making final preparations for my journey south... but leaving a lot to the wind as I believe in truly and absolutely going with the flow. I know I am going to ride sections with different crews, you can check out their websites: www.culturalrecyclists.org and www.cipovan.org.

I am starting the bike tour part of my journey in California, not sure where exactly yet. Somewhere between San Francisco and San Diego, and I will be starting sometime between December 20th and January 5th. It is all very flexible and plans will change. I am noticing that everyone is excited to give unsolicited advice about every aspect of this trip, and I appreciate having diverse perspectives and experiences shared with me. I also know that mine will be very different. I am trying not to let these stories dictate too much of my plans, because no matter how many stories I hear, I still can never have the full picture. Plus, they are just stories.

The most important goal of this trip is to relate. I want to meet people, share moments with them, and see how our lives connect in unimaginable ways. I want to feel and be alive with them. This is a journey to humble and humanize.

And so it begins...

2010-12-05T17:58:00.000-08:00

I am riding my bike, and I am going to continue to do so, in order to show the amazing possibilities of the future. Such a simple activity, yet it is profoundly inspiring, invigorating, and has the potential to help us weave a new social fabric. It is a mode of transport that offers so much. Active and participatory, engaging us with climate, geography, social contexts, and more. People and weather flow through us, as we flow by them. Our breath is nourishing, pumping vitality through mind, body and spirit. We can feel it, we are alive.

The purpose of this blog is to share insights, experiences, and knowledge about reinventing culture, how communities are building traditions, and how each of us uses our skills to contribute. I will be sharing from the perspective of a cross country cycling crew. This blog can facilitate some cross pollination and translocal encounters.

I am embarking on a journey south in bits and pieces, and will write about it along the way. I will be starting in Portland, Oregon and hoping to reach Oaxaca, Mexico in February 2011.

This is my first time blogging, constructive criticism and input is welcome.