Two-stroke brethren


Leaving Poway, CA the morning of the 14th, I rode south on route 67, then east along or paralleling interstate #8, finally arriving in Descanso, where I made camp within the Cleveland National Forest. That night, I had the worst night of sleep I have yet had while touring. The wind, which I was warned about, was so incredibly fierce, it actually brought down a tree very close to my tent. All night the gale-force winds shook my tent and kept me from getting any good sleep. Surviving the night, I had breakfast, packed my gear and rode past the many, many mountain-bikers preparing for their rides.

Like the day before, the 15th was a day of climbing and more climbing. Being a Saturday, it was also a day for people to get out on their bikes; pedal and motorized. Combined, the people on two-wheeled machines must have outnumbered those on four-wheels by at least 2-1. At least.

Camping in Potrero, I was within just a few miles of Tecate, Mexico. In case I wasn’t sure, all the Border Services/Homeland Security vehicles served to remind me that the US war against it’s Mexican brethren continues. Immigration checkpoints, jeeps, SUVs and dark sunglasses waved me along, but always casting a suspicious look upon anyone with brown skin. Racism is so ugly.

Finding my coffee-maker irreparably broken the night before, Sunday morning forced me to find coffee at the nearest restaurant. This I found, along with several dozen motor-bikers out for their Sunday club ride.

Bikes–whether gas or water powered–unite people. Hogs, choppers, crotch-rockets and super-bikes; their riders wave in two-wheeled solidarity. In fact, many of my cycling friends also ride motorbikes, knowing that nothing beats the freedom found only on two wheels.