A Late Night Blog

A few days back, as we were readying ourselves to depart Santa Barbara, we made the decision - sailing wasn't going to happen, at least on this leg. Sad? Perhaps. But a journey is made of these things, small dissapointments in the midst of bigger opportunities.

From past experience I knew that sailing south from San Diego would offer us some experience that there is simply no other way to get. It is a way to learn about silence, and to understand what blue really means, and to grasp, in some small way, the living ocean.

But it also carries a lot of "baggage" with it. In our case it was time - we simply couldn't find a boat that was going to leave on our timeline. We decided that sailing on someone else's timeline wasn't going to be right for us at this point.

So, as of this Monday we are the proud new owners of a pair of nice shiny plane tickets, and will be flying out of San Diego into Mexico City on Wednesday the 25th. Our thoughts now are turned towards San Diego, still about 3 or 4 riding days away, and all of the tasks that we need to accomplish there to get ourselves out of the country.

The riding has changed significantly since we left Santa Barbara. It is mostly flat, and much warmer, and there are a lot more people and cars around. We spent most of today on oddly placed bike paths snaking over unnaturally broad sand beaches as we skirted the edge of Santa Monica Bay. Its actually enjoyable riding, with lots of diversions and interesting things to look at as the miles fly by.

I had the wonderful opportunity this morning to surf Malibu, thanks to the Surfrider Foundation's Nancy Hastings. Nancy picked us up at our campground and supplied me with a long board and we scored small but fun waves at one of the world's famous breaks.

- Ian, writing from the Surf City Hostel in Hermosa Beach