Part 20: Ocean, Sky, Freedom: West Coast Bicycle Adventure—Canada to Mexico—Making the Mexico Border

By Frosty Wooldridge

“No matter how long your tour, no matter how many miles, no matter how many campfires and no matter how many amazing moments you experienced—your journey ultimately comes to an end.  It might be a coast-to-coast, border-to-border or continent-to- continent, but like Thomas Stevens’ first bicycle journey around the world 1884 to 1886—you finally come to the finality of your expedition.  I think Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise said it best, ‘Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we lived.’ Relish the highs, endure the lows and savor the in-between times. Remember the good, bad and ugly times.  Stand tall that you possessed the courage to explore the world on your iron steed.  It provided you wings to fly.  It carried you to your dreams and you pedaled it into yet another adventure.”  FWH  West Coast Tour, 2014

(At the end of a grand journey from Canada to Mexico.) Photography by Frosty Wooldridge

After mingling through the endless street vendors, I pushed Condor further down the coast until I arrived at Sonoma Beach, north of San Diego.

This story may delight and intrigue you because it couldn’t have occurred without the Internet.  It’s about a boy who meets a girl. Boy takes girl out to the high school prom from the cross-town rival.  Boy dances with girl.  Boy kisses girl on front porch.  Boy says ‘good night’. Boy never sees girl for the rest of his life, or, should I say ‘most of the rest of his life.’

About five years ago, after writing one of my commentaries on overpopulation, I received an email from the ‘girl’ that I took to the high school prom over 49 years ago.  Judy enjoyed basketball star status at her high school.  She asked me to her prom.  After that night, I never saw the high school beauty again.

But, because of the Internet, she read one of my columns on overpopulation-environment here in the USA.  She obtained my email address.  She not only sent me an email, but an attachment of a picture of our prom night together.

She wore a lovely floor-length gown. I pinned a corsage to her dress.   I stood like a deer in the headlights with a white sport coat and pink carnation!  Just like the famous song still played today!

“I’ll be darned,” I said.

“Hope you like the picture,” she wrote in the email.

We kept contact annually with Christmas cards.  On this ride along Route 101, I passed right beneath her office window in Sonoma Beach.  I called her up to make a date for lunch.

She became a CPA to TV and movie stars along with sports stars.  I knocked on her office door.  The receptionist welcomed me into a very chic waiting room.  Within five minutes, Judy and I sat at a restaurant down the street to share our lives.  She still maintained her statuesque frame and elegant style.  She raised a family and stayed married to her fantastic husband of 49 years.

Having seen her for the last time that one night in high school, and now, 49 years later seeing her a lifetime ago, well, it pretty much blew my mind. We laughed. We shared. We remembered.  After two hours, her office called about an appointment she needed to keep.  We bid adieu. I kissed her on the cheek and gave her a big hug. 

“Wow,” I said.  “This has been a treat. Thank you and many blessings on your next 49 years.”

“Ya’ll come back to see us, ya’ hear,” she said.

And with that, she vanished out the door.  I finished lunch before grabbing my bicycle for the ride south.  Talk about how fast time flies; try not seeing someone for 49 years and then, suddenly, you come face to face with that person!  They experienced a whole different life and you lived a whole different life.  Now, both of us stand at the end of our lives.  Pretty heady stuff!

I pedaled through San Diego for a stop at the aircraft carrier “Midway” that saw a lot of action in the South Pacific in WWII.  Near the carrier, WWII submarines floated at the dock with tours to see how it felt to be a submariner.  On a spit of land, I noticed the iconic photograph of a sailor grabbing a nurse on the streets of New York City and kissing her.  Someone turned the picture into a 50-foot statue.  You could tell the sheer joy of the war being over and peace breaking out all over America.

(Take a picture of yourself in a swirling mirror on the California beaches.)  Photography by Frosty Wooldridge

Another twenty miles of traffic found me face to face with the Mexican border.  It’s a funny feeling to finish a great journey.  I am appreciative for my safety and that no one ran me over. I am thankful for the grit and gumption it takes to pedal through rain, heat and mountains.  The West Coast proved itself dramatic, dynamic and extraordinarily beautiful on many levels.

What do I remember most?  Gees, all of it. But if you pinned me down, that night with the three guys sitting on a rock on the beach in Oregon watching the sun go down takes the cake for a sublime moment.  Additionally, the 30-ton mama whale with her calf surfacing and blowing their snouts right below me, lingers with me for a lifetime. Sandi and I slept in the redwoods and held hands on the beaches.  I am thankful for Sandi sharing the ride with me all the way to San Francisco.  And to each kind person who shared a moment with me or a conversation or a friendly wave, thank you back and pass it forward.

As I touched the border, I stood astride my trusty iron steed “Condor” for yet another grand journey.  “Thank you old friend,” I said as I patted him on the top tube.  “Thanks for the safe journey.”

In the end, I am thankful to all who came before me. I especially like what the Roman philosopher Epictetus said, “Tentative efforts lead to tentative outcomes.  Therefore, give yourself fully to your endeavors.  Decide to construct your character through excellent actions. And determine to pay the price for a worthy goal.  The trials you encounter will introduce you to your strengths.  Remain steadfast; for one day you will build something that endures; something worthy of your potential.”

(Street vendors everywhre with all sorts of art.) Photography by Frosty Wooldridge

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Frosty Wooldridge
Golden, CO

Population-Immigration-Environmental specialist: speaker at colleges, civic clubs, high schools and conferences

Www.HowToLiveALifeOfAdventure.com

Www.frostywooldridge.com

Six continent world bicycle traveler

Speaker/writer/adventurer

Adventure book: How to Live a Life of Adventure: The Art of Exploring the World

Frosty Wooldridge, six continent world bicycle traveler, Canada to Mexico summer 2015, 2,000 miles, 100,000 vertical feet of climbing: