Scottsdale, Phoenix, Arizona (United States) to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Redwoods, California

---

After 16 months of riding a bike I decided to try riding a log. It was not a very satisfactory experience, with little, if any, movement and I soon was forced to abandon said log and remount my bicycle.

Coast of Northern California

---

Took my bike down a path marked bicycle path and spent the next 2 miles falling through a series of bushes. Got to the beach took two photos and then realised that the loop I had planned to ride was probably going to involve a lot of pushing through sand so I decided to cut my losses and pushed my bike back up the hill. Still was very nice and was a good way to spend a day.

Californian llamas

---

In Bolivia and Peru the llamas you meet are friendly but not really great conversationalists "Hello Gringo, where are you from?" etc. However these Californian llamas were much more sophisticated. Over an iced chai latte we discussed the various shortcomings of contemporary theatre in San Francisco before they excused themselves and went to their afternoon yoga class.

Oregon's secret roads

---

Met Patrick and his friend on the West Coast both from Reading taking time off work to ride down the West Coast. They gave me their bicycle maps for Oregon and Washington. They were brilliant and take you away from the busy roads. This makes it possible to explore the peaceful secrets of many little roads and back alleys. What for instance lies up Knob Noster Lane?...

Bonk & Bonk

---

...I don't know, but if I had to find out I would not hesitate to instruct local private investigators Robert and Joyce Bonk.

SE Portland, Oregon

---

SE Portland is a very cool, Bohemian bicycle friendly place. Lots of nice tree lined streets, espresso coffee shops and cars with anti war stickers on them. Every other person rides a bike and has an impressive collection of tattoos. Stayed there with my friend Chris who I know from in Japan and ended up in a Karaoke bar belting out Delilah again. Excellent.

Janet

---

I go slowly. Not really rushing. Taking my time to enjoy scenery I tend to ride all day but don't go that fast. Still when Janet, a retired schoolteacher from California who has just had knee surgery caught me up one day it pricked my male pride a bit. Janet is the only tourist I have met who was also travelling North on the West Coast. Everyone else is heading south with the tail wind. (I actually haven't found the wind to be that bad). Janet has previously done a solo trip up to Alsaka and spoke of the wonderful natural silence there in a way that only someone who has spent their enitre working life teaching small children can possibly appreciate.

Park Ranger, Stacey

---

Do you really need a gun to supervise a campsite? In the US you do. Stacey was a very nice young lady that I met in a Washington State Park. She explained that the previous evening she had arrested two people. To try and understand US gun culture I took a Concealed Carry Weapon (CCW) course in Arizona in April. For me a very unsettling experience. The course consists of a lecture on Arizona gun law. This was interspersed with colouful gung ho anecdotes by our tutor, Chris, a law enforcement officer who teaches the course on the weekends (i.e. "It is fun to taze people"). All the money that Chris earns from teaching he ploughs back into ammunition he buys to use on shooting ranges (about 30,000 US$ in the last 2 years) The CCW class is held at a shooting range is is a commercial enterprise in a mall in Phoenix about the same size as a bowling alley. I would guess that a lot or most of the customers are police officers. There is a little room where a lady sews badges onto uniforms and I buy my United States badge for my touring shirt from her. After the lecture there is a very easy 20 question multiple choice test which every body got either 100% or 95% on. I have taken many law tests in my career as a lawyer, and in my view unless you were a lobotomized llama I do not know how you could possibly fail this test. Then we were shown a video explaining how an AK 47 bullet can penetrate 10 walls, and less powerful handguns do I think about 6. Then it is into a Dirty Harry style shooting range to fire off 5 shots at 5 yards and 5 at 10 yards. Again quite difficult to miss. Finally you get fingerprinted, these get sent off to the FBI and you are allowed to carry a gun I think for five years (I didn't do this bit as I don't have a green card). There are some restrictions. One lady, who said that she shot every week at a shooting range as she found it a great way to relieve stress, was extremely frustrated to learn that there were some limitations imposed on people carrying guns near schools. Statistically many more children die in swimming pools in the US than from guns (source Freakonomics). It is however quite difficult to cary 20,000 gallons of water in your pocket.

Kevin and Nate, River City Cycles

---

Kevin and Nate worked on my bike and Bob trailer in Portland, Oregon. I asked a couple of bikers which was the best bike shop in Portland and they all recommended River City Bicycles 706 SE MLK Blvd, Portland Oregon 97214 Tel 503 233 5973 (www.rivercitybicycles.com). I also picked up a front pannier rack (Cold Springs) made by Old Man Mountain, a company based in Santa Barbara here. Have been after these for some time, they look the strongest things that I have seen so far for front wheel pannier bags and am hoping they will get me through Canada.

Elliot, Newport Cycles, Oregon

---

A couple of riders I met on the West Coast recommended Elliot's shop in Newport on the West Coast. I didn't really need anything doing to my bike at this point but stopped in for a chat. Elliot was very friendly and gave me some good advice. Bike Newport 152 NE 6th Street Newport OR 97365 tel 541 265 9917 www.bikenewport.net

Tony

---

Tony works for Raleigh America and helped me with my gears when I stopped by the Silverdale Cyclery.