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Day 5

What is yet to come!

I woke up on Randy’s couch sweating profusely, it was so hot! When I finally sat up and recovered from my head spin I had a shower and started packing my gear, once I was done I sat down again and decided to wait for the heat to subside before I left.

After yet another entertaining conversation with Randy I set off and got no further than 100 meters – I wanted to eat before I left. For dinner, I had a hamburger and fries, a Dr. Pepper and a coffee at a great little cafe that should keep me up and alert I thought.

I was a little bit nervous today as I knew I had a big mountain to climb, as well as a big distance to cover in order to get to Prescott. My accommodation was already sorted out (John linked me up with that friend of his) so that was one less worry on my hands, all I had to do was ride!

By 3am I had been cycling for almost 5 hours and I arrived at the base of the climb to Yarnell. I was exhausted and with nowhere to sleep I pulled out my sleeping bag and sat under a street lamp for 2 hours only to be woken by a handful of bugs walking all over my face. Well, that was enough to get me wide awake so I packed my gear and cycled in to a local gas station where I ordered a coffee and sat outside staring at the huge shadow I was about to tackle.

When I went inside to order my third coffee – yep taking my time again, I walked past an older guy who was walking with a funny bounce in his step, almost like he was a wee bit high, “You riding that bike” he said to me,( no I am riding another bike that is hidden in an unknown location, that one is just my back up in case a Dinosaur runs off with my real one).. “ Yep sure am” I responded and he kept walking. Now, I was a little confused, firstly what kind of question was that, secondly, what kind of question was that! I caught myself almost wishing he said something else, was I that desperate for friends…. maybe. Read more...

Day 4

There really is hope.

Due to the fact that I arrived in Parker at around 10am I slept all day, then woke up and had dinner/ breakfast – I don’t know what I would call it as my sleeping pattern was so out of whack! Then I went back to my room and packed my gear.

Leaving late at night always feels strange, I have no idea why, but it doesn’t seem normal. Once I was ready to go I cycled down the street and picked up a breakfast burrito, yum! It was now 1am and my goal was to make it to Salome by morning. The ride felt tough, my legs were still battered from the previous night and I just wasn’t feeling it. There was a long climb out of Parker, which did not inspire me and then just pitch black darkness for the remainder of the night.

By 7am I was feeling a little negative, the sun was coming up, I was hungry and tired and Salome was still 10 odd miles away, on top of all this I was craving a coke BIGTIME!

I knew I had to be close to a small town or something and sure enough about 30 minutes later I cycled in to the little town of “Hope”. How fitting I thought, on a morning where I seemed to be cycling backwards (the head wind had picked up) I cycle in to “Hope”. Well, what was even better is that I could see a gas station up ahead, so, not only was I in “Hope” but I was going to get a coke. Sheer joy flooded through my veins until I reached the gas station, only to find it had been closed for some time, GREAT! To add salt to my emotional wounds, 1 mile up the road, there read a sign “You are now beyond Hope”. Fu*k… what a joke… I cursed all the way up the hill; I mean seriously, why does a little hill always seem to pop up just before I arrive at my destination? Read more...

Day 3

If it feels too hard, procrastinate!

Much to my horror I woke up at around 8am. I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I just stayed on the couch thinking about the previous nights ride and where I was to go next.

Paul was due to send me his route from Twenty-Nine Palms to Flagstaff, I had to pick up some supplies and some new tubes for my bike, plus I was hoping to get some work done on the Street Dreams Project.

When John got up we had a good chat, then we both set to work doing our own thing for most of the day. At around 3pm John offered to take me to get supplies. The drive there was fascinating, John was a really interesting character to talk to, I listened as he told me about the American Government, about his life and how he had found a more peaceful way of living, it is people contact like this that I really appreciate.

When John and I could not locate a bike store to get some tubes, he looked on the internet and found a small place called Gypsie Bicycles, so we set off looking for this bike store with a residential address. When we found the location we walked out the back in to a shed full of bikes, it was awesome. John and I called out and an older bloke yelled out, apparently he was asleep, “Who’s there” John and I laughed, “Just trying to get some bike supplies buddy.” “How did you find me?” he asked…Haha classic I thought, hide your business in a backyard shed, sleep during business hours then demand to know how we got here. Like hello, I can already see the billboard advertising – Gypsie Bicycles, we are open (if you can find us) our operating hours are not regular due to midday naps, call first or else, punk!

John and I got talking to this guy; he was super cool actually and was a keen rider who made some awesome bikes. After discussing my incomplete route he referred me to the Race Across America route (RAAM). He then gave me the number of a young guy (Casey) who had cycled across the USA a few years back who actually lived in Twenty-Nine Palms, what are the odds! Read more...

Day 2

Reality Check, testing.. testing… 1,2,3

I was up at 10am getting ready to check out, packing my gear I had a quick thought, to cycle back to L.A it’s only 50 miles Al…what do you reckon, go on! That’s not going to happen Al Jnr, now back in your box until next time I feel like giving up.

Once I checked out, I cycled down to Mcdonalds and picked up a double quarter pounder meal. One of the coolest things about doing these kinds of adventures is that you can eat what you want and not even an ounce of guilt filters through to your conscience. In fact, your conscience is the mascot for unhealthy habits, he stands there waves his little pom poms, actually it’s a she…she stands there in her tight bikini, waves at you, flashes a quick smile then turns around to shake her extremely toned glutes in your face, you can’t help but drool as you stuff your face with greasy, oily food, woof!

While I was in my little fantasy world, I managed to look over my route for the day. It consisted of a hell of a lot of riding, reality check number one! My destination was Twenty-Nine Palms, the road seemed OK for the most part until a 15 mile climb, followed by another 30 miles of small ups and downs. I had managed to organise a couch to surf on for the night through couch surfing.com. John, the guy I was meant to stay with called and was extremely polite and helpful. My plan was to be in Twenty-Nine Palms by around 9pm, and then get a good nights and days rest before taking on the desert!

In short this did not happen, reality check number two! I got lost coming out of Banning and then had to ride on this ridiculous gravel road for miles until Google maps took me to a dirt road, that apparently led to another highway. By this time it was 2pm and stinking hot. I threw my bike on the ground and told myself it was lunchtime, afternoon tea time, late breakfast time and pre dinner time all at once, that way I figured I could take as long as I wanted, pfft, where was my little conscience cheerleader now! Read more...

Day 1

3..2..1… Lift Offffffff!

Well, here I was, finally ready to cycle across the USA. What was running through my head, I can’t tell you, I think it was something like Oh Al, what have you got yourself in to this time? Ha!

In truth, I was nervous about the kind of reach the project would have after so many hiccups. The Street Dreams Project was such a diverse one that my team and I were proud of. Our primary goal was to raise funds for Ladder and StandUp for Kids and awareness of youth homelessness. Secondary to this was the fact that we wanted to continue to inspire people to challenge their own personal limits, and be more socially responsible.

The more I thought about our goals, as I climbed my first small incline on my way to Banning, the more it upset me – Christ, I was getting emotional already! Every night, there are thousands of kids sleeping on the street, uncertain and afraid; there is no way any child deserves to have a life like that. How can we as a race place so much emphasis on certain things and be ignorant of others, it seems that the more one observes the society he or she lives in, the easier it is to see the injustices surrounding us every day, yet we fail to act. Right now I would say, after reading that last sentence, that there are a few people pointing fingers, mumbling things like government, financial institutions, media, they make us do it, life is hard.. blah, blah, blah…. Well, here is your 5am wake up call, the buck starts with you, the sooner you change your inner attitude to reflect your outer actions, the sooner you will realize, you’re not a victim and that people created these problems, so naturally people are the solution. Read more...

The Arrival

I arrived in Los Angeles at 3:55pm on September the 11th, a strange day to arrive I am sure and you can be absolutely certain, airport security was tight. This contributed to the time it took for me and my good mate Billy to leave the airport. The positive however, was that we made use of the time in the car to have a good old chin wag about life since we last caught up in person.

It was funny to see how our lives differed, Billy was now married, had finished his university degree and was working in a great role as a mechanical engineer, and he seemed settled, content and focused. Then there was me, recently single, an unfinished degree – one I had changed 4 times, and almost nomadic in my movements, eek, time to be worried? Nonsense I was as stable as they come, a real catch I thought, I mean who wouldn’t want to shack up with me in my sleeping bag, head to the occasional Laundromat to collect lint from the dryers, and skip through shopping centre’s smiling like I was 6 years old? Pfft, way too serious, think about it later Al, you got a big wide world to save, ha!

Anyway, when we arrived back at Billy’s pad I was fortunate enough to meet his lovely wife – an absolute sweetheart in fact, Liz. On top of that I got a little bit spoilt by their two pet dogs/ mini human beings, Che and Coco.

For the next few days I spent time with Billy and Liz, we went hiking up the mountains of Santa Monica inbetween work for Seed of Thought and me trying to organise some sponsorship for the Street Dreams Project. When the time came for me to leave, it appeared that my sponsor for camping equipment had gone into hiding, so I was left to organise this for myself, just another expense I wasn’t ready for.

Now some of you may be sitting there thinking, wow, way to be organised Al you big hot shot (sarcastically of course), yeah, I got you! Here’s a quick insight which you may not have been aware of. Originally we had an organisation we had partnered with in the USA for the Street Dreams Project, the role of this organisation was to assist me with a bike, chase vehicle, and planning my route. As simple as it sounds two weeks before I was due to leave for the USA one of the Director’s of this organisation emailed me and withdrew from the project. It seems they did a risk assessment and realized that in no way were they organised. It was hard to not take this personally, but within twenty four hours we had secured another partner in the USA, Stand Up for Kids, which, I was absolutely chuffed about. So, with that loovveerrllyyy bit of information I am sure you can see why things were seemingly a little disorganised and chaotic. Read more...

Kokoda Day 3

Day 3 - Who’s your daddy, punk? Kokoda, that’s who!

Some of you may be thinking what, day 3 already? But it is only Sunday morning! Well you’re both right and wrong. I am afraid this was it folks, the last time we attempted to sleep. We had 29 hours to get to the Kokoda airstrip and we had not even reached the highest point of the Kokoda yet – basically we were behind, due to the weather conditions. The PNG boys were looking tired and sick and both Dion and I were not faring much better.

We started to power on and as the sun rose in the distance we could not be happier. By 10 am we were in a small village located in a valley, waving to a few village children – I am sure they looked at me and thought “why is that guy walking funny?”. Yep, you guessed it- by now my bleeding, blistered chafe was a real hit in hero land! As we commenced our ascent to yet another small village, Dion became extremely pale and we had to stop. I was a little panicky and asked Dion to give me the satellite phone in case he passes out, but he said he was fine. We made it to the top of the hill and it was time to rest. I felt as terrible as Dion looked. The locals gave us some fresh vine tomatoes and potato which we wolfed down at a ridiculous pace, then after another 30 minutes we knew we would have to keep going.

Dion and I reluctantly got up and for the next 6 hours we power hiked until we reached a small village creatively called ‘1900’, it’s name owing to the fact that it is situated some 1900 metres above sea level. During this time I cannot recall what I was thinking and to be honest I think I thought about nothing, it was like I was in autopilot & I just wanted to sit down and rest. The feeling of severe isolation had kicked in, we were all about 50 meters apart and it is too hard to talk while you’re pushing yourself up a tough incline. I felt hopeless, helpless, alone and fragile – it’s not like you can stop in at an IGA and grab a soft drink or ring your buddy on your mobile phone, no, you have but one option, that is to keep hiking.

We arrived at 1900 trembling, the rain so cold that both Dion and I (even while hiking) were freezing. At 1900 we decided to break for at least 2 hours and relax. The boys cooked us some food and we changed in to our last set of semi -dry clothes. It was now the fourth time we had eaten the same meal – pasta, with trout and dried fruit only this time it didn’t go down so well. Dion had felt sick the day before after eating it and today it was my turn. After the first bite I felt like vomiting so I put the bowl down and rolled over. “One mouthful Al, that is not enough” I thought but I just couldn’t stomach anymore. Read more...

Kokoda Day 2

Day 2 – Remember when you thought you were a man?

Well, day 2 kicked off about an hour after day one had ended. It appeared Dion had finally managed to fall asleep on the other side of the so-called hut and I couldn’t help looking over at him with his sleeping bag (which I did not bring) and thinking he looked so warm, although I would later find out he had been freezing as well. The porters were meant to cook us some breakfast – their only job, but they forgot so Dion whipped up some pasta from one of our sponsors. It was organic pasta which tasted amazing and we mixed it with some South American trout (from the same sponsor) and believe it or not, dried fruit. Now I would never eat this mixture by choice but to be fair it tasted amazing and gave us all the nutrients, protein and carbs we needed. Plus I couldn’t believe how good the trout was- Dion and I were freaking out! I wanted to purchase it by the kilo when I returned to Oz and I made him aware of this! We laughed a bit and then boo-ya! Time to get back to the hike.

The start of the hike required a straight vertical and we just didn’t want a bar of it. At 5am and with no sleep, the 6 of us were all looking exhausted and grumpy, my chafe was already starting to rub and slipping had become the new Black. We powered on until 11am at which point we arrived at yet another small creek. Dion decided we could rest for 30 minutes and jumped in the water. I was already freezing and wanted to keep my chafe as dry as possible, so Dion just sat in the water by himself *bless, and I sat down and had a little whinge to myself about how much I hated walking up hills.

30 minutes on Dion’s watch is about half the time of a normal persons watch and as we gathered our gear it was straight back in to marching uphill.  For the next 4 hours we barely spoke except for the odd break in which we bitched about the track, the constant pain in our legs and the rain. The power bars we were eating began to feel a little funny in the stomach and when peering out & into the horizon, all I could see were more mountains to climb- “can’t wait” I thought, “mountains are the best!” By about 1pm we ran into the only flat ground we were to experience until the final 3km’s of the Kokoda trail. The only problem with this was that it was like a swamp, with our legs sinking up to our ankles in filthy, sloppy mud and, after 2 hours of pushing through I almost caught myself asking for another mountain! Yes, I am serious it was hard to move, and when your shoes fill up with dirt, stones and muddy water, you start getting just that little-bit-more agitated.  The boys advised me we had a small river crossing and then we would be breaking at a small village- sweet as bro! (in my kiwi accent) I said, until we reached the river. By now you could probably guess – it was flooded and roaring! The crossing we were supposed to use to get over the other side was gone and it was at this point Dion looked at me, saying solemnly “that is it mate- all over”. Read more...

Kokoda Day 1

Day 1 – Welcome to the HOUSE OF PAIN...
Please leave your skirt at the door!

Well what an ordinary start to the  trip. Arriving at the airport on time only to remember I forgot my beanie (I really wanted to wear a beanie) and then my plane was delayed, which put us in a difficult position. You see, the plan was to arrive in PNG at 1:30pm, at  which point I would meet with Dion so we could both drive to Owens corner in  order to begin the treacherous hike and try to get in a solid 4 hours before  dark. Long story short, I arrived in Port Moresby at 5pm, which meant we would  not start hiking until at least 7pm.

When I stepped outside the airport I automatically entered a defensive mind frame. I was the only Caucasian person in the vicinity and it felt like there were a thousand eyes on me – well, it  didn’t just feel like it, I could see them. This feeling of being alienated  from a crowd gave me my first “real” insight of what it might be like for a colored  person not only in today’s society, but also (and in particular) throughout the  60’s and 70’s. Although I try to keep a very neutral viewpoint of people, I think now more then ever before I can understand the urgency to view all human  beings through a color blind and culturally neutral lens. As Martin Luther King  Jr stated in his “I have a dream” speech, we are “not to judge a man by the color of  his skin, but by the content of his character”.

I think it is easy for one to get sidetracked on occasion and stereotype or prejudge, something I will be consciously aware of in the future.

We arrived at Owens corner just on 7pm  after crossing a few flooded rivers. I met our porters on the way up and they  seemed polite and kind. The plan now was to get moving as soon as we got there,  hike through the night and try to make up for lost time. Once we arrived at our location it was out of the truck, a quick hello to a few of the guys and then  time to get marching. Dion gave me a quick briefing and through the pouring  rain we began our descent. Well... it must have been about 45 seconds before we  all started slipping and sliding. We began to count (apparently that is tradition) but we soon realized that the rain had basically created a mud-slide  all the way down the mountain. I have to be honest, I had no idea what to  expect and after about 10 minutes I thought, “far out, this is going to be one hell of a battle”. Dion advised me to try not to cut myself as the trip would  surely be over if this was to occur and what happens? 5 minutes later good old  Alex slips and slices his finger open– hide that Al and tell Dion about it  tomorrow. Read more...

Kokoda Intro

The calm before the storm

With 24 hours to go before I leave for the Kokoda trail in what I anticipate will be one of the toughest challenges of my life, I have had considerable time to reflect on how I came to be here and what it is I hope to achieve.

My intentions once I arrived back from "Unite for a Change" were always to pursue social justice and to form a group of like-minded partners who shared a similar vision, though I guess I never anticipated finding them as quick as I did. The first day Adam, Spencer, Lamar and I sat down to discuss Seed of Thought, I knew the dynamics were right, and for the first time in a long time my personal belief that we could really change people’s lives was strong.

So how did taking on the Kokoda trail in such a constrained time frame make it to the table? I guess it was partly due to the fact that while I was in the midst of walking from Brisbane to Cairns, Saffron (Bryant) called me, informing me of the doctor’s diagnosis. I promised to assist her in any way I could, and once I found out about Evie and Kim (all three girls have been diagnosed with brain tumors), the trip became a certainty. Read more...