journal april

sometimes i want to go back to a life of having plenty of time and no money.

after rails i suppose

but can i live like i have plenty of time? when in fact i have a job? when i had plenty of time and no money, i would...

after europe right?

yeah, a bit before, really, it was on the road to bradock that i started becoming obsessed with the idea of spending nothing, cause i realized i could,

i had started it really as soon as i stopped working for core, the experiment...

I read through that journal and a few more, I should pack, i've got three hours till dinner.

today was really beautiful, riding in the car, 

the leaves all changing colour, i feel nostalgic and sad thinking about it, i still remember crying into my pillow,

i want wine and to be drunk and writing, i will be home soon, i can not believe that i will be home soon and i will not have to do anything, i will be free.

simple life, life of no money, bike tour life, 

what stops me in portland?

alcohol and breakfast and friendships, 

but i can take a break from drinking, i can become a health nut, 

and i wouldn't stop myself from taking sailing lessons, and learning to program

i guess i'm just really trying to drill in the idea of not drinking as much.

it's neary time for bed, time for flosing for sure

i dream of a world

that has a tool library at every 3 mile block, there would be 20 or so in portland alone. shacks, with basic tools and for purchase, nails, or sand paper, and other consumables. 

if there was space, they'd have other capital collectives as well, things like bike collectives, and car collectives, centers/hubs where people congregate to do stuff, to fix things, to build.  

my questions; would these be government facilities? it'd be great for them to be open all the time, but unlikely, 

unless we could come up with a system, that made it so easy, and simple, safe, enjoyable to volunteer.  average joe should be able to check tools out to people, and accept money, of 

once they are built, how do we keep them from becoming stagenet? out dated, unused like our current library system.  

Sound advise

http://www.scoutmastercg.com/sleep-warm-while-camping/

how to start a bike collective

This is from my talk in Oaxaca Mexico about how to start a bike collective:

Hello,

My name is Momoko Saunders.  I live in portland OR and 5 years ago, a group of friends and I started the bike farm. We were just a bunch of idealist mid 20 year olds, realizing there was a need in our city for a bicycle collective. A bicycle collective is a place where you can learn to fix your bike.  

The idea was not new, San Francisco and LA had the bike kitchens and bikerowave, Seattle had the bikery. These bike collectives where in every major cycling city, it only made sense that portland should have one too. So we gathered up a list of interested friends, and we stared to have meetings to talk about how we were going to make one of these in our city. The process was quick. We divvied up responsibilities, some people made a tool list, of all the tools we'd need to run the shop, and other contacted bands they knew and asked if they'd put on benefit shows so we could fund raise. Another group of people set about writing letters to all the bike shops in town, asking for donations of tools or used parts. In a month, we had 3 parties, and raised about $1000. We had about 5 donated bikes, a bucket or two of used parts, and permission to use a friends garage for our shop. We had a work party, painted the walls fresh, and put up our tools. We had our first official meeting on September 7th and by December 1st, we were open and helping people fix their bikes.  

Our beginnings were slow, we helped maybe 20 people in the first month and made all of $97. But every month was better, and now we've been running for 5 years and thousands of people have fixed their bike in our shop.

I tell you this not because I think this is some recipe for creating a collective, but rather to inspire the idea in you that anyone can. I want you to understand that the hardest part about building a collective is showing up. But the reality is, if you show up, and you have tools, you can help people get on bikes. And it's not just helping them fix a flat, it's empowering them, it's saving them money, it's helping your city with it's pollution or crowded streets. It's doing your part to make the world a better place.  

cultural tourism

Going on bike tour is kinda like acceptable slumming.  or "slumming it"

This statement is obviously controversial; its not always the case for sure.  But this morning, as I woke up from a bed, drank from my cafe au lait, and began typing on my computer, I thought to myself, "man living in civilisation is nice."  Maybe it's because class has been on my mind since entering into SF.  I thought deeply about what I had just said.  About how yeah, when I'm camping and riding my bike, I'm kinda pretending like I live outside, like I'm homeless? like a wanderer, drifter.  I'm seeking to shift my world perspective, by removing myself from my comfort zone, I'm hoping to grow from experiences that are out of my day to day.  The same can be said for someone who is "slumming it"

I like this definition best from urban dictionary, especially the reference to pulp's "common people"

Young-ish, wealthy parasites feeding off the lifestyles of the urban working classes in order to appear cool or hard. These hypocrites typically hang with their new poorer friends for a while, find out the daily grind isn't exactly what they had envisioned, get bored or scared or tired of having to actually work for once, and then return to their trust funds. For the quintessential example of slumming, listen to Pulp's album A Different Class, and their song "Common People".

I'm going to be honest for a moment. When I lived in Portland, the years 2008-2009, I believe I was in fact slumming it. Oh I feel like a shit to say this.  Of course, there was other things going on. I can justify to my conscience's content, but I purposefully lived underneath my means to "grow" myself: my work ethic, my appreciation of objects, and my ingenuity.
 

And it worked well actually.  While I never denied my privilege, I did feel like I wanted to hide that part of myself from the people I casually met because I did not want them to judge my actions based on my father's money.  I started to realize what I was doing towards the end of 2009.  I resolved to stop denying/running away from my privilege.  I resolved to use it for the betterment of society.  Because to be given/born into such resources, and to squander them or make no good use of them, that is an even bigger insult to those who do not have then to live in your wealthy society oblivious to the plight of the less fortunate.  

But this is not the point I actually want to make.  I'm thinking about how bike touring is just another way to slum it.  Especially when one thinks of the expense of bike touring.  One must have the ability to take time off work, as well as pay for expensive gear.  And then one goes out into the wild, to show how hard one is, to experience the rough life, and then when you've had enough, pop back to the "real world", wash off the grime.  I do remember when I was in Japan touring that I felt connected to the homeless population there, because we slept in the same places, stayed warm in the libraries together, and were shunned by the rest of society.  But of course, I had credit cards.  (I was also a foreigner and not confined by japanese societal rules, so my life was really nothing like the homeless population...)

On my first bike tour, I sewed into my panniers, "I will learn how to be a graceful drifter"

I wanted to know personally, what it feels like to sleep on streets. But I will never know because "when you're laying in bed at night, watching roaches crawl the wall, if you called your dad he could stop it all" oh, i'll "never be like common people, never know whatever common people know"

I don't know what to do with this thought.  Stop bike touring? No!  try to lesson my cultural tourism? Yeah, in certain ways that's happening, bike touring is actually becoming more of a literal form of transportation, a means to get from point A to point B.  The next bike tour, from Chicago to New Orleans, it won't be about self learning, it will be about a fun way to get from Chicago to New Orleans.  It will be about the people I'm riding with.  

I think that is what a lot of people see tour as.  So I'm not saying everyone is doing what I did.  And I did start this conversation by saying that bike touring is an acceptable form of slumming it.  Because it doesn't exactly hurt anyone, I don't think?

Ah, this isn't well thought out or written, but it's just something I'm thinking about.  SF has got me thinking politics. And the last two years has been me coming to terms with my privilege, and owning it, and then making something productive out of it, i hope.

End in site

Man, a lot has happened since 2010. But it doesn't feel that long ago. It started with bike tour in Japan, and now the end of this bike tour is in site. A lot of the past three years had been in preparation for this ride. And I purposefully didn't think about plans beyond this.  But now, uncertainty washes over me. I bike long days with nothing but my thoughts, and sure, I have a few things figured out. 

I know what I want. I have no idea how I'll get it. But experience tells me that knowing what you want is the most important part. Still. This mind of mine needs a plan. One week left. Plus a few days. And then it back to working so hard there's no time for thought, and the carrot that this ride has been for me. It won't be there. 

During the hard times of the last two years, and yeah, there have been fucking hard times. I'd lie in my bed and say, alaska, soon I'll be riding my bike and nothing you've said will matter. I will be happy and I will be strong. 

And I have been happy, and fucking amazingly strong. And the words of self doubt roll off my back. 

But I don't feel free. What needs to get done is hard to realize. That probably means its the truth. 

Ok. I'll do it. I always do what needs to get done. 

The road to Newport.

Two nights ago, I stayed with two wonderful warm showers hosts in Corvallis, Mary Ellen and Dennis.  They told me about a back route to the coast, and where I could avoid the crazy traffic of highway 20, and also ride the Yaquina Bay Rd, which had to be some of the most beautiful riding I've ever done in Oregon.

Corvallis is a little gem, that i really had no idea existed.  A cute town, with the Willamette gushing through, it seem like it would be a lovely place to raise a family, or spend some nurturing quiet time during for college.

I've got a lot of thoughts in my head at the moment, I've had a lot of good conversations.  mostly about community building and how enriching it is, and how in dire need we are of it.  Currently, it's 8:14, and I know I must get on the road to avoid the bulk of the 101 traffic.  sometimes bike touring is hard this way, always pushing.  Since I have a hard set date in LA, I'm contemplating taking it a bit more easy, and taking a train to make up the difference.  I just want to write more.  Somehow, I'm not finding the time.

I will find the time.