Time to decide, dream and ride

After a what was for me a pretty long ride, I enjoyed taking some time to rest in San Diego. I had the pleasure of being in the fantastic company of my friends Jonny, who I stayed with in San Diego, and Carmen, who was there visiting from Oz. The decision I was supposed to make in San Diego was already made - I had to keep going, at least into Mexico. What I didn't know was how I was going to do it, and where exactly I was going to go.

Carmen and I

Carmen and Jonny

Although the ride through California had been amazing, I knew the real prize lay ahead of me. If the preceding year of adventure had been a long-held dream during my time in Australia, then riding my bike through latin america building a volunteer resource was the dream of my dream. That's right, we're talking Inception level stuff here. So I couldn't go back to Australia. Not yet. The problem was, I had only planned on being overseas for 3 or maybe 6 months, and definitely no more than a year. So I had almost no money left, and I felt like I was on borrowed time. I had no real plan, and no fixed destination. What's not to like?

At least having sh*t all money makes preparations easier. I couldn't really afford to buy anything, or do anything but some basic maintenance on my bike, and have a few drinks with Carmen, Jonny, and Jonny's friends before I set off. I decided I would set Quetzaltenango, Guatemala as my initial target, because I figured I could probably make it that far. Probably. I also knew a couple of worthy charities there, in Quetzaltrekkers and Primeros Pasos, and I thought it would be cool if I could mule some supplies their way (you can find them, and what they need, on AngelMule). So I picked up some supplies for them (shh! don't tell them, I want it to be a surprise), and managed to stretch my budget to buying a foam sleeping mat, because of problems I'd been having with my inflatable one.

Almost all the way from San Francisco I had fantasised about dumping some unnecessary gear, and I did this in San Diego. So even with the new mat, Derek/Blue Steel was looking slimmer and sleeker than ever. I had also fantasised about some cycling luxuries, like a nice Brooks saddle, and some proper cycling shoes, but had to shelve these ideas for budgetary reasons. So although minimally changed, apart from losing a little weight - or perhaps exactly because of this - I realised my bike needed to be renamed, and I realised I knew the name... Magnum was born!

Magnum!

AngelMule provided me with a destination, and something to do along the way - I would be an ambassador for this great idea, telling people and organisations about it as I travelled. I would also make my volunteer wiki, which was the original inspiration for a project during my ride. I would gather information about places to do, in particular, free volunteering, medical or otherwise. I had heard Baja California was beautiful, so that seemed like as good a place as any to start, and then I'd work the rest out later.

All of a sudden, I had everything I needed: a destination, a route, enough gear to get by, and something worthy to do. Low on gas, with a fistful of dollars, and not much more, I let myself roll out the door, on Magnum, and the wheels of fortune.