Dog Chase

That little guy was one of the fastest dog that ever chased me, and he ran for quite a while until I thought of filming him...

Spanish Close-up

This is the fascinating Spanish Moss, To celebrate being in its presence I put some on my bicycle, this way I can look at it while riding... hehe
click on the picture to go to my flickr site for lots more

Perry, Florida

On the road once again... feel good to be on the move. I came down from Tallahassee to Perry, FL yesterday, where I camped beside father Bernardo's home. Today I've ridden to Cross City and while asking to use the internet I got sponsored by Eugene to room for the night at his motel. Plans to keep on the 27 for a while longer, than hopefully make my way into the Ocala National Forest.

Cardinal

This guy is a regular visitor to the garden of the Gunter's

Reflections in Tallahassee

Tonight completes the sixth day-off. I have rested, I have regained some extra layers of fat and caught up on the communication front. During this while, I have been in the comfort of a home with wonderful new found friends, and due to the present cold front, I had the privilege of staying a few extra days till warmth returns, after which I'll be ready to hit the road again towards the tip of the continent.

This week I also decided to take the 3rd but original route, (that I did not mention last time I asked for your opinion) to ride to south Florida and go to Cuba by boat, most likely via an island on Caribbean. But since I have been so in-tune with spontaneous coincidences and intuitive intentions, I will try my luck on the direct route before I opt for the way around.
If you have any suggestion, idea or connections that may be of help on this route: Please post a comment or write me an email.
Thanks everyone who email or posted a comment, even though I decided with neither of the proposed routes, your words and support are always very appreciated!

While on the road I had had a lot of time to think about life, Thus, I was prepared when the spontaneous 3-way (skype) call hosted by my brother happened: I'm so happy to say that a few days ago my father and I finally talked and resolved our difference of opinions with greater understanding and care for each other. Pai, ti amo!


warm wishes on this cold night! I'm going to bed :-)

Morning Ritual

My daily activities here in Tallahassee are summed up in this short video. I've been taking quick dips early in the mornings, as protest to the cold spell we have been getting. This is the Canadian in me shinning through!!!

The eye of a dragon

Steve, the bearded dragon, posing for the camera, my lens came in about 3cm (1in) from his face, and there he stood with out the blink of an eye.

Live Oak Tree, with Spanish Moss

blue skies of Florida

You can watch a slide show of my photos on Flickr

or click on the images to go the my flickr site

Florida starts here!

Persimmon = caqui

Camped under the persimmon tree

I just wanted to let you know, that finally I got a chance to add a donation button on the blog, it is located on the right pane or on the bottom of this post. If you wish to get more involved on this trip, without joining me on the road. An excellent way, is to make financial contribution directly on my PayPal account.
50% of it will go toward supporting Bikes Without Borders and their programs, and
50% will go directly to help keep me on the cycle, the InfinityCycle.
Please donate generously if you can!
Thank you!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

The long haul to Florida

While I was in McRae, GA, I carefully studied the map and saw that if I was to haul two longer days, I would get to Tallahassee, Florida by Sunday night, instead of Monday (the original plan).
Saturday morning, as almost all the rain had fallen and the sky was opening up towards the south, I biked 71 miles to Tifton, GA and stayed at Earl and June's (thanks for everything:-) back yard underneath a loaded persimmon tree ("caquizeiro"). It was quite nice to see such a tropical fruit a plenty, in front of me, It made me feel like I was actually getting somewhere.

The second haul came the following morning, I was expecting to arrive at Susan's home in Tallahassee between 4 and 5 pm. It was a blue sky and windy day, so I was able to pedal as hard as I wanted without sweating too much (a luxury I know I won't have in the southern hemisphere) I traveled 80 miles Sunday, into the state of Florida.

I will stay here for a few days to recharge and fatten up a bit (thanks to the Gunter family), I have been leaning towards my original route, which was to try and get to Cuba. If this is so I would cycle south on some more until reaching Miami.
In between here and there I would like to do some WWOOFing and I'm contacting some farms as we speak to see if we could work something out...

What I need from you, the reader, in opinions and ideas as to how I would go about in getting on a boat that would eventually hit Cuba.

If this idea fails terribly, there is always Cancun. but I think the Texas route is out of mind...

Route Cycled: updated Nov 17

This is how far I came in the last 8 days, since I left Charlotte, N.C.
Here I am today in Tallahassee, Florida


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Into Georgia

North and South Carolinas and Georgia has so far brought to me a lot of mix emotions, I have gone through places that look a lot like the Chapadinha, my birthplace in Brazil. Lots of plantation of pine trees, the red soil and random goats everywhere, it almost seems like they have them for pets.

It is really funny to admit that often times on the road I think about random things, some family member, a friend or a time of my life and I burst out crying like a child, that I am; still; proudly. But I wonder what it would be like to see a cross-continental cyclist gagging with tears as he pedals… I’m just saying this to make it clear, if it is not already, that I do go through some pretty emotional moments on the road, and I appreciate your support, always! thank you!!!






I have never taken a picture of a road kill, however this one as disgusting as it maybe, I turned around to take a shot, because is capture the exact moment of death, I can feel the fear, the anger and the desperation of this animal at moment of his death. We should be ashamed of our selves, cause there are A LOT of dead animals on the the side of the roads. They died, so that we could go faster. I have seen lots of full grown deers, raccoons, dogs, cats, birds, foxes, coyotes, tatu, snakes, porcupine, and many others... Let this dogs expression speak for them all. and be a cautious driver.

South Carolina the state of smiling faces :-)

November 9th, Pageland to Camden, SC

This morning as I was on church property getting ready to hit the road I was greeted by lots of friendly people as they arrived for the Sunday morning service. My legs were still sore, especially the right one,
So off I went into the deepness of South Carolina on route 601. I strolled into a all you can eat lunch and I thought that was heaven sent just for me, a starving cyclist. The food was great and I talked with lots of people as I was the only one to sit out side. Kim and her family payed for my lunch, as they were really enthusiastic and wanting to help me along the way, The only reason I did not go to their home was that they live a bit too close and I wanted to go further down the road. With two sore legs I managed to arrive in Camden, where after visiting the library I search a lot to find a place to crash but no luck. Shortly after sun down I saw that I would not find a place to camp so I walked in to the Camden Motel and I treated myself to a well deserved bath and a bed to sleep, after all I ran out of options that night.

November 10, Camden to Lexington

On the way from Camden to Columbia, I stopped at a local bike shop to get a little gear tune-up and get a few bike parts for the road. Crossing Columbia was nice and as I reached Lexington, I walked in to this wonderfully looking farmers market shop with a great atmosphere. Amongst everyone, there was Clinton, who graciously offered his farm house's lawn to camp, and after talking with him he told me about the struggles of being a farmer, and how a few years back he gave up the farm, he now does a corn maze every year that attracts people country wide to his farm. He claims to have started "farming people instead of farming the land" Good for him!


November 11, Lexington to Aiken, SC

What a great day, everything was smooth, I realized that I need to get on the road earlier in the morning, cause after the time change last week, sun set in at 5:20 and I need to start scouting for a place the sleep around 3pm. so my day is much shorter and less time to ride and enjoy...
I got to Aiken and met Nicole, who was writing and singing on her porch so I stopped by to chat. and we talked about many things, she told me to come to the New Moon Cafe. So I did and here I am, writting this blog. I met Travis, who works here and offered me to camp on his yard tonight, it is nice to have some time to sit down and relax, online... Peace out

Charlotte, NC to Pageland, SC

Today felt kinda like giving birth, it was very difficult but it produced an extreme amount of happiness and relief afterwards. Who am I kidding I have no idea what it is like to give birth. But I can say it was great to be back on the road after having a wonderful week off. It was so nice to have a personal escort for 25 miles. Jorge drove his motorbike along side of me all the way out of town.
Today I completed just over 2000km since Toronto.
This week off feels like I grew completely out of shape, cause my legs are simply hurting of exhaustion I really hope they get enough rest for tomorrow...

My future route is really up in the air. As I have not decided how I'll leave the states, There are two options:

1. Bike south into Florida I hit Tampa Bay. There I would get a Ferry boat to Cancun, MX. = The positive of this option is that I would be well into Latin America by the new year and would throughly benefit Cancun area and Belize.

2. Bike to south and once hitting Florida's pan handle, head west crossing the mid eastern shore of the gulf of Mexico in through Louisiana, Texas and Mexico always staying on the shore as much as possible. = the advantages of these are more time to get to know different parts of the US, possible contact in Tallahassee, Texas (one friend I don't know where and a WWOOFing near the MX border) as well as Tampico, MX (Bill let me know if this interest you to come out for a visit). This route will be a lot more road and the ferry of course.

Now is the time for you to get involved and take an active part on this trip by writing a comment bellow or sending me an email if you have any tips, warnings, more contacts, or ideas of what route should I go... Looking forward to your feedback!!!

Week off in Charlotte

I have throughly enjoyed this week of rest here at Jorginho's home... lots of thinking, lots of resting, lots of eating and lots of laughing. Enjoy these pics!!!

Route Cycled: updated on October 31, 2008

So I finally made a detailed map of were I cycled and were I slept... I probably will not update this often, but it will always be at the bottom of the blog page.
enjoy!


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Pictures from North Carolina

So I had some problems up loading some pictures for the last two post... Also videos don't attach to the email, for those of you who subscribe via email. Be sure to check the site once in a while for videos. If you have not subscribed via email yet, do so by clicking the link above.

To Frank and Dina Snider - I have been think about you two and would love to get your contact. Please email me if you are reading this...

Charlotte, North Carolina

It was Halloween day and I had a good night sleep thanks to Brenda and the Carr UMC who offered to sleep indoors so I did not have to worry about frost. I had a good day of bike in through the gorgeous HWY 49 south... curvy, quiet and alive! watch this video:



As I was headed towards Charlotte, and was full feelings of anticipation to see an old family friend, Jorge. I was on my day 5 of riding, my legs were tired, so I called Jorge and asked him to get me at Asheboro, some 30 miles away from Charlotte. Now I'm here in his house enjoying the conveniences of a home and enjoying being pampered.

I'm thinking about hitting the road, sometime late next week! I'll keep in touch!

Into North Carolina

Shortly after I reacher North Carolina, I remembered to main reason way I decided to go south first, and cross North America from west to east. I was greeted by a very strong winds coming from the west, it slowed me down tremendously and got really tired really fast.


I decided to stop to eat at a local dinner in Conway, NC. There I meet Joney and Robert who offered me to camp, in their shed, this way I was protected from wind and frost. Thanks for the help when I was in need.

The next day, after having de-constructed my mental blocks, I felt ready to face the wind whole heartedly, and it did take me much longer time to cover the 60mille per day quota. All and all its all part of the mental training. That night I camped on Edward's yard and it was my coldest night for sure I woke up to ice on the tent:

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, last night in Virginia

After leaving Nassawadox, last Monday I took with me feelings of friendship and gratitude to all that open their hearts and lives to me during my brief visit, namely Elizabeth, Jerry, Alfredo, Laura, and little Santi. thank you... Alfredo, I'm honored to have offered you fellings of inspiration! Boa sorte, na sua futura excurssão de afeção!!!



I reached to Bridge/Tunnel before noon and because Jarry had already called in to book a ride (since you cannot pedal a bike on the bridge), they were waiting for me and did not charge me the toll. Jim was my driver who gave me the private tour... thanks Jim
















I had aimed to reach North Carolina that afternoon, but had to stop a few miles short of the border, south of Suffolk, VA. I ended up camping on the yard of these senior ladies house, at first they were very skeptical, and soon decided to take a chance on me. Even with today society, it is hard to know who to trust. I am delighted that I can still access humanness by transcending to people the purity of heart, despite the worries of todays society. Thank you Mrs. White, Betty, Mary and Elaine.