Day 25: Victoria - Port Angeles, approximately 10 miles (speedometer battery died)

September 20th, 2009

Despite thinking that I'd probably be up at the crack of dawn, I had a fantastic lie in and then went off on my way feeling well rested. I was also on my way having had a shower, a chance to do laundry, a packed lunch and a full belly too. A big thanks to Ursula.

I had an absolutely fantastic ride round the coast into downtown Victoria; I could see why the city had such a good reputation.

I then caught the ferry across to America via Port Angeles. On the ferry, I saw another loaded bike, but it looked a little odd. It had camouflage on it, was loaded to the hilt and had of all things a light fitting strapped to the back. At first, I made the assumption that it belonged to a vagrant of some description.

During the journey, though, the owner of said bicycle introduced himself and it turned out he was a Frenchman by the name of Baptiste who was cycling from Alaska to Argentina (I thought my ride to San Diego was a big feat, but I guess it doesn't matter what you do in life, somebody is always doing something bigger and better!). The light fitting was apparently going to be converted to a camera tripod so he could record video while he rode along, and the camouflage was there so that he wouldn't get spotted during "stealth" camping exercises. He wasn't exactly the person I expected from the look of the bike, but he seemed like a nice guy.

Having arrived in Port Angeles and with a long wait and a flash of my passport, I had reached America with diddly squat open. After some searching, I managed to find a Subway restaurant open and while the sandwich was satisfying, the company was a bit disconcerting. It was here that I met a colourful man whose advice was plentiful. I will try to give you some of the highlights:

1) Eat 2 teaspoons of extra hot cayenne pepper each morning
2) Completely overdose yourself on salt (can't remember exact quantity)
3) Read 4 psalms of the bible every day (one every 2 hours). Read them like this (on day 1 of the month read 1,31,61,91, on day 2 2,32,62,92 etc.)
4) If you are about to get run over by an 18 wheel truck don't say "Sh**" , say "Hallelujah".
5) We all don't weigh anything but are in fact holograms in gods imagination. (Obese people would I thought find this particularly good news)

Points 1 & 2 were, of course, backed up by long references to cell and molecular structure and a little bit of medical background as he slurped away on his extra large subway fizzy drink... After that encounter, I started cycling away from Port Angeles in search of safer more normal friends, but realised I was being a bit of a plonker travelling so late in the day. In the end, I turned around and spent the night in Port Angeles at the local RV park where I was kept awake by a drunken man shuffling around my tent. The fun of the local RV park!