Hello Lance. I will arrive in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening and I would lie to be in Long Beach on Thursday. I would love to come back to your invitation and stay with you one night ore ride with you on Thursday. Maybe Jamey can join us too?
Looking forward to meeting you,
Felix
Hi Felix,
Sounds great! PM sent with details.
Lance
EpicRide
Felix:
It was a pleasure meeting you over pizza at LanceB’s house!
What an amazing feat riding all the way from Montreal to Los Angeles and beyond.
Wishing you all the best on your continued journey.
Rear View Mirror
Got a call from Felix on Friday. He had lost the rear view mirror I gave him and wanted another one. Got two in the mail (along with some cool socks and stickers!) on Sat., and he received them on Wed.
The Ornishes are taking great care of him. We had a short Skype call before they headed for the hot tub! Oh the life! 
P.S. Felix, you’ll have to post a picture of the mirror (and you in the team SpinCycle socks!)
Sighted in Guerrero Negro, Mexico
Came upon this Felix sighting third hand:
I cannot believe how long I haven´t posted anything, a lot has happened since the last update!
From Nampa, Idaho, I kept going West to Oregon and thought, my plan to make it to Crater Lake before winter caches me, would totally work out.
I ended up having 5 cold days (just over freezing point) and 4 really cold nights before I saw the vulcano. As it had snowed the night before and it was still raining, when I got close, I decided to go and see the lake itself another time, when I get there in summer.
I also decided, that I had had enough winter experience for this trip and I took the train from Klamath Falls, Ortegon to Redding, California. The first night in California, I pitched my tent under palm trees and the 15º C (60º F) felt like summer.
I rode to Chico, where I had another Warmshowers host and stayed there for two nights to hang out with them.
The next two days to Oakland (including a ride I got on the way for a couple of kilometers) were rainy and I arrived soaked after I had tried to cross the last hills to Oakland during a downpour. For safety reasons, I decided to take bart (Bay Area Metro) for two stations amd not ride the last few kilometers.
There I was very happy to finish a long leg of my trip in Tom and Nancy´s comfortable home, where I could dry, warm up, relax and have a great time with friends. We went out for a Muni Ride, playing games and watching the big football game: CAL- Stanford.
After the long weekend, Tom joined me for half a day´s ride along the coast South of San Francisco. He went by bike, as he had to speed home to be in time for classes. I kept riding to Pescadero, where another Warmshowers member let me stay in his yurt. That´s where I met up with Nathan and Grace the next morning. Nathan led me up the steepest road, I have ridden on this trip and I could almost ride everything. That were two great days of riding with company through gorgeous scenery, thanks Tom and Nathan for helping me with the route and for riding with me! And thanks Grace for giving Nathan a ride to Pescadero!
I got to Los Gatos right in time to visit Massimo´s Gelato factory and to celebrate Thanksgiving with many good friends.
Thank you all so much for making me have a perfect time!
I left Los Gatos after a great week and rode towards Los Angeles. On the way to Monterrey, I met Henry, a bicyclist from Michigan who was on his way south as well. We decided to ride together for a while and could both stay with Dolores in Salinas, who works in the Monterrey Aquarium and who gave us a short private tour in the morning.
We kept riding together along the beautifil coastline until we got to Los Angeles, where Henry visited friends and I could stay with Lance B., who had invited a group of other unicyclists for dinner. The next day he and Jamey joined me for parts of the ride to Long Beach. Lance came with us for a couple of kilometers, before he had to go back to catch up with his work and Jamey went all the way to Redondo Beach.
Over Christmas, I spent two weeks in Longbeach and when Marty came to Los Angeles to give Angela Pellman a ride back, she took me back to her home in San Diego, where I spent another 10 great days. Before that, I stayed two more days in Los Angeles with Spencer, Yann and Sophia, riding at Venice Beach.
I got to explore San Diego and had some time to prepare for the next part of my trip - Mexico. But I guess, that is another chapter that I have to tell the next time. I promise to write sooner than this time 
Cheers,
Felix
And I also found a better way to share my poictures.
With those, I am even further behind than with the written updates and I am sure there are better ways tho do thus than dropbox, but right now it is the easiest:
You can follow this link:
I think it is less annoying to see the photos if you have an account but it is not obligatory.
I stumbled upon this video, one in a series by Joff Summerfield, a penny farthing rider on tour around the world, who rode with Felix recently in Baja California: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-U5_eDrR-s pennies and unis unite!
Great video! Thanks for posting! Go Felix!! (and all the other cycling folks, too!)
Yes very nice Video. Thanks for finding that Tony!
Thanks Tony,
I was just going to wirite the next chapter “Mexico” in which a new Character (Joff Summerfield) has his appearance. I didn’t know, the video was finished, though.
It is pretty nice to see how people follow other cyclists on their blogs!
Felix
Mexico
With the last preparations for my next leg, it got rather late on my last day in San Diego. So I accepted Marty’s offer to give me a ride to the border. I crossed over to Mexico without any problems. Actually, I had to go back to get my visa because there was no passport control whatsoever.
Sandra, my first Mexican host in Tijuana, invited me to “real” tacos and the next day she drove me to Rosarito. I would have ridden but she convinced me by proposing to have lunch together with my host from Rosarito.
By getting rides on those two days my plan to start with short days after the long break did not work out at all and I had 80 km (50 Miles) to ride to get to Ensenada, where I had another warmshowers host lined up. He said, I could stay longer if I wanted and I decided to leave my luggage at his place and do an easier dayride to “la bufadora” (the blow hole) a marine geysir about 30 km from Ensenada.
From there I had two days to ride to get to San Quintin and my first night camping out in Mexico. I asked at a Ranch if I could pitch my tent there and had a hard time to get some sleep, as the dogs barked until the rooster started making noise. (Later I rather camped in the desert, where it is a lot calmer)
The next day I stayed with my last hosts before heading into the desert. They had a sheet with useful information about Baja California, that they hand out to every cyclist, who comes through.
The first two days South of San Quintin seemed kind of boring and I thought, if it stays like that, I would probably hop on a bus soon, but then I met a German couple who are cycling from Alaska to Patagonia and then the landskape changed to very spectacular piles of boulders with an incredible variety of cacti.
I rode with Benni and Chandra for almost two days and then continued to ride at my pace. Three days later, I came to San Ignacio, a nice oasis pretty much in the middle of nowhere. At first I only wanted to fill up my water bottles and ride on for a couple of hours, as it was just about noon, when I arrived there but when I saw signs indicating a “casa de ciclistas” I decided to follow those and see, what is going on there. And there was a lot going on. I met five cyclists (Reto from Switzerland travelling from Montreal to Pueblo, Mexico; Tyler from the United States travelling from Washington to Oaxaca, Mexico; Joff from the United Kingdom riding a Penny Farthing around the world - the second time and Valery and Alexy + dog from France riding three-wheeled recumbants pulling trailers - the dog is a 50 kg Rottweiler) and Joel travelling in her truck from California down through Mexico who knows how far.
So I decided to stay for the night and have a good time with the group of travellers. The next mornin,g I left with Joff for Santa Rosalia with Tyler a couple of hours ahead and Reto planning to follow the next day. A late start, strong headwind, Police and fellow British made us camp after about 25 km (17 Miles)
The next day we got to Santa Rosalia and I bought new patches for my tube. As the tire showed some signs of wear, the flats had become more and more during the previous days. Riding out of Santa Rosalia I had a puncture and thought, I was going to make hour until we pitch our tents. This was not a good decision. I had a dismount during a descent and landed with one foot in the spokes, breaking 6 of them. As I had spare spokes, I first thought it was going to be an easy fix but I realised that Johannes is using a 4 cross pattern so my spokes were too short to just replace the broken ones. I started walking along the highway to find a sign of Joff, and just before dark, I started looking for a spot to camp for myself. A car stopped and the driver asked me if everything was ok. I had to say no, so he asked me if he could help me. He offered me a ride to the next town, where I could pitch my tent at his parent’s farm and the next day he helped me find the local bike mechanic. The solution we found, was building a new wheel with my hub and standard bicycle parts. So when I rejoined Joff and Reto (who had cought up in the morning) I had been downgraded to a geared 26 without break. Reto was so nice to take my rim and tire as they are a lot easier to transport on a bike than on a unicycle and we had a great time riding towards Lorteo in a group of three .
I learned a lot of Spanish by talking to every bike mechanic I could find, to see if somebody could shorten my spokes so I could rebuild my 36" wheel. Now I can talk about broken unicycles in Spanish without a problem. In Ciudad Constitution we decided to take a day to rest and I actually found somebody who shortened my spokes. From there Reto and I rode to La Paz in two days to make sure, we catch the next ferry to Mazatlan, whereas Joff wanted to take some more time. He actually arrived one day after us and we all were on the same ferry. Tyler joined us too and we met a couple who are cycling from Canada to Argentina with their three year old doughter in a trailer.
In Mazatlan we went to have a drink together before everybody went their way. Reto and I kept going the next day and we made it to Escuinapa, where Reto had contacted a warmshowers member. From there I could only continue one more day and just before Acaponeta my tire finally gave up. I should have changed it in San Diego. One thing, I definitely learned on this tour: I should take care of your parts before they make problems.
So I changed from the unicycle to hithing rides and taking buses. I stopped at the casa ciclista in Guadalajara, where I spent to nights. I had one night in Morelia from where I hitched rides to get to Angangeo, which is where the Monarc Butterflies hibernate. At the Butterfly reserve I met a couple who are also cycling through Mexico and of whom I had heard from the German couple I had met before in Baja California. We spent some hours together, admiring the thousands of butterflies and then I continued my way to Mexico City. I arrived there just in time to celebrate my birthday together with Philipp Henestrosa and his friend Lena. I spent a great week in the capital, visiting my friend Lourdes whom I know from her exchange year in Austria and I got some spare parts shipped from the States.
Photos - finally!
Just in case somebody is still reading this thread
I am finally uploading pictures from my trip in 2014/15
Here is the link to my flickr album:
Thank you all for reading, following and supporting me!
Felix
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Nice pictures, Felix!
Tell me, where did you eat æbleskiver? Come visit me, I can make you some 
- here at Christmas time everybody eat æbleskiver and drink glögg (Glühwein with raisins and almonds).
Best regards,
Sanne
Hello Sanne,
Nice to hear from you!
That was in Santa Maria (2 days North-West of Los Angeles)
My host, Billy Korn, made them for us. He told us, they were a Danish specialty and I think he makes them because his family is from Denmark originally.
Your invitation sounds really good! Trust me, I will come back to that! 
Hi Felix,
thanks for the pics, they are amazing ! It is never too late for pics 
That makes sense 
Sounds nice - you are welcome.
Best regards,
Sanne
Great pictures.
Thanks for sharing
Hi, @Felixx! Yes, someone is still reading this thread!
Just to introduce myself, my name is Matthew Pederson. I’m planning a tour across Utah in the near future* with my route taking me from the Utah/Idaho border to (hopefully) Monument Valley at the Utah/Arizona border.
My current setup is a 36" Kris Holm uni with a Schlumpf hub (150/125mm cranks). With any luck, I’ll outfit it with a pair of Cary Gray panniers by early next week. 
This Schlumpf hub is what lead me to discover you. It relieves me to find someone rode on one during a tour much much longer than mine. I wanted to write to hear your thoughts on having ridden with a geared hub. Did you ever kick it into high gear? What was that like?
From my experience intermittently using it on a 52 mile ride the other day, it wasn’t worth it.
Sure, it took my 9mph riding up to 14mph (topping out at 16mph) but the effort of pushing a “heavier” wheel wasn’t really worth the effort. I was constantly vigilant about even the tiniest rock or twig in my path. On clean cyclepaths, this was manageable. But on shoulder-less roads with cars whizzing by me, it was frankly terrifying. And this was all without panniers weighing the uni down.
Anyway, I loved reading about your experiences and looking through your photos/videos. What an incredible ride!
*Dates keep fluctuating so I’m no longer going to “announce” anything until I’m 100% sure I’m ready.
2 Likes
How cool is that!?
Great to hear from you, Matthew! And way to go, to plan a trip like this!
To your question: Yes I toured on a Schlumpf hub and I would do it again every time. I only used low gear for slow riding (starts/stops, intersections, uphills, head winds) and I rode in high gear in almost all flat or downhill sections. To me, the main advantage is that I ride reasonable speeds in the flat at a reasonable cadence in high gear. And for downhills, it makes everything nicer. (I only register not being able to freewheel, when I watch a bike passing me )
This being said, I was very, very, very comfortable on my Schlumpf before I set out to even start my journey. (See Catos video above ).
So I have to admit, I cannot really speak for less experienced Schlumpfers. My guess is that if you do a couple of rides before - first without and then with (gradually more) luggage, you will get the feeling for it.
I also believe, you could try and start your trip and you will get used to the gears on the way but that could be a bit risky. - It was my strategy though with the bags. I had ridden with panniers once before I started, with a quarter of the weight and only about 1 Mile or 2. I figured out actual riding in the first hours and freemounting after a couple of days . On the other hand, if you still use the word “terrifying” to discribe riding in high gear, when your trip gets closer, you might want to consider riding ungeared.
For cranks, I recommend the longer ones. Probably even without Schlumpf as you want to have control and you don’t need speed. I usually ride 137 or 150 when I carry bags, although I use 125 on my geared 36 fo my daily commute. YOu legs will thank you in the uphills!
One more thing: If you have a (very) old hub, you might want to think abount reinforcing the flanges. A picture of your hub would make a quick assessment easy.
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