Admitting our own errors and misjudgments demands at least a modicum of humility. Our lives are driven by goals, destinations, and visions of the types of people we hope to be. And most of the actions we take every day are somehow tied to these goals. But we change. And when these changes conflict with goals and destinations towards which we are still working, we face some tough decisions: let the momentum of our old goals keep us on an outdated path or find the courage to stop and begin a new one.

If you’ve been following this blog since the beginning, you’ll notice that our proclaimed destination has been Rosarito, Mexico. “Why Rosarito?”, you ask. We had originally planned to cycle to Tijuana and then head back to San Diego for our flight home. But Rosarito just sounds like a better endpoint to a long journey than Tijuana. We also hoped to spend some of our last hours sipping drinks on a warm, Mexican beach similar to those in Rosarito. Rosarito is only 20 miles from Tijuana, so back in August we figured “Why not? What’s an extra twenty miles?”

Unfortunately, we had been asking those questions only rhetorically until yesterday when we began to research cycling routes in Mexico. As it turns out, there aren’t any. There are two main driving routes from Rosarito to Tijuana, but one doesn’t allow bikes and the other may have large unpaved sections and is barely wide enough to allow two passing trucks. Not to mention that every time over the past few days we’ve told a cyclist that we plan to bike to Rosarito, each one gives us a look (one that says, on the surface, “OK, good luck with that,” but underneath is screaming “You guys are nuts!”). We crossed the border late this morning figuring we would speak with tourism offices as soon as we entered Mexico about the best options for cyclists. Apparently the tourism office found it funny that we actually wanted to cycle to Rosarito, but suggested a complicated route anyway. And on top of all of this, we had been unable to drop off luggage in San Diego, so we were still each carrying 80 lbs of easy-to-steal gear.

Given all these warning signs, however, Jason and I were still—largely in the spirit of adventure—considering cycling to Rosarito as soon as we entered Tijuana. We figured we’d grab a quick lunch and think it over. And there, in the middle of the pedestrian square in Tijuana, not 500 meters from the US border, finally came a warning sign we could not ignore. Jason’s rear rack—which supported all his gear and had required a couple repairs over the past few weeks—snapped and all of his bags were suddenly dragging on the ground. We shared a brief, quiet look that acknowledged “I guess this is it,” neither of us willing to admit aloud that we wouldn’t be able to ride to our proposed destination.

Unable to move Jason’s bike anywhere in its condition, we stopped on the side of the square and pulled out whatever we had to fix it. I had a few zip ties from the pump I had bought a couple days earlier and Jason found a slightly damaged spare tube. Using some creativity and resourcefulness, Jason was able to create a makeshift support system, but nothing that we could trust would hold on the barren, rocky desert road to Rosarito.

So, just like that, we had reached our destination, Tijuana, without even knowing it. We really weren’t sure when the right time to celebrate passed, or if there even was such a time. When we left Vancouver so many weeks ago, we thought we were headed for Rosarito, Mexico, and that reaching anything short of our desired destination would be considered incomplete. In finishing twenty miles short in Tijuana, today’s major revelation was the acknowledgment that our true destination was found somewhere along the way and that goals are often just a means to motivate the journey.

So although we have reached our (revised) official destination and can now consider the trip over, we both hope and expect that our journey will continue. Even though we didn’t complete the trip exactly as planned, we feel very satisfied because the completion in itself means little to us. Surviving all the way to Mexico was a tangible objective, but it was a really just a small piece of our ongoing desires to live our lives in a concerted fashion of our own design that challenges us, excites us, and connects us meaningfully with others. That is our definition of the good life, and we’re looking forward to continuing our ride towards it.

We hope to see you all along that ride!

Posted on October 12th, 2007 by Derrick
Filed under: Uncategorized