After the spectacular Cataviña desert, I spotted a lone figure in the distance. Holy shit! I’m whining about driving and here’s a cyclist braving the traffic and loneliness and inhospitable elements out in the middle of nowhere.

I pulled over and so did he and we bonded immediately. He was full of good humor.

Fujimoto Tatsuhiko had recently ridden the full length of Alaska, then from New York to LA on Highway 66 (yah!), and was on his way to Los Cabos, thence ferry to Mazatlan, south to Argentina.

So far about 10,000 miles.

The doll was his “girlfriend,” a Japanese cycling effigy.

Bike is a 7-year-old steel Surly Long Haul Tracker, which he loves. How about that, all you guys with $10K carbon fiber state-of-art bikes and hi-tech camping gear?

He has no sponsors, saves money from his job as a nurse, and then takes off.

He is from Amora, Japan.

Kinda reminded my of Armand Basset, road wanderer / buddha encountered in the Nevada outback, shown on the last page of our book Shelter.

More info by googling “Fujimoto” “Tatsuhiko” “bicycle”

• From @lloyd.kahn’s Instagram

Last Saturday, Lukas, his fpur-year-old daughter Luna, and I walked over to the Berlin Templehof airport, which closed 14 years ago. The landing strip is intact and used by rollerbladers, skateboarders, cyclists, and runners. Lukas does a voiceover with the video here.

The Nazis did an enormous construction in the mid-1930s. The main building was once one of the largest buildings in the world.

On the perimeter are a series of gardens, shown here. Things look a bit bedraggled, since the growing season is over, but what a great idea: people growing their own vegetables in the middle of the city.

• From @lloyd.kahn’s Instagram

Particulars on my fat-tire e-bike:

It’s a custom build, consisting of:

• Soma “Sandworm” chrome-moly steel frame
• Single-speed chain drive (no derailleur to need adjustment or break on the trail)
• Bafang BBSHD mid-drive motor
• Luna Cycle 1,000-watt controller and display, with the controller software reprogrammed to 30 amperes of current at 52 volts (1,500 watts, or 2 horsepower)
• Luna Cycle 4p14s 52-volt, 12 ampere-hour lithium battery
• Relatively inexpensive after market hydraulic front forks
• 26 × 4.40 sand tires, running ~5 PSI (pressure depends on sand conditions)
• Salsa “Bend” 23-degree swept-back handlebars (for arthritic thumb comfort)
• More than I can remember at one sitting

Basically, this bike was custom assembled for riding on sand dunes. It’s also comfortable on the beach, and I even use it around the farm to get from place to place instead of walking sometimes.

The Luna controller integrates nicely with the Bafang motor and allows nine levels of pedal assist, which comes in handy for a variety of sand conditions and terrain slopes. The hand throttle is always available for use when desired.

Much of the riding I’ve been doing lately is going out on isolated dunes and seeking out wind-swept contours to surf, climbing to heights and carving the curves and troughs on the downhill run. Sometimes it’s possible to find formations that mimic a road course with banked turns, deep drops into depressions with easy exit slopes, or moguls, small jumps and the sort for some light trick riding. There’s also a fair amount of coastal forest trails connecting various dunes, which provides to opportunity for obstacle course practice and collision avoidance. Crashes are not uncommon, but the sand is pretty forgiving to the falling rider. Bruises are temporary, but good times live forever!
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Our truck, “The Greasy Devil,” all set up for a clear, but windy night’s sleep in Wyoming. We have an awning to add over the feet if the weather is raining/snowing or too cold.

Dear Lloyd,

I just wanna say thank you for putting out such great books over the years! I found Shelter Pub by way of picking up a Whole Earth Catalog in a thrift store while in high school about ten years ago and have been a fan ever since. Homework was my lockdown reading of choice last year!

I am writing because my husband and I are currently on a long road/camping trip and will be driving through Baja next month. Our rig is a 2018 6-cylinder manual Toyota Tacoma with a homemade sleeping platform and a Softopper (we jokingly call it ultralight overlanding since the softopper weighs about 40lbs). We just did about 5 weeks throughout Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Nevada, and Northern California. Next week we will leave our hometown of Boulder, CO to travel through New Mexico, Arizona, southern California, and Baja for the next 2 months.

I have gone over your blog posts about camping in Baja and was wondering if you have any tips or recommendations you would be willing to share. It will be our first time there, my first time in Mexico and we cannot wait! Our truck is pretty off-road equipped, with a 3″ lift, an air compressor, and recovery gear so we don’t mind going through tough terrain. We love mountain bikes and motorcycles (even though we are not planning on bringing any, maybe rent for a day or two?) and are beginner surfers with a love for the water (the one problem with living in Colorado!).

Anyways, thanks again for all of the wonderful work you put out. I have gone to multiple lectures while I lived in Oakland during college, always leaving inspired and hopeful. I actually had Marianne Rogoff as a writing teacher my freshman year, who told me she worked for you back in the day! I love following along your posts online, your trip to Rome looked simply amazing. I have always wanted to write to you to say thanks, but felt too shy, until now that I have an extra reason to say hi.

–Jessica Milavitz
SUNSHINE CANYON FURNITURE COMPANY
www.sunshinecanyonfurniture.com
instagram.com/ultralight_overland

Note: For lots of info on Baja from my travels there, see: lloydkahn.com/?s=baja

Now have lights on my bestie Specialized Turbo Levo, means I can be late coming back home from a ride. Needed new helmet so got one that protects my mouth. Got warm gloves, rear view mirror plus Sean at Mt. Tam Bikes on Mill Valley reprogrammed the middle level of assistance and it now flies.

I end up getting a better workout as opposed to non-assist because I ride twice as long (and far). Am seeing a lot more of the countryside these days.

• From @lloyd.kahn’s Instagram