Thanks and final map and mileage key

I sent the above card to the many people who supported and encouraged me along the way but not everyone received it because of the file size. Once again, thanks everyone!

Here's a summary of basic distance covered via different modes of transportation. I'll provide some additional end-of-trip information over the next few weeks--and continue to update some of the existing entries and add new ones as time allows.

Publish Post

Oakland: International Migrants Day & PODER staff

Migrant Rights are Human Rights! Celebrate International Migrants Day December 18, 2007 from National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights website http://www.nnirr.org/dec18/

What is International Migrants Day? December 18 is a day when the international community recognizes the rights of migrants around the world. The UN General Assembly approved the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families on December 18, 1990, and the day was officially designated International Migrants Day by the United Nations in 2000. In the U.S., International Migrants Day is a day when we can express our support and solidarity with all immigrants. In a period when national crises have stirred public anxieties about immigration and when unfair policies and discrimination against immigrants have intensified we need to call for respect, tolerance, and justice. December 18 provides an opportunity to highlight important issues affecting immigrant communities. It is also a reminder of the right guaranteed to all migrants by the International Migrant Convention, and the need for all nations to approve the convention and adopt its standards. Arnoldo Garcia Poem from Louis Mendoza on Vimeo.

Movement Song for Immigrants from Louis Mendoza on Vimeo.



OscarGrande of PODER from Louis Mendoza on Vimeo.


Teresa Almaguer, PODER from Louis Mendoza on Vimeo.


Antonio Diaz, PODER from Louis Mendoza on Vimeo.

Photos at the Finish: Last day of travel

Made it to Oakland after a short ride. I took my time and enjoyed the scenery.

A friend living in San Mateo decided she would greet me with balloons at Beth and Antonio's house (That's Antonito in pic above). Cristal managed to round up some neighbors to whip up some noise for my arrival. Super sweet!

This is not the end of my blog. I'll update you on my visit with people in Oakland and more soon.

On the eve of my last ride: A traveler not a tourist

See earlier post on today's ride. Tomorrow I will reach my final destination for this journey. I'm excited, tired, and feeling a little disoriented. What a long, strange trip it's been.

Getting an unexpected ride today was a nice surprise and beautifully typical of the many acts of kindness that have been extended to me on this trip. I didn't get a chance to speak with or take a picture of the couple who gave me a ride since I sat in the back of the truck, but though it was cold, I enjoyed looking at the road unfurling behind me for a change and appreciated the fact that it would cut my riding time by more than half on the last day so I could enjoy the ride even if it does rain as it is expected to. I've still work to do when I get to Oakland--and much more so when I get home, but this phase of the project is just about over. It will feel strange to ship the bike home. At some point I started calling it the Dream Machine--not a very personalized name, nor one I ever articulated to others. It seemed a bit funny to me, like I stole it from Hakeem Olajuwon (my Houston roots coming out), but it also made perfect sense given that it is the dream of acceptance, citizenship, and opportunity that drives so many immigrants.

On another note, I picked up some food from a new Filipina restaurant this evening and the owner was a recent immigrant. Somehow we started talking about my ride.

her: How many miles is that?

Me: Well, I'm not sure, but over 8,000 for sure.

Her: Wow. So you lost lots of weight, no?

Me: Well, yes, some but at some point I stopped. I still have more around my stomach I wish I could lose, but I've been told that without doing other kinds of exercise this happens.

Her: Yes, well I guess you don't work your upper body as hard as you do your legs.

Me. Yeah, that's true.

Her: So what's next. You going to ride the Tour de France?

Me: (Laughing) No, I'm not that kind of rider. I haven't really been going fast, just slow and steady so I can keep riding the next day. And then there are lots of days where I stay put to talk to people.

Her: Yes, you're a traveler, not a tourist, right?

Me: I like to think so.

Her: So tell me your last name. Maybe I'll hear about you.

Me: It's Mendoza. Louis Mendoza.

Her: Oh, yes, in the Philippines we have that name because the Spanish were there.

Me: Yes, I know

Completing the Loop: From L.A. to Oakland

I left L.A. on a beautiful Thursday morning. Raul dropped me off at the Metrolink station in Glendale where I caught a train to Lancaster. I arrived there before noon and after a quick lunch I rode 53 miles to Frazier Park. I was feeling very cold this day. It was cool but this cold was more internal, a chill I couldn’t shake. My bones were hurting—my wrists, my elbows, my forearms and knees. I wore two shirts, a vest, and a windbreaker as well as a cap under my helmet and long gloves. Hitting the road actually made me feel better. As I got near Frazier Park the road began going uphill as I expected, but it wasn’t too bad. What surprised me a bit was the snow that I began seeing on the side of the road and on the hills. When I saw signs in Frazier Park for buying and renting ski equipment I began to realize that snow was no stranger here. When I checked into a room about 6:00 p.m., I had a strong urge for hot soup but once I undressed I got miserably cold again and felt feverish so I crawled into bed expecting to rest a bit and get up for dinner after a while. It was 4:00Am before I woke up. I drank lots of water, took some aspirin and went back to bed for a few more hours. I hadn’t slept this long or hard my entire trip. When I woke at 6:30AM my fever had broken and I felt rested so I went for breakfast and got ready for what I knew would be a hard ride to McKittrick.

I severely underestimated the difficulty of the route from Frazier Park to this little mountain town. Having looked on the map from my atlas and googlemaps I knew I would be going through a hilly region but I thought I would be staying on the edge of the peaks. Though I can still remember vividly the Oregon and Wyoming peaks that caused me so much physical pain in the first part of my journey, I have to say that this day rivaled those in difficulty and misery. There was snow and ice on the road much of the way. Signs proclaiming that tire chains were mandatory for cars were prolific and ominous. The temperature was somewhere in the 30s when I left but it wasn’t until I was about 10 miles up the road that I realized the cool air and altitude would have a cumulative impact on me. The road was curvy, steep, and sometimes very narrow, though it was both a blessing and a curse that there was little traffic. It was easy enough to hear cars coming if I couldn’t see them, but the lack of traffic provided me with a sense of urgency for getting through the ride lest I get stuck in the cold overnight. It’s not that it was so cold that I would be in danger, but I was confident I would be utterly miserable and uncomfortable if I had to sleep out there. I was forced to walk several steep climbing curves but took very few rest stops because I was afraid that my legs would tighten up and that would be that. I tried and did appreciate the beauty of the scenery I saw from atop. I was amazed at how high I seemed and the view I had over rolling hills that seemed endless. I also had to work at beating back thoughts of regret for choosing this route. It had been this route, up the coastline, or going to the east of I-5, which seemed much too far out of the way in getting to Oakland. Remembering my experience and the admonitions against going up the coast line, I’d chosen this route as the lesser of evils for tackling the mountains. I kept thinking of what my nephew Miguel had told me about the mountainous area near Grapevine. Somehow I’d thought it was to the east of where I was. So my mantra became, “Don’t think, just ride. Push!” I knew it had to end eventually. I’d left Frazier Park at 7:30. It was after 2:30 when I finally exited the Los Padres recreation area and I began to feel a steady decline and flattening of the road. I’d only gone 40 miles in 7 hours. I made it to McKittrick as the sun was going down happy that this little town did indeed have a motel and diner as this was the one place on this route I hadn’t found any lodging on the internet. No cell much less internet service, I was happy to get some warm food and several bottles of water before taking a steaming hot shower and resting my aching back and legs. I reminded myself to talk to people about the route from here to Paso Robles in the morning so I could better grasp what I faced before taking off.

Getting to Paso Robles today proved to be a cakewalk compared to Friday’s ride even though it was 40 miles longer. Most of the road was flat. I went through 2 or 3 mountain passes but these were spread out and were long, steady inclines as opposed to the steep curvy, no-shoulder, icy roads of the day before. I'm going to try and finish my San Diego entry so I can provide some insight on my visit in L.A. before arriving in Oakland.

I left Paso Robles early this morning. Speaking with the hotel clerk confirmed my hunch that the side roads would take me through the hills so I decided to hop on Hwy 101 right outside of town and ride it as far and fast as I could so as to shave off a few miles and keep to the flat road. Some parts of my directions had me getting on the Hwy, so I knew that riding parts of it on bike was permissible. Overall, I did very well well. I was stopped by a local policeman once, who told me he wouldn't force me to get off, but a highway patrol officer might. This happened a few miles outside of Salinas in the afternoon, so I exited and went to a gas station to see what route I could pick up. While there, a couple in a pickup said they saw the trooper talking to me and asked me if I wanted a ride. They were going to San Francisco and offered to give me a ride the entire way. I said I'd take a ride to San Jose. They left me off somewhere between downtown and the airport and I made my way towards Milpitas as it got dark so I would be on the road towards Oakland.

LA and last leg

Left San Diego on Tuesday morning. Very hilly going north of the city. I rode up the coast on Old Hwy 101 and though I had seen the ocean when I went to the airport, it was quite another thing to see it from a hilltop as I rode out of town. I felt quite a sense of accomplishment having returned to the Pacific once again. Took a while to get out of town, so I only made it to Irvine before deciding to catch a commuter train into town. I arrived in Glendale shortly after sunset. I am being hosted by friends Rita Alcala, Raul Villa, and their son Joseph. Today I visited staff and students at Cal State University Los Angeles in East L.A. More on these visits later. I leave tomorrow on the last leg. I'll take a commuter train to Lancaster and go to Frazier Park, McKittrick, Paso Robles, Salinas, and then on into Oakland. As near as I can tell this is my best shot at getting upstate and avoiding long mountain stretches. If I can move faster on some days, I will, so as to give myself more time to get through the hills and mountain passes.

From right to left: Joseph, Rita Alcala, and Raul Villa. And Pepita posing to the right, of course.

Luz Borjon, a counselor with CSULA's Educational Opportunity Program, instructor with Chicano Studies, and a part-time counselor at another university on Fridays and Saturdays took time from her packed schedule to host me on Wednesday. Luz introduced me to the student leaders of SURGE (Students United to Reach Goals in Education) who allowed me to sit in on a planning meeting for a holiday action they were planning with students from Cal State Dominguez Hills. I'd hoped to get a chance to interview some of them individually, but our schedules didn't allow. It was clear to me they were well-organized and committed. I will be following up with them soon. Luz also introduced me to Steve Teixiera, the Director of the Student Support Program and advisor to SURGE. Like Luz, he is also an L.A. native whose commitment to improving educational opportunities for Chicana/os is life long and deep. He shared a lot of information with me and spoke enthusiastically of students' evolving political maturity and commitment.

Afterwards, I was invited to attend the EOP's holiday celebration (lots of great food!) and their birthday tribute to longtime EOP Director, David Sandoval. It was beautiful to see such respect and admiration for an administrator!

San Diego Visit updated

DAY 2 (see day 1 entry below)

On Monday, Chelo gave me a ride to the airport where I rented a car for the day so Brent and I could have wheels to make our many appointments. Our first stop was a quick visit to San Diego Mesa College where newly hired professor Manuel Velez met with us for a little while before his morning Chicano Lit class. Manuel recently moved from El Paso to take this position, but he's not a newcomer to Califas having grown up in Salinas. Manuel eloquently shared his perspective on life in the geographic, cultural, and political borderlands. See clip of Manuel below.


After leaving Manuel we went to a little restaurant in Barrio Logan called Cuatros Milpas that specializes in bowls of beans. Yes, they sell other food but this is the primary dish with rice or chorizo. Inexpensive but rich in taste! We then walked around Chicano Park for a while and I took many pictures while Brent told me about some of the years long struggles to establish and maintain the park

Our next stop was a visit with Monica Hernandez of Casa Familiar in San Ysidro. Monica is a Berkeley Ethnic Studies graduate who grew up in Tijuana, went to school and San Ysidro and who has decided not to apply for citizenship even though she has a permanent work visa and could be eligible. She is soft-spoken but powerful in word and deed as she contributes to bettering her community from the ground up through this powerful agency.
Here is some info from their website on ther mission and the context of their work:

The mission of Casa Familiar allows the dignity, power, and worth within individuals and families to flourish, by enhancing the quality of life through education, advocacy, service programming, housing and community economic development.

To understand our agency's work in affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization, it is important to know about the community and its people. San Ysidro (established in 1908) is located at the U.S. - Mexico border between Tijuana and downtown San Diego, three miles east of the Pacific Ocean. It is known as the busiest border crossing the world. In 1956, the City of San Diego annexed the area, and it still remains geographically and culturally isolated, being some twenty miles to the south of urban San Diego and separated from it by two other incorporated cities.

San Ysidro's population is 27,180 (2000 Census), a growth rate of 6%, and is overwhelming minority: Hispanics, Black, and Asian/Other account for 91% of the total. It is a "young" community --the median age is 27.6 years. The median household income is $22,760. Families tend to be larger than average, with 4.07 persons per household. Two-thirds of the housing stock is multi-family, and 35% of the City of San Diego's subsidized housing is located here, with more than 8,000 families on the waiting list. Of the 4,411 students in the San Ysidro School District, 82% are determined as low socio-economic status (compared to 45% in the County, and 29% nationally). One hundred percent of the school district's students qualify for free or reduced-cost meals. SEE Clip of Monica below.

From Monica's we went back towards central San Diego to meet with immigrant rights activist Enrique Moronoes, the founder of Border Angels (see info below) and radio talk show host of Super K 1040 AM's, “Morones por la Tarde." As a simple web search of his name reveals, Morones is no stranger to talking and clear about his stance that a more humane and honest means of dealing with immigrants is necessary. He has debated with Lou Dobbs and Bill O'Reilly a number of times and pushes them in a confrontational style that has seemed to earn him their respect. The extreme dislike of him by anti-immigrant groups (as evidenced by the web) will only strengthen his credibility in the eyes of more reasonable folks.

After a short break, we went to artist Victor Ochoa's house and sat and talked in his garage/studio as the sun went down. As a life-long resident of southern California, he brought some historical perspective to local struggles and the role of art in social movements. He was an integral part of the movement to establish Chicano Park and currently teaches art in the schools as well as continues to produce public murals, a section of a work in progress is above. He gave me a copy of textbook on murals he uses in teaching youth and showed us a new book on Chicano art that features a section on his contributions. (See video clip below on Ochoa family history in border region.)


The Day ended with an evening trip to Tijuana. We were accompanied by artist Nuvia Crisol (see her website: http://www.artecrisol.com/). After a quick stop at Tijuana's CostCo for some tequila and etceteras we went to the infamous Tacos Salceados which I had heard Brent brag about in what I thought was pure hyperbole. No hype. The real deal. I concede that these were some of the best tacos I've ever had. Simple but fancy and rich in taste to the extreme. Chelo and Brent cross over frequently so they have a Sentri border crossing pass which expedites their crossings but passengers are not allowed, so we hopped off on the way back and crossed by foot. Even late in the evening the lines were extraordinarily long due to the holiday season, we surmised. Chelo said that in the mornings the radio has said that lately the line for peatones in 1,500 long. My border patrol officer apparently lived in Minneapolis at what point as she kept asking me specific questions about cross streets where I lived--though Brent seems to think maybe she was just trying to catch this pocho in a lie. Meanwhile, in the line Chelo was pulled over on a spot check and witnessed a van of indocumentados driven by a woman get busted and the border patrol officers stand around laughing at them as they piled out barefoot. She was righteously pissed when she met us on the U.S. side.

We went back to Nuvia's where I interviewed all three of them for an hour. Well-fed, full of content, and tired from a full day of meeting wonderful folks we ended it when I began to pass out...


DAY 1
I arrived in San Diego on Friday afternoon and got settled into a motel where I could get a warm shower, get my bearings and start making contacts. After a few phone calls, I was invited to dinner at the home of recent Texas transplants Crissy Rivas (UCSD grad student in sociology) and Dave (film maker) where we were to be joined by Calaca Press founders Brent Beltran and Consuelo (Chelo) Manriquez, also a Vice Principal at a local middle school. Before dinner I found a bike shop in National City that could replaced some broken spokes and re-align my rear wheel that had become out of balance on the last leg of my trip. Brent called Cecilia Brennan, a local lawyer who has recently relocated from L.A. to join us at dinner and share insights on some of her work on the role she and the firm she works for had played in helping defeat the local anti-immigrant ordinances in Escondido, CA. Escondido was in the news again this week as it is attempting to pass laws targeting day laborers. The food was great and the company better.

I returned to San Diego this evening after a quick trip to Houston. With Brent's help, I have several interviews planned for tomorrow, including one with Enrique Morones, the founder of Border Angels. From their website (http://www.borderangels.org/):

Founded in 1986, Border Angels is a non-profit organization supporting humanity. The organization consists of extraordinary volunteers who want to stop unnecessary deaths of individuals traveling through the Imperial Valley desert areas and the mountain areas surrounding San Diego County, as well as the areas located around the United States and Mexican border. The high percentage of unnecessary deaths have been results of extreme heat and cold weather conditions, in addition some have sadly been the results of racial-discrimination crimes.

We plan to visit Tijuana tomorrow evening. Below is a video of Cecilia discussing the Escondido case and other immigrations issues in the SD area.

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Cecila Brennan discusses immigration issues in San Diego area from Louis Mendoza on Vimeo.


Manuel Velez, From El Paso to San Diego from Louis Mendoza on Vimeo.


Monica Hernandez, San Ysidro, Casa Familiar from Louis Mendoza on Vimeo.


Victor Ochoa shares his family history in the region from Louis Mendoza on Vimeo.