My arrival at Venice Beach!! Pictures speak a thousand words! So, enjoy!!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Thanks to everyone who gave me such\u00a0a wonderful and enthusiastic LA welcome! Liliane, Ann, Mark, Kathy, Barry and Yvette. Also the friendly Swiss tourists, all the kids on\u00a0their school trip, the cool lifeguard AND the local cops from\u00a0LAPD!!<\/p>\n Here I am in\u00a0my top hat and tails!<\/p>\n M<\/strong> & L<\/strong> = M<\/strong>eans L<\/strong>ove!!!!!<\/p>\n I still need a little time to absorb everything and sieze what I have really accomplished! In the meantime, I seized Liliane and here we are above at Anne & Mark’s house. I can only say, it all feels GREAT and I am enjoying every minute!!!<\/p>\n Greetings to all from sunny California! Martin<\/p>\n Day 55,\u00a0June 24, 2008\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n It is 24 June and\u00a09:00 at night. After\u00a0weeks spent\u00a0cycling 5,000km I am resting and ready to hit the Pacific Ocean tomorrow!. The feeling is indescribable!<\/p>\n Greetings from a second night in\u00a0the Jim Morrison room, Martin<\/p>\n Days 53 & 54 June 21 & 22, 2008<\/strong><\/p>\n Today was the final countdown – 70km\u00a0through the suburbs and Downtown LA!<\/p>\n The bed of the famous LA ‘River’ (actually an aqueduct). You may have seen it in movies.<\/p>\n The historical LA City Hall, Downtown.<\/p>\n The whole journey today (70km\/50 miles) was stop-go – as I caught every light in town! But it was totally easy. I’m through! The sky was overcast, so I didn’t see the Hollywood sign nor the beach, but I checked into a secret place — Room 32 at the Alta Cienega motel — where Jim Morrison lived for two years, from 1968 – 1970 Tomorrow, I will cruise the last few kilometers\u00a0along Washington Blvd down to the beach for my grand finale!!\u00a0Who knows what will happen there! I will send you photos of my arrival on the sand. It’s hard to believe that after 1.5 years of planning,\u00a0my dream has come true\u00a0! It seems so surreal! Greetings from the Jim Morrison Room, LA<\/p>\n Martin<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Days 53 & 54 June 21 & 22, 2008<\/strong><\/p>\n These two days\u00a0deserve the title: \u201cI survived the battle of the\u00a0heat!\u201d But there’s another story to tell. Yesterday, Saturday, I\u00a0wanted to start off at 6AM, but needed\u00a0 to get some cash, so I used the ATM machine at Washington Mutual bank. The machine swallowed my card and gave me no cash! I had to wait 3 hours for the bank to open! When I returned there, I was told that my card had been manually destroyed because it wasn’t a familiar credit card!\u00a0I spoke to the deputy manager who told me this was bank policy and there was nothing they could do about it!\u00a0I was furious. Surely they have no right to do that? I called my bank in Switzerland, who said my card was perfectly good. I had used it all across America with no problem. I have another card – a Mastro debit card, but, as I have mentioned before,\u00a0I have forgotten my PIN number! I was stuck!<\/p>\n Luckily, Yvette and Barry in Los Angeles came to the rescue. They managed to wire money via Western Union. The Western Union agent was in a local liquor store. Ironically, the store was called Swiss Liquor!!<\/p>\n The Swiss Liquor store where I got my cash<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n By now, it was 1:30PM and I had missed the cool part of the day, but I was determined to bike on. This next stage was 60km through no-man’s land. Wow, the heat was really bad, so I progressed as simply\u00a0and slowly as possible.\u00a0After a while, I saw a\u00a0Western-style bar ahead. Was it open? I was in luck, and\u00a0was able to get\u00a0ice and cold water. What a relief!! Brian\u00a0and his\u00a0son, Randy, were so helpful. We chatted for a while and they told me that Julia Roberts made part of\u00a0the movie Erin Brockovich here. Also,Quentin Tarantino\u00a0spent two weeks here\u00a0filming part of\u00a0Kill Bill II.<\/p>\n Once refreshed, I moved\u00a0on in the heat and a little wind.<\/p>\n Brian\u00a0and his\u00a0son, Randy<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Today, Sunday, I set off as usual at 6AM.\u00a0It is beautiful to cycle through the desert at this time of day.<\/p>\n Fellow bikers Bob, Chase and James on their way to church!!<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Shortly after 9AM I branched onto highway\u00a02, which should\u00a0have taken me into the\u00a0hills and forests\u00a0above LA. By this time, it was already hot and after an hour’s climb, I earned myself a coffee.\u00a0It was then I met\u00a0Leo. He asked me which way\u00a0I intended to go. I explained along the 2 past La Crescenta. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and\u00a0explained that the road\u00a0had been\u00a0closed for two years due to a landslide!<\/p>\n In this\u00a0searing heat\u00a0they still sell snowboards!<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Now I had to change my route and cycle the rim\u00a0of the\u00a0San Bernardino mountains. This was a beautiful forest ride and anyway, I have plenty of time to get to LA.<\/p>\n After 135km I am\u00a0now in Rancho Cucamonga and the beach of LA is mine for the taking!!! I can hardly believe that I am just\u00a02 days away\u00a0from the end of this epic journey\u00a0!!!<\/p>\n Greetings from\u00a0Los Angeles county, Martin<\/p>\n Day 52, June 20, 2008<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Yesterday, when I switched on the TV in my air-conditioned \ud83d\ude42 room, I caught the weather forecast and they warned of record temperatures.\u00a0They advised people\u00a0to drink plenty of water and to take care of the elderly and pets. But\u00a0I pedaled\u00a0on another 100km in the\u00a0heat!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n Day 51, June 19, 2008<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Greetings from the famous Area 51 — UFO’s and aliens!<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.heartacrossamerica.ch\/de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/marrivel.JPG\")
<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nI would like to thank everyone who gave me so much support — whether in the form of materials, messages, e-mails, or simply your good and positive thoughts.! MANY THANKS !!!!!!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>One of my stops under the shade of an overpass.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>I set off at\u00a06:00 and around 12:30 I reached Barstow. I really don’t know how I withstood that ride! The temperature was so high, the water in my bottle was as warm as shower water and, as the sweat from my face hit the bike, it sizzled on the metal and immediately evaporated. Fortunately, I found a\u00a0motel\u00a0with a pool and so was able to cool off.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Greetings, Martin<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n