flower power

No really. No, I know. Yes, it is Mestre Acordeon. World renown Capoeira Mestre. Martial Artist par excellence and his troupe of, well, only a bunch of Mestres, Contra Mestres, Professors, Instructors and random capoeira nomads. And sequestradas. Basically a bunch of guys who will take your kneecaps out while you smell the flowers. Still, his B2B thing - its one giant fucking love train.

While riding the PCH from San Francisco to Los Angeles stories from Mestre Bimba's jovial nature abound. Strange, considering that the classic picture we all know is rather serious in nature.

The ocean's waves sing lullabies to our dreams of Central America. You can't find an iota of discontent in this ridiculously happy bunch. Its downright disgusting. You'd think after 4 weeks in each other's bikeshorts (yum?) we'd get a little pricklish.

What is going on here? Mestre says California is the Disney World part of the trip. We hug each other a lot. We exchange stories of life. One Capoeira school after another welcomes all 20 of us, takes us into their home, feeds and showers (lets us clog their toilets). The love on this train embraces us. California is the stage of B2B during which many riders join for a limited period. From Santa Cruz, to Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and San Diego we experience the best that Capoeira has to offer.

Community, openness and engagement.

We love the welcome we receive. But each time we spend 3 to 4 days in a town we get antsy. There is a quiet feeling of disquiet among us. And when we finally get to ride, we are unaccountably happy. My room mate, from my exlife, tells me this is the effect of meditation. What, meditation?

"The continuous motion, the repetitive breathing, natural beauty and good vibes all around you put you in a state of dopamine overload and every day stress underload"

Ah, that kind of meditation. No wonder we are on a high without knowing why. But its not the real B2B. The real B2B starts in Tijuana. We think.