Las America – prologue

LAS AMERICAS

The Prologue

A trip across central and north America has a start. It has an idea and a concept, our concept is simple, discovering and having fun.

While traveling in Mexico, USA and Canada we will be seeking for the beauty and to put a smile on our faces.

We invite you to join us on our journey and discover these beautiful land along the drive, take a seat and we do the driving !

Who we are,

I’m Tito, a 34 years old french mountain biker, traveler and artist. Usually specialized in long traverse in the mountain, with no assistance and in exotic countries this trip will be different because it’s a longer one and because I will be with my wife Charlotte. We are used to live in a camper because while in France I almost spend more time in my truck than in my flat.

Charlotte my wife is 31 year old and a french nurse. She left her job as planned, and we are now realizing a dream trip. She will ride and surf more than ever before.

We decided that trip together, attracted by the special wild dimension of the land we are going to visit. But also because a lot of those states remain unknown from us, even after almost ten year of life and travel together.

FIRST STEP FIRST

This trip didn’t came like this, we have planned it and worked on it for the last two years. Designing our journey, with what we really want to see and ride. But one of the most important point was to find a vehicle, first we were looking for a big RV but finally regarding to the consumption, the road condition in Mexico and the distance we decided to go for something smaller. And one month before the start I saw this Ford e250 and liked it straight away.

We were already in our moving process, leaving our flat to stuff all our things in a garage more than a month before our flight, it was a funny organization but we made it, saw the friends and family and on a rainy Sunday we flew to Los Angeles!

GET A BLANKET

We arrived fully loaded in LAX and Brian the seller of the van was there with Sam, our camper. We discover it by night with foggy eyes and smashed by the jet-lag. Brian set us free with the van and we drive to some shop to buy blankets and food. The next few days are about rain and organization. We needed to get everything for a proper nomadic life, from the kitchen to the tools. Our bikes and surfboards have to be stored somewhere, so we drove around and visited a few garage to build a roof rack but after our researches and visits it appeared that our roof doesn’t allow any rack. A bumper and rack asks a lot of money and time … So we decided to go sketchy but stylish and drilled holes on the roof to install four hooks and secure our stuff! Total style!

So for two weeks we drove from San Diego to Santa Barbara, Hollywood and north LA, visiting and chilling, but our customization of the van didn’t stop there, we fixed a bunch of stuff, improved other and built some furniture to store more things and food.

Finally our bikes and gear showed up at Rossignol bikes USA, near Laguna, and we started to ride and discover California on a different point of view. It was great to ride and meet people! With a strong community and tons of trails, the place is great for a mountain biker.

RIDING BIKES

A new world! The first rides where all about discovering a new terrain, a new bike, everything was new even my Urge helmet and my Royal clothing. I did my first turns on my Rossignol all track near Laguna with Ash, on fun and rowdy trails. A good mix of trails for test that new bike, and I loved it. It’s more tolerant, it jumps and roost. Ash was guiding me on some awesome lines in the hill above the sea.

I did a few good rides around here and really enjoyed the area of Laguna, the bad weather was back so we decided to escape it and drove to Palm Springs. With flooding and landslides everywhere our journey to Palm Springs became a adventure but we made it and entered the Coachella valley from the south, offering a stunning view on the mountains, the deep valley and the crazy switchbacks!

Riding here was awesome and the ride from the pines to the palm was a blast. Really convinced of the mountain biking potential here for winter and fall, I loved the dimension and the travel in the desert. With views on snow caped mountains, the valley and Big Bear mountain in the distance it was a great time for riding and shooting. The trails I rode were a great mix of technical features and flow parts. I started to know the bike better and could make advantage of it. It’s a 27”5 wheeled machine, aluminium frame with a killer built, it has a balanced geometry that helps in slow sections and allows to pick up fun lines. The alloy rear triangle gives more flex and fun in the turns witch provides a very pleasant feeling, but also can generate speed in a way.

For your curiosity the bike is built with my partners parts, Rossignol frame Large size with 150 millimetre of travel, Fox suspension and dropper post, RaceFace cockpit, wheels and crank, Shimano transmission, brakes and pedal. We are also using Hutchinson tires for the second year and welcoming Fabric cycling for the tools and saddles.

DRIVING SOUTH

Now that we have everything with us and the van is ready it’s time to heat the road and cross the border. The first chapter of our trip will happen in Mexico, starting in Baja California our goal is to reach the volcanoes in the Mexico city area. We plan on a two month and a half loop in this amazing and rich country. From the flats to the high volcanoes, from the desert to the tropical forest! We are expecting surprises, but what we are sure to get is a warm welcome and good food!

PABLO

Charlotte and I decided in 2016 to build “Vive La Vie” a humanitarian association, in 2016 and 2017 we raised money to help an orphanage in Kathmandu. But in 2019 we decided to change direction and work on environmental project. For this trip we have decided to keep the contact with kids in our action and raise awareness.

Our goal is simple, we will distribute hundreds of colouring books across Mexico, the book is fun to read and colour, but gives information about our environment, the pollution and some tips for what to do to reduce our impact.

The book is about Pablo, a 11 years old boy from central America. He is a nature lover and one day discover a turtle trapped in a fishing net. So he tries to understand the pollution nowadays and how to fight it. We give some informations about the plastic and the pollution. But also how to lower the impact, recycling or social actions.

Working on the project was very interesting, I did the drawings while Charlotte helped

with precious information, storytelling and actions.

This project is really important to us, trying to do something and bring some attention on environmental issues. We are not perfect as we pollute with our trip but we believe in the action and the inspiration.

The editing and printing of the book came late and I was not able to communicate before, but if the environmental cause talks to you and you are keen to help we have opened a Ulule project where your donation will help to pay for printing and buy colouring pen. LINK AVAILABLE SOON.

We will be proposing different level of commitment into our project, from simple donation and a huge thanks to a bigger donation with a photo book and more goodies to thank the generous donator.

But every donation will be a great help for our project!

Follow our adventure on the different networks, Facebook and Instagram @titotomasi for more content and live stories.

Thanks for your support

Aloha

tito