Shayne Khajehnoori
Pacific Coast
Synchronicity Tomales, CA
Synchronicity. A concept first explained by psychiatrist Carl Jung, which holds that events are "meaningful coincidences" if they occur with no causal relationship, yet seem to be meaningfully related. As I headed down the northern Oregon coast, a series of seemingly random interactions began to unfold and build upon one another.
It began in a coffee shop one morning near Newport. Noticing my DSLR peaking out of my Blackburn handlebar bag on the table in front of me, a woman sitting nearby struck up a conversation complimenting my bag and talking photography. She was a local woman, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians. Her passions were photography, gardening, and picking up hitchhikers. For an hour we chatted, the conversation frequently returning to her passion for local berries and some of her favorite lesser-known beach hideaways and trails. Huckleberries. I had to seek out the huckleberries, she said, which were coming into their peak. Embarrassed to admit it to her, I had no idea what a huckleberry was or looked like. Hobbit Trail. She also implored me to stop at the Hobbit Trail, a place she couldn’t exactly describe the location to, but said she dropped hitchhikers off there all the time. I tucked this conversation into the back of my mind as we parted ways and I jumped on the bike.
An hour after we parted ways, a road sign catches my attention. Huckleberry Lane it says. An even bigger sign reads Huckleberry Hill, indicating the neighborhood I was passing. I remembered the woman and her love for huckleberries. Coming to an abrupt halt, I surveyed the roadside and noticed giant bushes everywhere covered in little berries. To me they looked like blueberries, but being no expert I decided the safest course of action was to ask the all-knowing brain of the world, Google. Yes, in fact they were huckleberries, which I find out are almost indistinguishable from their blueberry counterparts. I filled up a couple of containers as I danced around the shoulder of highway 101, ecstatically popping these delights in my mouth and waving to cars passing by. I felt like a child in a candy store. Satisfied with my new bounty of fresh fruit I set off again down the coast.
As the sun was setting, I came upon a state park where I paused for a moment debating if I wanted to camp there or tuck myself stealthily into the nearby forest instead. Two young travelers on foot pop out of the woods, seemingly from no where. Within minutes our mutual greetings quickly took an esoteric turn as we talked about spiritual planes of existence and their plans to head to California to visit a shaman which neither of them had ever met. The older of the two carried a Bible, using it as a key, he said, to unlock his soul from his body. The younger nomad, carried an empty snapping turtle shell slung across his shoulder. It was his medicine bag, full of crystals, beloved stones, and various herbs. A divinely beautiful piece he had brought with him from Georgia, which I connected with immediately being from Georgia myself. Both explained they had been journeying on foot around the country for years, breaking free from traditional material thinking. Learning, living, and loving. The young one declared he had learned to read peoples energies and could help cleanse one’s pineal gland. Intrigued, I requested and he delivered said cleansing as he placed his fingers on my third eye chakra and the back of my head. Always balancing a healthy dose of skepticism with an open mind, I closed my eyes as he read my energy and gave me recommendations to reserve time the following day to perform a walking meditation and hunt agates on the nearby beaches. A mutual adoration and loving peace flowed through the three of us. We talked as though we had known each other for years. We felt at home. I shared my huckleberries, and my newfound knowledge of the heaps of them that lined the highway which they were also unaware of. As I rode away, heart opened and uplifted, I sensed a glow of light hitting the road around me. Sure that this was the headlights of a car behind me, I turned back and saw nothing. All alone on the highway, I experienced an unforgettable light seemingly emitting from my bike below me. Pineal cleansing I mused.
That night I popped off the highway and into a nearby hiking trail that was technically closed. I figured this to be a perfect spot where I wouldn’t be found or bothered. I fell into a deep sleep in the midst of Suislaw National Forest. Awaking the next morning, I popped back onto the highway. A car was randomly parked on the shoulder. A couple greeted me and declared that I had to take the trail across the road, the one which led to the beach. They said it was called Hobbit Trail. There I was, steps away from the beloved trail the woman from the coffee shop had talked about. I tucked my bike in the woods and minutes later I was crouching through an unimaginably beautiful patch of second growth forest which spat me out on a secluded beach. And there I was, walking the beach in an almost dream-like state, hunting agates. I smiled.
Synchronicity.
- IMAGES OF THE ROAD -
Shayne Khajehnoori
Gear List
- My Blackburn Gear -
- MY BIKE SPECS -
- • FRAME-NINER RLT 853 REYNOLDS 853, 142MM X 12MM THRU AXLE, RACK/FENDER BRAZE ONS
- • FORK-NINER RLT RIGID, CARBON, 9MM QR
- • FRONT WHEEL-SRAM RISE 60 29
- • REAR WHEEL-SRAM RISE 60 29
- • FRONT TIRE-WTB CROSS BOSS 700C x 35C
- • REAR TIRE-WTB CROSS BOSS 700C x 35C
- • INNER TUBES-WTB INNERTUBE PRESTA 700C X 18/25C
- • CRANK SET-SRAM FORCE CX1
- • CHAINWHEELS-SRAM FORCE CX1 X-SYNC, SEVERAL SIZES
- • BOTTOM BRACKET-SRAM BB30 68MM
- • CHAIN-SRAM PC-1170
- • REAR DERAILLEUR SRAM-XX1 X-HORIZON
- • REAR DER SHIFTER-SRAM FORCE CX1 HYDRAULIC
- • FRONT DER SHIFTER-SRAM FORCE CX1 HYDRAULIC
- • CASSETTE-SRAM XG-1199 10-42T
- • HEAD SET-NINER
- • STAR NUT-NINER
- • HEADSET CAP-NINER
- • HEADSET SPACERS-NINER
- • STEM-TRUVATIV STYLO T40 STEM SEVERAL SIZES
- • HANDLEBARS-ZIPP SERVICE COURSE BEYOND BLACK
- • TAPE / GRIPS-SRAM SUPER CORK BAR TAPE BLACK
- • SEAT POST-TRUVATIV STYLO T40 SEATPOST 27.2MM DIA, 400MM LENGTH
- • SEAT POST CLAMP / BINDER-NINER
- • FRONT BRAKE-SRAM FORCE CX1 POST MOUNT, 160MM ROTOR, >1,000MM HOSE
- • REAR BRAKE-SRAM FORCE CX1 POST MOUNT, 140MM ROTOR, >1,800MM HOSE
- • BRAKE LEVERS-SRAM
- • BRAKE HOUSING / CBL-SRAM
- •
Shayne Khajehnoori
- FROM: Santa Rosa, CA
- DOB: 1999-11-30
- OCCUPATION: Adventurer
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The inspiration for my upcoming cycling and paddling adventure is rooted in my desire for exploration, both internally and externally. I am able to better fully understand myself and learn from others as well as my environment when I launch myself into the unknown. The excitement lies in every rotation of the cranks, every untraveled road, and every unexplored river and coast. Adventure is the currency that I barter in, and my bike, my trading post.
Over the last four years, I have embarked on several multi-day bicycle and bike-rafting tours throughout the west coast including the Humboldt Redwoods, the Northern California coast, and the Olympic Peninsula. My personal highlight was bike-rafting from Seattle to Portland via the Olympic Peninsula. With my packraft carefully nestled atop my rear rack, restlessly waiting for inflation, I was able to mix adventure cycling with some hair-raising whitewater paddling on several rivers on my way through the Washington. This upcoming trip, I am excited to revisit these same waterways and explore more as I head south through Oregon and California.
I have several goals for my trip, all challenging in their own way. As I disconnect from the habitual daily rituals that dictate my current life schedule, I gladly welcome the ability to set aside time and energy to focus on self-exploration and development through writing, photography, videography, breathing and meditation. My goal is not to log a hundred miles a day or climb 5000 feet a day, but to allow myself to stay open and seek out new experiences, people, thrills, and uncertainties.
This coastal journey from Canada to Mexico will undoubtedly be a life altering event. Through my communion with my bike, packraft and the environment around me, I hope to learn something new every step of the way. My focus does not solely rest on what I can get out of this journey, but also on what I can give. A poem, a picture, a prayer, a smile, a hug, an inspirational glimpse at adventure. I hope to open myself up in a way where I am in a position to give as well as receive, to equitably exchange knowledge, joy and energy with people and my surroundings.
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What’s in my bag?
Packraft - This is the best way for me to get off the road and explore more remote areas.
Cameras (Canon 60D & GoPro Hero 4 Black) - These are absolutely essential tools for documenting the adventure ahead.
Fishing pole - I’m hoping to snag some surfperch and rockfish.
Homemade, homegrown, organic healing salve - A combination of calendula, yarrow, comfrey, and plantain from my garden, infused in coconut oil with a bit of arnica oil and lavender essential oils. Great for cuts, abrasions, sun burn, sore muscles, or giving a massage.
Recorder - A simple musical instrument. Nothing like busting out a Disney show-tune around the campfire.
