Stuart Green's Excellent Adventure (Part 2)

5.25.99

This has been great! I have gotten so many neat e-mails, some from people that I haven't met yet. Thanks for all the encouragement!

I was going to put a sign on the back of my bike that said "California or Bust". I was pretty excited to make California. This was my first real milestone on my trip. I made California around noon on Saturday and am staying at my Uncle Hilka's house. It is really good to have a place to go when you hit a big city. The large impersonal atmosphere of a big city can be pretty intimidating.

My thanks to the Mele's in Mesa AZ for a great stop-over there. Mary, be sure and tell Arlina and Kayla hi for me. Also, I seem to remember that you had mentioned some information on cancer. I have some friends that could use more info. Could you send me some information? Linda Pearson also sends her hello and best wishes.

For anyone who is so inclined, I would invite you to join me in prayer for my friends the Olstads and for my Uncle Dana both of who are fighting cancer.

Boy, coming into Potrero CA was a tough ride. Climbing up In-Koh-Pah Pass was really rough. The route went from below sea level in El Centro to around 3200 feet with the real climb lasting around 11 miles. I was toasted after that 70 mile ride on Saturday. I had rough roads, a major climb, and strong winds in my face for most of the ride. I averaged 9.1 mph for the entire day, and that was after rolling downhill the last 15 or 20 miles! Was I glad to take a rest day today! I saw a sign that read "strong winds possible next 62 miles" at the beginning of the day that said it all.

Speaking of signs, One of my favorites was the one that was just behind the men working sign. It said "Inmates working Do not stop". I was rolling through the desert with no one around for miles. I read that and started grabbing gears and thrashing on the pedals to get the speed up! The guys all whistled at me as I went past (no, just joking!)

Note to James B.: I rolled through a place called Glamis CA. On the way toward Glamis, I saw a yellowish smudge on the horizon. I couldn't figure out if I was rolling into a storm or what. As I got closer, I realized that I was seeing sand dunes. Glamis has a t-shirt that claims that it is the sand dune capital of the world. The people drive for miles to play in the sand with their off-road vehicles. Mostly dune buggies. James, I heard this sand-rail coming up to the store (the only structure around except for a few houses)and I couldn't figure it out. This was definitely not a VW engine. Turns out this guy had a Corvair engine in his 4 seat sand rail. He told me that he could pull the front end with 4 people in the buggy! I asked him what the total displacement was and he couldn't tell me. He did say that he had 92mm jugs (figure that X6) and he must have had some kind of cam because that thing sounded radical!

Note to Ruth and Cam, Thanks for the great care-package! The jersey is wonderful and the food really came in handy! I loved the apple nut cake.

Joey M. had a couple of questions:

-do you give yourself a daily budget

Yes, I have budgeted myself 30 dollars a day. So far I have hit it right on the money and that is after some extra expense on my camp stove and bike parts. Every now and then I camp for free and that helps out a lot. In remote areas the camp fee runs around $5 but toward the population centers is goes up to closer to $20. I have camped in activity centers for small towns where I would just roll in towards dark and just pitch next to their ball fields. Other times the RV park would not charge me to camp. The last time that happened I think maybe the guy felt guilty because the sprinklers turned on at 4am the next morning. Boy was I glad that I had decided to pitch my rain fly that night! The worst thing that happened was that I had placed my shoes under my rolled-up tarp, but I had placed the whole thing on top of a sprinker head!

-what do you eat on or off the bike?

I usually eat anything that I can find! No really, I try to eat healthy. I will usually stop at the last grocery before my scheduled camping place. I pick up sandwich material that will include mustard, mayo, pickles, picante sauce, cheese, and Rosarita re-fried beans for a sandwich spread for dinner and tuna or salmon for breakfast the next day. I do my best to eat anything that won't keep the next day. I also try to find some green vegetables to keep the balance.

After San Diego, what will your route/destinations be?

After San Diego, I will head up the Pacific coast highway until I hit Oregon. My route through Oregon will go through Eugene. Then the route goes Northerly into Missoula Montana (the headquarters for the map company) then back through Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and down through Colorado. When I hit Pueble CO the route pretty much bee-lines through Kansas and into VA. My final destination will be Yorktown.

Well, my time here is up. Until next time,

God bless,

Stu

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