Stuart Green's Excellent Adventure (Part 3)

5.28.99

Okay, Road Report #3 coming right on the heels of #2.

I have just stopped at my friend Tom Kanusky's house and have access to the computer and thought I would take advantage of it.

It is great to hear all of the reports from back home. Thanks for all your great messages!

Had a great breakfast in San Diego with a close friend from high school. Glen and I had not seen each other in over 5 years and he turns up in San Diego at the same time as I! Thanks for breakfast Glen! It's a small world and the internet brings it even closer.

Boy, the entire complexion on the trip has changed since I hit the coast! What used to be miles in between cities has become non-stop humanity. What used to people staring because they were not used to seeing a bike in such inhospitable terrain has become the norm and no one gives you a second glance. What used to be hours without seeing a car has become major traffic. What used to be planning carefully to make sure that you had plenty of food and water to make it to the next stop has no become the land of plenty.

It's kind of nice for a change, but I am wondering which I like better.

Getting out of San Diego was hectic. Lots of traffic, traffic lights and lots of dodging pedestrians. Definitely not the place I would choose to ride given the choice. Rolling into Los Angeles was much the same with lots of urban sprawl to keep you on your toes. Once I hit "the stand" or the beach path as they call it, it was better though I still had to dodge all those scantily clad pedestrians on roller blades. -)

The route the next couple of days has me routed on beach bike paths. I am just right off the beach on a paved bike path. Pretty cool. At Santa Monica beach I saw dolphin surfing in the waves. At first I thought it was just some seaweed or something in the water, but the next big set of waves confirmed it. About 5 or 6 dolphin would wait until the big ones and then I could see them as the they were backlit in the wave!

The next morning met a couple from the Netherlands in camp. They were just finishing up a bike tour from Oregon down the coastline. Neat couple. A large part of the experience of touring is meeting neat people like this couple. I must have spent 30 minutes just listening to their stories. They had done a lot of touring prior to this trip and had lots of experience to share.

Another fun thing happened just today. I was riding along just North of Ventura through Dulah when this guy points a camera at me. As I go by I hear the motor drive on his camera and realize that he may be a professional. He pulls ahead of me in a car and we start talking. He is a photographer for a local insert that goes into the LA Times. I think I may have convinced him to mail a copy to my parents in Marble Falls. Wouldn't that be a hoot?!

Here are some questions that were sent in:

Sophia B writes: I know you are tired about now, I am wondering are you doing this trip as some kind of get away from it all or is it just a fun trip?Just wondering? I am not sure, maybe a little bit of both. This trip is something that I had put on my "list of things to do someday" a long time ago. It was time to put up or shut up. I am not saying that the chance will never come again, but the time was certainly right for a trip of this type.

Mike K. writes: I guess you cant exactly stop and take pictures when you are in rhythm.... Are you visually recording any of this?

I am taking some pictures during my trip. I never found a new camera prior to taking off on my trip so am making use of disposable cameras. I have just now finished camera #1 so that may give you some indication as to how many pictures I am taking. Hopefully the few that I am taking will be of good quality and subject matter! I am wondering if I may prevail on my friend Ed Tasch to develop these pictures for me and maybe scan some of the good ones into the computer. What do you say Ed? I will of course reimburse the developing fees.

That's all for now. Until next time,

God bless

Stu

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