Stuart Green's Excellent Adventure (Part 4)

6.25.99

It's been so long since we heard from him that most of us had assumed that Stuart Green must have forgot to turn North when he got to California... and disappeared into the Pacific Ocean. But this report has just surfaced so apparently he managed to swim back to shore and get the salt water and sand out of his bottom bracket.
Frank

As I climb slowly out of camp, the morning air has a cool bite to it as I labor with the exertion of the ascent. The mountain stream careens drunkenly off of rocks and other obstacles as it rushes hurriedly past on my right. On my left, the morning sun is sending it's first questing tendrils of sunlight into the narrow canyon which lends a surreal effect to the cotton from the cottonwood trees floating in and out of the beams, falling softly on and about me like snow. What a way to start a morning!! A beautiful 10 mile climb up a narrow river canyon with a 7% grade! When I crest the top, the wind is whipping. With the downhill grade and aided by the wind, I quickly run out of gears as I speed toward the town of Cambridge and brunch. Okay, I know long time no hear. Sorry about that. It seems that without a house to stay in, I am less likely to run down a library to get internet access. I am in Missoula Montana at the public library and my time is limited. I am sorry that I do not have enough time to personally answer all the neat e-mails that I have received. Thanks for all of your well wishes! Well, a lot has happened since my last e-mail. So many thoughts are running through my head and so many experiences since the last "road report". I have found that it is not so much the beauty of a particular place, but the experience of being immersed in the natural environment for a long period of time. It impacts you slowly, building so that you unconsciously find it difficult to sleep indoors or uncomfortable to be inside a building for a long period of time. I've had some really neat experiences since my last e-mail and I will try to share some of them now.

First off, I need to thank Heather at the Bicycle Sport Shop for the advice on the shoes. I purchased some Sidi shoes for the trip and they have been great. Thanks Heather!! At the time of my last road report, I was in San Jose with my friend Dee Kinsey. Thanks Dee for a great lay-over! The highpoint of that period was kayaking on the Elkhorn Slough. We saw seal, water birds, and sea otter. One otter was really cool. It would come up to our kayak and use the side of the boat to break the shell on the clams and other edibles it pulled off the bottom! It tried to climb up onto the boat (too slippery) and swam with us for over 30 minutes. It would swim under my arm so close that it would have been possible for the otter to reach over and touch me! They are so cute! and playful. What really got me was their nose. It looked just like a dog's nose. Seemed kind of out of place in the ocean. On the way out of San Jose, it was Saturday and I saw many other cyclists. I hooked up with Deb and Bruce and enjoyed and great day of cycling with them over the mountains and back to the beach where I continued toward Oregon. One morning in the Marin Headlands (just past the Golden Gate) I woke to a skunk only 3 feet from my face! Talk about a rude awakening! Thankfully he was not interested in spraying me, just in digging for grubs. I shooed him away and continued my morning routine uninterrupted. On evening on the Northern California coast, I ran into a Valhalla Tour group. They invited me to dine with them and it was great! (Note: stay away from the red wine if you plan on riding the next day! :-)) The next morning they invited me over for breakfast, so needless to say, I ate much better than I would have normally. Jorg Becker and his wife Ulrike are the owners and at least one of them accompany each trip. Looked pretty first class to me and I can certainly vouch for the food. Those guys eat great! Their e-mail address for more information is valhaljb@netidea.com. I met a guy named Michael in a Taco Bell. We started talking and he is also on a trip. He is car camping and making lots of miles and seeing lots of things. One funny story that he told was rappelling (sp?) off the Grand Canyon. He is ex-military and evidently still has his rappelling gear. As he was preparing to jump backwards into the canyon, a family with two small girls came walking up. Michael said that he waved, said "goodbye" and jumped backwards without looking back. The woman screamed and the man came crawling up to the edge to see what had happened to Michael. I asked Michael if they could see his harness or his rope. "Nope" he said. "It is all camy green, they probably thought I was a jumper." I am surprised that he didn't give anyone a heart attack!

I got to see another long-lost cousin in Eugene. Thanks for the great meal and superb company John!! For those of you who have never been to Eugene OR, it is even more bike-friendly than Austin! Pretty cool town and everybody rides bikes there. I had breakfast in this really laid-back cafe one morning. There were tie-dyed (sp?) shirts, cut-off blue jeans, a man loudly talking philosophy and the meaning of the universe, dyed hair, do-rags in the guys' hair, and a women breast feeding her baby at the next table. Ruth Riffe came back out for some more fun in Oregon. I met her at the airport in Eugene and we enjoyed great weather and beautiful scenery for 6 days then she caught a cab from Baker City to Boise where she flew back to Texas. Great time Ruth! I am glad you could come out. Anyone else need a vacation? Drop me a line and I will let you know where you can meet me. The only kicker is that you will be expected to keep up! The people that you meet on the road is what really makes the experience. The other day in Baker City as I was eating breakfast, I started a conversation with a man and his son at the next table (not hard to do when you are wearing full cycling stuff and everyone is trying not to stare) Anyway, when the older man comes back from paying his bill, he taps me on the shoulder and says "I took care of your bill, even got the tip. You're a nice guy and I wanted to do something nice for you." Pretty cool, huh? Lots of experiences like that. This trip has really strengthened my faith in people. Ruth and I were rolling through the town of Sisters OR when we started talking to a man on the street. Before we knew it Dale and Paula Atwood had invited us back to their place to share their grill and camp in their backyard. Dale and Paula have built a lovely house where their backyard is the National Forest. I was taking lots of mental notes on the construction of the house. Dale has done a splendid job of using lots of unpainted wood, vaulted ceilings, lots of windows, beautiful. Thanks Dale and Paula for your hospitality and great company!! Another big highlight of my trip was running into Elise and Laura. I met these two bicycle tourists when we shared a hiker-biker site in Humbug Mountain State Park. Due to a mix-up, they decided to turn back North instead of continuing South. That allowed me to ride with them for two days until their ride was able to pick them up in Florence OR. That was a great time with the three of us hitting it off immediately.

Thanks Laura and Elise for a great time and I look forward to seeing you both again! Sorry if this e-mail
seems disjointed, but they are ready to kick me off the computer. Gotta run, bye for now.

God bless, Stu

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