I got my first taste of the American Legion Hall last night. The hosted a spaghetti dinner as a fund-raiser to help offset the costs of the trip, so I got meet (for the first time), Bryce and Jonathan, two of our bicycling crew, along with Jonathan's mom and Bryce's parents, who got their first look at me, the on-the-road "in-loco-parentis" (did I spell that correctly?). And I'm staying in Gearhart with another crew member, our support driver Pat. We've been strategizing about all sorts of things ... what spare bike equipment to carry with us, what food to pack, and of course what to carry in the ever-important first aide kit! Pat is a retired OR nurse, and I have a history as an EMT and as a combat medic, so between us, we think the boys will be in pretty good hands.
Why, then, is the theme about avoiding beasts? Let me begin last week, when I was still in Hawaii. On the way upstairs to my Bon Voyage party, I was talking to a friend whose dog decided to grab small taste of my leg. I was all done training, had survived buffeting trade winds, road hazards, tour buses and road construction projects but I couldn't avoid getting a small dog bite, which knock-on-wood is healing nicely. Then, Pat's cat took a liking to me, and came to curl up on my lap. As soon as I started to stroke her, though, she decided to take a bite out of my hand. Two for two, the animals were winning.
I won round three of man versus beast, though. Behind Pat's house, there's a grassland that separates Gearhart from the Pacific Ocean. We took Pat's dog, a very energetic young black lab named Annie, for a run on the beach. But before we got half-way there, we encountered a cow elk out in the grassland. She was either about to give birth, or she was wanting to protect a hidden calf. From about two hundred yards away, she spotted us walking along the path to the beach, and she started to charge at us. She ran, stopped, charged again, then waited to see if we were taking her bluffs seriously. She got within perhaps 50 yards, and was still nervously threatening us as we were walked at a brisk pace back towards the safety of the houses. But the cow elk kept following, looking determined to give chase. We eventually made it back to safety, but in this morning's paper, there was an article about how aggressive the cow elk can be during birthing season. And there were photos of someone within about 20 yards of a cow. The headline was something about why it was unwise to try to take a selfie with one of the cows. So, no picture to show, but glad to report that I did not get bitten or stomped on by the elk. Or the sea lions.
So now I need to heal from dog and cat bites, and spicy spaghetti dinners, but should soon be through this string of aggressive animal behaviors.
At the spaghetti dinner, Bryce sold a number of Bike Trip America tee shirts. After dinner, we were introduced to the Friday night crowd, and introduced ourselves briefly and posed for pictures ... the parents, and the team --- Bryce, Jonathan, Pat, and me. After a few photos, we went outside (it's freezing, compared to Hawaii), and several of the legionnaires did a no-no...they released a bunch of mylar balloons left over from the Memorial Day decorations. The balloons headed eastward, so maybe we can retrieve a few of them along the way to NYC (I'm assuming they are NOT biodegradable) unless the balloons, by serendipity, find their way to the Astoria small boat harbor, where they may find some utility in scaring the sea lions back into the water! Anyway, in the picture, you can see me in the background (the only one with a coat on), a few of the legion auxiliary releasing balloons, and on the right, Bryce and Jonathan, who will be on the road with me.
If you want to get a Bike Trip America tee shirt, or want to donate to the trip, or donate to the charity we are riding for (Operation Comfort Warriors, sponsored by the American Legion), visit the Bike Trip America website at http://www.biketripamerica.com.
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