In all of my touring endevours I had at times riden with other bicycle tourist who were just as experienced or more than me but in most cases it only works for a very few days or one day or sometimes just hours. It is difficult enough to ride with someone you just met and getting coordinate it on the same wave length. More times than not, it is about different agendas, personalities, temperaments and individual desires of result. But everyone in a while all of the stars align and you meet that person that you know it is right and immediately feels like they are an extention of your agenda, and all the things come with when touring is truly magical….and it was mighty Dave…mighty because like the saying goes: stature is not measure in length but in grandeur and Dave is the epidemy of the definition. After arriving in Portland, Oregon, I was focus into going to Vancouver WA and doing a northwest look and coming back via Astoria, Oregon but the navigation and the vibe was not what I wanted and I decide it to return to Portland and as I navigated to downtown, it was getting late and I was hungry, cold and lost and looking to stealth camping-( placing tent quietly and breaking camp without been notice). So, I am standing along this bridge in front of this park and this guy on a sweet touring bicycle from REI, comes along and ask me;” where are you going , what are you doing and more importantly, what do you need?” and when I tell him the immensity of my crossing, he immediately extents his hand in friendship and takes me out to the highway that was to take me to Astoria, gives me some recommendations and exchanges information with me and offers me an invitation to connect when I came back to town. So, I go and see the coast and camp and see the stars like I have not in a very long time and the excitement of the adventure and the unknown and the possibility of connecting and getting to know this amazing human keeps me as happy as I have been in a very long time. So, I go out to the Oregon coast and collect the encounters with nature, people and the beauty this adventure is providing me. So, I climb my first pass and get back to Portland on the first hot day of the spring and it feels like back in Florida. I get in contact with Dave and he meets me at the fancy supermarket and off with go to his home and the home is spectacular but the human content is what makes this home as good as mine. It was his oldest son’s birthday and I was welcome into an amazing dinner and celebration and the display of hospitality, compassion and welcoming one that other previous experiences can’t rival; and this is how this friendship for adventure, intelligent interaction and benevolence begin. David is a very gifted athlete and is a very efficient cyclist but he is also a very compassionate man with an endless love for his family and has a tremendous appreciation for the gift of existing with a smile, warmth in his heart and consideration for others. I was glad to be the recipient of all these characteristics which I find are rare on today’s world that is occupied by the influence of negativity, fear and uncertainty. Thank you David and your family for allowing me an entrance into your life and your existence. I will miss very much the incredible meals you prepared out of nothing and your endless generosity as a fellow human and as a friend that
has made this crossing the right and carthatic experience for me.
ticocycletourist 