THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 24, 1995 TAG: 9506230033
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
AFTER PEDALING THEIR road touring bikes across America, the young married couple could remember 15 flat tires, friendly people everywhere, chipmunks inside their tent and an unexpected snowstorm coating the outside like frosting on a cake.
Last weekend, Doug and Kathy Greisen finished the last leg of their 3,000-mile trip from Santa Barbara, Calif., to Virginia Beach that began on April 18. They rolled their heavy bikes to the ocean near 31st Street and toasted the trip with cans of soda.
``We wanted to do it with champagne, but it's outlawed on the beach,'' 24-year-old Kathy said.
The young couple from Olympia, Wash., barely made it to Virginia Beach in time for her sister's birthday. Married only six months when they began their coast-to- coast odyssey, they met by chance while biking with others in California's Sunset State Park.
The couple averaged 50 miles a day on their heavy duty Bridgestone and Bianci bikes loaded with clothes, tent, sleeping bags, stove, food and sleeping pads - all stored in bike sacks.
They seemed to get along well on the journey, too. ``We did disagree over breakfast,'' Kathy said. ``He likes oatmeal and I prefer Pop Tarts. We usually had oatmeal, but he had to wash the pot.''
It was a journey that took the bikers across the Mojave Desert. ``That was one of the worst times,'' Doug said. ``We were 100 miles from civilization and had to pitch our tent by the road.'' They fell asleep wondering whether they would be run over by a truck or mugged.
And Highway 192, a few days outside Santa Barbara, was no picnic, either. The road had very little shoulder, and huge trucks zipped past at 80 mph as they pedaled along.
``Sometimes the headwind, and the sidewind from the trucks that blew past us, almost sucked our bikes under the trucks, and we had to hit our brakes,'' Doug said.
Arizona was been a surprise for Doug, who will move with Kathy to Seattle this fall to continue his education at the University of Washington.
``I always thought Arizona was one big desert, '' he said. ``But it was so diverse. Forests, high and low deserts, and snow covered mountains. All of it interesting.'''
Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado put their strong legs to the most severe test. It was the highest point they crossed. Located near Pagosa Springs, the pass has an elevation of 10,857 feet. Mountain goats on the rocky escarpments they passed made better speed going uphill than the bikers. ``We got about everything there,'' Kathy said. ``Rain sleet and snow. And the trip to the top meant biking uphill for 24 miles. The last eight miles were very steep.''
A few days later Doug almost had to duck when an eagle swooped low over his head. At about the same time, while crossing a prairie in Colorado, they saw a sign that said ``Stay in vehicle - open road bison are dangerous!''
``We worried about having no vehicle to stay in for a while. But the bison proved to be friendly,'' she said.
By the time they reached Dodge City, Kan., they had worn out their tires and had to buy new ones. ``We got a lot of punctures in Kansas from long thorns called Texas Tacks'' Kathy remembered. It was while in the Midwest that they learned how to camp without a campground.
``We would ask people if we could pitch our tents on their lawn,'' Kathy recalled. ``They were all so nice. Usually they didn't mind and invited us in for supper and breakfast. And often they simply offered to put us up inside their house. That happened a lot.''
In Missouri and Kentucky, the bikers had problems with dogs that chased and snapped at them on the road. Kathy filled a water bottle with Tabasco sauce for use when the dogs got too close.
They were never bitten but had a close call with a pit bull. The dog, dragging a long chain, almost ripped into them until a trucker saw what was happening and blew his horn, frightening the pit bull away.
Crossing Cumberland Gap in the western part of Virginia was about as beautiful and challenging as any stretch they encountered in the Rockies, they said.
Getting to Virginia in time for her sister Edie's graduation and birthday pushed them to the limit, they conceded. While in Virginia Beach, they are staying with Kathy's grandparents, Jack and Margaret Eady. And visiting with Kathy's mother, Jackie Alcorn of Manassas.
Both said they'd bike across the country again. ``But only if we had no time limit or destination,'' Kathy said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Jim Walker, Staff
Last weekend Kathy and Doug Griesen finished the last leg of their
3,000-mile bike trip.
by CNB