Vancouver, BC, Canada
August 12, 98

Yo my dear friends,

We've been on the road since July 24 and it's about time to write the first newsletter. About a week ago we had our 24 hour solo, that is we were out in the woods on Vancouver Island and the students stayed for 24 hours isolated in a self picked spot along a very beautiful, small river. We had cave people - washed out holes by the water - plateau and bush people, everybody in a self created stone circle with water and basic food; Carsten even fasted on water.

A trip like this is definitely a 'rite of passage' and the solo a concentrated one. No means to get away from being out there alone, like writing or reading material, music etc., were allowed. We started a couple hours before sunset after talking about it - well, I talked - sitting in a circle. 24 hours later, all in perfect sunny, warm conditions, I picked'em up one by one and nobody talked until we met in a circle again and shared our experiences.

Daniel at his solo spot

The idea of doing a solo had been on the previous trips as well, but since the students didn't put energy and will into it themselves, it never happened. Knowing that and all really wanting to do it, it actually happened this time; after only 10 days of being on the road.

Process and outcome were very nice. Everybody enjoyed it far more than expected, thought a lot, observed a lot and wants to do it again towards the end of the trip, but that time longer!

I had woken up that morning with the name of this trip flashing in my head: The Trip of Princes. The students like the name and they had asked me already what it'd be; after the 'pioneer trip' and the 'catastrophe trip'. Several of them had gotten a nick name from me already. First of all Carsten, a junior from the Ruhrvalley, the 'pasha' (Ruhrpott Pascha). Then we have the juniors from Dietzenbach - Frankfurt area. There is David or better 'King David' alias 'Moechtegernprinz' and Trabi alias 'Albert (Einstein)', to give his intellectual arrogance a better direction; he seems to know that out of the whole group (including me) he is the only one who can think. Daniel alias 'El Daniel', senior from Wiesbaden, is another one who likes to be served. Haven't got a name for Guido, the 20 year old, none Waldorf from Frankfurt yet, who loves to put his wishes into polite expressions that are never clear - as good as the best Americans. Our 15 year old girls, Ute from Witten (Ruhrvalley) and Anne from Berlin still go on their old names as well, except that I mix'em up all the time; good thing I don't have to teach classes of 40 when 7 are too many already... .

Doing the third cycling trip, I am quite relaxed about organizing city stays. Nothing was definite by the time we started though there're good chances in all the big cities we're coming through. Flying into Seattle and getting there by 7 PM, there was no need for it for we had plenty of time to put our bikes together and cycle out of the city. Well, the plane was delayed, Albert's lowrider got lost after the stupid customs people at Detroit airport opened the bike boxes and retaped his most poorly, so we didn't leave the airport until late and still had to take a ferry, but at 2 AM we found a nice lawn in front of a church and settled in a corner; by then it was 11 AM on the inner clock.

Socke pulling Ude at the end of the long, second day

A few nights later I asked at a church in Hoquiam, WA, close to the Pacific and the pastor was most wonderful. Being a 'Born again Christian' he didn't believe in preaching without being asked, but in sharing. So we got the church, restrooms, some food for dinner, a movie, huge breakfast and showers. What a great man.

The pacific coast area up north is so covered with forest that it is difficult to find spots next or close to the road. So we also asked privately once - granted - and stayed a couple nights at the playing field of a local high school. We didn't bother asking there - schools tend to be very bureaucratic once things are 'official'. And, very important, we are protected by what we are doing.

In Victoria on Vancouver Island, we camped at a high school again and were woken up by a very nice, female police officer at 7.30 AM. She had our names run through a computer and gave us a warning; after I was allowed to take a picture of her to document our trip.

Victoria was special anyway since it's part of Canada and when we got on the ferry Anne figured out that she had left her passport at a friend's place. Well, the Officer Michael is a very nice man. He gave us the option of a courier bringing it the next morning. So we had to call Helga. Helga is El Daniel's great aunt and we had stayed with her in Shelton, WA, for three nights already. She had taken us to Mount St. Helens - a huge, volcanic mountain, the beach and we had totally enjoyed staying with her and will return for another relaxed day and to pick up our mail. Helga is a most helpful woman and she organized that her house-sitter would drive 100 MI, take a ferry, go through customs, deliver the passport and return!

It all worked except that he got there earlier than announced and we never met him. That way it might be hard to pay for his expenses since Helga was reluctant to talk about that part of the mission on the phone. That following night the students simply didn't want to stay at a school's playing field. The provincial campground was full and it took us hours until we finally located a small church next to a school and law enforcement station where we could camp with out asking; that night Guido's white gas stove burned up and I was lucky to disconnect the burning top from the fuel bottle before it exploded.

It had been Guido's day anyway. He had lost a filling, so we headed for a dentist. He's as afraid of dentists as I am so I gladly accompanied him for support. Our story got us in right away - while we were first told to return the next day - and what followed was a dream. The young dentist was a very humorous and skillful man. A good prove of that is a conversation between Guido and me after he'd done some work: Andi: "Did the injections hurt?" Guido: "What injections?" Andi: " You just got three injections, man!" Guido: "Really? I didn't feel anything. That's so great!" And his eyes were shining.

Guido....relaxing

The doc explained everything in great detail, joking a lot in-between, didn't mind me taking pictures and even stopped or pointed out to the best shots - from over his shoulder. Man, I wish this man would live near me, than me dental problems would be gone so easily. It wasn't our first meeting with a doctor though. A few days into the trip, the girls were going their speed while the boys and I flew ahead, when the girls got both bored about cycling and started daydreaming. Ute 'woke up' when she hit the road and somebody friendly carried her and her bike to our meeting point.

Things in the hospital worked amazingly smooth and nice. Paperwork was done in a couple of minutes, nurse and doc had time and patience and Ute got to know that she had a strained and bruised elbow. It wasn't too bad for her in a way, for we did a rest day and afterwards the male members of the group divided her gear and put it heroically on their already heavily loaded bicycles. El Daniel is our 'cycling hero' for he usually carries the girl's tent on his trailer.

After the solo, Anne found out that a $ 15 lowrider is not a good idea. Her's got bent - Albert became a hero by carrying her stuff to Vancouver - and our muscleman Carsten finished the lowrider in no time.

that lowrider is history...

This trip has also been very interesting since the 7 are from 6 different schools and only start to get to know each other; same with me. And on a trip like this, you can't hide so well, so we also start to see the darker sides of each other. The group fits together though, that is as clear as that it's the strongest group in terms of cycling. It's thinkable that there's a connection to the fact that there're two girls only. Anyway, Guido's dream of making it to Yosemite is still possible - if we split up for a few day.

Oh, not to forget to mention the weather. Hot when we got here, a couple days of clouds and a little drizzle a bit later and perfect weather since. We like it very much and hope it goes on... .

I could write about Vancouver as well, but ... next time ... the sun is shining ... the sky is blue ... the ocean is close ... the stores are open ... and most important: I wonna smoke a cigarette!!! Sharing smiles,

Andreas Andi