Johnny Carson Not But It Was Fun

Coastal Mountains Of British Columbia
July, ’80

After a wet night in the wilderness, sleeping on very rocky ground,
I got up and biked into Terrace. I went straight to the Laundromat.
Walking to the Laundromat, I must have looked like a drowned rat,
which made it all that much more surprising when this guy started
asking me questions. As it turned out he was part of a late night
television talk show program that was looking for people to interview.
He told me someone would be around to talk to me, and sure enough the
woman who was the host of the show stopped by the Laundromat and asked
me if I would tape an interview. I agreed, and after I finished doing
laundry, I walked into the building next door, and entered the studio
where Marge, the talk show host, had everything set up for tapping.

It wasn't Johnny Carson, but even so, she asked the questions and I
answered them. Questions like: "Where are you from? Where are you
going? How many miles a day do you ride?" Afterwards, when I thought
about the way I responded to her questions, I was not happy. Curious
people asked me those types of questions all the time, and I would
respond with habitual answers. Well, upon reflection, some of Marge's
questions required more than habitual responses, but that's what I
gave her. She deserved better. If I had had more time to think about it,
she would have received more than superficial responses to her honest
questions. It was still fun, though.

The biking got better after Terrace. For a couple of hours the sun
even came out, but then the sky got really dark around 8 p.m., so I
automatically started looking for a place for my tent. When I was
checking out what looked like a good spot, a black bear came running
at me from out of the thicket. Fortunately, when the bear actually saw
me, he turned and went in the opposite direction. I wanted to get back
on my bike and ride, but the rain had already started to fall. I had
no choice. I put up my tent just before the downpour.