Are you ready to meet the man who single-handedly crossed the Northwest Passage by dog sled, skis and sea kayak, traveling 2,200 miles during eight months from 1997 to 1999? Jonathan Waterman will be in town on May 8 to sign his latest book, “Arctic Crossing” (Knopf, April 2001).

He is scheduled to be at Bangor Public Library at noon and at the University of Maine Bookstore at 3 p.m. At 7 p.m., he will present a slide show-lecture on his epic expedition at 101 Neville Hall on the UM campus. There is no charge for students, $3 for nonstudents.

If you’d like a taste of what his trip was like, pick up the April issue of Sea Kayaker Magazine and-or the March-April issue of National Geographic Adventure Magazine and read excerpts from his book. I think you’ll find that he’s a good, entertaining writer and a man lucky to be alive after at least one spill into the icy waters, close encounters with bears, and a near-runaway boat with much of his gear aboard.

Waterman began his Arctic travels 20 years ago and honed his taste for long, creature-comfort-deprived trips over the years. He paddled the 800-mile length of the Baja Peninsula with his wife and chronicled the trip in his book “Kayaking the Vermillion Sea” (Douglas & MacIntyre 1995). It was the winner of the Banff Book Award, the prize given to winning titles from the annual Banff Mountain Book Festival. I read this book several years ago and have harbored a desire to visit and paddle the area ever since. I’ll never have the opportunity to do it, but it’s fun reading about it and the challenges Waterman and his wife faced as they struggled to find each other while confronting nature’s obstacles.

I think long periods of solitude and discomfort would make such expedition travel difficult. Waterman’s answer to that is: “Any real adventurer eventually learns that suffering is a necessary step along the path to enlightenment. Once you break through your own doubts and discomfort, the world suddenly makes sense. You feel as if you belong to the great solitudes.” He further explains his inspiration for this undertaking in his “National Geographic Adventure” article as coming from the 1927 book “Across Arctic America,” in which author Knud Rasmussen quotes a shaman named Igjugarjuk as saying, “All true wisdom is only to be learned far from the dwellings of men, out in the great solitudes, and is only to be attained through suffering. Privation and suffering are the only things that can open the mind of man to those things which are hidden from others.”

I guess I’m destined forever to remain unenlightened. I’ve only begun to read “Arctic Crossing,” but I can assure you I haven’t the slightest desire to drag a sled across frozen oceans or paddle a kayak for months on end in the cold, bug-infested north country. This doesn’t deter me, however, from wanting to attend Waterman’s presentation, see more of the fantastic photos he shot during his travels and to hear his insights.

Now that the snowbanks have gone, leaving behind that nasty pile of slippery sand, it’s time to begin thinking about dragging your bicycle out of its winter hiding place (some of us wimped out and didn’t ride all winter). It’s time to begin getting some other muscles exercised.

I know the Bicycle Coalition of Maine has been working hard at getting spring to arrive. The group has published its 2001 Bike Maine Event Calendar, and it’s packed with dates for bicycle-related events to take you through October and into November. Best of all, it’s free. Call 623-4511 to get a copy, write BCM at P.O. Box 5275, Augusta 04332, or check out the Web site at www.BikeMaine.org for updated events as they’re posted.

The paper version you’ll get by mail has a neat list of bike clubs and organizations, bike rental outlets, coalition member bike shops and display advertisements for bike shops throughout the state. Best of all is a list of standing rides, by days of the week and city or town in Maine. Say you’re going to be in Auburn on Thursday and don’t want to miss your daily group ride. You have a choice of easy, moderate or fast rides with Rainbow Bicycle. There’s a telephone number, Web site and e-mail address to contact for more information.

It’s a good time to be checking over your bike to make sure it’s in shape for the riding season. Go over the tires, chain, pedals, cables, clamps, nuts and bolts to be sure all’s well and tight. If you haven’t had a tuneup done in the last year, call your favorite mechanic and get one done. The money spent is well worth it. Better to do preventive maintenance now than a field repair later.

If you’ve intended to take in a canoe poling clinic in the past, but didn’t get around to it, here’s your chance. At 9 a.m. this coming Sunday, Warren Cochrane of Allagash Canoe Trips in Greenville will lead the clinic on Kenduskeag Stream just above the I-95 bridge in Bangor.

Did you ever wonder what it’s like to be able to make your canoe go upstream with seemingly little effort? Here’s your chance to learn. Afterward, you’ll be able to watch several national champion polers compete in the Maine Canoe Poling Championships.

I attended one of Cochrane’s clinics a few years ago and had a ball. Bring your own canoe, a change of clothes, a wet suit if the weather’s cold, water shoes with sticky soles, a pair of neoprene gloves and your personal flotation device. There will be poles for those who preregister and a few on a first-come-first basis.

Poling requires control and balance, not great strength. With some practice and coaching, you’ll be able to slide your canoe upstream and get to those places you’ve wished you could. Coming downstream, you’ll be able to stop at will and pick your route. Best of all, you get to stand up in a canoe, something you’ve always been told not to do.

So call 695-3668 today and register to attend the clinic. Don’t simply show up because water conditions could dictate a change in location. The cost is a mere $5 that will be used to promote canoe poling. Where else can you get such a bargain on Sunday?

Jeff Strout’s column is published on Thursdays. He can be reached at 990-8202 or by e-mail at jstrout@bangordailynews.net.