OUTDOORS : RIDING THE ROAD TO FREEDOM.

Byline: Brett Pauly

He's had a wild fox stride up to him and proudly display a catch of squirrels in its jaws in Alaska's Denali National Park.

He's pedaled up a 10,000-foot grade to Hawaii's Haleakala Crater and hiked through bone-dry Rainbow Bridge National Monument in southern Utah thinking all the while there was water to drink when there was none.

He's learned more about life during his nearly nine months on the road than in any of his previous 22 years.

But what amazes Martin Kuster most about his bicycling adventure from Anchorage to Los Angeles is that his front tire has logged 5,000 miles without being changed.

``The tread is worn, but it's still good. It's amazing, absolutely amazing,'' said the former tax controller from Obernau, a sleepy farming community in central Switzerland. The tire, like the sojourn it wheels Kuster through, has no end in sight. ``It may last forever.''

From here it is on to Mexico and points south, but he can't be certain how far or for how long.

``I would like to go into South America, but I don't know,'' he said. ``I really can't say . . . no idea how long.''

Indecision at its finest - a predicament many of us would relish, if only just to dream about for a spell. I can picture it now: ``Do I fly back home from Lima, or do I pedal all the way to Tierra del Fuego? What a difficult choice. Hmmm, I don't know.''

Jobs and debts and income limitations and family responsibilities are what keep many of us from pursuing such a carefree venture. But Kuster (pronounced COO-ster), who turned 23 Tuesday, was able to beat all that at an age when he still could.

He saved for two years and, when he realized that assessing someone else's income tax wasn't what he wanted to do the rest of his life, he boarded a plane to North America with rucksack and mountain bike in tow. He made sure there were no strings, not even a girlfriend - a creed he maintains on the road.

``I've met some pretty girls, but it's difficult to make a girlfriend,'' he explained. ``It wouldn't be good for the trip.''

Ah, yes, the trip comes first, at all costs - as well it should.

It's been a real education. He's learned about drive-thru restaurants and, from watching the O.J. Simpson murder trial, that the United States has juries and the death penalty, unlike his native country. His homeland also has stricter building codes; the pink and yellow houses he has passed here wouldn't fly there.

``I couldn't believe these RVs here,'' he said. ``You couldn't afford them in Switzerland; the gas is at least three times more expensive.

``And I will always remember the helpful Americans. If the weather is bad, they stop and ask if they can give you a ride. Americans are more friendly to strangers that the Swiss are.''

He's come to appreciate the scope and diversity of nature.Since his recent camping trip to Anacapa Island, pelicans have become his ``preferred animals.'' ``They are so graceful,'' Kuster said.

When his Swiss riding partner departed for home in December, he learned a bit more about himself.

``I thought I would be scared biking alone. It was easier than I thought. I had no problems,'' he said. ``I wasn't bored at any time. I don't need anybody. Sure it's nice to talk in the evening about the trip, but it's also satisfying if you can reach your goals alone.''

I met Kuster on a backpacking trip in a primitive valley on Hawaii's Big Island in October. We exchanged addresses. I said he was welcome to phone me when he reached Santa Barbara. The call came last week.

He crashed at my house a couple of nights, and I encouraged him to visit the Channel Islands as well as Rose Valley and Piedra Blanca in Los Padres National Forest. I'm happy I could contribute in a small way to his journey; had we not connected he may have tooled right past our local gems.

Kuster travels inexpensively, spending perhaps $100 a week. He makes his home at campgrounds or in the spare rooms of friends he's met along the way. Too lazy to shave, the blond, blue-eyed rider has grown a scraggly beard of red. ``I don't know why it turned out that color,'' he said. ``I was really surprised.''

The fur from a mountain goat he found in the Canadian Rockies adorns his bike frame for good luck. A sun-faded Swiss flag flies from the rear rack. He's collected license plates from each state and province as souvenirs.

His load is heavy - about 100 pounds - and his range moderate - 30 to 60 miles a day. Apart from changing tubes, a back tire, the chain and the sprockets, he has had remarkably few technical problems - and few other troubles to speak of.

He does relate an incident about an irate trucker in Northern California who cut him off on the highway, then got out of the cab and accosted him.

``It was very scary. He made a fist. He was red in the face, and he was very angry and he was screaming,'' Kuster said. ``He really wanted to beat me up. I didn't say a thing. He was psycho. I was happy he had some control and finally walked away.''

Well, a great journey isn't complete without a few war stories.

And there is the recurring nightmare - the one in which he awakes and finds himself home, prematurely. ``People ask me in the dream, `Why did you come home so soon?' And I don't know,'' he explained.

Each time he arisen from his slumber and realized, ``I have no return ticket.''

I guess that's the definition of adventure and freedom.

UP AND DOWN A few of the highlights - and lowlights - of Martin Kuster's big adventure:

Alaska: Departs Zurich on July 5 and lands in Anchorage with biking partner Guido Blaettler. Sees caribou, moose, wolves and grizzly bears in Denali National Park. Travels the Alaska Highway; his mountain bike, equipped with road-touring tires, passes the first real test along its rocky road. Spends a week touring the Inside Passage.

Yukon Territory: Rents a canoe and floats down the Teslin and Yukon rivers during a three-week stay.

British Columbia: Visits a totem-pole-lined Indian village in New Hazelton. Bikes for a week in the rain. Fed up with the precipitation, and, after finding he can't take his bike on a train, hitchhikes to Alberta.

Alberta: Spends three weeks sight-seeing in Jasper and Banff National Parks. Bikes 100 miles to Calgary in a day - his record distance. Hops a ride to Seattle with a New Zealander who calls himself ``Kiwi driver'' each time he makes a risky maneuver.

Washington: Learns how to drive in a beat-up Karmann Ghia and gets his driver's license. Cost: $25. Back home, with a mandatory 20 to 60 hours of driver's instruction, the cost would have been $2,000 to $3,000.

Hawaii: Hikes to the summit of 13,680-foot Mauna Loa on the Big Island. Collects tangerines, oranges, guavas, passion fruit and papayas along a pig-hunters' trail after a banana farmer draws him a crude map to a remote waterfall in Kauai's Waimea Canyon. In a week's time, gets the flu, takes a scary wipeout on his bike and falls in a stream, permanently scarring himself near his eye. Finishes the Honolulu Marathon in 3 hours, 14 minutes. Blaettler flies home.

Oregon: Spectacular coastal scenery, but loads of roller coasterlike hills. Strong head winds in Coos Bay prevent him from biking - or walking his bike - across a bridge.

California: Spends a month in San Francisco. Is visited by another Swiss friend. They rent a car and journey to Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Zion and Grand Canyon national parks. Spies dozens of elephant seals on a remote beach south of Big Sur and gets close-up photographs. Greets his parents, Walter and Claire Kuster, Wednesday at Los Angeles International Airport. It's the first time he's seen them since July. The family departs in an RV on a three-week tour of national parks this morning.

SOURCE: Brett Pauly MEMO: Outdoors Editor Brett Pauly's column appears Thursdays in the Daily News.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

PHOTO (1--color) Martin Kuster of Switzerland has t raveled through the Western U. S. on his mountain bike.

Tina Gerson / Daily News

(2) In Big Sur, Martin Kuster took photos of the locals.

Martin Kuster / Special to the Daily News

Box: Up and Down (see text)