This was it. 62 miles left to get to the coast and finish a journey that took 52 days, over 3900 miles, thousands of feet of climbing and hundreds of hours in the saddle.
We were all gooey and sentimental from starting goodbyes, and excited and nervous to reach the end, and apprehensive as the dreaded "REAL WORLD" loomed very close in our future.
The ALL team (Always Leaves Last self named because we always seemed to be the last to leave the hotel every morning) was true to form today, too as I was searching for lost glasses and Chris was retrieving bags.
Team ALL is Bob from Seattle, Chuck from Florida, Chris from Ohio and me. We didn't always ride together and others joined us periodically, but we formed a bond over time that I'll miss. All were very good riders, and all were stronger than me so staying with them was often a challenge. Or when I didn't feel like chasing a wheel one would often be up lollygagging and sightseeing, too.
Bob was the navigator, did outstanding imitations of other riders, fellow Starbucks Mocha Frappichino fan (that's rocket fuel for cyclists btw), quick with a wittie or almost witty comment on everything, quick to meet folks and curious about the areas we were riding in and overall entertaining company.
Chuck is a coach and educator and you can tell he's great at it and loved by his athletes. He's an encourager - always quick to tell you were riding strong and be positive and cheerful. Could tear off a blistering pace when he felt like it. Loved to set goals and beat them. And a practical joker, completely hysterical and great company.
Chris is one of those amazing people who feels deeply and truly lives his life in a way that leads and inspires others and contributes to the world. I really admire that. He's also one heck of a rider and more than once put me on his wheel for a tow up to the back of the paceline or once we hauled in just in front of a whopper of a thunderstorm faster than I could have done it alone. And he's super competitive in a mild mannered, sneaky and very entertaining way. I. Was always rooting for him.
See, gooey and sentimental.
Anyway we set off together on our last day of riding and promptly got lost. Figured out and got turned around and headed of town, through. And then got lost again this time with the staff who were riding with us by then.
Finally off in the right direction and ease down the road. We hit one final obstacle - brown stinky water that overflowed from a lake to cover the road. It felt complete somehow to ride through flooding after all the other obstacles along the way.
Lots of photo stops. Lots of photos with other riders. Lots of procrastination.
But ... We had to be at a meeting point by 11:30 to ride to the beach as a group. When Alex on staff told us the meeting had been moved back to 11:45 we - instead of riding in to make the deadline comfortably - we stopped at a coffee shop in Exeter for a final snack. That made the last 12 miles in 40 minutes a bit challenging and we raced in at the last possible second.
You see we had to meet up because we had a Police Escort to the beach.
Man was that fun. Lights, sirens. Cars pull over out of the way for once. People cheered us from the side of the road. We could smell the brine of the ocean by now and we were whooping and whoo hooing and taking photos while riding in and poor Gerard on staff was riding along saying No Crashing!
We got to the beach at Wallis Sands State Beach and the entrance was lined with folks cheering us in. The beach was packed with hundreds of people - New England has had a miserable wet summer and folks flooded the beach on one of the rare nice days.
We picked our way to the boardwalk, ditched the helmet, water bottles, bike shoes and socks and picked up the bike and wove our way through beach umbrellas to the water. Friends and family were everywhere taking pictures and offering congratulations. We got our photos by the ocean - the victory shot, the front wheel dip, posing with all the riders. Then strip down to the bike shorts and sports bra and dive in for a swim.
Chuck's wife brought champaign so we popped the bottles and toasted coming in. Mighty tasty ... Hard earned ice cold champaign on a hot humid day. Lots of total strangers were congratulating us, shaking hands and asking lots of questions. I had several women seek me out to ask questions and congratulate me ... I love that and hope one or two will decide to do something they thought wasn't possible. It was a great end to a great ride.
Finally we suited back up and headed out. We still had a few miles to ride. So we headed north into Portsmouth and crossed the bridge and walked into Maine because - well why not add another state while we're at it. Then headed on to the hotel.
The afternoon was a frenzy of breaking down the bike and packing up. Amazing how stuck a pedal can get after 4000 miles.
8 of us - the ones who you could usually count on for a little drinking and quality eating (Meiri, Norbert, Hans, Zero, Jack, Shawn and Tom) headed to the Portland Brewing Company and then walked back to Maine to Warners for one fabulous lobster dinner. A great night.
And now it's over.
It's hard to process this trip - it seems like we left just last week, but then again it all seems like a blur. I'm grateful I blogged it to remember it. And the overall impression is so positive, I'm absolutely doing something like this again. When I left I was leaving the door open to fling my bike in the Atlantic and never ride again ... but the Orbea is safe.
Everyone asks what my favorite part of the trip was. That's a hard question. Maybe it will become more clear with time, but right now I'd say I loved the physical challenge and eye popping beauty of the Sierra and Rocky Mountains and mentally gearing up for those big climbs day after day. And Northern Missouri was such a surprisingly beautiful place. And the wonderful people I met in the midwest who were so generous with their time, knowledge and willing to invite dripping wet strangers in for cookies. And the folks I rode with and how we all worked together to make this ride successful and fun. 30 strangers together for 52 days is no easy scenario, and this group rose to the occasion and made the effort to make sure it was a good experience.
What's next? Maybe something international. I did a 2 week bike trip in Vietnam and loved it ... Maybe step it up a bit ... Cross Australia? The Silk Road? Hmmm ...
Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016!!
10 years ago
