IT'S ALL OVER

The shots above are the final day, the last picture of all of us as a group, yours truly standing in the ocean, and the 3 of us all in one piece at the end.

Here it is one week later and I am finishing up the blog, better late than never. Right now it still hasn't sunk in that we rode across America. We had a little banquet the last night in Manchester, as one rider said - "I will never look at a map of the United States quite the same." I feel exactly the same way, to realize that we rode our bikes the entire way is quite an accomplishment, something to be proud of.

It was a fitting ending, another beautiful day, on our last day, and some great riding to finish up. We had a police escort the final 3+ miles down to the ocean. As we got close to the beach we heard all the cheers from family, friends, and interested spectators. We took over a good part of the beach, of course, some of the bathers wondered what in the world was going on. They were getting invaded by all these people in spandex carrying their bicycles. We must have been some sort of spectacle, but we really didn't care. The last day was more humid than any day on the trip, welcome to the east coast. After putting our feet in the ocean and saying our last good-byes, we started to disperse to all parts of the US and world.

My family got to Portsmouth after all the festivities, they had stopped to see a good friend of Sue's in Conn. I went to the bed and breakfast we were staying at got cleaned up, had a bite to eat, and then took a nap. Sue and the girls got there around 6:30, it was so great to see them. I don't think I would ever want to be away from all of them for so long again.

Day49 & 50 - Brattleboro, VT - Portsmouth, NH (FINAL DESTINATION) - 144 MI. These were the days I was looking forward to, not because it was the end, but we finally had some serious climbs again. On day 49 we officially went into our last state - New Hampshire. I took a little side climb with John, from Seattle, it was pretty difficult, but exhilarating at the same time. Before the day was over we got to do some more climbing. It's not that I'm the greatest climber, it is just something that I really enjoy.

That evening in Manchester, we had a little banquet. It was a lot of fun, we had skits, songs, gave gifts to the staff, and everyone got to say one final word when they got their certificate for completing the ride. Of course, everyone thanked the staff, they were awesome. We couldn't have asked for much more from them, they were great people. I asked if we could move back breakfast because we were staying up way past our bedtimes.

The last day had a little of everything. Ken, Ted, and I enjoyed hooking up with the boys for Tucson on last time on the road that day. We were a hammerin' for part of the time, nobody wanted to let another person get the best of them, just like in PA.

I could probably go on and on about everything, but it would just not do it justice. It is not something that you can put in words, it is something you have to get out an experience it yourself. I was truly in awe of every single rider, all of us that started out in Astoria, OR made it to Portsmouth, NH. That is a very noteworthy accomplishment. The person that we all admired and respected the most was John, an 80 year old man, who was so full of life and had a smile the whole way across America. He did not miss one single mile, in fact, he put quite a few extra miles along the way. Then there was Vivian, 18 years old, who would at the end of some days ride extra miles just so she could say she rode 100 miles that day. We were definitely a family - you saw these people every single day for 50 days. You were all doing the same thing, so you shared the same joys and frustrations. . Everyone of us had one single goal on our mind and that was to make it across America. The staff even commented that our group came together a lot more than some of their other tours.

Nothing more I can say, the dream, the experience is over, but what a joy it was. The United States is truly a beautiful country, it was wonderful to see it at a slower pace on back roads and not flying along the interstates at 70mph. I looked forward every single day to getting on the bike, it was a new adventure every day that I shared with wonderful people that I will never forget. However, one of the best parts ride was finally getting to see my family after 7 weeks and coming home.

I hope all of you have enjoyed the blog, it was certainly a new experience for me. Maybe it will inspire one or more of you to live a dream like this. Please don't put your dream off to some other time, as Nike says: "Just do it!"

Below are some pictures, as I look through all of the ones I have taken I will share some more with you. Enjoy!!

Picture on top is the 3 of us acting normal!!!

Picture on the bottom of Ken fueling up for the day.

Middle is Ken when he ran out of fuel