Today’s Highlights:
We had an awesome finish to our cross country bicycle trip! After fifty one days of sunshine, we had pouring rain today. It would not have been a fulfilled challenge without some rain, so today’s downpour made it complete. We started out at 6:45 AM in a hard steady rain. After four miles I was soaked all the way through and water was squishing out of my shoes with every pedal stroke. For the next sixty miles, almost seven hours, the soaking continued. There were times when it came down so hard there was a steady flow of water across the entire road. It felt a little like swimming and biking at the same time. Once you are that wet, more water just doesn’t matter. You might as well just stay out in it and ride. The trick is to stay warm by cycling hard, and also being careful with your speed and breaking and watching out for potholes hiding under the water. I really enjoyed it! A sunny finish at the beach would have been nice, but the satisfaction of riding so far through any situation was far more rewarding.
Our last SAG stop was at thirty miles, and set up under a porch roof. After a brief rest out of the rain, we continued. Twenty miles later we stopped at The Hungry Horse Cafe in Rye NH. There I enjoyed a big hot chocolate and apple strudel to help warm me up. We waited for all the riders to catch up, then continued a short distance to the planned meeting point at a school. The Rye police met us there at noon, and led us along the shoreline in a parade fashion. Our two eldest riders, Ken Harris and Mike, led the group behind a police cruiser. We all arrived at Wallas Sands Beach at 12:15. Many of the riders had family or friend waiting there to greet them and take pictures. We took our bikes down to the water to dip the front wheel in, which is the customary way to finish.
After officially reaching the Atlantic Ocean, Mark and I road to the border of Maine. Well, almost. The bridge between New Hampshire and Maine was closed for construction and we were not allowed on the next bridge over because it was interstate. So we could see the border about 200 yards away, but could not quite touch it. After 3834 miles of cycling, that was close enough. Several other riders cycled from the beach to the hotel, which was a mere 1.5 miles before Maine. Others hitched a ride in a car to the hotel where we all got our luggage, cleaned up, packed up, and said some final good-byes.
It was an amazing and rewarding trip, and I met very nice people, some very inspiring, who I will remember forever. Thank you to all my new cycling friends for making the trip very special.
I tried to get pictures of everyone today, so check them out to see our final approach to the beach. Today was a very long including my travel partial back toward home and a nice visit with my brother Jim and his wife Joan. Perhaps I will write a little more tomorrow.
I hope you have found my journal and photos helpful or enjoyable. I don’t know who has been following, except for those who sent me a note already (Thank you very much.). If you have been, and you have any feedback, I would appreciate hearing from you. I will consider any suggestions to improve the site content and format whenever I start my next adventure.
Pictures Of The Day:
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Statistics:
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Wow!! I am very proud of you Jay and your entire group!! What a fantastic feat to ride all that way on a bike. It was an incredible journey and I looked forward to seeing your daily adventures and so enjoyed them. You captured the feel of each day with your writing and photos. Loved that there are some towns in this beautiful country that looked like they were stuck in another time. I also feel like I got to know your companions a little through the pictures and it helped to have met some of them when you were in Sacramento. The joy in everyone’s faces at the end was great! I felt the emotion of the big finish. Congratulations on a job well done. Until your next adventure……Now I think you should enjoy being home and then book yourself for a nice massage!!!
P.S. I think you jinxed yourself yesterday when you mentioned not having one drop of rain the entire way!! Then wham!! You got enough today to make up for it! LOL
John, a very big CONGRATULATIONS on another cross-country bike adventure. I have been following along every day and have thoroughly enjoyed your pictures and your writing. Thanks for doing all the extra blog work on top of the cycling. Sorry that you had a rainy last day, but other than that, you had a pretty good rain record. Looks like there were still a lot of smiles at the end of the ride.
I keep thinking: what do you do for an encore? Riding your bike around Poughkeepsie won’t be so exciting.
We are all really proud of you. I told many people about your ride. Welcome back to a life out of bike shoes. Hope to see you soon.
Bill
John, I have enjoyed your whole trip. The journal and pictures have been wonderful. I will miss reading about the adventure. It has been a great history lesson.
Jane
Thank you Bill. I am looking forward to riding with you in Poughkeepsie. It’ as nice as most any other place in the country.
Well done John on another great accomplishment.
Jay, You are awesome! What a joy to follow you every day. Welcome home.!
Great job Jay. I read your journal and enjoyed the pictures every morning.
Hi John,
congratulations! You made it! What an experience and what a great way to discover your country. Thanks again for your journal and the photographs. Isn’t it strange to wake up now without the routine of the last weeks with loading your luggage in the morning and riding your bike all day? I’m looking forward to your next adventure!
Kind regards, Joerg
It was nice to have a routine that mostly consisted of riding. It was like being twelve years old again. But it is also nice to be home and changing the routine a bit. I am looking forward to kayaking and hiking, along with a bike ride now and then.
John:
Bill Fitz. told me about your trip when he and his family visited me on Mt. Desert Island. I think your trip and the account of it were really great. I do some biking but no where near the amount you do.
Good luck in your retirement from IBM.
Jim Geary
Hi Jim,
I am looking forward to a busy retirement, including a camping trip on Mt Desert Island. I hope to see you up there some day, and we can have a little bike ride together.
– John