Day 50 -- Ride's End

August 8, 2005--Ride's End

ROUTE: Manchester to Portsmouth, NH
DISTANCE: 60 miles
WINDS: Light tailwind
WEATHER: Beautiful, sunny, low 80’s
TERRAIN: Rolling tree-lined back roads for the most part
TOTAL CLIMBING: 2660 feet

RIDE OVERVIEW: Today was our final assault on the beach. We woke to a most gorgeous day, a fitting weather pattern for our finish and only outdone by the spirit of the group. At breakfast some were jubilant while others were more subdued as they came to grips with the fact the ride was fast coming to an end. It became even more evident as we loaded our luggage the final time and tried to savor the emotions of our last day. Last night everyone shared their feelings about our journey. Some laughed, some fought back tears, but everyone was thankful for the experience. They've all stretched their comfort zones over the last 50 days and are better cyclists and better people for doing it. Best of all, friendships have been made that will last a lifetime. 

Today our ride will be over . . . but for the present, we will savor our last day and enjoy things one would overlook while driving a car through this area. Things like this mirror smooth lake reflecting the image of a sailboat, or the sounds of frogs croaking in the reeds. I rode Sweep today with Josh and we marveled as we passed old farms with all of the buildings tacked together to facilitate leaving one's warm bed in winter and getting to the milking barn without having to go outside in the cold. We also passed perfectly aligned dry stone walls, made without mortar, and more old New England cemeteries with their thin slate tombstones and memorable epitaphs, What must it have been like in this area in the early to late 1700s and 1800s? We cycled some up-and-down, round-about, beautiful New Hampshire back roads where old and new homesteads alike lined the roads behind these stonewalls. I always love to see the New England architecture that includes modern buildings and also older buildings that show the flavor of earlier times. 

Albeit a short day and relatively easy compared to what we've done in the past couple of days, it was still challenging to get to the rendezvous point at 49 miles by 11:30. The terrain between Manchester and Portsmouth is a bit hillier than one would expect (2660 feet of climbing today) and the fact that we had lots of turns made it a challenge to stay on course. But what a beautiful ride. It was definitely a great finish to a long trip. 

Riders stopped briefly in Exeter at Ollie's Bakery for something sweets and drinks. I had a mango smoothie but did not get a chance to drink it all as I had to take to the road to be the final flea on the tail again, so I gave the drink to White to carry for me. It was nice to find when I got to our rendezvous location.

We were to meet at Rye Jr. High School at 11:30 for a police escort to the beach. Everyone got there in plenty of time. At 11:27, as Josh and I are approaching the school, Josh looks at his watch and quips, "Uh oh. We're going to get there early. Do you want to stop for something to eat?" Riders were hugging, taking pictures, and giving high fives all over the place. The only thing left was to get to the beach and then dip our wheels in the Atlantic. We had carried a bottle full of Pacific Ocean water to pour into the Atlantic to symbolize our completion and as Mike is fond of recounting "to try to do our part in raising the level of the Atlantic to the level of the Pacific. Mike understands that the Atlantic is about 5 feet lower than the Pacific so it may take us several years to transport enough ocean water from the west to bring the Atlantic up to level. Opie did the honors (left).

Just a few minutes before noon, we assembled everyone and prepared for the escort to the beach. The last 2 miles of our journey was free of traffic and protected by Rye's finest. It made for a pleasant and memorable finish when the police blocked the intersections and let us go through with our procession with lights flashing and sirens announcing our arrival. There weren't too many people within earshot who didn't realize that something special was going on. As we approached the beach, the roads were lined with family and friends to welcome our weary travelers. It was quite a reception as we rode triumphantly into the parking lot.

Once we all got to the beach, everyone hiked down to the water carrying either the front wheel or their bike over the sand to dip the front wheel in the blue Atlantic. As I said, many of the riders had friends or family members who met them to share in their accomplishment, but the most interesting thing at the beach was the reaction of the locals who were spending the day there. We marched right through hundreds of sunbathers to get to the water for the dip ceremony. We definitely had their attention as they would look up from their books or picnics and ask us the same questions everyone else has asked over the past 50 days: Where did you start from? When did you start? How many of you are there? How many miles do you average a day? Why are you doing this? Several of us were interviewed by local reporters, including Bill K and Len B that I know of. Friends and fans of Joe (Hook 'n Bull ) poured a bottle of champagne over his head, and a large bottle of champagne was passed around to celebrate.

Our final activity together entailed collecting the luggage for the last time at the motel and preparing the bikes for delivery home. It was a last time for us to enjoy fellowship as a group and re-live many of our memories of the last 50 days before heading back to our "normal" lives. Some will leave tonight and others will leave tomorrow. Our contact with the riders will be over tomorrow after we shuttle the last rider to the airport in Boston. We're going to miss this bunch. They kept us laughing and were a fun and energetic group. We wish them well and hope to see them again on another ride. Somehow I think we will. 

P.S. I'm going to let Mike compose the The Last Word posting. Look on it for more photos of the beach invasion . . .

Tune in next year for another exciting account of the ride across America. Susan Walker

HEARD ON THE ROAD: 

• "We're riding to raise awareness of frozen novelties." [Val when Len introduced his support group to the Dairy Queens.] 
• "Poosh le boo-taahn!" [Chips attempting "French," and attempting to speed up the photo taking process when Marie could not get the camera to work.] 
• "What's said in the van stays in the van." 
• "Life's a beach today." 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY:

Photographer Paul decked out in Joy's colorful shorts. 

From the first day he saw them on Joy, he called dibs 

on them for riding to the beach. He looks pretty studly,

but the color combo is awful. Joy claimed to be wearing Paul's shorts

Josh waiting for the last time on this ride for luggage

to load in Box. But Josh and I and Karen will staff

the Mississippi River Ride directly after this one, 

so we'll have plenty more opportunities to load luggage

A final photo in the parking lot before heading for the beach.

Tim, Fred, Albert, and Duane pose for Mike's camera after breakfast.

Pup Paul bangs on the door of the Tramp House, a

tiny house with barred windows right at SS #1, 

which Karen set up in an adjacent parking lot.

Jubilant cyclists are reflected in the champagne bottle and 

seen behind it as they celebrate a successful x-country cycle.