ROUTE: Homeward Bound
DISTANCE: Depends on where you live
WINDS: Don’t matter today
WEATHER: Who cares . . . We are in airplanes and cars
TERRAIN: Air or asphalt
TOTAL CLIMBING: To whatever ATC clears the plane!
This is Mikie to put the final touch on the 2005 North Cross Country Ride Journal. Wow, another great adventure has come to a close. We got up early on Tuesday morning to shuttle everyone to Boston to catch flights. It was great to sleep in to 5:30 for a change, but it was bitter sweet when we loaded the luggage for the last time on this trip. It all comes to an end to abruptly...one minute we are celebrating our journey at the beach...the next we are packing our belongings and flying to the far reaches to return home. It was sad to say good-bye...like sending your kids off to college for the first time...and all at once. By 9:00, Barb and I were empty next again.
We miss our latest family already, but we share fond memories of this group and will look forward to the next time we see any of them on the road . . . it's bound to happen as the long ride bug has bitten many of them and they are already thinking about returning to the gypsy summer lifestyle of a bicycle tourist.
When we started in Astoria what seems like a lifetime ago, a few had an idea of what to expect. Several had ridden across the country before, but the ones who were riding cross country for the first time didn't have a clue as to what it was going to be like and were apprehensive about their decision to undertake such a challenge. I told them the first day that the fantasy of riding a bicycle across the country and the reality were two different things. I think they know what I meant now. Some found it tougher than they had expected, but they all grew stronger each day and discovered the riding became easier as time passed . . . they began to find after the first week it became more mental than physical. But no matter what they expected, they all grew as individuals as they defined new limits to their comfort zones and endured beyond what they thought they could possibly endure as they each faced the challenges of the ride in their own way.
The best part of the ride was not the fact they reached their destination in Portsmouth, but it was the experiences they had along the way and the relationships they developed with their new cycling family. I think it dawned on them about a week from the finish when they started to see the end of the ride approaching and started to reflect on the significance of what they were accomplishing individually and together as a group. Together they endured winds, heat, humidity, a little rain, a different motel every night, flat tires, pot holes, and a myriad of trials and tribulations (and jubilations) along the way. They received strength and motivation from the group to tackle what ever the country threw at them and were rewarded with a sense of pride of accomplishment each day as each in their own way overcame tired legs to complete the miles.
Riding a bicycle across the US is quite a personal accomplishment, but there's more to it than that. I like to say there's no better way to see the country than from the seat of a bicycle. You see so much more than driving a car, especially since most of us drive on boring interstates. I wish I had a better sense of expression so I could describe what it's like, but basically from a bicycle you see more plus you also absorb the country...you smell the fragrances of the early morning as you pedal across the countryside, you hear the sounds of nature instead of the blaring car radio or the wind blast around your vehicle, you see the glistening reflection of the sun as it permeates the dew covered foliage in the early morning, you have time to sense what it must have been like in the early days traveling across the plains in a covered wagon with all your belongings, you endure every emotion depending on which way the wind is blowing that day, you stand in awe at the vastness of the west, you feel every subtle change in terrain, and you get stronger physically and emotionally everyday as you pedal your bike through every imaginable situation mother nature and man can throw at you. What can I say except there's nothing like it and for those who have the will and desire to experience it, they will forever be changed for the better. 
Today, most of the riders are home already and starting to unwind from the trip. They'll miss the early morning shuffle to get their luggage on the truck and their tires aired up. They'll miss the morning laughter as they prepared to leave each morning and they'll miss the daily adventure of riding through the unknown to new destinations. But most of all, they'll miss each other...I hope they'll keep in touch and plan to ride together again...I think they will.
Well, it's time to put this ride to bed . . . and me too. Barb and I have an early morning tomorrow to cover as much territory as we can to prepare for the next adventure. I hope you've enjoyed following our ride up north and will continue to check in to see what we are up to on the next trip. Many thanks to Susan Walker for her dedication to keeping this site going while I helped with the mechanics this trip. She'll be reporting the Mississippi Ride that starts next week and I'll again pick up the reins for the Ride the East that starts in two weeks. I hope you'll check in.
In closing and on behalf of America by Bicycle and my staff, we wish you well and may you have tailwinds and sunshine. Keep the rubber side down and be safe. See you again next time. Mike
HEARD ON THE ROAD:
HEARD ON THE ROAD:
- "How are we going to be able to function during the day without rap?"
- "I haven't laughed so much in my life."
- "I'll be back!"
- "Good bye."
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