And That Was That!

We did it. We travelled the Southern Tier of the US by bicycle. I am still processing the entire experience.

Arriving at St. John’s Pier yesterday was, in a word, surreal. We left Palatka at 8:45, and, as promised we had very strong headwinds, but most of the ride was along a bike path, so we were protected by the trees. Of course, we did go over a few bridges and they were hairy, but now we were experienced. On this particular morning, we had a larger group. Our fellow rider, Patrick, who was riding to raise money for Tunnels to Towers in honor of his sister who perished on 9/11, was joined by 3 companions from Florida, so 7 of us started together as the early group. As we only had 34 miles to ride, we actually took a more leisurely pace and took time to talk to one another. After we all gathered at our first water stop at 18 miles, the entire group gathered again in St. Augustine at about mile 28. As luck would have it, the King street bridge was out, so we all detoured and made our way through the historic district over to the Lions Bridge. We got to the far side of the Lions bridge for the final ride down A1A to the St. John’s pier. We anointed Patrick to be the lead rider, and he brought us in. Guess what? We finally had a tail wind and breezed our way the last 2 miles.

Having Patrick lead was the right thing to do. There were over 75 people at the pier, most of whom were there to see him ride in. They were waving US flags and had welcome signs for him. The media was there too, and he was on the 7 PM news.

But the welcome group was also for all of us. Because this group of 11 strangers 6 weeks ago was now a team of one. After stopping and taking in the ocean air, we all picked up our bicycles and walked through the sand and dipped our front tires in the Ocean. What a feeling!! Exhilarating! Exhausting! Proud!

And our loved ones were there to welcome us in, too. My mom and Rob’s sister and husband, and Rob’s brother came. And our very close friends from NJ, Chris and Adrienne, drove all the way to Florida to greet us and help get us home again. On top of that, we were greeted with a surprise appearance from our friends Dave and Diana, who recently moved to Central, SC, and also came to welcome us. After the excitement waned, the various groups broke off, and then we gathered for a final celebration dinner and to say our farewells, and to promise we would stay in touch.

I have been reading my blog posts from the last 6 weeks to remind myself of the experience that I have had. Did I solve the world’s problems? Heck no. Did I decide what I want to be when I grow up? Another heck no. Did I make new friends and create an amazing experience that I will be able to carry with me for the rest of my life? Absolutely! Would I do it again? Heck no! Am I glad I did? Hell yeah!

What I will carry with me was the collaboration and teamwork that was evident throughout the whole 6 1/2 weeks. If one person needed help, four others stopped to help that person out. It was a group of “we people” not “me people” and, as I said in my earlier blog, every single rider was a grateful and joyful person, and that made all the difference in the world.

And now on to the next adventure . . .