The Final Blog for Coast to Coast

TOTAL MILES BIKED: 3,014 in 60 biking days.

From the Stoker:

If you didn't read our last blog, we arrived in St. Augustine on Sunday, 4/25/2010. We woke early to dark skies and a threat of thunderstorms arriving in St. Augustine by noon. We were determined to arrive and dip our front tire in the Atlantic before the rain came. We biked 46 miles in less than 3 hours.

We arrived at the beach with our nephew, Brad (Carol's son) taking pictures and directing us to the boardwalk that leads to the beach. When we couldn't bike on the sand anymore, we stopped, hugged each other and shared some emotional words and tears, before we began to carry our bike to the ocean. It was difficult in the lose sand and as I looked up to see how much farther we had to the ocean, I saw our daughter and granddaughter running to us from the waters edge. The next few moments are a blank until I was hugging them, crying, and nearly fainting. Behind them stood my sister and 3 nieces, all traveling 21 hours by car. To complete this journey of ours was amazing, but the joy we felt sharing it with family can't be described in words. As we were looking at posters and banners signed by the family members that couldn't be with us, another daughter came running down the beach (a late air flight or Mom & Dad biking too fast for her to get there before we did). I was afraid I couldn't take any more surprises and they assured me no more were coming.

When we are very old and reliving this trip and the day of completion, there will be many moments of the biking that we will probably forget, but the day we arrived on that beach in FL, the picture I see so clearly now, I will see just as clearly then. Thank you family, whether you could be with us or not, for your love and your support. We felt it every day we lived this dream. My sister asked me what was the best part of the trip. I think seeing this great country of ours up close and personal was the highlight for me. The towns, beautiful and not so beautiful, the barren dessert, the lush green country side, how the poor lived, how the wealthy lived. The smells, how I loved the smells of the fallen pine needles and the rivers and the flowers. Thank you Lord, for giving us this amazing opportunity.

We have so much to be thankful for, good weather, health, and arriving safe and sound. We need to thank so many, Mom Sadie and Nancy for making their home ours during some much needed R&R, the biker (Dave) that came to our rescue after our first 20 miles and a broken chain. He directed Carol to us, found a bike shop, called later to make sure we were OK, and then donated to MS. We need to thank bike shops (3 of them) for taking care of our problem immediately and charging half the amount. Thanks to the campgrounds that gave us discounts when we told them we were raising money for MS. We will never forget Jackie and Jim, owners of the Silver City KOA and avid bikers, for their help and support and for getting the newspaper out to interview us. We met so many strangers that offered their blessings for a safe ride and handed us $5.00 to $20.00 for our cause. It was wonderful meeting all the other bikers (15-20) with the same dream, sharing stories and motivating each other to pedal on. Thank you to those that have donated to MS. It is wonderful to know so many care and support our cause. We have raised close to $5,000 for research and will pray every day for some success in finding a cure.

How do we begin to thank Carol, our support driver. She gave up 3 months of her life to be waiting on the side of the road every 15-20 miles to make sure we were safe, had enough water, food, supply Dick with apple fritters, me with oatmeal cookies(she convinced me they were good for me and gave me energy). She made all the campground reservations and bought all the groceries. She made it possible to sleep in a comfortable bed, have a warm or cool dry place to recover and spend the night making it easy to get back on the bike each day. I am not sure I could do the same for anyone. Unless, of course, it was for her. You helped us live our dream and we will never forget that. We love you and thank you so much.

Last but by no means least, I need to thank the Captain (my husband). He steered, braked, dodged, maneuvered, and avoided pot holes, rough roads, no shoulders, rude drivers, and attacking dogs. I know some days were very stressful with the responsibility of keeping us unharmed. Thank you, Honey, for living this dream and being with me on this incredible ride. I love you.

From the Captain:

She pretty much summarized the thoughts and feelings of the last day. It was almost anti-climatic to be done after two months of riding. Our main focus everyday was to get on the bike and get to the next destination and enjoy what was presented to us. It will be difficult to switch gears and get on to the next part of our lives. Almost felt like Forrest Gump like we should just keep on biking!

I also have to thank my wonderful wife who was willing to share an adventure like this. After a hard day of riding she would cook dinner, make up the beds, fix our bike meals, do laundry and many other chores without complaining.

I also want to thank all the contributors. It is a very warm feeling to see so many share our cause and contribute so generously. My colleagues from Ford especially meant a lot to me with their generosity. It is good to belong to such a giving organization.

To summarize the trip I present the following:

1) We biked over 3000 miles.

2)Thru 8 states

3)60 days

4)over 1.9 million rotations of the pedals

5)Lost 15 pounds, Annette 11 pounds

6)my blood pressure dropped so much that I got off my meds

7)Prettiest spots-the hill country of Texas w/the wild flowers and clear rivers

8)Ugliest spot-West Texas between El Paso and Ft. Davis

9)Best Roads- California

10) Worst roads-Mississippi

11)Most dog attacks-Cajun country (E. Texas & W. Louisiana)

12)Biggest adversity-the head winds (it is like continually riding uphill and the constant noise is mentally draining; we probably would have finished a week earlier if we would have had 50% tail winds or none)

13)Most unexpected event-the final day with our family showing up

14)Most discouraging-the jammed chains

15)Most exciting-the people who opened their hearts and handed us money for the cause

16)What amazed us-making it over Emory Pass at 8200+feet

17)Closest call-almost getting "sucked" into the tour bus on the causeway to Dauphin Island

18)Best part of the day-a) getting off the bike, b) the shower, c) the glass of wine!

Thanks for sharing this adventure with us!