Today, we said our last good byes to the riders that we shuttled to the Boston airport...that's the hardest part, saying the good byes to our new family.  For those who've experienced the mixed emotions of sending your children away to college, you can understand how it must feel to us when we finish each ride.  I could sense the emotion on the riders faces too.  It's always a mixed bag of feelings when a ride ends...everyone is ready to be finished, but they hate to see it end.  

When we started in San Francisco 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 of what it was going to be like.  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.  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, 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.  Out west there seemed to be a focus on finishing the day...by the time they got to New York, it seemed they spent more time enjoying the day as they began to realize there were but a few days left to savor.

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 I'll try my best.  From a bicycle, you see more but 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 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 to experience it, they will forever be changed for the better. 

I've done over two dozen of these rides and Barbara has done almost as many so why do we keep coming back?  We enjoy helping others achieve their goal of riding across country and we truly enjoy meeting the people.  What could be better than traveling around the country every summer and making friendships for a lifetime?  When I see the emotions displayed at the final meal or the tears that flow when they reach the beach, I know we're doing something that's important.  It's hard to describe the feeling I have when a grown man cries his eyes out on your shoulder while expressing his joy of finishing the ride...it makes it all worth the effort. 

As they go their separate ways, it will take them awhile to fully appreciate what they have accomplished but it will sink in eventually as they reflect on the past 7 weeks.  Tomorrow or the next day when they return home they will be flooded with questions from friends and family who will give them no more than about 5 minutes before their eyes will glaze over...family and friends will never understand why we would do such a thing unless they experience it for themselves.  Each rider had different reasons for riding, each rider got something different out of the experience but they all were affected in a positive way.  The first thing I realized about a ride like this is that it is personal and each ride is different.  I will miss this bunch, they have been our family for the last 7 weeks and I realize we will never be together again as a group, but we will see many of them again on future rides...that's what makes us keep coming back.

I hope you have enjoyed following us across the country and I hope you will check back in on our ride down the west coast in September.  I have gotten tons of feedback about the journal and I appreciate those who let me know they are following...believe me, that's what keeps me focused on keeping it up.  So in closing, on behalf of ABB and the friendly on road staff, I hope you are blessed with good fortune and you are able to come join us sometime...you'll be glad you did.  From Debbie, Karen, Barbara, and myself, keep the rubber side down.   M