Post Ride
A Tribute To A Friend

Everyone had a different reason for doing this ride and I'm sure there was sometime during the course of the ride when they all questioned their sanity for even thinking about doing such a thing.  This group's emotions ran the gambit as they went from jubilation at the departure beach to the realization that this was a serious ride soon after they reached the desert at the 80 mile point on the first day.  I saw a tired bunch as we rode into Albuquerque for our first rest day...well deserved as they had covered over 800 miles in the first short week.  They continued their trek into the winds and even got their first relatively easy day into Dalhart aided by welcomed tailwinds to push them down the road.  From Dalhart, their luck held as they conquered the Panhandle of the Longhorn state.  Then they hit Oklahoma to endure the two back to back 130 plus days into slight headwinds and over the constant hilly terrain on the day into McAlester.  It was there they learned that Darrell had passed away in his sleep the night before.   It's impossible to describe the emotions felt by the group but suffice it to say the impact was intense and it changed the mood of the rest of the ride.  It's always a sobering impact on the group when a rider has to abandon the ride...we had 4 others that also didn't finish the ride with us, but they all will recover from their issues and ride again...this was different.  Prior to this, the group was starting to jell as a family...a small group...everyone knew Darrell and now he was no longer with us.  We spent the evening remembering and reflecting on how he'd blessed us all with his presence and friendship during the ride.  We celebrated his life and grieved at his untimely departure.  Yes, it affected us all...and made us all realize how precious our time on this earth is...and that we all only have a limited time on this planet...cherish the ones you love and those who love you...let them know...tomorrow may be too late.

The riders rallied to complete the ride in Darrell's memory...it was now more than just a ride...now it was personal.  Enduring another headwind day and dodging thunderstorms early in the day, tired and beat up they limped into Fort Smith for their last rest day before the final assault to the east coast.  After Fort Smith their spirits seemed to be lifted as they hit the road.  I don't know if it was the tailwinds, the much needed rest, or the time to reflect and collect their thoughts from the prior week, but what ever it was, they were armed with a new purpose and new focus as they took on the final 10 days.  Their focus was keen on the eastern leg and held up all the way to the beach.  When they triumphantly arrived at the beach, they celebrated.  The Pacific water was poured, hugs were exchanged, and congratulations were in order.  But in addition to the normal end ride festivities, I released one of the black ribbons into the ocean that we'd placed on our bikes to remember and honor Darrell.  His spirit had been with us all the way to the finish...I think he'd been watching over us as we had zero incidents the remainder of the ride. 

As they go their separate ways, it will take them awhile to fully appreciate what they have accomplished and all will take something different from the ride.  As a minimum and because of the events they experienced, I think they will have a new perspective toward family, friends, and life itself.  Some will continue their cycling adventures while others will not want to see a bicycle for awhile.  But tomorrow or the next day when they return home and are flooded with questions from friends and family about the trip, it will begin to sink in.  They will start to appreciate their immense accomplishment and will begin to miss the life on the road and their newly adopted family. They will wake up at 5:00 in the morning and suddenly realize their routine of the last 27 days is no longer applicable.  They won't have to pack their bags, find the luggage van, sign in, mix their Gatorade, and pump up their tires.  I personally don't know what I'm going to do with myself while I'm home the next two weeks and especially what to do with the 2 hours a day I'll have by not doing a journal every day for awhile.  But for the riders, their bodies will scream for the stress of a 100 mile ride, the taste of lemon-lime Gatorade, and the usual 6000 calories it has gotten used to for the last month.  Every time they see a silver 15 passenger van, they will hunger for an oatmeal cookie and feel the need to tap the top of their head to get it to stop...it probably won't.  It will be a shock when they get back to the regular grind, but they will all have a new perspective on life and on what is and what isn't important...for those who are going back to careers, they will have a recharged attitude to deal with the stresses of their job.  I told them on day 1 they would stretch their comfort zone beyond their imagination and they did that.  They endured heat, cold, rain, traffic, gravel road surface, rough chip and seal, hail, headwinds, and even a dog or two all across the nation.  If they can handle the stress of this ride, they can handle anything and maybe they will start planning on their next ABB adventure and try to do it all again somewhere else.