Epilogue

The EPIC bike ride of a lifetime (so far) is over and I'm safely back home in Edmonds, WA.

Final stats.....3,420 miles...riding time of 192 hours and 8 minutes (or 8 days and 8 minutes probably in honor of of all our stays in Super 8 motels).....average moving speed of 17.80 mph (nearly 29 kmph..sounds faster)....total climbing of 113,221 feet...and total calories burned for me, over 141,000...no wonder I'm hungry all of the time!  Road kill totals....too many!

I am going to take this opportunity (this post) to ramble on about various thoughts, themes, topics, etc., that I've wanted to write about and share but just didn't have the time to do during the ride. Mike was great in keeping everyone up-to-date with our daily rides with his posts while I dealt with the Garmin data collecting/transmitting, updating mileage meters, picture taking, tagging and uploading, mapping the next day's ride on Garmin, charging all electronics, etc., etc. Literally, there was hardly anytime for anything extra besides our "assigned" tasks. Mike and I became very efficient in our respective tasks off-the-bike....we had to be!

In no particular order of topics.....was the ride "fun" or "Fun"? There is no simple answer to this.....it was a lot of different feelings/emotions everyday, and sometimes changing by the minute. Just like a lot of things in life....the further away one gets from an event or experience... more good things are remembered as opposed to the bad. But right now, I am conflicted as to whether to honestly say that the ride was Fun. I am thrilled that we did it and had no incidents or accidents....but I can't say that I'd do it again...it was a lot of hard work...both physically and mentally.

For the past 10 years or so that I've been riding, just about every ride that I've taken (2+ hours) there are moments when the ride is physically or mentally (or both) demanding...may be just for a few minutes or miles...but it's just tough for whatever reason....the weather, the hills, the bumpy roads, the boredom, the other riders who may seem to be more "fit" today, etc. More often than not, thankfully, the same ride is stimulating, easy pedaling, thrilling, "I don't want to stop this feeling" type of ride. This ride across the U.S. had plenty of both....everyday....from start to finish over 30 days.

As Lon Haldeman told us at the beginning, long distance riding is mostly mental. Our ride was a testament to that, as the only 2 people to drop out of the tour prematurely did so from mental fatigue and not any physical aliments. For myself, often times I took to riding with my iPod playing tunes into one ear...just to break up the monotony, block the ever-present wind noise (and big truck traffic noise), and have a distraction from some temporary aches and pains. Listening to music or radio while riding can be done in a relatively safe manner but isn't recommended.

Thoughts on the bike? What does one think about while riding everyday for 6 to 8 hours a day? Often times when riding with others in a paceline or echelon, one is just concentrating on the wheel in front of you or the 50 feet of road in front of you. One can't let the mind wander to far from the task at hand but for me, I usually play a mental numbers game while riding to pass the time. With the Garmin unit collecting all sorts of data, I am forever viewing the data and figuring out how much I've ridden and how much further there is to go, how many feet climbed so far, what the average pace is, when the next rest stop or lunch will happen, etc. It's amazing how a little electronic screen will keep me informed and entertained as the miles go by!

Riding alone versus pack or bunch riding. I probably knew this already, but I much prefer group riding as opposed to riding alone. Although riding by yourself is a very much needed skill...primarily for the mental toughness that it brings, riding with others is much more preferable in doing this sort of long distance touring. The effort level is somewhat shared by drafting (upwards of 20%+ less effort when riding behind others in headwinds) and the mental aspects of riding are a lot more positive and reassuring when with others. At least if you're suffering, there are others to help you out or they're suffering as well so it isn't all bad. Definitely on a ride such as this, one should develop some friendships/allegiances with compatible riders.

Hammer products......where once I was a non-believer, I am a convert. I don't think I could have made the crossing as comfortably without taking the provided powders, supplements, etc. I never had any muscle cramping, nutrition or digestive issues during the ride. The Hammer products used were Sustain Energy, Heed, and Electrolytes in capsule form. The products even tasted OK but were better taken when cold. Highly recommend insulated water bottles in which ice will last for nearly an hour, even in 90F+ temperatures.

PAC Tour.......we have sung the praises of the Company and Lon & Susan (& crew) in previous posts but it bears repeating. If one is going long-distance riding (I hesitate to use the term "touring" as it connotes a more leisurely pace) PAC Tour is the only way to go. The organization from top to bottom, from day break to sunset, from ride start to finish is outstanding. There isn't a detail overlooked or anything they haven't seen before and managed/handled. I look forward to another cycling adventure with them, albeit shorter in days/miles:)

Westerns. We watched very little TV due to lack of time....although I discovered that people with no TV at home (Mike) have very curious TV watching skills. Mike would scan through the channels, not watching anything in particular...but watching "what else is on TV". Drove me nuts! Must have been an ADD kid.

Best nicknames.....one I bestowed on Big Bob. Whenever I'd seen him at lunch he'd always be drinking from a 2 liter soft drink bottle....so naturally he became Big Bottle Bob (or triple B) to me and others. The other favorite nickname was "Greg's roommate Greg". Two Gregs were put in the same room. The youngest rider at 17 years old was one of them and became known as Greg's roommate Greg. May be you had to be there to appreciate it! There were other nicknames out there (Hot pants Wes) but we may see these people again and would rather keep a friendly relationship going.

Pictures......I was remiss in not setting up and testing an appropriate way of posting our trip pictures on line. We had to figure out on the fly how to do it and were not always successful. Let it be known, that I took nearly 2000 pictures and have posted on Flickr only a small portion of them. Given some time at home, I will edit all the pictures and re-post the better ones, and appropriately label and sort them by date (hopefully). So stay posted on this and return to the blog to see updated pictures. (Note...I had thoughts of taking some road kill pictures....I never did as it was often just too sad and messy.)

FINALLY.....I'd like to thank Mike for inviting me on this adventure of a lifetime and sharing it with him. Couldn't have been a better roommate (but may be a better riding partner....I'm getting him a mirror!) over the 31 nights 30 days of the trip. And there's the huge THANKS to my wife Laurie, who supported me from the time I started thinking about joining Mike, through the pre-ride training, during the ride with encouraging phone calls and taking care of the home front, and finally picking me up at the airport with a welcoming crowd of good friends and supporters (and balloons!). And thanks to all who followed us along the way on the blog. Your comments and well wishes were very much appreciated.
(Note....a separate post will address the fund raising aspects of the ride and how to pay for the pledges.

Addendum....I may add more comments (or edit these) as I have more time to reflect on what happened over the past months or so.  Stay tuned, Tom