Final Blog ...  Arrived Home in Maryland, Mission Accomplished!

 

It has been 3 days since I have arrived home. I woke this morning at 5am, ready to start my day. I then realized that I didn't have anything pressing at the hour and so I started in to write my final blog entry. Over the last two days, I have been cleaning up 3 weeks worth of mail and paperwork and trying to acclimate to my normal life. I love seeing JoAnn and the kids, but I don't miss all of the busy work.

 

It's hard to believe that after 23 years of thinking about my trip, that it is now behind me. I ask myself if the hype that has built up inside my head has lived up to the outcome, and I am relieved that the answer is a resounding, 'yes'.

 

There were many things that kept me pedaling over all those miles. There were the letters that the kids and JoAnn wrote ahead of time that I rationed out over the trip. The videos from Josephine were a big motivator, not only because she was so beautiful on the clips, but also because I wanted to get home so I didn't miss her first crawl or words. The comments and encouragement from Facebook and responses to my blog were also great to read along the way. I really felt like I had a small army pulling for me.  

 

Independently, I always repeated in my head that every mile, every hill, and every pedal rotation was one step closer to home and to the completion of my goal. At first, it was hard to keep this in front of me because of the tough physical challenge, but after a few days, the mantra was manifest like a routine running in the back of my mind. Because the physical task of biking all day became easier in time, I began to free up plenty of mind space to enjoy the many rewards that a bicycle trip across half the country has to offer. I slowed down in every small town that I passed through to get a sense of what each pocket of America was all about. They all had their differences, but they seemed to share some qualities. Among them, the towns all seemed to have a line of patient customers standing at a mom and pop ice cream stand just off of main street. There was never a shortage of American flags flying high and proud, and the children always waved when they saw us passing through. Some would challenge me to a short race on their own bikes.

 

Many of these towns and the quiet roads are bypassed when you take the major interstates. You see the signs but rarely stop. These are the places I think that the American dream still lives on in abundance. The people seem to move a lot slower and smile more. It was very refreshing to witness in short snapshots how they lived. 

 

From endless farms, towns, roads and the people along the way, I was given a well targeted lesson on how to breathe and relax. I had come on this journey not just to check off an item on my bucket list, but to force myself to recalibrate and think differently. I'm 46 and maybe I have a few less years ahead than what lie behind, it has become more important than ever for me to consciously find my true path. I knew that 3 weeks on a bicycle wouldn't give me the 'answers', but it certainly cleaned out the cobwebs, cancelled out the static and allowed me to receive and digest the cues that I needed. 

 

The short ride from Laurel, MD to Davidsonville, MD was only 25 miles.  It was an easy ride and I had time to kill so I took my time and savored the final moments. I processed the experience and what I had learned and was careful to take some mental snapshots and push them deep into long term memory. Ironically, as I passed through some of the Laurel back roads, I passed Laurel Race Course where I had worked so many years ago as a parimutuel teller (the guy that takes the bets on horses through a window ). I quit that job to become a waiter at the restaurant where I would meet 'Steve', the guy that cancelled on me last minute on the first leg of the trip 23 years ago. I also passed through the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge where he and I would go to train. I know it will read kind of goofy, but I think it was another sign. Originally, I had no plans on passing through Laurel on the way home. It was actually kind of a fluke.  I hadn't biked on these roads in all these years and what were the odds that I would travel them again on the last day of a journey that I started 23 years ago. It was a great way to end the trip and really drove home that I had finally finished what I had started long ago.

 

It is with a bit of sadness that this will be my last 2 Wheels, 7 States, 1500 Miles blog entry. I have been keeping a journal for close to 20 years now, and this is the first time that anyone has ever read a word of it. I received a lot of positive feedback which really helped me to stay on track and write every night. It was a great experience and I highly recommend it to anyone that wants to see America in a different way and get great exercise. Maybe, as I did, they can use the sound of the rubber on the asphalt and wind in their face, to gain clarity and a fresh perspective.

 

One of the coolest gifts I received when I returned home was a custom hat that reads 2 Wheels, 7 States, 1500 Miles, DONE with a big check mark. It succinctly and simply says it all. It has earned a prominent resting place in my office.

 

I try to live my life consciously knowing that it's about the journey and not the destination. For the most part, I believe it is true. But when I pulled up that driveway three days ago, it may have been the exception to the rule. The ride was great, but the destination (Home), was spectacular.

 

Life. Live it.

 

Daniel

 

 

 

Thank you all for your support. Some final pictures from the road:

 

Where I started training 23 years ago!

 

 

Big Thank You!

 

Thank you to all of the sponsors for their confidence in me and contributions totaling close to $28,000 ($3000 over goal). Lots of gratitude to the DeCesaris / Prout Cancer Foundation (DPCF), who organized a great welcoming ceremony. I want to apologize to all that attended. I was in a state of shock both from completing the ride and with all the people standing in the driveway, that I couldn't really speak. It would have been a perfect time to say something meaningful, but at the time, 'let's have a beer!' seemed to be all that would fall out of my mouth. I wish I would have blurted out how grateful I was to all of you for being there and for supporting me along the way, so I hope that this afterword will suffice. Thank you is not enough..

 

A special thank you to Mom and Nick for their help on my last solo leg into Davidsonville. And to JoAnn for watching over everything when I was gone and giving me support all along the way. And to Connor, Kathryn and Ryan whose letters carried me through the journey every morning. I couldn't have asked for more. I love you all.

Frederick, MD to Laurel, MD      Easy Day 18..  No Drama    45 Miles.. 

I woke this morning and was in no rush to get on the road. Due to the short distance, leaving at or before 7 in the morning wouldn't have made much sense as I would just be waiting to check in to the next hotel. So for the first time on the trip, I took my time at breakfast, caught up on the news and started sorting through my email. My brother in law Nick had driven in from Annapolis to be my SAG support for the day. He arrived at 8:30 and we chatted for a while to catch up on the latest. Seeing him was great and it began to click that I was very close to the finish line.

The first 10 miles or so was a bit hilly, but after that it seemed like I was flying. The wind was at my back and I did the last 15 miles at an average speed of over 20 mph. The Days Inn in Laurel was much nicer than the one in Frederick. Nick and I had lunch and then he headed out for the day, leaving me to take a nap.

Within a minute of putting my head on the pillow, I was surprised at a sharp knock on the door. I thought it was Nick, but when I looked through the peephole, what I saw put a smile on my face from ear to ear. JoAnn had driven in with Josie to welcome me back to Maryland. I was totally surprised but very happy to see them. I only got to spend a couple hours with them so it was a bit of a tease, but I know that after tomorrow, they’ll be stuck with me every day. I was a bit bummed that Josephine didn’t seem to remember me at first. Later, she warmed up, but seeing her trying to figure me out was a bit uncomfortable. I made a note that there should be no more long trips without her. My brother in laws (Nick, Duffy and Brian) came up for a nice dinner and I was back in the room by 9:30pm.  

Tomorrow, I will bike a short distance from Laurel to Davidsonville. If there are no issues, I should arrive at my house at around 6pm. I can’t wait to get home! 

Not many pictures from the road but some great ones of JoAnn, Josephine and Nick (my brother from another): 

Not anything like Northern Frederick or Pennsylvania, but a few challenging climbs  

After almost 1500 miles of biking, I stepped on my glasses while leaving a convenience store today in Maryland. Fortunately, I had a spare set. I got my money's worth out of these. 

My brother in law Nick. SAG extraordinaire, giving me last minute tips for the course. 

I will miss wearing those snug form fitting shorts every day. 

Was happy to see this sign today! ... 

... But much happier to see JoAnn and Josephine.  

She's thinking, 'Who is this bald strange smelly man?' 

Napping with Josie. 

Thanks for all of your support. Tomorrow, I will cross the finish line. 

Entered Maryland, my 7th and last state!   Day 17 101 Miles

If you have been following my blog, then you would know right away that I intended to do 110 miles today. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, I missed today's goal by about 9 miles. The day started off with me in the saddle at about 6:45am. As usual, the setting was picturesque with the sun coming over the mountains and the morning mist still hanging in the low lying areas. All was going well, except for some small Garmin issues. And despite some major climbs right out of the gate, I took it in stride, paced myself and tried to focus my attention on the family and getting home. 

By the time Sharon caught up with me at about 9:30, I had knocked out over 30 miles of my ride. On normal terrain, 35 miles in almost 3 hours would not normally be something to publicly boast about. However, the day was full of mountain climbing and very slow speeds, so I was happy with my progress. I still had a lot of fuel in the tank and felt prepared for the remaining 75 miles. I went to bed last night after carefully studying the elevations on the course. There were about 6 climbs to 1500 feet, 4 prominent spikes to 2000 feet, and many small foothill climbs at between 500 and a 1000 feet. All leveled off at about mile 65 as I dropped into Maryland. It looked like a great way to finish the day. I thought to myself that even though the distance was longer, the lower elevations of 2000 ft vs 3000 ft from the day prior, would allow me to save some energy for the end of the day. I learned by mile 50 that what I know about course planning and preparation was lacking and I very much underestimated the workout for the day. The fact yesterday's climb to Altoona and the sprinkling of climbs ahead of it was small compared to today's barrage of mountain climbing. I was like a local amateur boxer released into the ring with Mike Tyson (in his prime). 

I was hot, tired and sore. With my current pace, I was going so slow that the gnats and horse flies could easily keep up with me and they were feasting on my sweat. Ironically, one of the worst parts is that the descents were dangerously fast and I had to ride my breaks to keep myself from going too fast. Not knowing the course, I couldn't risk hitting a pothole or a guard rail and having a potentially serious injury. Ironically, when your bike wants to go 45 and you are slowing it down to just over 30, that takes a lot of effort and my hands and shoulders were / are aching a lot. This work on the way down the mountain really takes a lot of pleasure away from enjoying the satisfaction of having made it to the top. The first 65 miles took me about 8 hours, including many rests. With the heat and humidity rising, I was physically fading. For the first time on my entire trip, I stopped for a quick nap in the shade. It wasn't my intent to nap, but with a nice breeze, some shade and my helmet under my head, I closed my eyes and woke 20 minutes later.  

After 65 miles, I was happy that the maps had told the truth and I rather enjoyed being dumped into the southern PA farmlands and pedaling up and down the rollers. With about 9+ hours of biking for the day, I crossed the Maryland line at about the 80 mile mark in temperatures exceeding 90+ degrees. At about mile 82, my right foot was in extreme pain, so I had to stop and ice it down. Heavy exposure to sun in the open fields, high temps and the day's long workout were quickly eroding any stamina I had left. With 30 more miles to go, I could tell I was struggling. I had a hard time staying hydrated and was moving more slowly with each mile. 

At a stop in Hagerstown, MD, a resident told me that I had two major climbs that lay between there and Frederick. He mentioned a climb that I had done earlier in the day from McConnelsville, PA and said that the Frederick climbs were both a lot like that. I cringed and while I didn't show it, I couldn't believe that I had missed that on my charts. This was a game changer and I knew that if he was right, there would be no way that I could pedal over these mountains. At about mile 90, I started climbing again. At first, it was subtle, but the mountains in the distance were not an illusion and I knew that I had to get over them. My only hope was that the roads would somehow wind around and not go straight over as the other roads had earlier in the day and yesterday. For about 10 miles, the climbs were steep but gave me some relief on the plateaus. I was moving slower than ever and at this point and was beginning to feel clammy and overheated. Steady hydration didn't help and I was fairly sure that I was spent and possibly close to heat exhaustion. At mile 101 or 102, I came around a turn and looked at the road going straight up as far as I could see in the distance, and I knew that I was done for the day. I planted my rear in the shade on a guard rail and did something that I have not done the entire trip; I called for a ride. Sharon, who waiting at the top of the mountain came back down to get me. Depleted, I loaded my bicycle in the back of the van and watched every climb to be sure that I had made the right call. The last thing I wanted was to get a bump up the hill only to see that I had mostly conquered it on my own It felt better to know that the stranger in town was right. There were two serious mountains to climb with many smaller but very challenging hills in the middle. I had only made it less than half way up the first climb. These mountains and hills lasted for 13+ plus miles, so I was sure that I had made the right call. I half thought that I would get out of the van as we dropped down into the flats of Frederick, but I had been out in the sun for too long and with nothing left in me, I asked Sharon to just take me to the hotel. She dropped me off at the Days Inn Motel in Frederick for a total bump of about 20 miles. If you're doing the math with me, then you probably figured out that the course for the day was not 110 miles as I had thought, but over 120 miles. The extra 10 miles came when I intentionally ignored my Garmin after it repeatedly tried to take me down rough roads. 

Side note... this place is a dump. As I write, there is a guy sitting outside my door and smoking. He seems to be blowing smoke into my wall mounted air conditioning unit and I feel like I have lit one up myself. The place is alive with live-in tenants who have their laundry hanging off the railings. When they asked me, 'would you be interested in a pool side room', I gobbled it right up. I was looking forward to a swim and how convenient to be on ground level and have the pool right outside my door. I had no idea that the waterfront festivities would last well past the 9:00pm supposed closing time of the pool. It's now approaching 11:30pm and the guests are enjoying the pool as if it were their own private beach. With booze, smokes and music, I am wondering if someone will break out the grill and some tiki lamps at any minute. Never has saving $40 seemed like such a bad idea...  

I have mixed feelings as I post tonight. I considered today to be really my last serious day of biking because my last two days are short distances. For that reason, I had no issue with scheduling the 110 mile distance for today. Obviously, I wanted the bragging rights to say I did 100% of the distance from Topeka to Davidsonville. Even though 20 miles over 1500 is not significant and my decision to stop was the right one, it will probably always be a bit irritating to me. To stay on the road today would have been foolish and dangerous, and as romantic as it sounds to be able to say, 'I pedaled the entire way', this is not a movie and extreme heat and physical duress when you're 46 is not something to be toyed with. I don't consider myself to be athletic, but I have done many physically challenging things to test myself. I know that the last 3 days combined was the hardest that I have ever pushed my body in my entire life and for that I am proud. By way of comparison, I did the Tough Mudder race a couple months back and today's ride alone made that race look about as physically challenging as a walk on the beach. 

After biking for over 2 weeks with no SAG rides and getting faster and more efficient with each day, I believed that I was ready for the challenges of Pennsylvania. Missouri had taught me a lot about giant rollers, but nothing about mountains and long climbs. Illinois and parts of Indiana had taught me about enduring in extreme heat but all while biking on relatively flat terrain. Ohio was a nice mix of everything, but nothing compared to the last three days. It was a learn as you go experience for me that required me to completely rethink how I started each day. Overall, I did well and adapted, but in hindsight, I should have made today's trip much shorter. 

Big shout out to Mom (Sharon) for her help. I greatly underestimated how much I would need her and thankfully, her strong common sense prevailed and she was there whenever I needed her. Thank you, thank you, thank you.  

Tomorrow, I bike from Frederick, MD to Laurel, MD on the eve of my final day of riding. Can't wait to share my hotel story from Laurel.. might dedicate an entry to that. 

Some Pictures from the road:

From the top of my biggest climb

Arrival in Maryland. This was the only sign they had out in the country. 

Never thought that I would be so happy to see a sign that had Baltimore written on it. 

Thanks for all of your support!