The Day After

What a fantastic reunion to see my sweet Debbie and beautiful daughters Amanda and Amber waiting for me at the ocean when I rode in yesterday. I was filled with so many emotions I could hardly contain them,I felt like crying and laughing all at once. It seemed so surreal to have actually finished this journey. I talked earlier in the trip about how we can all do more than we think we can, it is true. I never could have dreamed a trip like this was possible two years ago. Being here in Savannah reminded me of a quote from Forest Gump "life is like a box of chocolates, you have to open them to see what your going to get" I think that is profoundly true. We have to try things and not be afraid to fail. We will not be judged by how many times we fall down but how many times we get up. That is the amazing part of this life experience, Ron who was the oldest person to ever do this ride at 76 yrs, said everyday " It's A Great Life" how true.
  Yesterday as we poured the water from the Pacific Ocean we carried across the country into the Atlantic it made me think about the conclusion of this chapter and the start of the next. It made me think about Ray Riccard from Carson City who we lost in Oklahoma and his family, life is beautiful and fragile. It made me think about a loving Father In Heaven who is riding with each of us on our own personal journey's. I will be a better man than the one who left a month ago, I will be a better father, brother, son, friend, uncle, husband than the person I was. Your support has meant the world to me. Your comments have lifted me up when I was so tired I did not know how I could possibly do another mile. I am now blessed with a new family that I experienced this journey with as we laughed and cried together and grew to love one another. I now have a better understanding of how a solider  can sacrifice his life for a fellow solider. I will miss my new family and wish them every happiness and God's love.
  I finally had my first accident  yesterday when a fellow rider crashed into the back of me at a stop sign. The only thing that got hurt on me was the borrowed rear wheel, which was badly bent. Not even a scratch on me as I fell to the cement. Lou scraped up his right knee and hand, I know he felt terrible. A special thanks to Debbie who helped make this dream possible, to Amanda and Amber for all their support with this blog and each of you for your prayer's and support. Dad thanks for the help with the car, and Mom thanks for worrying about me. Love you all.

Life Is Good Ride On

The Atlantic Ocean and The Finish

Hooray, Yippee, WooHoo ,Halalua, Praise The Lord,
   It finally happened I made it across America this afternoon almost 2900 miles in 25 days riding. It has been said there is a big difference between the fantasy of riding a bike across America and the reality  of doing it, I can tell you that is so true. I will keep this short tonight and expound  more tomorrow with my thoughts and wrap up. Thanks to all of you for your love and support, it made a difference. Thanks for being a part of my ride.
   Life Is Good Ride On

The Soggy Bottom Boys

It poured last night in Perry, 3 and 1/2 inches overnight. As we left this morning it was misting and the front was once again moving in behind us. At the first break it was raining moderately and getting ready to dump on us. Within 10 minutes all hell broke loose and it poured. I actually loved riding in the rain, it was cool and felt refreshing to me. You hardly had to drink, just open your mouth. All of the streams were flooding and in places water was washing over the road. We once again had the wind in our face, what a surprise. The climbs were non stop, hill after hill after hill followed by another hill. At this point the wind, the hills and the rain are all just a minor blip on the radar screen. I was riding up some hills at 20 mph and doing 25 mph on the flats into the wind. I use to hate the hills but now I am getting use to them. We went thru the town of Eastman and witnessed a lot of downed trees and power lines from this storm. Today Lou went thru a deep puddle and hit a rock he could not see which caused him to crash. He scraped his knee, elbow and shoulder. We are in Vidalia Ga. tonight the home of sweet onions. Only one day left, only 104 miles till this journey comes to its conclusion. I will have a lot of mixed emotions tomorrow, mostly happy ones. Thanks again to all of you for your support.

  Life Is Good Ride On

Fort Benning

I can hardly believe  there is just two days left, can it really be? In some ways it seems like a lifetime ago that I left for California . As we left Columbus Georgia this morning we rode on a beautiful bike lane along the river that separates Georgia and Alabama. I could see fish rising in the river and blue herons waiting to catch them. We then entered Fort Benning and got to ride thru the base. The base is extremely large and well manicured. It was so cool to stop and read the monuments, it was very reverent. Georgia is a beautiful state and at the crest of every hill you see another hill or so it seems.
  We did have a close call today on a small two lane highway. We were on a highway with a 10 inch wide shoulder  and had a car come right at us in our lane as he was passing other cars. The only place we could go to keep from getting hit head on was the ditch. Lou who I was riding with crashed in the ditch but was not hurt. I managed to stay upright. What an idiot, he was also in a no passing zone. Some people just don't care. We had the same thing happen 5 miles later on the same highway. A group of us went to The Cracker Barrel for dinner tonight because it was right next to our motel, the food tasted so good because we were starving. We also had a tee shirt swap tonight which was a lot of fun .  I am so excited to see Deb and Amanda and Amber on Friday. Thanks again to all of you for your love and support, it has made a difference.

  Life Is Good Ride On

Georgia On My Mind

We left Prattville Alabama today headed Columbus Georgia. It was warm this morning with a warning of hot around the corner. We all rode out together, which is unusual. The fast riders hung back a bit speed wise and rode with the slower riders for a change, it was nice. We had 114 miles and 3000 ft. of climbing to do. I am tired today and my butt and legs are sore. Right after the first sag stop I felt like I could not make my legs work, they were on strike. After climbing a 14 percent grade hill I found out why. My wheel had cracked and gone out of tune which was causing the wheel to rub on the brake pad, the wheel would barely go around. The rough roads take a toll on everything including your body. 

We rode thru Tuskegee Alabama today, the home of the Tuskegee Airman, the black pilots. The college there was beautiful. We saw not one other white person while we were there.

No dog chases today, but the wind was in our face all day. It looks like the wind is going to be in our face for the rest of the ride. Oh well 3 days left, I am so ready to be done and see everyone. Today was hard on me.

Life Is Good Ride On.

Sweet Home Alabama

You get a real sense of where a lot of the country music comes from when you bike these back roads in the south. The churches all have little billboards, today many were announcing graduation open houses with food and preaching. The smell of honey suckle blossoms continue to permeate the air, it is truly Mother Natures perfume. We were up in the pines most of the day and had a number of big trucks come by loaded with logs. I also saw a number of hunting leases and deer blinds. Today was our 3rd largest climbing day of the trip. Someone told me we have now climbed enough to have climbed Mt. Everest three times. I was so tired and sore this morning I did not even know if I could ride. When I went back to my room to change after breakfast there was quite a battle brewing in my head. I finally decided to give it a go and I am so glad I did. It was a strong day for me, with God's help I was strong. The dog escapades continue with one near miss today and a half dozen other chases. I was asked by one of the veteran riders if I would collect the tip for the staff from all the riders. I think he sees me as friend to all. I did have a car follow behind me for over a block today making me nervous, as they finally came around a woman yelled out the window"nice legs" I am not sure how many teeth she had, I smiled and said thanks.

   I did go by a house today with at least 25 chicken cages with fighting chickens inside the cages. Thanks for all of your love and support. Only four more days, wow.

Southern Sunday

Today is Mothers Day and I have been thinking a lot about the Mothers in my life as I ride thru this beautiful countryside. I have been able to wish Happy Mother's Day to several women as I rode by. The day started out cloudy with 90 percent humidity. Everything felt wet, then the sun came out and really heated up. We rolled into Alabama today about one and a half hours into our ride. Just 2 states left. Alabama is so pretty with pines, hardwoods and mountains. It seems people in general in Alabama take better care of their places. I saw so many nice places with ponds and lots of land. Another sense you get on a bike is sound, you hear the birds, dogs, cows and so many other sounds that you do not hear in a car. The ride was really tough today with lots of climbing, it is my least favorite type of riding. The hills wear me out. We only had 5 dog chases today, again the people in Alabama do a better job of controlling their dogs.
    It amazes me how many different churches I ride by each day, this truly is the Bible Belt . I like the south very much it has a sense of its history.

   Life Is Good Ride On