Day 26, Metter Georgia to Tybee Island Georgia
Thursday, October 06, 2011 Category: Bike Ride
Well, the ride is finished. 2,848 miles ridden as we crossed the United States. We went through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and finally Georgia.
The enormity of this achievement has not sunk in. As I mentioned before, the ride seemed surreal. It is going to take me a while to really process this. I am just glad that I don’t have to get up tomorrow morning, eat breakfast in some hotel parking lot, and ride out into the countryside in the cool early morning!
First, I would like to thank the Pactour organize long distance bicycle rides. I can’t say enough good about them. If you are ever interested in doing a long distance bicycle ride, I would recommend Pactour in a heartbeat!! Thanks so much to Susan, Lon, Rebecca, Chris, Jim, Parker, Paul, John and Doug. You guys are the greatest and you ROCK!!
I would also like to thank all of the fellow riders on the tour. We became good friends in a short amount of time. This type of ride really bonds people closely. All of them were excellent cyclists.
The ride was marred by one incident. As we left Metter early in the morning, we headed east into the rising sun. Unfortunately, a driver that was possibly temporarily blinded by the sun clipped one of the riders (Bob Clarke, my roommate for the ride), and put a deep cut in his arm. Fortunately, he was not injured very badly, but the cut did require stitches. It was really sad that it happened to Bob on the last day of the ride.
Happily, the ride was mostly flat. Bob asked me one evening what I had learned from the ride, and after some thought, one of the things I told him that I learned was that there are very few flat roads in this country!
Our ride took us through Savannah. What a beautiful old city! I saw lots of awesome older houses with very interesting architecture - the kind that we would not see in New Mexico.
After leaving Savannah, we headed out to the tidal salt marshes and wetlands before reaching a point 5 miles from our hotel. We used this spot to gather all of the riders, so that we could ride into Tybee Island as one large group. What a sight we must have made! Once we turned into the hotel, we went straight out to the beach (see included pictures) to celebrate reaching the Atlantic Ocean. It was a very emotional moment for me. 26 days earlier, I had set foot on the Pacific Ocean beach at San Diego. I was both glad and sad to see this “Epic Journey” come to an end. There were people that I had made good friends with that I would probably not see again. The ride had created a special bond among those in our group. On the other hand, I am happy that I will not have to eat breakfast in some hotel parking lot, and then ride out in the cool morning air for a long day’s journey.
We had a final dinner together as a group at the hotel in a room overlooking the ocean. Lon and Susan had plaques made for everyone as a memento of the ride. The final part of the evening was a slide show of the ride as it progressed day by day. The slide show helped put the ride in context, although it will still take some time to really absorb the fact that we rode all of the way across the United States on our bicycles.
There are a few more pictures that I will be putting up in the next few days, so stay tuned for that and an epilogue to the ride. One more blog to follow before I hang up the computer for this ride.
Click here for today’s pictures
The enormity of this achievement has not sunk in. As I mentioned before, the ride seemed surreal. It is going to take me a while to really process this. I am just glad that I don’t have to get up tomorrow morning, eat breakfast in some hotel parking lot, and ride out into the countryside in the cool early morning!
First, I would like to thank the Pactour organize long distance bicycle rides. I can’t say enough good about them. If you are ever interested in doing a long distance bicycle ride, I would recommend Pactour in a heartbeat!! Thanks so much to Susan, Lon, Rebecca, Chris, Jim, Parker, Paul, John and Doug. You guys are the greatest and you ROCK!!
I would also like to thank all of the fellow riders on the tour. We became good friends in a short amount of time. This type of ride really bonds people closely. All of them were excellent cyclists.
The ride was marred by one incident. As we left Metter early in the morning, we headed east into the rising sun. Unfortunately, a driver that was possibly temporarily blinded by the sun clipped one of the riders (Bob Clarke, my roommate for the ride), and put a deep cut in his arm. Fortunately, he was not injured very badly, but the cut did require stitches. It was really sad that it happened to Bob on the last day of the ride.
Happily, the ride was mostly flat. Bob asked me one evening what I had learned from the ride, and after some thought, one of the things I told him that I learned was that there are very few flat roads in this country!
Our ride took us through Savannah. What a beautiful old city! I saw lots of awesome older houses with very interesting architecture - the kind that we would not see in New Mexico.
After leaving Savannah, we headed out to the tidal salt marshes and wetlands before reaching a point 5 miles from our hotel. We used this spot to gather all of the riders, so that we could ride into Tybee Island as one large group. What a sight we must have made! Once we turned into the hotel, we went straight out to the beach (see included pictures) to celebrate reaching the Atlantic Ocean. It was a very emotional moment for me. 26 days earlier, I had set foot on the Pacific Ocean beach at San Diego. I was both glad and sad to see this “Epic Journey” come to an end. There were people that I had made good friends with that I would probably not see again. The ride had created a special bond among those in our group. On the other hand, I am happy that I will not have to eat breakfast in some hotel parking lot, and then ride out in the cool morning air for a long day’s journey.
We had a final dinner together as a group at the hotel in a room overlooking the ocean. Lon and Susan had plaques made for everyone as a memento of the ride. The final part of the evening was a slide show of the ride as it progressed day by day. The slide show helped put the ride in context, although it will still take some time to really absorb the fact that we rode all of the way across the United States on our bicycles.
There are a few more pictures that I will be putting up in the next few days, so stay tuned for that and an epilogue to the ride. One more blog to follow before I hang up the computer for this ride.
Click here for today’s pictures
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