I cannot believe it is here already....our Final day. Today, at noon, we will be in San Diego on the beach. Incredible.
One last time, Karen and Jim made us breakfast and the whole crew was there and we had a good time. At 8 AM, the riders were all on their bikes and Dad prayed for us - just as he has done every day he was with us. He also gave every rider a hug. Except for the one week Dad was in Phoenix, we never started a day without him praying and getting a hug. Nice.
The Riders were - Kyle, Shannon, Shane, Kurt, Kerri and Jordan Ames. Jordan rode the last day as Carl was not allowed to ride, per the Dr. It was great to have Jordan along. We talked about our Dad's and their symptoms.
We started the day with a tour of Alpine and then a roll down a long hill with a lot of road construction. Kerri wasn't comfortable with the downhills so she rode in the Flex with Sarah, Rachel and Carl until we were about 10 miles from the end. We all agreed at the beginning, you don't ride on any road unless you are comfortable with the conditions. Better safe than sorry.
We continued our tour of the small towns leading us to the beach. We rode through some nice neighborhoods off the normal tourist path. We had one big hill which gave everyone a good morning workout.
At 10 miles from the end, Shannon and Mom got on the tandem, Dad got on Shannon's bike, and Kerri got back on the bike and two fellow Vons employees - Rex and Dan. The final 10 miles were a little more challenging than the first 25ish. We were now riding on busier roads and we had Mom and Dad on bikes. A lot more focus and caution was required.
I rode in the back and kept on the lookout for hazards and traffic so Dad could enjoy the ride and experience. All was going well until about 7 miles from the finish. The road had a lot of cracks in the shoulder and I was not focusing on my own path as much as I should have been. My front wheel went into a crack and I was going down. I grabbed at a pole to slow my descent but that didn’t stop me. I broke the mount on my GPS, bent my shift levers in a little and bent my front wheel out of true a little. I shook this off, checked the bike to make sure it would still roll and then headed in.
At about one mile from the finish, Carl surprised us all by riding his three wheeler in with us. He had a couple of different horns on his bike and one of them scared a couple of female joggers pretty good. They jumped and we all laughed.
About two blocks from the end, Cole, Isaac and Nathaniel joined the crew and rode with us onto the beach where we were greeted by about 25ish family and friends. Good Times. We had done it - ridden 3,100 miles without injury or accident. Awesome.
After hugs and congratulator high fives we walked our bikes to the shore and dipped our front wheels in the Pacific. Success. Carl, Cole and Isaac also dipped their wheels. In fact, Carl rode his bike into the water.
More pictures, hugs and tears.
A group from Vons was there holding a sign to welcome us to San Diego. Pretty humbling to have co-workers you have never met leave work to welcome you to their town and celebrate success with you and your friends and family. Thanks to all of you for being there to welcome and offer your congratulations. Very cool and much appreciated.
After about 30 minutes, the video crew hired by Safeway interviewed me and Dad. Then Shannon, Kyle and I got on our bikes and they shot some footage of us riding around San Diego. We upset a lot of drivers and the video crew didn’t seem bothered by all of the honking, comments and wild driving but those of us on the bikes were a tad nervous. All ended well and we arrived back at the Mother Ship ok, hungry and ready for a shower.
We learned the place where we were to have our party that night did not allow anyone under 21 in and the party had been moved to the house where Keith and Doris Barr were staying. Rachel and Mona went to the Vons store for food while we went to clean up.
The change of venue was a blessing. The house was incredible and the food was awesome. It was nice to be in a relaxing location, near the beach where we could talk at normal tones and not feel rushed.
We then went back to the hotel for a dip in the hot tub and a good night’s sleep.
Stay Tuned – my next blog will recap The Ride, my feelings and what the future may hold.
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