2nd last border crossing

Lake view

Nice view

Last border crossing

Hello everyone!

This is a post the fact update of the final few days of the tour that I couldn’t finish sooner…

I start this day knowing that it i the last real day of long distance cycling. I also start with the knowledge of a leg injury that has pained off and on for about 1 1/2 weeks and seemed worse for all the climbing. I asked and was granted permission to start the day with the early departures and left at 6:30 with Ed who has had a lot of issues with back pain during the tour.

The ride yesterday was one of the hilliest of the tour and it may have been the 4^th or 5^th in terms of total feet climbed. Today’s ride was also hilly but not as much total climbing. However, the steepness of the hills and the fact that the climbing tended to be concentrated in the first half of the ride made this a really day. On one especially hard ride, we had a few folks cheering for us at the top.

Very early on, we crossed the New Hampshire state line and had only 1 more state line to cross. Every day we tend to play mind tricks to make the ride easier. The first 10 miles, the first SAG, 50 miles, the last 10 miles are all milestones that you set out to achieve and pass each day. On some days the mileage seemed impossible and only by breaking the ride into smaller segments and by the encouragement and example of our fellow riders, do we get through the day.

Today was different however, I found myself counting the miles left to ride. With each mile, the journey of a lifetime was coming to an end. On the other days, you tend to look forward to the last mile. Today, while still welcoming it, the realization that I would soon be leaving my friends for the real world added an element of sadness. I definitely was looking forward to returning to the real world and seeing my children and friends back home, but knew that I would leave a part of myself behind and come home as a different person.

Ed and I rode the entire day together and we had a good ride and conversation along the way. We didn’t linger in the SAGs, and kept up a good pace. Around mile 42, we crossed into our final state – Massachusetts and did the state line sprinkling ceremony for the last time.

Massachusetts is a beautiful state and the New England architecture is distinctive. The countryside was pleasant and the sir was fresh and cool. The miles began to melt away with the only distraction being the heavy traffic encountered along the way.

I had another reason for wanting to get into Burlington early as I was meeting a new friend who was coming to see me end this journey. She is a wonderful lady named Amelia who wants to undertake this same journey in the near future. About a quarter-mile from the hotel, I saw Amelia waving to me from a parked car in a Dunkin Donuts. My journey was almost over with a 19 miles excursion through the streets of Boston scheduled the next morning.

That night we had our last dinner as a group with a still unfinished task. I will devote a special post to that dinner.