Good evening everyone,

To all who followed mt ride and blog across the USA thank you, thank you thank you. Your kind words of encouragement and support kept me pedaling on more than one occasion. It was a privilege and an honor to see this great country and her citizens. What truly amazed me was the support, assistance and kindness of total strangers along the way. People I had never met would come up to me to shake my hand and talk about the ride. When someone had an issue, folks would offer to help and asked nothing in return. Small town America often came out in force to cheer us on, open doors to rest rooms, provide free food and snacks or to just say “welcome to our community”.  Seeing this generosity from total strangers across the entire country, seeing the vastness and awe-struck beauty of this country and seeing it one pedal stroke at a time is a humbling experience.

There were the times along the ride that were not so great and sometimes they were downright awful. We had desert heat, long mountainous climbs, bad roads, angry motorists, flat tires, saddle sores on saddle sores, sunburn, hunger, sore muscles, long hours on the bike, cold, accidents and other aspects that made the overall achievement that much more special. Some days. I thought that I couldn’t go on, or worse, I didn’t want to go o. Someone had a T-shirt that said something like “The pain you feel now is nothing like th pain you will feel from quitting.” That thought and the support and encouragement often was all that kept me going. Sometimes I thought of the ordeal suffered by many of our vets, they don’t have the choice that I had, they couldn’t quit. In some cases their survival depended on their comrades not quitting on them.

I have been humbled by the generosity of my friends and followers who have made donations to The Wounded Warrior Project – a cause that helps our soldiers injured sustaining the greatness that we all benefit from. As I said before, there is a debt here that can never be repaid. I wish to thank all of you for the donations you have made to The Wounded Warrior Project and ask those who have not contributed to donate a penny for every mile ridden ($34.00) or whatever, you can afford.

“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” -Elmer Davis

“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”  ~Cynthia Ozick

“In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned.  When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.”  ~Mark Twain, Notebook, 1935

Tailwinds

Chuck