It was a happy and sad day at the same time. Happy in that we completed our objective; sad in that we were done and would leave the friends we had made along the way.
The end started with a banquet the Sunday night in Manchester NH where we had a bunch of skits and awards. For me, I decided to "award" my bright yellow rain helmet cover to Brian Thompson from Australia. Brian is the bloke that is riding around the world on his bike.
Of course there is a story behind this. Brian and several of the other riders were the fastest people in the group. There were also a set of people like myself that you could call the "slow riders".
To make it easier for the staff to keep us all together they would load the "slow riders" luggage between 1/2 and 1 hour before the rest of the group (we like to call ourselves the "elite early loaders" versus "the slow riders").
Somewhere around the 25-30 mile mark (or the first sag stop) the fast team would pass us "elite early loaders". They were always polite and gave us words of encouragement. Now being the fast group, they could stop for coffee, lunch and ice cream - so I generally got passed 3 times each day. Again they were always polite when they re-passed me - and when I passed their bikes in front of a coffee shop or ice cream shop, I would think about the "tortoise and the hare" tale (it was my motivation each day).
This went on every day - with the fast group being polite each time. Except for one day.
That was the day we experienced rain. On that day, I decided to stay dry and put on my rain gear (jacket, pants, shoe covers) and of course my yellow, fluorescent helmet cover. Well, did the fast group rip into me (Brian leading the charge). "Real bikers don't wear rain covers"; Where the hell did you buy that"; "Is this an American thing?".
And because it was early morning, I had to put up with this abuse 3 times (as well as long after I had removed my rain gear). This went on into the evening including Brian coming up to me with his smart phone and showing me a website called "What real bicyclists don't wear riding their bike.com".
Of course all was in good fun but Brian needed payback. So just before the last dinner I got a felt pen and wrote on my rain cover - Brian's World Bike Tour, America, 2013, presented by Streamer Mike (there were several "Mikes" in the group so the staff had nicknames for each of us - mine being taken from the streamers Ellen and David gave me and that adorned my bike for the entire ride).
I knew he would throw the cover away; so to prevent this I had each of the other riders in the fast group sign the cover (without Brian knowing) with wishes of encouragement for him completing his ride next year (Brian goes to Turkey for the last leg next spring).
I had his roommate sneak Brian's helmet out of his room and I put the rain cover on it and gave him "his award" and the collective group wished him well - to complete his personal goal.
Of course I made him put on the helmet in front of the group - so we could get photos that will hopefully haunt him for the rest of his life. Not one to bust chops (yea right), I have already emailed him the photo and in several communications with the rest of the group I continue to include this photo.
I have added a calendar reminder for next spring before he starts his last ride - and of course I will email him the photo and remind him to take "his rain cover" with him!! Revenge is so sweet!!!
But the story does not end there....
Each of us received a certificate for completing the ride and we got a chance to thank the staff and say a few words. I got up and of course thank the staff and Alan (my roommate for putting up with me for 50 days). In reflecting back on the ride I recounted the best part of the ride (climbing the mountains to get to Mount Rushmore - the climb was as spectacular as Mount Rushmore itself) and the worst part of the ride (going through all the little towns and seeing the closed up stores and factories - as a country we have to do something about this).
When Brian got up he talked about how it was (unknowned to the rest of us) the fast group's objective to be the first team to complete each day's ride and to motivate themselves - they would "click off" passing the "elite early loaders" one at a time - until the passed me (I was the fastest of the elite early loaders). It seems they did this for 49 days - always beating us!
So the next day (the last day), Alan and I started off causally and when we got to the first sag stop - we realized they we had got there before the fast team. They had not passed us - so I wrote on the sign-in sheet "you have been beaten by the slow team to the sag stop".
At about 40 miles there was a bakery that people were encouraged to stop in. Again Alan and I arrived first. So I asked the clerk for a piece of paper and stuck the following on the door:
I bought a bagel and was about to eat it when Alan says "Put that in your pocket and let's go". "We have a chance to beat the fast group to the end". So off we went - and did we crank our pedals! Our normal speed is 13 mph and we were pushing 20-23 mph for 10 miles (of course the tailwind helped).
We actually got to the staging area (end of the ride) and beat the fast team!!!
Of course they did not know we were racing them - but hell it still felt good. As the other riders came in - they had been reading the notes I had left - and they gave Alan and I a big shout-out and congratulations!
I will finish the ride in the next blog entry - my last blog entry .....
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