Well, the trip is over now I guess. This feels kind of like a wedding now- you plan and prepare for what feels like forever... and then the whole ordeal is done in what feels like a minute. Dave and I are back in Arizona and the whole trip feels like a dream. It's becoming hazy already, so I'll try and recap the final events before I forget it all.
Cycling into Jersey our final day, we had more flat tires than ever before. Well, not us personally, Dave and I managed to complete the entire 9 weeks without ever getting a flat, but we saw lots of other cyclist pulled to the side of the road doing repairs. We were pedaling along fine, until, just as my friend, Jo, and I were maneuvering what is called a "jug handle" (a left turn on a major road that involves making a right and a small U-turn, kind of like a "Michigan left"), Dave and Larry stopped to get some M&M's from a refreshment stop and in the process experienced some technical difficulty. Larry's chain snapped! I was still cycling along oblivious to the troubles of my companions, but I found out later that Dave- who has no previous experience fixing such issues- was able to take out a bad link and pull the chain back together and get Larry back on the road. The only problem was that this fixing process took over an hour and we were running on a tight time schedule. All cyclists had to be to a check point by 12:30 or they would have to take a ride in one of the support vehicles to catch up to the rest of the group for the police escort into the city. I think Larry and Dave made it to the check point with about 10 minutes to spare. It was such a close call. I'm so glad they got to cycle the whole day.
The police escort was pretty awesome. Officers waved us through red lights and we were all able to keep together as one big group to cycle the last 10 miles to Liberty State Park. We even picked up a miscellaneous rider who was headed to the gym but thought cycling with us would be more fun.
At the coast, we dipped our tires into the Atlantic Ocean before a great crowd of friends, family, and local supporters- including a group of young participants in a city ministry on a sail boat.
It felt amazing to finish! I can't believe we made it the whole distance!
