Day 48

Brattleboro, VT to Burlington, MA -- 90 miles We are (unofficially) finished!!! Today was the last long day of the tour and it was a tough one. More about the ride in a minute. We are in Burlington, a northwestern suburb of Boston, and this is the last stop on the tour. Tomorrow we will do a ceremonial 18-mile ride to Revere Beach on the Atlantic Ocean for our "wheel dip" and then we will have officially been all the way across the United States from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 44 or 45 days (not really sure). I originally thought it was 52 days because that's what the pre-trip information said but that included our five rest days and two pre-departure days in the Los Angeles area. I know one thing: I'm very thankful to have completed the 3,400 mile journey accident-free. I only had one little mishap and that was the day I basically "bonked" between Blythe, CA and Wickenburg, AZ (115 miles). I learned a lesson the hard way. Don't give up coffee "cold turkey" and don't try to skimp on calories when you have to ride long distances! My little accident occurred in the parking lot as I was clipping in and fell over on the "clipped in" side. It got a little scrape and a couple of small bruises but that's very minor compared to what could have happened! Anyway, today's ride was a humdinger. First of all, the forecast called for rain all day so we weren't looking forward to riding 90 miles on our last long day in inclement weather. We've all been very cautious to pay extra-close attention to what we're doing so as not to have an accident at the end of the tour. We crossed our 13th state line at mile 2 when we rode into New Hampshire. A couple of miles after that, I missed a right turn and went an extra 2 miles before I realized it. Then the fun began REALLY began at mile 7. After doing some rollers we saw two very long climbs in front of us that we later found out (from someone who has a computer with this information) that the first one was 14% and the second one immediately following it was 15%. They were each about 200 yards long but these two hills had a few riders walking today. We had 6,100 feet of climbing yesterday so you could say our quads were just a little bit fatigued! After the first SAG stop at mile 31 the climbs were less severe but we still had quite a few left to go. I started riding with my regular riding buddies, Bill and Ken (Peoria, IL), John (St. Joe, MO) and "Boston" Bob (not to be confused with "Iowa Bob") at the 2nd SAG. At mile 42 we hit the Massachusetts state line, our 14th crossing and 15th state. The rain started to pick up by this time and so did the traffic. Coming into our second SAG stop at mile 60 was a harrowing experience. The highway was incredibly rough with holes and bumps galore and the cars came way too close to us for comfort. All of us were pretty shaken up by that point. We finally turned off of that highway and got onto a less congested road, thank goodness. The four guys wanted to stop for lunch but I had filled up on cheese and Triscuits at the SAG and decided to ride on in. Fortunately, I quickly came upon Meredith (Bowling Green, KY) and Laura Kuhlman (Chicago) and the three of us navigated our way through the suburbs to our hotel. We thought we were home free with only a half mile to our left turn to the hotel, when we found ourselves on the entrance ramp of I-95! We had turned one light too soon. Whew -- that was a close one! Of course, we all said, almost in unison, that we had pulled a "George" because he gets lost at least twice a day and has been known to ride on interstates we weren't supposed to be on! We all celebrated with "high fives" when we pulled up at the Hilton Garden Inn, our last hotel (and there have been over 40) of the tour. Tonight we have a reception planned for 5:00 before dinner where I'm sure there will be more than a few drinks consumed to celebrate this amazing journey. Tomorrow's ride: 18 miles to the ocean. It will be like a walk around the block!!!