epilogue

i'm sitting here in the delta lounge waiting, with weather delays, for my flight back home and i'm trying to piece together my thoughts from the past three and a half weeks.  you'll forgive me if this winds up being a ramble, but that's how my mind is working today.

ole man river.  our constant companion 

i was told last night that, as the soreness fades, the satisfaction of the ride will set in.  somehow, i'm not sure it's really hit me yet.  i feel good about accomplishing what i set out to do -- ride 1700+ miles.  actually, my bike computer says it was 1762 miles.  but i'm not feeling the satisfaction yet.  hopefully soon.

andy and his "mr goodwrench" award, made from found objects we collected on the roads

this morning, i ran into andy kaplan, our bike mechanic, or "wrench" as they are known in the trade, at breakfast.  we sat and talked about what we had just been through.  as the mechanic and part of the four-person support team, andy (a competitive cyclist from arizona when not working on these tours) was only able to ride every other day, having to run one of the support vans on his alternate days.  even so, he sat there at the table and talked with amazement about what he witnessed over these past weeks.  he praised our sense of regimen, to be able to get up every morning, eat, suit up, "saddle up," and ride.  he got to rest every other day and marveled, especially with some of the older riders, at their devotion to the sport.

all packed up and ready for another day's ride

i guess i'll come around the that sense of accomplishment in the coming weeks.  it's just not there yet.  yes, i finished.  and yes, i let out a wild cathartic yell as i entered the hotel parking lot.  but it was a transient relief, rather than a greater sense of what i've done.  i'm sure i'll get there soon.

the fossils cranking in their pace line

for now, i'm looking back at where we were and what we experienced along the way.  

from big cities...

to small towns

crossing the mississippi on bridges...

and ferries

on busy highways...

and less travelled back country roads

for me, i've learned a whole lot about biking.  i've learned better techniques for changing flat tires (four in all during the ride), for dealing with saddle sores and for taking care of my bike.  i've also learned a lot more about people, about this country and about life, especially life after 60.

here are some of the things i learned along the way:

-  bollards:  those collapsable metal posts that prevent cars and other vehicles from entering bike paths.

-  cassette flossing:  the process of taking a rag and cleaning in between each of the ten cogs in your back gear cassette.  and yes, when you see someone sliding that rag back and forth, it does look like teeth flossing.

-  CO2 leaching:  they don't tell you this in the bike shop, but when you use a CO2 cartridge to fill your bicycle tire, the gas will leach out of the inner tube over a 24-hour period.  apparently, it's a smaller molecule than air.  CO2 is great in an emergency, but once you are back to a place with a floor pump, you need to bleed all the CO2 out of the tire and re-pump it up with air.

wheat fields in tennessee...

and grain elevators in louisiana

-  i now know the difference between straw and hay. the former is what's left after the wheat has been harvested.  it's of no nutritional value.  the latter is clover, alfalfa, etc., and is used for feed.

-  i can tell the difference between oats, wheat and alfalfa growing in the fields.  i also learned about crop rotation and which crops are nitrogen producing and which are nitrogen leaching.  

-  bikers (motorcyclists) seem to have a solidarity with their fellow two-wheeled brethren.  more often than not, they would raise a hand, wave and show support for us as they rode past us.  probably, they were thinking, "there but for the grace of god -- and my 650 cc engine -- go i."

-  long-haul truckers are far more friendly to cyclists than local truck drivers.  the long-haulers, mostly in huge tractor trailers, would always give us a wide berth as they drove by us.  the local truck drivers, on the other hand, wouldn't budge an inch.  more often than i care to tell you, we had some close encounters with local delivery trucks, pick-up's hauling boats and farm equipment and dump trucks.
-  there is a huge obesity problem in the u.s. and it's only further compounded by the economic woes that many people feel.  when you walk into an all-you-can-eat buffet joint, you know why people are coming here.  the food is cheap and plentiful.  but why oh why does everyone feel the need to go to excess?  sure, we're burning off four or five thousand calories each day on the ride.  but what about all those rotund people going back for thirds?  if we are going to stop obesity in this country, this is ground zero.

-  i will never again intentionally eat at a cracker barrel, a huddle house, the olive garden, the golden corral, generic chinese buffets or any place that serves food to the masses in that style.  yes, i'll still grab food from wendy's, mcdonald's and taco bell.  just not "all you can eat" buffet places.
-  i learned more yiddish.  yeah, i know that may come as a surprise, but it turns out that jeff, our ride leader is jewish.  when he found out i was from the tribe, he and i started a running dialogue about our grandparents and all the yiddish expressions they used while we were both growing up (jeff is my age).  every new state brought a new yiddish word or phrase.
-  apple is going to have to figure out a better way to make money off of our memories.  it turns out that many of the riders have a good take on their itunes music files.  as we weren't allowed to bring headphones or ipods during our rides, many riders took to calling up tunes from their playlists and began singing.  sometimes, we'd all join in.  sometimes, whoever was leading the pace line just got to sing his own songs.  i was partial to bruce (pink cadillac, on the flats) and elvis costello (pump it up, on the hills).
-  i learned that i don't easily quit.  there were hills and seemed as if they'd never end.  long, STEEP hills.  as rollie advised, just put your head down and keep pedaling.  there were times when i thought i wouldn't complete this trip.  either it was from saddle sores, or my back or just mental fatigue.  but i knew where i wanted to end up and i stuck to that goal.  i can talk myself into things just as easily as i talk myself out of them.  now i just have to work on doing more of the former and less of the latter.

-  fear vs exhilaration:  going down a steep, mile-long hill at high speeds is both a rush and a panic attack all at the same time.  some of the riders who would blast down these slopes, doing over 40 miles an hour (or over 50 in a couple of cases), were philosophic about the potential for serious injury or worse.  "hey, if you have to go, at least it's while doing something you seriously enjoyed."  somehow, that wasn't what ran through my head.  as my bike would be careening down the hill and my computer readout was showing speed in excess of 35 miles per hour, i reminded myself that all the separated me from the road surface was a wafer-thing piece of rubber that had shown a tendency to pick up shards of glass or bits of reinforcing wire from stray truck tires.  while i really liked the rush of the wind and my being able to slice through it, i learned my limitations.  my better angels prevailed and i would gently tap my back brakes and keep my speed within my own acceptable tolerances.

st. joseph cathedral in la crosse, wisconsin

not a single jewish temple in sight!

the only temple along the way -- the mormon temple in nauvoo, illinois

besides this morning's conversation with andy and his take on our trip, others offered pretty impressive points of view.  albert, one of the fossils and our lone rider from outside the states -- he's from the netherlands -- offered some profound comments on america.  he was particularly taken by the fervent religious passions we saw and felt along our river route through america's heartland.  whether it was all the churches, or the sayings on their electric signage, one couldn't help but feel and see how devoted to god were the citizens of this part of the country.

albert also noted that america's leash laws, referring to the frequent attacks we faced along country roads from equally passionate dogs, was something especially confounding.  he couldn't believe that we in america would allow dogs to merely run freely without regard to personal protection.  he then posited whether or not there was some connection between the fervent nature of religious belief in this part of the country and what may have rubbed off on the dogs.   

in addition to those learnings, i came to appreciate a lot of things around me that i took for granted.  i will never question the athletic prowess of someone, no matter what shape they are in.  some of the riders on this tour may have looked terribly out of shape, but they could kick my ass going up and coming down hills.  i also got to see some examples of the potential roads ahead for me.  so, in no particular order, here's some of my observations:

-  life doesn't end at 60.  yes, i look at myself in the mirror and see more gray hair every day, but without the mirror, i still think of myself as someone in his 20's.  it's just how i am.  i'll always be that way and i'm glad i have that sense of being peter pan.  if i've had any fears of growing older, i think this trip helped me overcome much of the anxiety of what lies ahead.  yes, my joints will continue to ache more when i wake up in the morning and i won't run as fast as i used to, but i'm still looking forward to playing baseball when i turn 80.  and, if anything was a proof source for that kind of feeling, it was just looking at my fellow riders this week.  

-  sixty year old men (and older) are merely 10-year old boys, only grayer.  they still tell the same corny jokes they told each other in third grade.  they still see things in the same funny way and, even though they are older and should know better by now, they carry on with the same petty jealousies, make the same sarcastic remarks and still crave a good scoop of ice cream.
-  i couldn't have made this trip without the support of family and friends.  and for jeff, sondra, pam and andy for supporting me mentally and physically (bike-wise, that is) all during the trip.

-  i have so much to be thankful for and i sometimes forget to just step back and remember that.  one of the other songs in my mental playlist said it better than i could, so i hope don henley will pardon me for borrowing his lines:

i've got great expectations
ive got family and friends
i've got satisfying work
i've got a back that bends
for every breath, for every day of living
this is my thanksgiving

and i don't mind saying that i still love it all
i wallowed in the springtime
now i'm welcoming the fall

for every moment of joy
every hour of fear
for every winding road that brought me here
for every breath, for every day of living
this is my thanksgiving

for everyone who helped me start
and for everything that broke my heart
for every breath, for every day of living
this is my thanksgiving

and thank you all, who ever you are, for reading my rantings over the past four weeks.  i very much appreciate you caring.

i'll leave you all with one final thought.  it's not mine.  it was a sign that kept showing up in louisiana, tennessee and again in illinois.  in a nutshell, it's the twisted sense of humor that kept me laughing, and kept my wits about me all along this ride.

                "unattended children will be given espresso and a free kitten"

"

day 25: red wing to minneapolis, minnesota 61 miles

done!

i'm still not sure how i'm feeling right now.  a bit numb.  very tired.  definitely elated.

forgot to add this one from yesterday afternoon's entrance into minnesota

today was such a funny day.  if you talked to any of the riders, they all felt sluggish today.  i think, to a person, we all felt that yesterday was the basically the end of the ride, particularly after last night's dinner and speeches.  so we were all caught a bit off guard by today's ride.  in a nutshell, today's ride was a microcosm of the entire tour's rides.  we had it all.  hot sun, cold rain, flats along the river, substantial hills in the farmlands, chip/seal roads and newly-paved road surfaces, tailwinds and headwinds, country pastures and downtown city streets.  cows, horses, turtles, eagles, llamas...everything except rabid dogs.  oh, an one last flat tire.

on the final leg of the trip; the bike path along the mississippi with st. paul in the background

after miles in the country, around mile 43 we started riding on the outer edge of an extensive bike path system throughout the minneapolis/st. paul metropolitan area.  it's really an impressive bike path system.  two more miles on the path and we turned a corner and saw the skyline of st. paul in the distance.  it was at that point that i started to really sense the end of this all.  i was both excited to be near the end and anxious for all things to go well through those last 15 miles, especially as the temperature dropped quickly as a cold front came in, bringing soaking rains with it.  the roads and bike paths became very slick with the rain mixing with the oils from the previously hot road surfaces.

safe and sound in minneapolis

fortunately, all went well.  as quickly as we arrived at our destination hotel, we all broke into various sprints as people dismantled bikes to ship home, grabbed bags to catch shuttles to the airport, or simply got room keys for a much needed shower and nap.

a bunch of us all went to the mall of america, the largest mall in the world, for dinner and a 20-minute back massage as one of the mall outlets.  it was a last chance to relax, review and reminisce.  we all said our goodbyes and, just like that, it was all over.

tomorrow will be my last blog.  i need some time to take this all in.

day 24: la crosse to red wing, minnesota 101 miles

the penultimate day.  the ultimate century.  the last supper.  it's nearly over.

just came back from a farewell dinner with the riders and crew.  instead of the usual buffet affair, tonight we ate together in a private room at a local italian restaurant here in red wing.  after a summation of the tour from the ride leader (including the perfunctory "no, i'm not kidding.  you guys were the best group i've ever had the pleasure of leading.") and our usual evening instructions for the final day's ride tomorrow, we each were given a turn to say a few words.  we told stories and very funny and poignant anecdotes from the past three and a half weeks.  we were all presented with certificates of completion.  we laughed.  we hugged.  and we recognized the special experience we all had just shared.

i'll save the "what i learned along the way" for another day or so.

early morning on wisconsin highway 35 in the shadows of the bluffs

bluffs on the minnesota side at the river bend by bay city, 15 miles before today's finish

today's ride, with the exception of a nasty two-mile climb starting at mile 87 and an equally daunting headwind that popped up for the last five miles, was a relatively easy century.  mostly flat as we rode along the mississippi in and out of a dozen small towns, none with a population greater than 1000.  i actually rode through one town, fountain city, that i'd ridden through some 13 years ago during the twin cities to chicago aids ride.  was amazed as we came upon the town that i remembered it from the very brief time i was there so many years ago.

sondra "assisting" a turtle across the road.  hope she got the correct direction.

it was another beautiful day to see the bluffs along both sides of the river.  and, as has been the case ever since illinois, the local fauna has changed from armadillo road kill to live turtles.  and, thank goodness, most of them have been able to make it across the road without incident (and sometimes with our help -- hoping, of course, that we've placed them on the side of the road that they intended to cross).

a bald eagle in hiding in the branches.  wish i had telephoto on my smartphone.

we've also had a fair share of bird experiences.  i don't think i mentioned the flock of vultures that followed us out of st. louis the morning we were on the levee for many miles.  i thought it was fascinating as they stayed with us for at least five of those miles.  in the past few days, we've had several run-in's with local flocks of red-winged blackbirds.  according to those in the know, it's currently their nesting season.  as we ride near a nesting site, a sentinel blackbird will seemingly jump out of the brush along the roadside and signal to some of the males in the flock who then proceed to attack us.  seriously, there have been at least five incidents of these birds swooping down and hitting the helmets of some of the riders.  it's probably very serious to them, but it's both a bit funny and scary to the riders who see these birds coming at them in dive bomber formation.  also, as this particular area of wisconsin is raptor territory, we have been watching out for eagles.  once in a great while, we actually catch sight of one.

tomorrow's the big day.  starting to sort out how i'll get my bike back to the east coast and how i'll feel when this is all over.  for now, i'll settle for trying to get some sleep.

day 23: prairie du chien to la crosse, wisconsin 66 miles

what a beautiful day.  a bright crisp morning as we rode with the mississippi river on our left  and towering bluffs on our right.

river islands and bluffs along the minnesota side of the river

since we only had a 66-mile ride with only light rollers on a basically flat route, we had plenty of time to stop and smell the roses.  so lots of pictures today.

one of the many lock and dam systems on the upper mississippi

along the ride, we have passed a number of locks and dams from the central mississippi up to the northern sections of the river.  one of the largest was in keokuk, where the hydroelectric power used to light up st. louis.

must have been nearly a dozen trains driving by us today

we rode up much of highway 35 north all day.  it runs right along the mississippi all the way from prairie du chien into la crosse and beyond.  between the highway and the river are two sets of rail lines.  for most of the day, we watched quarter-mile long freight trains traveling up and down the river.

don't know if this can show the incredibly steep slopes of the bluffs on the wisconsin side

on the right side of the highway were a series of towering bluffs.  as opposed to the long, continuous line of bluffs on the minnesota side of the river, the bluffs on the wisconsin side were more like a series of camelbacks.  we'd ride along flatlands for half a mile, then boom, we'd come up on a bluff with incredibly steep slopes.  

an old marker from the black hawk war

a newer version of what took place 

turns out, the area we rode through today is also steeped in history.  the famous black hawk wars were fought here in the mid 1830's.  a very young abraham lincoln cut his military teeth during these battles.  

an alternative to the john deere tractor for the remainder of the trip?

yesterday, rollie, bill, john and i passed a horse-drawn carriage as we were sailing down a long, steep hill.  our assumptions of it being an amish carriage were confirmed a few minutes later when we passed through a small town with an amish store in its center.  today, we passed a set of carriages by the side of the road with their horses resting in the grass.  don't know if my photo clearly shows it, but there's a horse lying down between two of the carriages.

finally, today's ride seemed almost like a day off.  it was a pleasure ride up the river.  we finished in la crosse, riding down streets with some of the most beautiful houses (including, if i'm correct, two designed either by frank lloyd wright or one of his assistants) in this area.  it was a recovery day for my legs.  they still ache, but it wasn't an overly challenging day.  tomorrow, we ride our last century of the tour.  that will be the challenge.  but, with only 180+ miles to go, we'll get through it.

day 22: galena to prairie du chien, wisconsin 73 miles

yes, the name of the town means prairie dogs.  but the area is hardly prairie land.  more farms.

lots of farms dotting the wisconsin countryside

today was all about roller coasters.  all day.  up one hill; down one valley.  rinse, lather, repeat.  over 4400 feet of climbing.  it all started with an 18% climb right out of the hotel and calmed down to long, slow climbs throughout the rest of the day.  the last half of yesterday's ride (3500 feet of climbing) and all of today were not fun.  they were work.

final bike adjustments before heading out this morning

actually, it all started with a last-minute repair to my chain ring.  andy kaplan, our mechanic, was great at adjusting the tension on my cable, enabling me to shift easier as we climbed the hills today.

dickeyville grotto

not much on the ride except a religious phenomenon in dickeyville, wisconsin.  apparently, the dickeyville grotto, an homage to all this catholic.  all the apostles.  all the items used to build the grotto were found items from the area:  everything from sea shells to geodes (yes, this area used to be under the sea millions of years ago).

detail of the the grotto materials

i've been counting down the days to the end of this ride since sunday.  i'm feeling more and more weary about riding.  the miles have really taken it out of me.  i think it's a combination of the mental challenge and the physical fatigue.   we've got a little less than  250 miles to go and i'm looking forward to friday and the finish line.  three more days on the bike.  i'm sore, but i'll get there.

day 21: moline to galena, illinois 93 miles

oy!  part 2

you know you're in trouble when people make faces as you tell them you're biking to galena.  three different times yesterday, people at our hotel asked us about our bike ride.  they were genuinely curious about where we've been, why we were doing this and where we were headed.  whenever we mentioned galena as our final destination, we always got the same response.  it was never an initial verbal expression.  instead, it was always that kind of cynical smirk.  their eyes would roll, their mouths would purse, and their expressions would convey that kind of "oh god, you poor bastard" look.  "good luck with those hills," they would finally add.

galena is a small town near the southern border of wisconsin.  it got it's name and start from the lead mining in the area.  it was also the home of ulysses s. grant.  today, it's a beautiful little town with a perfectly preserved downtown area, dating back to the civil war era.

today was a case of two halves.  this morning, we spent the first 50 miles on bike paths along the mississippi.  and it was raining.

morning rains along the mississippi river bike path

this afternoon was sunny and warm. and all hills.  long, steep hills.  the consensus among the riders was that today was the hardest day we've had on this trip.  the hills were among the steepest and the longest we've climbed to date.  and we got hit, over and over again, with one hill right after another.

we climbed two 15%+ hills and one 21% killer hill right outside of savanna

there were some gorgeous vistas from the ridge line we rode on, but none of the pictures from my smartphone were able to capture the true beauty of the panoramas.  and, given my desire to finish before sundown, i didn't stop as often as i would have liked to capture some of those images.

silos outside of galena

tomorrow as we enter wisconsin, we'll have more hills, but we'll not be climbing as steeply as today.

galesburg to moline, illinois 57 miles

a relatively easy day with a few twists.  unforeseen road construction meant last-minute changes to today's route, but our detours all worked out fine.  nice sunny and warm weather when we left this morning.  not a cloud in the sky.  stayed that way for most of the day.  we even left much later than normal, not getting out of the hotel until close to 8:00 am.

we initially travelled through more cornfields and small towns.  i've missed so many great shots in the past as i was both riding with a group and hoping to get in before sunset.  as it was a short day today, i felt more comfortable stopping to capture some of the sights.

an old ad for a now-defunct cafe in the small town of viola, illinois

turns out, there weren't that many great photo ops today.  however, we did stop about 11 miles before the end of today's ride to partake in the blackhawk area fire prevention district annual firemen's fundraiser barbecue in the small town of milan.  the firemen were very appreciative of our stopping to eat (and "donate" to the cause) and amazed by the stories of our journey so far.

blackhawk area fire prevention fireman's fundraiser barbecue in milan, illinois

great barbecue chicken beat the hell out of another power bar!

the last seven miles of the ride were along a bike path on the levee on the mississippi.  great look at this bustling area.  moline is one of the quad cities (davenport and bettendorf on the iowa side; rock island and moline on the illinois side).  they all started as separate port towns on the only section of the mississippi river that actually flows east to west and are now one big metropolitan area called the quad cities.

we're staying tonight in moline at a very cute hotel called the stoney creek inn.  it's part of a small chain in four midwestern states.  very nice place.  based on the decor, you'd swear you were either in sante fe or somewhere in colorado.

yes, we do accept pets in the room

moline is also the home of the john deere museum.  i mentioned their tractors in the past.  apparently in 1817, john deere invented a type of, basically, self-cleaning (there's a more technical word but you get the picture) plow that revolutionized farming in the midwest.

tractors from the turn of the 20th century...

through the 50's and 60's...

to the future -- this one doesn't need a driver and can stop to avoid obstacles

this combine has air conditioning, gps navigation, telemetry and two cup holders (oh yeah, it can also pull in nearly 4 bushels of corn per second).  yours for a cool $750,000.

i was thinking about an alternative mode of transportation for tomorrow's ride