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.