We did it! 3581 miles later, Jackie and I pedaled into the Wake Forest School of Medicine. The mom was waiting with a celebratory bottle of champagne. It was a great trip. We arrived and showered before going to the Olive Garden and eating a ton of food. After that we headed to the REI to get the remaining items needed for the roof rack system on the sag. When we returned to the hotel, Jackie and I began installing the racks while the mom cleaned out the cooler and did a last load of our very stinky laundry. Jackie's dad arrived and we went out to eat downtown in his convertible. We had a very good celebratory meal in a great restaurant. It was hilarious how nice everyone there was. The hostess, our waitress, and the restaurant owner were all engaging and interested in us and our trip. They were suggesting places to live, and even giving me phone numbers of people to call when apartment searching. Yet again we were overwhelmed with kindness.
Upon returning, the mom and I snuggled into our beds. It is great to not be camping! Today the search for an apartment begins.
Some final stats from the trip.
The mom rode over 2800 miles with me from Portland to just south of St Louis. She rode her bike for 50 days (which come out to an average of over 56 miles a day). She is amazing. There is no doubt in my mind that given even five more days to do the trip, she would have completed it with ease.
Jackie rode over 1200 miles with me from Iowa to North Carolina. It was great to have her company along the trip. She definitely rode over some of the most difficult terrain on the trip, in the heat, all without a triple crank. Wow!
That is all for the trip. Thanks for following! The comments, emails, facebook messages, and phone calls were a lot of fun along the way.
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