Day 32, May 24 Keene, NH to Salisbury Beach, MA
Data: 124 miles Riding time 8:09 (15.2 mph avg)

They saved one of the best bike rides for the last day! Up to the lunch stop in Manchester, at mile 77, the mountain scenery and back country roads made it a true highlight of this trip. We had super-steep hills during the first 20 miles, then "regular-steep" hills for the rest of the mountains to Manchester (it was the third-most climbing of any day on this trip).
There also was a lot of internal congratulations among us today. Here I am "holding five" with Scott up a hill early in the day, to share our feelings of accomplishment.

Another highlight this morning was having Chuck and Martha Martin at the 28-mile rest stop to cheer us on. Martha brought homemade brownies for us, which she made after our dinner last night. They were yummy!

We again had rivers running next to our roads much of the time, with waterfalls and lakes and pretty springtime flowers. It truly was one of my favorite rides I've ever had. There were "Moose Crossing" signs, so I kept looking for them and twice ran off the side of the pavement to my right, in front of the Hammers and Karen, whom I was riding with at the time. How embarrassing.
In the middle of the forest, I also noticed this railroad car in back of a mountain home. I slammed on my breaks and turned around to go capture this unique sighting. What made the owner want to bring this here?

I commented to other riders about the churches -- how each of the little "villages" we passed through on these country roads were tiny little towns, yet had about five or six beautiful churches. And many had the exact same statue out in front of a Civil War soldier, to honor their locals lost in that war. Here's one of them in Antrim.

After the lunch break, I rode with Pam most of the rest of the way. We got to ride along a huge, beautiful lake, with no one water skiing on it -- can you believe it? The scenery along the various roads was nice, but the road had a fair amount of car/truck traffic, and also was newly paved; the little "asphalt pebbles" pinging around the bike was kind of strange.

As we got closer to the end, we just wanted to reach the staging area a few miles from the beach, where we agreed to wait until all riders were in so that we could ride to the ocean together. Pam and I got there long after others, but I still had time to eat two ice cream treats from the convenience store. It was actually pretty hot. People were already congratulating each other, and some were getting emotional. The tour leader had written "Smell the ocean" in the bike lane just before this stop, and it got us finally considering our accomplishment. Here are a few of us at the convenience store - Geoff, Steve, Guenter, Bob Long, and Victor.

Once AJ and Dave arrived, we all rode the final few miles, lined up in our matching America By Bicycle jerseys. We looked pretty cool, and passers-by randomly cheered for us. There was no talking, as I think we were all lost in our emotions. Along the way, we couldn't actually see the ocean due to the rise of the sand between us and the beach. We finally made the turn, saw the ocean, and a big crowd of friends and relatives cheered wildly for us. It's hard to describe right now the emotion I felt, but it was one of those special moments I'll not forget. I'm the one with my fist in the air.

Once we arrived, the celebrations began. The mood changed from pensive to festive (but later back to pensive). Pam and Vic even dunked themselves completely into the ocean. We all, of course, had our "victory" photos on the beach and in the surf. First, my beach shot.

Then, my surf shot, with Greg and Kasper (whose wife and son were there from Holland!).

And we also all had our pictures with our front wheels dipped in the Atlantic. I had about 10 of me to choose from with all the photographers out there, and here's the one I chose.

Here is my friend James Keast, who had worked with me in my Nestle role of safety officer for promotional toys. We had even taken a hike together once to visit the St. Francis Dam disaster site north of Valencia.

Eventually, the beach party ended and they put my bike on the van to take to a bike shop to ship home. The somber mood returned for some of us -- for me to be sure. I got this picture of Rob reflecting on what he has just accomplished, and it matches exactly what I was feeling. In fact, I had been sitting for a few minutes in this precise pose before I saw Rob.

James drove me to the car rental place 30 minutes away, toward Boston. Annette flew in and took a taxi and met me there. We zoomed back to the motel, hurried a shower and went to the banquet that already had started. It was a nice evening, as we said our goodbyes and congratulations.
Staff ordered a big decorated cake for us.
Our table included Dave and Sandy Thompson, "Berkeley Bill" and his wife, and Geoff. We received certificates of completion, and then said a few words. I feel a sense of accomplishment, but also I can just say I had 32 fabulous bike rides with the support of the staff to make them great.
And here we are in our final group shot. I am just to the left of center in the back row. I'm getting emotional again just looking at this photo...

My final odometer mileage was 3,540 miles for the 31 days of riding. That's a daily average of 114 miles. I loved it all, and am sorry to see it end.