The day started, as most any other tour day, with lots of mayhem around the gear truck. People are sorting things, moving things, getting gear in and out of their shelves, and so on. Last night it rained, so the tent was extra wet as I rolled it up this morning. I wasn't the only one to comment to someone about this being the last time we were going to be rolling up a wet tent. I had a bit of extra time, so I unloaded my two laundry baskets and stuffed all my "shelf stuff" back into my large duffle, and put that on the shelf. I knew it was going to be a packed day later on, so it seemed a good idea to just get this pre-organized for later.
I headed out around 7am. I had considered riding with a group, but I knew that we faced a few big-ish hills during the first third (or so) of the ride. On my hybrid, I tend to fall behind a lot of these folks on their light road bikes when climbing hills. This makes "hill days" tough ones for group riding. So I started out on my own. Every now and then I fell in with some other riders, but we didn't stay together for long. After the hills, I hooked up with John DeVries, Ralph DeBoer, Jim DeGraaf and Rick Dejong for the remainder of the morning. Hmm, I didn't think to ask them how they felt about riding with someone who did not have a "De" surname...
We had a grand mood, and had some great riding. Once again there were some impromptu refreshment stations set up by some local folks along the route and it was fun to stop and chat a bit. We also found ourselves a deli/coffee-shop at one point to take a break, since we were well ahead of schedule. And in reference to my previous post, I will say that I noticed quite a few people along the route dealing with flats. I saw at least 4 different folks, including Eritia (she had 3 that day!), repairing a flat.
Eventually we rolled into the parking lot that was our designated staging grounds and we proceeded to mill about, hang about, talk, eat, and discover the distinct lack of restrooms...
Jen was there soon enough and started checking people in. They needed to verify that all riders were present and accounted for, before our scheduled 1:30 group departure time. At 12:30 they were going to start SAG'ing in anyone more than 10-12 miles away. We needed everyone present for this ride!
While we were waiting, Hans gathered together all the riders with Brooks saddles. Another rider (Sorry, I forget whom) had the idea of getting a photo of all the brooks saddle riders and seeing if they could sell it to the Brooks company. Worth a shot, and fun nonetheless.
And then they started gathering us all on the grassy slope to take a group photo. Jonathan Stoner, one of the media folks who accompanied the tour, did the honors
Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure more than a few folks are missing from the shot, as some folks arrived
just before the 1:30 deadline. That is really too bad, but this had seemed to be the best time to try to take such a photo.
And then we were off, 200 or so riders, taking over a full lane of traffic, stretching out for hundreds of meters, being lead by a police escort. There were 10 miles of ride still ahead, to the coast.
It was an absolute blast.
It was quite the logistical feat, as we started with the Kearns city police, and then were handed off to the Jersey City police, and finally the Liberty State Park police finished the escort.
There were lots of sirens and speeding cars as the Jersey City police played "leapfrog" with us. They would block off and intersection with two cars, and then we'd ride through, and then a few minutes later you'd hear the siren and a police car would scream past, half in the opposing lane of traffic, and jump into the next intersection and block it off for us. A number of were quite nervous about how close they seemed to come to the other cars. But it all went off smoothly.
Well, almost. Poor Kyle blew a flat when we were in the park, and true to what a number of riders had said, he just rode it in. I saw him later and he said it was an expensive flat, but he thinks the wheel is fixable.
And finally, the Atlantic.
Several folks got rather emotional at this conclusion to the tour. And a few got silly also, as you can see here as Brent DeVries waded right out up to his neck with his bike. I saw him swimming to the pier (in the top/left of the photo) later. I hope he took a good shower later, that water wasn't the cleanest!
And that is about the end of my photos. Heather has a few more I might add later. She met me there with our friends the Streelmans. My bike was loaded onto Pieter's van, and then we made the drive to Eastern Christian School where I retrieved my duffle from the truck. Then it was off to find a shower + change of clothes, and then Heather and the kids and I went to Midland Pk CRC for the celebration dinner and later the service. The meal was great, and we got to say farewell to many new friends. And unfortunately we missed many others as well.
The service was great, but far too long. This was recognized by one of the final speakers, but it bears observing: Many of us got up at 5am, and then we rode a challenging course of 100km, followed by a huge emotional event. Most of us were also pretty much used to going to bed around 9pm over the past weeks. Put all that together, and a 2hr service running from 7:30-9:30pm was, IMHO, not the best idea. I'll freely admit that I remember nothing of the main speaker/preacher, as my head was nodding and my kids were getting tired and fidgety. Unfortunately, my youngest, aged 4-1/2 and over tired, had a meltdown at the end and we had to leave immediately after the service and did not get a chance for more formal goodbyes to many of my fellow riders. That was too bad, but it is part of life.
We then had wonderful restfull weekend at our friend's place, lazed by the pool, ate and slept, and eventually made the drive back home to London, where we now sit.
As we drove in the garage it occurred to me that it was almost a full year ago that we made the decision that started me on this journey, and now it is complete.
We look forward to seeing what new adventure the Lord will lead us to in the days, months, and years ahead.
Blessings,
...art
