Day 49: He Made It!

The Atlantic Ocean at Revere Beach in Boston, MA

(In case any of you were in doubt that he could handle the last 18 miles. A rough day. Around mile 11, one rider turned around to another and yelled, "Hey So and So [because I was and am on so many migraine meds and the name is lost to me], you'll be happy to know the day's half-over!")

Edited Sat am to change the word "Pacific" to "Atlantic" a few times, because the Pacific Ocean and Massachusetts are not, in fact, along the same coast. Hey, I said I was medicated! (Oops.)

[Photo B: Gil coming into the first main stretch headed straight for the beach; that red car really mucked up my shot.] Our family, being anal and warned from local family (yay Amy and Mark!) about the traffic if we didn't leave early, left about the same time the riders did this morning. (Basically the deal was that if we left then, we'd be very early; if we left later, we'd be stuck in traffic. Some of us - particularly the drivers - being fairly anal, we left early.) Which would up being a very good thing - we did alright with the CrossRoads-provided directions until they had us turn left onto Hutchenson towards the end. Well, none of us noticed the left turn because you couldn't go left - there was a raised median, grass, and guardrail in the way of that left turn. Then the road that sounded Revere-Beach-like (Revere St), which happened to be right after Hutchenson, was detoured. If one turned around and found Hutchenson, they came across a closed bridge due to construction (at least I believe that's what happened; it was our other car. The police there, being Boston police and appreciating my aunt's Red Sox cap, stopped traffic and let them cross in the wrong direction). Both of our cars made it to the correct spot at the same time, from opposite directions on the street, both having stopped to ask several people for insights along the way. We were a bit concerned about being in the wrong place - we were the only people there and it was 8:20; we'd been told they'd ride in at 9 am. But eventually other people trickled in, and we saw their Ryder van - carrying all their bikes back - and a CrossRoads employee.

[Photo C: The second main drag, parallel to the beach, where they crossed what the guys in front deemed to be their finish line - a cross-walk - and headed towards the beach. Gil's in there about the 5th from the right in the blue helmet.] They stopped all the riders at mile 13 to wait and ride in as a group. They rode in about 10-15 minutes early (8:40ish), and not a lot of family members seemed to be there for the initial ride-in. We know from talking to at least one group that part of their party was also having serious issues finding the place, some due to several rotaries along the route and some likely due to the "left turn" and detour/construction. (Combined with their early ride-in; leaving at 7:30, we couldn't imagine it would really take them an hour and a half to ride 18 miles given the weather and route.) I'm not sure how many families missed the initial ride-up, but the family support seemed more complete later at the beach. Bob, the Pile Driver who had to leave the tour mid-way (to avoid giving himself permanent issues with his pre-existing injuries), was able to come out and meet everyone in Boston. Was great to get a chance to meet him.

[Photo D] As they came down the last stretch towards the beach (perpendicular to the coast), the CrossRoads van stopped and held them all up until the group was complete again to ride in together (see photo B - I did have a reason for labeling them!). Got some great video and photos of Gil, since we'd nicely agreed he would be at the back of the pack and therefore easy to find (RJ had the video camera today, but Dad was still taking some pictures of the group). Plus he has a distinctive gorgeous blue helmet (gorgeous blue, not gorgeous helmet) and some feathers in his cap, much like Yankee Doodle. That's my dad! Was a great moment as they all rode up and around the curve to round the block and circle back to the beach.

As they rode in the final drag, parallel to the coast, there appeared to be a lot more family members and friends than had been across the block to watch their initial entrance a few moments before. (This could have been because those walking to the beach from the parking lot may not have been there when we were alerted to cross the street to see them, but were there waiting where they made their second appearance.) They all stopped and ditched their shoes (photo C), then made their way down the beach with their bikes. (We were fairly disappointed that no one rode down the stairs to the beach on their bikes; we were ready for that with the video camera.)

[Photo D: Dad and Tony, his almost-constant riding companion.] They all made it down to the beach and got in with their bikes - wheels dipped in the Pacific back on May 12th and the Atlantic today (first picture on page, top and center). Then Dad led a small group into the actual water (so that's why they took off their shoes...). He claimed to not be cold about 20 minutes later, after posing for various pictures, but mentioned that could also be denial (and adrenaline). (We were all in long pants and light jackets - or heavier jackets and hats in some cases. So I imagine it was fairly chilly for him.) The family has quite a mess of digital pictures (from...three cameras? Possibly four) and video. I've only seen the obnoxious number from my camera (I just set it to take pictures every second or two, figuring everyone would look good in at least one of each "scene"), but we have some definite winners.

Gil came home in the car with us (the directions home worked fine, and it was uneventful) - we stopped at the McDonalds by the hotel, where I believe he consumed about three meals plus an apple pie or two. It may have only been two meals plus the pies, but he went back up to re-order twice. Lunch at a somewhat nicer establishment a few hours later with the family plus his roommate Richard - he, Mom, and Dad are on their way to retrieve his significant other from the airport as we speak. [Edit: They are now hopelessly lost on the way home, after being mildly lost on the way there. Detours and darkness don't go well together.] Apparently Boston Logan had some serious delay issues tonight as well (we heard from several riders waiting for calls from arriving family), and she couldn't get a cab out.

[Photo E] The banquet and "awards" ceremony for the riders and their families tonight was very nice - the CrossRoads leader encouraged all of the riders to go easy on us buffet-newbie guests and maybe NOT eat all the food before we got any. She also encouraged family members to listen to tour stories and expect a readjustment period (possibly with periods of sobbing for the days of the tour) at home after they leave their CrossRoads family and little cocoon that doesn't resemble real life in the least. She mentioned to the riders that they should perhaps start consuming under 8,000 calories a day. All of the riders got some recognition or story of sorts; Dad was the guy who made the trip fun even in inclement weather and brought some truly questionable items home to the hotel with him. (Could she be referring to the maggot-infested raccoon tail? We are SO happy not to be taking that home on the plane with us. So, so happy.) She spoke very flatteringly of him last night (which he may not tell you but I will) about, among other things, learning a lot about enjoying the experience from him. Jerry, the 80 year old (apparently repeat) rider on tour w/ his grandson, was gifted the CrossRoads map with their route filled in (as they went) and everyone's signature along the line. (Unfortunately, BEFORE I got a 5 megapixel picture of it...) Then after the dinner and making the rounds to the other riders with their families, our group and several other riders and their companions went into a room off the lobby set aside for the group (where all the bikes were packed up earlier to return to their homes) to watch some raw video footage. (Five men, at least two with some excellent A/V knowledge, and it took the 24 year old female - yours truly - to suggest changing the input to AUX.) Everyone really seemed to enjoy it, and we've been hearing some excellent things about Dad from other riders. (He, in turn, has only flattering things to say about his fellow riders - there's a story for almost everyone we've met, and most of them we'd already heard something good about during the tour. In particular, he's said that the women on the tour made up a lot of the strongest riders; the several we met tonight were mostly consistent front-of-the-pack riders.) Seems like a very well-gelled little family.

[Photo F: Dad and Richard, his wonderful roommate] I'm sure Dad will have his own account to add, but we wanted to give a run-down of the day and assure everyone that he made that last ride! (Today would so not have been the time to be hit by cars - not that there's ever a good time for that - or suffer a debilitating injury.) Several people asked tonight how long this blog will be up; as far as I'm concerned, indefinitely or until Dad wants to take it down, which I can't imagine much reason for. We certainly have no present plans to delete it, though I think we'll save it to disk for him. I don't see anything in the blogger account info about blogs being removed due to inactivity; it would have to delete his entire google account (and possibly mine, which won't be happening since the account is quite active, and Mom's as well) to do so. So I think it'll remain here, safe and sound!

Their TOTAL elevation gain, entirely self-propelled: 90,043 feet. Damn. (How tired does that make you feel?)

This may be my last post (WOOHOO! Not that it hasn't, uh, been fun.), but I'm guessing you can expect an account of today/this weekend from Dad either tomorrow or once we're back home. So expect at least one more post in the next few days!

CrossRoads 2007: The Atlantic Ocean
Gil's first on the left in the second "row" - blue helmet, feathers and all, in hand
Look how much hair he has!!