Day 44 miles: 50, Day 45 miles: 20, GRAND TOTAL: 2,808
By bike:
Leaving Matt and Jess’ was great to get on the Cap trail. So far this was the best trail I had done so far with paved roads, signs to cross the road, and great scenery. It rained shortly after I had started the ride. However, it felt different than day 1. I simply didn’t care that it was raining because it always gets better, always. The sun always shines and I will get dry feet sooner or later.
Capital Trail
I would definitely ride this route again. It was quiet and a great way for me to gather my thoughts about where I had come from this trip.
Mile markers like in North Dakota sans 80 mph cars whizzing past.
The last day was rather emotional as it was the end of an amazing journey. I remember saying I would never do this again but as I write this final blog entry 6 weeks later, I would totally do it again. I learned not to make excuses in my life and to truly focus on what’s important–people. Life is so short and I was fortunate to accomplish this adventure now rather than waiting for it never to happen.
People ask me why I did this trip. Honestly, I don’t know, even now. But I’m glad I was able to reset my mind from all the hoops I kept having to go through from college to fellowship. Lauren and I want to do more adventures that stretch and reset our lives. Our bike trip it isn’t over. It’s just begun.
Beer cans outnumbered soda cans 5:1
By car:
Day 44: Matthew had a slightly late start to enjoy breakfast and coffee with me, Jess, and Zori. Once Matthew took off, Jess and I relaxed with Zori for a bit and caught up. We grabbed a quick lunch together and hugged goodbye.
I drove down to meet Matthew at the end of the Cap trail and we enjoyed Williamsburg for a while. We wanted to have a final date night to spend time together reflecting on our summer. If you’re ever in Williamsburg, we both highly recommend Culture Cafe! Unique dishes, tasty drinks, and excellent atmosphere. Matthew enjoyed one of their slushy drinks while I had one of their summer special cocktails.
We both were feeling giddy at the thought of reuniting with family tomorrow. Matthew and I are lucky in that we have the most supportive family out there who really knows how to rally! Their cheers, words of encouragement and shared excitement have helped to further affirm our goals and boost morale.
We planned to get up early to ride along the Colonial Parkway, which connects Jamestown to Yorktown. This road is closed to large commercial traffic and is made of river rocks set in cement, so it’s slightly bumpy. We wanted to beat most of the weekend summer tourist traffic, so the goal is to finish by 9:30am tomorrow.
Day 45:
THIS IS IT! With both of our alarms set, we bounced out of bed, put on our biking clothes, sipped on some coffee and took off!
I LOVE my bike. I never took the opportunity to express my love for cycling. As mentioned in the introductory post of this blog, Matthew and I were not cyclists before this. Although I haven’t biked across the country, my appreciation for the cycling community and admiration for this type of outdoors activity have skyrocketed. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve suggested new bikepacking ideas to Matthew that we both could enjoy.
And what a lovely ride it was.
This part of Virginia is beautiful. It was common to visit Jamestown as a kid through a school field trip, but to see this area by bike in the morning just brings an entirely new level of peace and appreciation.
We received text notifications from family members that they were arriving to Yorktown Beach. My dad and stepmom were still on their way, so we decided to take a break off the side of the road until the entire family had arrived. With all of the support we’ve received, we didn’t want anyone to miss out on the ride to the finish line!
Once we got word that the entire family was there, we took to the road for the final time. The last 0.5 mi was a pedestrian path that follows the coast. As we slowly pedaled our way towards the beach, Matthew and I looked at each other. I reminded him of how proud I am of him and his accomplishment. He shared his pride and appreciation around my support and endless assistance throughout this journey. Together we could finish this epic summer adventure.
In the distance we could hear the cheers of our family waiting for us. I was surprised to see hand crafted signs, snacks, leis and a beautiful bouquet of flowers with them!
Here are close ups of the signs and people behind them:
My hilarious brother and sister-in-law with their amazing jokes
My wonderful saint of mom
My amazing aunt Julie with a sign in honor of this blog
My astute uncle Phil- reminding us of the warnings we received from our new friend Ben back in Spokane!
My super supportive and great cheerleader aunt Karen!
Matthew’s incredible parents with the most beautiful bouquet!
After hugging and cheering with the family, I walked with Matthew to water for the traditional tire dip to mark the end of our journey. You might want to turn your volume down before playing this video–my “WOOOO!” might jolt your ears awake.
Matthew invited the family to join him on his final morning snack routine of Doritos.
This was before we all met at Shorty’s Diner in Williamsburg. Matthew and I spent breakfast sharing memories with our family, answering questions, and getting updates on their lives. The amount of love and support that exuded from them all was overwhelming. It’s easy to feel undeserving of this amount of love, I think we both were stunned!
The breakfast ended with a surprise cookie delivery courtesy of my aunt Karen:
Karen pointed out that she wasn’t sure what the red splatter beneath the bike was supposed to represent…
Now that Matthew and I have returned home, we find ourselves reflecting a LOT. We sent text messages to all of the new friends we had made along the way. Mark, the cardiologist we met in WA and the man I drove over the mountain after his pedal broke. Jim and Moss, the 70 year old men biking across the country (Jim doing this for the second time!) Ben and Breanna from Spokane. Jon riding his bike solo with muscular dystrophy and his wife who took us out to dinner in Milwaukee.
*Update: I received a text message from Jon’s cousin. On August 22, Jon and a friend of his, Mark, were riding their bikes along a back road in Michigan. It breaks my heart to share that both Jon and Mark were struck by a car- a distracted driver. Mark required surgery, and Jon was in and out of ICU. As of today, 9/25, Jon has made significant improvements and is back home with his wife. Mark was transferred to University of Michigan but was also showing improvements! Thankfully both Jon and Mark are still able to move around and heal.
Jon’s family was able to get the transportation team to roll Mark by Jon’s room before they transferred Mark to UMHS. This was the first time they got to see each other since the accident:
Jon finally going home:
I would also like to make another personal shout out to a man named David Edgren. David is the man behind the Facebook group “Bicycling Across the United States.” Because of David and his Facebook group, I was introduced into the world of bike touring. I saved his information around training and packing. He provided me and others with excellent resources, and gave us a place to share our journeys. David and Matthew started their cross country bike tour on the same day, and I looked forward to his blog updates, as David also looked forward to ours.
Someone shared in the group that David was found lying on the side of a gravel road around the 30th day of his bike tour. It turns out he fractured his spine and sustained a spinal cord injury, resulting in paralysis from the shoulders down and the need for a tracheostomy with permanent vent support. I was in shock and my heart breaks for him and his family.
The members of the FB group have announced a plan to finish his bike ride in his honor. There’s a chance we might ride a portion of it with some other FB members next summer (rail trail portions).
I am unbelievably proud of my husband and relieved that this journey was completed without injury. We had our scares- like the time Matthew took a horrible alternate route into the Okanogen National Forest, where he ended up trespassing and was alone in the middle of nowhere. Or the time he was about to descend down a steep mountain when a freak hail storm had hit, but thankfully I was there to change plans after a terrified woman drove up in her snow covered car!
We’ve learned a lot about ourselves and each other. Some of our views have changed around goals, capabilities, expectations and basic humanity. More people want to help than you might ever realize.
If you have followed along, thank you for keeping up and supporting us! We really hope you enjoyed our journey as much as we have. Echoing Matthew’s final thought: our journey has really just begun.
No Jobs, No Home, No Worries. A Shared Journey by Bike and Support SUV Across the U.S. 