Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Final Words

Eric

What an amazing ride!  Highs of the trip included the beautiful scenery every day which was different in every state, and the kind and helpful people we met along the way. Lows included a near constant worry of traffic from behind (and distracted drivers), dogs who barked and chased us in Kentucky, and litter along the roadside. I could have not asked for better traveling companions than Gloria, who was our courageous leader from behind, and Michael, who was a navigator extraordinaire - always concerned about the safety and well being of everyone who was riding.  It was great to have so many people join us along the way to ride and to give us SAG support.  I am also very fortunate to have a boss and co-workers, and a patient and understanding fiancé, who gave me the opportunity to take 3 months off to do the ride.

Michael

I can’t say enough good things about my co-riders for the whole journey and our guest riders who visited for shorter periods.  Gloria and Eric were exceptional travel companions the whole way.  While Gloria and Eric made the journey delightful, the additional people were the icing on the cake.  I don’t know if Gloria and I would have made it to the end of the extremely long or extremely hilly days without the assistance of the SAG drivers who carried our gear on so many days.  (In case you are wondering, Eric was a stronger rider and would have been just fine without someone driving his bags.) While I originally estimated we would carry our own bags/panniers for all but three weeks, I could not have been more wrong.  I think we had SAG drivers for all but 3 weeks!  I thank each and every one of you!

We were grateful not only for our SAG drivers, but also for the many riders who joined us for segments of the ride.  Each rider was different, but all of you were a delight to have along the way.  Thank you all for joining us!

My favorite memory is probably racing to catch my brother Tim on an uphill as we approached a rest stop where Denise had the last of her mom’s unbelievably scrumptious chocolate chip cookies.  I had raced out of breath to pass Tim and was parking my bicycle when Tim just rode up to the cookies and grabbed them without even bothering to get off his bike.

I have innumerable fond memories of the kindness of strangers that warmed my heart… from the 2 different places where an individual offered the use of their homes’ bathrooms when they heard of the need… to the numerous people who offered us food or water along the way… to the store clerks who welcomed us in their stores in the rain…  to the many one person restaurants where the waitress kindly waited on us, cooked our breakfasts, and then filled our water bottles without missing a beat… to the gentleman who passed us, then stopped and came back to offer us Gatorade or water at the top of one of the huge hills… to the many people who stopped and asked us or our SAG riders if we were OK.  While we wondered about how welcoming some people would be in the middle of nowhere, we met almost nothing but kindness.   Only a very few people were upset that bicyclists would even consider riding on their roads.

We saw deer, antelope, elk, moose, and bison all out in the wild along with skunks, chipmunks, ground squirrels, eagles, osprey, tanagers, and many other birds I could not always identify.  I loved having knowledgeable people with us who could help identify the birds and wild life.  I loved the raging white capped rivers of the west that accompanied us in Oregon, Idaho, and Montana as well as many of the much calmer streams and rivers as we moved east.

While I wasn’t so fond of the steep uphills, I loved racing downhill especially when there were few cars and fewer curves.  It is hard to beat a 12 mile downhill run.  I had hoped to top my 46 MPH record from out west in Kentucky or Virginia as I knew the eastern hills were steeper.  But the eastern hills were always too curvy or too rainy to ride anywhere near 46 MPH.

I admit I was pretty stressed out when Gloria was hit by the driver looking at his cell phone.  I only hope people who use their cell phones while driving will reconsider this practice.  The dangers of bicycling with cars makes me want to advocate for bicycle only lanes.  If other countries can make bicycling such an important part of their infrastructure, so can the United States.

Even in the middle of the Gloria’s accident saga, we were consistently cheered by the kindness of strangers.  We had only met Jayden a few days before, but Jayden was the one who took immediate action when Gloria was hit.  One couple who was flagged down by Jayden stopped on their way to church.  The lady stayed with Gloria while the husband drove up to tell me and Eric what happened.  The sheriff, fire, and EMT first responders were all professional, kind, and polite.  Even the person who hit Gloria was honest enough to tell the sheriff he was looking at his cell phone and speeding.  The first fireman to respond was also the one who drove home to get his truck and trailer so he could drive to Wichita, KS with our four bikes after the ambulance took Gloria to the hospital.  And two days later a Rotarian drove four people and four bikes to where we should have been on our schedule just because he was nice and we needed help.  We have benefited from the kindness of strangers at every turn.

We also lucked out on the weather.  I never felt that we were in a dangerous weather situation the whole trip.  We only had a few days with a lot of rain.  We had many days of less than an hour of rain when it was threatening to rain all day.  But that threatening to rain kept the temperatures down.  We were very happy to have potential rain and clouds instead of 100 degree days.

While Gloria was a little concerned that Bob was not doing such a great job looking out for her on this trip, I thought he did an awesome job steering the weather around us for 90+ days in a row.  This summer there were fires, earthquakes, and floods in places where we traveled…. but never when we were there.   Thanks, Bob!

And thank you, Bob, for all your contributions to our family, Gloria’s and your family, your CDC family, and especially to the human race for all your work to eradicate polio.  We love you, we miss you, and we look forward to hearing your stories again… hopefully in the distant future.  You have definitely helped to make our lives greater!

 Gloria

Ten years ago, Bob fulfilled his retirement dream - to bicycle across the country, while raising money for Polio Eradication.  Even though work and time constraints prevented me from joining him for the entire trip, it was still one of the most memorable times of our marriage.  The idea of retracing his path became a dream of mine and the Ride Across the USA in memory of Bob Keegan was born.

Throughout this trip, Bob was never far from my mind.  We stayed in some of the same places (and sometimes the same room) as we had in 2007.  Each time a group joined us, we reminisced and told stories about him.  I hope Bob heard us.  He was my best friend and the love of my life.  I'm so thrilled that I was able to have this amazing experience in memory of an amazing guy!

I was lucky to be able to share this trip with two other pretty amazing guys.  I cannot thank Michael Keegan and Eric Mast enough for all the support and encouragement they provided throughout the past 3 months.  I absolutely could not have done it without them.  Map Master and Superman...you are my heroes!

I echo what Eric and Michael said about the beautiful scenery and the kindness of others.  It was truly wonderful!  If I could, the only things I would have changed about this trip would be (3 bullet points - Bob Keegan style):
  •  No accident in Kansas
  • Bike trails all the way
  • No rain at all
I know...really wishful thinking!

This bike tour would not have been the same without all the other people who joined us to SAG, ride or just be there.  My favorite memories were the visits from my children, and I would especially like to thank them; Lauren, for driving us around Oregon and ensuring that the trip got off to a great start; and Marcus and Stacey, for "holding down the fort" in Atlanta and keeping me from worrying about bike supplies and business stuff.  I'd also like to thank my neighbor, Harold Vogel, who retrieved my mail every day and insured that urgent matters were brought to my attention; and Virginia Swezy and her family for looking after my house.

In addition, huge thanks to:

Sue Gerber and Hector Alvarez
Anne and Ray Thompson
Bill Mahoney and his staff at New Day Bakery in Eugene
Elizabeth at Catbird Rest B & B
Brent Burkholder, Deb Cannon, and their friends, Valerie and Max
Tom, Tim and Sean Keegan
Tom Eng
Denise Johnson, Tootie Johnson and Trina and Mike Kreyehagen
Linda DeWaay
Anne-Renee Heningburg and her friend, Lesa
Alicia Keegan/Siler
Craig Shapiro
Jeff Mast and wife
Kim Mast and wife
Megan Rock and her mother, Pat, and uncle Danny
Carl & Tinbet Tinstman
Elias, Tuda and Zaki Durry
Carol Pandak and Steve Dahlman
Jayden Sampson
Eric Eakins and the Rotary Club of Wichita
Eric Mast's sister, Ann and husband, John
Brent Wolff
Yinka, Alex and Adrianna Kerr
Debbie Deppe & Keith Siereveld
Margie & Dan Watkins
Steve & Paula Yoon
Kathy Cavallaro
Karen Evans & her friend, Debbie
Ron & Bibi (Evelyn) DeSciora
Hamid & Zainab Jafari
David Keegan
Pam Moon & Jennifer Ballew
Linda and Joseph Keegan
Steve Wassilak & Barbra Fite
Rachel Maloney-Hawkins
Rachel & Olivia Powers
Pat Barner and Bob Randolph
Adventure Cycling Association 

And to everyone who was not able to join but who supported and encouraged us through Facebook, texts, emails or comments on the blog...many thanks to all of you as well.  Your words meant a lot! 

In the beginning, each time I saw an uphill I would groan - they sometimes seemed truly insurmountable.  As time went on, I realized that if I just kept peddling (however slowly), I could make it up most of those hills. "Keep peddling and ride on" seems like a great mantra for life!

Many of you have asked about my next adventure.  For once, there are no "set in stone" plans for me - I'm just going to go with the flow and see where it takes me.  As Bob used to say, "Life is great - enjoy the ride!"

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