Day 48, SUCCESS! Washington D.C.

BEST: Finishing the ride without contusions, broken bones, strange communicable diseases, and with my bike intact.

WORST: Dropping my sunglass mirror in the urinal.

MOST UNEXPECTED: See best above. Actually getting here is amazing.

First, I added pictures to the last three days to go with the stories. Second, I forgot to mention we had our riders dinner where Laura from Seattle presented awards to some of the riders and the support staff. Surprisingly, I did not win a major award. We did receive appetizers, one free drink, and dinner. I also ordered a fantastic peach crisp for dessert made with fresh peaches.

On to today. We still got up and loaded the truck at 5:45 so we could make sure we arrived in Washington D.C. by 10:30. Seemed like a bit of overkill. We did get there way before 10:30 after biking by the Lincoln and Vietnam memorials. The ride was 42 miles long on a slightly hilly course. After 30 miles, we got on a bike/running trail which was over run with users. This was probably the closest we came to getting hit by either bikes passing on the other side of the road, or runners swerving. It was pretty humid as well which made my closeup makeup run. As a result, there were no TV interviews.

As I mentioned, we arrived early in D.C. and were treated to a wonderful Greek lunch in the old Post Office building. We then waited forever until we were released at 12:00 for our ceremonial arrival about 2 blocks away at Freedom Plaza. I screwed up my entrance by making a wrong turn to go around the block instead of a hard turn to go through a human tunnel. We then received medals (not gold) and a certificate of completion. We also got a gift bag that for some reason included juggling balls. I guess next time we cross the country on bikes we are expected to juggle.

After a brief celebration, we followed the truck to our hotel to unload our luggage, then to downtown Georgetown to send my bike back to Fremont. Finally, we are done. Now it is time for sightseeing for the next two days before I go home to the couch, drink beer, watch the Olympics, and observe my weight go up to 200 pounds.

The pictures below include a picture of my arm sleeves getting thrown away after wearing after 45 straight days of riding (They did get cleaned every week) the very large Greek lunch, and a picture of a bike with one of last year's big riders.

I plan on writing a final posting after I get home to check in with my original expectations, and final thoughts, which would seem to indicate that I actually have some. I'M DONE!