Done & Done! (June 14 - August 16,, 2011)

WE DID IT!!!!

And almost didn't... Our last day was by far one of the more difficult we've had on the trip. The forty miles we rode from Bucksport to Bar Harbor represented more rain than we have ridden in during all our days on the road this summer. It was raining hard enough that, if it weren't our last stretch, we would have holed up somewhere for the rest of the day. The roads we were riding on were particularly narrow, with no shoulder - or with a shoulder that sloped down to the right, making us feel as if we were going to fall over at any minute trying to avoid broken pavement and cavernous potholes. The rain does not seem to bring out the best in automotive behavior either as drivers appeared to find us a greater nuisance than usual and lost all sense of how to drive safely around cyclists.

The biggest impediment to our finishing yesterday was Jake's trike. If you read the last blog, you'll remember that it was making loud and strange noises. When we pulled it into the hotel room yesterday morning before setting out for Bar Harbor, we found out that the noise was caused by Jake's chain sawing through his frame! (Effectively enough that Jake is going to apply for a patent on a bicycle-powered chain saw after we get back). When we fixed his chain the previous day, we must have done something that caused it to rub against one of the aluminum tubes, hard enough to create a hole in the tube.

After much hand-wringing and woe is us-ing, we headed off to Hannafords for repair materials. The check-out clerks thought it odd when we left with a plastic container of soup, a roll of electrical tape, and a plastic whiffle bat. With modifications that MacGiver would have been proud of, we finally set off on the last leg of the journey. While the first repair job held, the chain ripped through the hard plastic chain guard (evidently children's plastic bats are more abrasion-resistant than plastic tubes designed to resist chain abrasion on trikes) and started making a second hole in another part of the tube. Fearing that Jake's bike would be sawed (sawn?) in two, making it really difficult to finish the trip, we had to effect repairs three more times in the driving rain before limping into Bar Harbor and making our way down to the Atlantic. The last repair also required Jake to ride in his highest gears for the last five miles of steep hills, just to make it more interesting. By the time we entered Bar Harbor, Jake was like a WWII bomber trying to make it back to its airfield with inoperable landing gear, one engine out, and a ruptured fuel tank.

But, make it we did. And one might argue that the accomplishment was sweeter because of the difficulties of the last couple of days (we wouldn't, but one might).

So, Jake and I did the water thing by negotiating down the slippery slope next to the town pier to place our wheels, and then ourselves, into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Sixty-three days after leaving the Pacific in western Washington we had successfully pedaled our way the entire way across the United States - 3,749.8 miles. Not a bad way to spend your summer, realizing a life-long dream while hanging out on a challenging adventure with your 17-year-old son. Right now I'm feeling pretty blessed!

Susan showed up to welcome us back as did Kelsey (my daughter). We hadn't expected Kelsey to be there, so it was a very nice surprise for both Jake and me. They brought dry clothes (made from natural fibers) and snacks of bread and cheese, and fruit. We are staying in a nice hotel with incredible ocean views - where the hotel staff sent us a congratulatory basket of sparkling cider and cheese & crackers. Life is good.

Stay tuned for at least one more blog where I will summarize some of the information about the trip and try to say thank you to the people who helped us make it happen.

Take care,

Rob & Jake