January 21, 1999 - Six Months Later 551 Southgate Road to 400 Slobe Ave - .3 miles -1.5 minutes Temperature - mid 50s It has taken me six months to try to come to some conclusions about my cross country bicycle adventure or summarize my experience. I am no more ready tonight to take on that task than I was upon dipping my wheel in the waters of the Atlantic but the absence of preparedness did not stop me from riding across and it will not stop me tonight! He Thinks He Is Charles Kuralt The U.S. is a big place at 10 miles an hour. Very big. While my experience was crushed into 52 days, it has left me with a lifetime of visual snapshots and memories that refresh me every day. Riding 1000 feet about the Oregon Coast as the sun dropped below the horizon. Spending a half day cruising with friends Jim and Julie along the Mackenzie. Conquering Mackenzie Pass and the seeming countless passes beyond. Having dinner with Dale and Babette in Halfway, Oregon (hey...she WAS the first Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover girl.) Coasting with my friend Brad into the The Big Hole Valley of Montana after a healthy climb up Chief Joseph Pass with snow capped peaks all around. The Tetons! Reaching the highest point on the trip with my sister Wendy and my friend Marcus. The vast nothingness of Eastern Colorado and Kansas. My wife Kim bringing me much needed water in Kansas and coming to me crying because she thought she had lost me on the route (actually one of the more touching moments of my life.) The steamy summer beauty of the Ozarks. Riding across the mighty Mississippi. Crossing the Ohio River on a ferry boat to enter Kentucky. The stunning beauty and poverty of the Appalachians. The broad views from the Blue Ridge Parkway into the Piedmont. The grand history of Virginia. All of the above coupled with the unexpected friendliness and ease of almost everyone I encountered. If this trip alone were my last adventure in life it would have been enough. Always renewing me. Ride A Bike Become An Expert Because much of this trip was a solo one I was asked by many friends what occupied my mind most days. Lots of time to think, right? To figure things out. To work out problems. To find the meaning of life. Well....I DID have a lot of time to think and to figure SOME things out and to work on SOME problems and even to take a crack at the meaning of life. I even wonder some if my wife loved me! Mostly, however, I was able to occupy my mind by checking my route, keeping myself fueled, listening to the radio, watching my rear view mirror with a mind towards self-preservation. While dark thoughts crept in during inclement weather and too-long days, the bulk of my time was spent movin' along. I thought I might find the meaning of life spelled out in some gruesome roadkill. Like a smashed frog that spelled out: Plastics My Son! on the Missouri pavement. Or a plaster of paris skunk lawn ornament (with its' skunklets trailing), that spoke to me and said, "Quit your job, you schmuck. Life's too short!" Or the road maintenance workers that kept looking at my odometer and shaking their heads and saying, "Man..lookie that! On yur bike! All that way!"...but then adding, "by the way, your going get hit by a truck next February so hoop it up now feller." Well none of that happened. Instead I developed some numb hands (now healed) and a taste for top 40 music. I realized how I am kind of average and like it that way. I like most things just a little and a few things a lot and the bike ride did not tell me more than that. How Soon They Forget Selective amnesia has made the trip seem a lot easier than it was. Gone from memory (almost), are the arduous climbs, the lightning, crummy motels and rides into the darkness. Gone are the fetid bovine stockyards of Kansas. Gone are the painful numb hands of yesterday. And gone are the miserable headwinds of Wyoming. While all of that was quite real then, it seems like so much less now. The good stuff has pushed most of it aside. Don't Try This At Home Despite the tough times and the ridiculous pace I set for my older, larger frame, I would recommend it. In fact, I DO recommend it. Ride across the country. If you want some time alone, do it by yourself. You will live. If you want company, find a friend that wants to quit their job, or lose it. Take the family. Take at least 3 months, not the 52 days I did it in. Relax. Take days off. See the sights. Make it a real big vacation. There are lots of adventures you can undertake where you need to learn a skill or train for years. But riding a bike is easy. Don't spend too much time thinking about it or you WON'T do it. Right now, sitting here in my comfortable warm office, I want to do it again myself. So let's go! Thanks I want to thank everyone that rode with me, stayed in touch by e-mail, called me, worried about me, financed me, loaned me stuff, wrote about me and put me up for the night. I really appreciated it. I also appreciated all of you that donated money to the Arts effort. We raised about $15,000 and money is STILL coming in. It was a real big success and some fine local organizations will use it well. We did good but next time let's just have a little backyard thing instead. Oh No, Not Again In May of this year several of us are going to bike the coast of California. I never considered myself a bike enthusiast but I am beginning to like this stuff. Wanna come? Into the Sunset, Biking Bob