Day 50 - Monday, August 10 - Manchester to Portsmouth, NH

Our ride to the beach at Portsmouth, NH from Manchester was through mostly wooded areas. The roads chosen by America by Bicycle were very nice in most parts of America; those on our final day were no exception. They seemed to be upgraded roads originally built during colonial times. Stone walls lined almost all stretches of these roads. In many places these walls were upgraded by the current homeowners.

The current homeowners certainly do not appear impoverished. The roads we traveled were lined with beautiful large homes on very large lots. Many were new, but many were restored homes that appeared very old. I imagined colonists building crude roads and clearing land in the forest for some of these homes and for their farm fields. Many fields seem to have grown up with trees again. I can't imagine where the current homeowners are employed to enable their ability to support these beautiful homes....they must drive a long way to work.

We were requested to arrive at Rye junior high school in Portsmouth no later than 11:00 AM. The 50 mile ride was over quickly it seemed, although there were some significant climbs. Our long ride would soon be over. We met at the school for a final group picture and to begin a procession in a tight group to the beach at Wallis Sands state park.

Here we are bunching up behind the police car that supplied our police escort for the couple of miles to the beach. We were quite a spectacle in our ABB red, white, and blue jerseys on parade to the beach. When we got close there was quite a din as we hooted and hollered and whistled. Many onlookers joined in and gave us quite a welcome. I felt waves of emotion as we approached the beach - exhilaration and joy at having accomplished a great objective - sadness at its ending -
happiness seeing loved ones ofter so long on the road.

After removing our shoes and snaking our way to the water through hundreds of sunbathers, we dipped our wheels in the second ocean in 50 days. What a moment!!! Then we hoisted our bikes in triumph and joy!!

Here we are with our wives, Bette and Betty, and the sign that Ken's daughter Maggie made for him.

Describing the feelings that accompany the completion of a challenging goal like this is not easy. It was an incredible ride and I would certainly do it again if I somehow magically received a scholarship covering the cost and a time machine ticket for 50 bonus days. I accumulated a lifetime of memories and a totally new realization of the stuff God made us of; he did it as only He can. I thank him for the gifts of life, family, friends, health, and so much more.

Ken's final two cents worth: Well its over! Hard to believe, at first it went slowly but as time went on the days seemed to dwindle quicker and during the last few days you sort of wanted to push the pause button but there wasn't one. As Tom said I would do it again. I also would know better how to prepare for fifty days on my bike. It was a great time, there were certainly some tough times and some down days, but overall a great and very memorable experience. In closing, If you have a dream but haven't started pursuing it yet, I would encourage you to go for it, don't wait until it's too late. Also remember that no matter how large the task if you get up each morning and work toward accomplishing that goal you probably can no matter how insurmountable it may seem in the beginning. In closing when I look at the map of the this great country, "I can't believe I rode all that way, but I did".

Day 49 (Continued) - Banquet Night!!

We all enjoyed (visually and gastronomically) this congratulatory cake that the staff presented us.




"Slim Jim" reads tributes as master of ceremonies.





The trio from Great Britain impress us with their poetic skills.

Ann and Cindy presented awards to each staff member.

Chuck and Debora mock, in an admiring an admirable way, Mike Munk and Karen.

Day 49 was a long one! After arriving in Manchester having conquered some very significant hills (about 5000 feet of climbing and some of the steepest grades of the entire ride) our day was not over. Our final Rap Session was scheduled for 5:30 followed by the banquet at 6:30 PM. The banquet was a blast! There are many talented people in this bunch of riders: poets, comedians, performers, ad-libbers, etc. After dinner, there was an extended (at least three hours), often cacophonic, session where riders or groups of riders presented skits, poems, or whatever to relay their impressions of the great adventure that was culminating. There was great enthusiasm, emotion, levity, gravity, sincerity, thoughtfulness, etc. displayed. This was truly a life changing experience for all the riders.

An MC, Big Jim (now Slim Jim), read tributes that had been submitted on note cards. Some were humorous and some were very serious. I took this opportunity to pay tribute to my good friend Ken McGarvey who, in fulfilling his dream of a cross country ride, changed my life and enabled me to experience an adventure of a lifetime.

Finally, each rider was presented a certificate of accomplishment by the ride leader, Mike Munk, and given time to say a few words. Many were emotionally charged.

Ken says: I second everything Tom said above. The banquet was very memorable, but I wish I had a video tape so I could see it again. Tom's tribute was greatly appreciated. It is always very rewarding to introduce someone to your sport, especially good student like Tom. He is a great riding partner. And helping him pick out his equipment and prepare for this ride was also a lot of fun.

It was about midnight before we hit the sack....not very long before our 5:30 AM breakfast on our final day... the day we hit the Atlantic beach.

Here are some images from our wild banquet:

Day 49 August 9th Brattleboro, VT to Manchester, NH (210')

Today we entered the tenth (eleventh if you include a Canadian province) and final state, New Hampshire, of our big adventure. Its quite incredible as we look at the map of the USA and realize the distance we have pedaled!!





Climbing a mountain in some morning fog I spotted this cemetery in a small clearing in the forest. Although well kept, it is clearly very old judging from the tall thin headstones. The nearly black headstones were very different than I have seen and I left the place with an eerie feeling...maybe I was not welcome there!!??

Getting up the mountain higher I looked back to see the fog bank sliding down the river valley.

Here is another image of the beautifully clear but brownish water in these mountains.

Some of the farms are maintained in impeccable fashion and this is an example. Some have been in the family for hundreds of years and the owners are clearly intensely proud of them.

A flock of turkeys crossed the road in front of me and I shot this as I rode.

Although most of the trees are not large due to frequent harvesting, occasionally we saw stands of both conifers and deciduous trees that were huge. The forests must have been awesome for the original settlers to behold!

Each small town, and we rode through many, had proud white churches with soaring steeples. How they keep these steeple so white is beyond me.

Another big climbing day, shorter climbs but sometimes steeper. The main thing on most of our minds is that tomorrow is the last day. and I am not sure how I feel about that. We can't ride forever,but we are wondering how we transition back into our every day routine. we are in much better shape than when we started this ride, and we would like to maintain that but are not sure how we will go about that either. Probably our bodies need a short rest and during that time we can figure all of this out.

Day 48 - Saturday, August 8 - Latham, NY to Brattleboro, VT

Today we rode 79 challenging and exhilarating miles in near perfect weather. We climbed up green mountains and flew down the other sides. We crossed into our second to last state, Vermont, the Green Mountain State. Its mountains are certainly green and beautiful.

Its towns are chuck full of history and beautiful old churches like this one in Old Bennington.

The shopping areas in the town centers are vibrant for the most part and usually crawling with tourists; this makes riding amongst them interesting. There are many of these multicolored moose sculptures to be seen.

The streams are clear as any stream out West, but they have a brown twinge as compared to the green tinge in the West.

The woods are beautiful and dense in the mountains. Trees are not too big on average and there seems to be little old growth. The few areas I saw old trees showed them to be very large - both conifers and deciduous.

There are beautiful state parks like this one and I expected to see a moose at any moment here.

There are serene and clear lakes decorating these hills.

Here is what must be most bikers favorite sign. Not only does it mean you have reached the top, it also means you are going to get a big push from gravity in a moment! Our ride leader Mike Monk refers to this as "Truck on Cheese".

This is one of many well kept very old cemeteries we passed. Note the stone fence posts holding the gate in the stone wall.

The land here seems full of stones.

What a view we were rewarded with after climbing to the summit of Hogback Mountain. There are real mountains in the East!

Day 47 - Friday, August 7 - Little Falls to Lathem, NY (130' elev.)

Today we rode 73 miles to Latham, NY, which is just north of Albany.
We had another beautiful day with tail winds and temperatures in the low 70s. There is a wealth of history in this area. Indian Castle Church was built by Sir William James in 1769.







The early riding had stiff challenges with fairly long and steep hills, but the views at the top were worth it. We looked down on the Mohawk River valley and saw nice farms that enjoy these views year around. The ride down from the ridge back to the river was a thrilling several miles with the stiff tail wind.

I was surprised to see along the way this marker for Ossernenon. An impressive memorial marks the spot where Father Jogues and others were martyred and Tekawitha was born.

Closer to Albany and Latham we spent several miles on a paved, albeit somewhat bumpy from tree roots, trail. We enjoyed many views of the historic Mohawk river such as this one with dam and lock.

Day 46 - Thursday, August 6 - Liverpool to Little Falls, NY

Another excellent weather day and another great ride: 78 miles to Little Falls, NY with strong tail winds to help us along and mild temperatures. Fairly level farmland dominated the views as we left Liverpool (Near Syracuse). The farms were not as prosperous as we have seen in many areas. Big barns in various states of deterioration were common. This one was being used for few of the purposes it was originally built.

The land appeared to have been forest when it belonged to the Native Americans that were driven from it. Many areas are still boggy and forested. This little pond had the world's smallest chapel. The pond was completely covered with algae. Need a special retreat? It is available.

Significant chunks of land are devoted to orchards.

One of the many hayfields we saw had a small flock of wild turkey pecking around in it. This is a typical NY farm field.

Arriving at our destination, Little Falls, NY, we found a very unique and pretty town. It looked like a town in the mountains with all the hills and the Mohawk river running through it. Early in the life of our country, canals were built to enable navigation around the steep drops in the river in this area. Upgraded versions of this canal are still functioning in downtown Little Falls. It is great place to visit.

A huge surprise was an evening visit from Bette and Betty!!We got to show them first hand some of our routines and experiences and even explored Little Falls for a while.

Day 45 Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 Henriietta, NY (529') to Liverpool, NY (522')

Soon after starting our 93 mile ride to Liverpool, NY, we entered the Erie Canal trail. What a delight that was even though it was rough in places and usually unpaved. Although its condition varied significantly as we rode, near the town of Pittsford it was a beautiful sight. See the house boats moored on the far side and the scull parking after a practice run.

Note that the village of Pittsford was settled in 1789!

The commercial area in Pittsford along the canal was very attractive and unique. I have not seen anything like it.

Leaving the canal, we started seeing a New York with more hills and rolling pastures - beautiful landscapes.

Day four in New York if you count our arrival on Sunday, our day off Monday and now two days on the road. wonderful roads. Wide shoulders and for the most part in great condition. Some farming, but nothing like a few days ago in Canada. Just about 25% of the land is under cultivation. Much more densely populated than any place we have been so far.

Every night in the lobby of our motel the ride staff puts up a three legged stand with pertinent information about the evenings and next mornings activities (i.e., load, dinner, breakfast, RAP, etc) and also the map you see in the pictures above and to the right. this map shows the whole route in yellow and our progress along the yellow line in black. At this point with five days to go and standing in the middle of New York it is nearly impossible to look at this map and realize that we have ridden a bike that far.

Day 44 - Tuesday, August 4 - Niagara Falls to Henrietta, NY (660' elev.)

For a bicyclist the roads to Henrietta were great ones. They were relatively flat and there was a significant and sometimes strong tail wind. Also, the roads themselves were smooth for the most part and usually there was a shoulder. In New York we get to some of the older settled sections of the USA. This cemetery in the woods with its thin, flat, and simple stones is an example.

The huge, once proud but now sad, barn has now been replaced by the low sleek livestock production facility shown here also.

We also stopped at this wildlife refuge. It is locate in a low and flat boggy area that is not atypical of this part of New York. Apparently there is an abundance of waterfowl and wild turkeys among other wildlife in this area.

Although the barns are being replaced, there are stately old stone homes that are still well maintained. I have never seen one like that shown here where, instead of bricks, small stones were used to construct the walls.

This big cabbage field is an example of the vegetables grown in this area. We also saw big fields of green beans and many large sod farms. The soil is quite stony. I saw this during one of my corn field visits! The soil appears to be timber soil and looks more like clay than the black loam of Illinois.

Ken says: every morning it seems we have to ecape the city before we can really ride. This morning leaving Niagra falls we rode for seven and half miles through run down neighborhoods, glass strewn streets, and the occasional panhandler but we made our escape and the remainder of the day was great as we enjoyed all the things Tom has already told you about. some farming, great roads an pretty densly populated. Out West our escape from town may have been a half mile and only took two or three minutes, but toto is not in Kansas anymore.