Day 88, First Simple Church Williamsburg to Yorktown Victory Monument, VA

Miles – 30

Miles From Start/To Finish – 4,165/0

Ave Riding Speed – 6-23 mph

Hours Start to Finish – 3.25

Weather – Mostly Sunny and 82

My alarm went off at 6am and when it went off, I quickly hit the off button, fluffed my pillow and snuggled up to it. I knew Kim’s alarm was set for 6:30am, so I figured I might catch another half-hour of sleep. Of course, I kept thinking about our logistics today and the time needed to get to our drop-off point this morning, so I got up and walked upstairs to the kitchen to make coffee for Kim and I.

One last time we went about our routine for getting out the door to ride including an addition to Team, Scott. Last night we mounted some smaller tires on Scotts mountain bike for a little more comfortable and efficient ride for him today. Kim, Scott and I made a team effort of pulling breakfast together. We had scrambled eggs, bacon and toasted bagels. After loading up our gear, bikes, cooler and snacks, we were rolling out the driveway a little after 9am.

It was perfect weather this Saturday morning and a great day for a bike ride. The sky was clear, the temperature was about 70 degrees and the humidity was much lower than what we’ve been experiencing lately. Scott said this is late September type of weather.

About 10:15am we pulled back into the First Simple Church Williamsburg, about 60-miles away, and Scott dropped Kim and I off, with our bikes and gear, in the church parking lot. Scott pulled away and headed east another half-mile, just across the bridge over the Chickahominy River, to leave his car at the Chickahominy Riverfront Park. Kim and I rode across the bridge and met up with Scott again. It may seem frivolous to get dropped off exactly where we finished yesterday, but it was important for us to ride every mile of the adventure. The 3 of us setout down the Capital Trail for 7-miles running parallel to Hwy 5 until we hooked up with the Colonial Parkway at Jamestown. The trail was very busy with bikers and hikers heading in both directions.

The Colonial Parkway was like riding through a magical forest. The concrete Pkwy was 3-lanes wide and there were no painted lines and very little traffic. 8-miles up we rode into Williamsburg and got a firsthand look at the restored, old colonial settlement of brick or white sided houses with white picket fences.

We continued out of Williamsburg on the Colonial Parkway. 10-miles down the road, with heavily forested trees on both sides of us, Josh, the guy we met back in Kentucky, came up on us with a couple college friends as they rode his last 70-mile leg to Yorktown. We chatted while cruising down the road and then they sped ahead. Our team pulled over for a quick drink of water near the York River. We quickly kept moving with 5-miles to go and Scott could see a little rain coming at us from across the river. Soon we were finally riding in the rain. The rain, or any bad weather, has held back for almost our coast-to-coast adventure. I felt like it was mother nature letting us know that she was good to us, but she wanted to remind us that she was still there.

It rained on us for about 3-miles and quit as we rode into the Colonial National Park. We pulled over to get our bearings at an intersection. Scott recognized the street sign name, on the corner, from the map we looked at last night, so we pulled out onto it. About 3-blocks farther, behind some trees that obstructed our view, we came upon the Yorktown Victory Monument and the finish line of our adventure at 1:45pm.

Reaching the finish line was a very odd feeling, or for that matter, Kim and I were not sure how or what to feel. It was almost like a “what should we do now?” and feeling a little numb. We’ve been concentrating and working hard on the day-to-day, to get us to the end and we hadn’t spent much time during the last 88 days thinking about actually getting there.

My old neighbor and friend, Patty met us at the finish. It was great to see her and we appreciated that she drove up from Virginia Beach to see us. It’s been over 30-years since we’ve seen each other.

Kim, Scott, Patty and I snapped some pictures and I called my dad to let him know we made it across America. My mom happened to be in his room so I got to touch base with them both. They have been very generous with their support and I look forward to seeing them when we get home. Kim got on the phone with her parents let them know that we arrived safely and thank them for all their support.

The Monument was on a hill next to the ocean bay and we didn’t think we’d get to ceremoniously dip our front bike tires into the salty water, but we found a road that went down to the beach and proceeded to get a feel the Atlantic waters.

Down the road a couple blocks was the Yorktown Pub where we leaned our bikes against the outdoor seating area fence and the 4 of us sat down for a couple of appetizers and refreshments and catch up. Patty was very gracious in driving Scott back to pick up his truck while Kim and I sat on a marble bench overlooking the river/bay/ocean.

Scott picked us up by the beach at 5:45pm. After a grocery store stop, we got home to Scott’s house about 8pm and unloaded. Scott fixed up some cheese tortellini with shrimp and garlic bread for dinner. Kim’s now in bed and I’m just trying to keep my eyes open. I think our minds are letting our bodies decompress as we work through the next couple day of tearing our bikes down, packing our bikes and shipping them home and packing our gear for our plane ride home on Tuesday.

We’ve received an outpouring of support through the entire adventure and today’s responses are overwhelming. We are so appreciative and thankful for it. Based on my bike odometer, Kim and I rode 4,165 miles in 88 days (including 12 rest days) across 11 states from coast to coast and our fundraiser for the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance is still going strong. Pretty darn cool.

We’ll need to let this sink in a little bit before reflecting on the adventure.

Tomorrow is a Rest Day…