The End of 2022 C2C

 Thursday May 12th

The ride was truly a total success.  Only 2 flat tires, one  occurring the 2nd day in California, in front due to a stone sliver in the sidewall and the other was a piece of exploded truck tire wire in the rear on day 4 thanks to a long ride on the shoulder of I-8 on the way to Dateland AZ.   And I did require a rebuild of the freewheel hub in Kerrville TX, no fault of the bike, just a maintenance issue.  So my 12 year old Custom made Titanium Independent Fabrication Cyclo Cross bike performed flawlessly.  My French leather bicycle seat was very comfortable.  No complaints from my body while on the bike other than a restless feeling whenever the riding days went later than around 1:30 PM.  You can sit and pedal just so long every day.

And having NO rain days almost made you forget that nearly constant head wind.  Our ride directions were provided by my Garmin GPS which was spot on for the entire route with just a few turn requests that didn't “fit” our route, and usually were confirmed by the pink arrows on the road provided by support staff.    

A few compiled statistics:  2,923 miles traveled.  My overall average speed was 14 mph.  Climbed an altitude of 71,702 feet.  According to my Garmin I burned 106,531 calories while riding.  This equates to about 30 pounds of weight gain  had I eaten all of that excess food while sitting in the shade reading a book instead of riding the bicycle.  Instead I appear to have lost only 5 pounds, so it would seem to demonstrate that calories in equaled calories out expended while riding.   This was not a recommended procedure if one wants to lose weight.  

Many of my fellow Coasters myself included had expected/hoped for a more scenic route as the first half of the ride was pretty boring and desolate if you aren't a big fan of the desert.  We saw very little flowering/blooming of cactus.  But that also meant dry riding conditions as those cactus and desert plants need water to flower.  At the halfway point near Kerrville TX, scenery changed and it began to look like the USA that we were familiar with.  The States of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were  a pleasant surprise, green growing things and roads that were less populated and much smoother than the first 1,500 miles.  I had never been to the panhandle of Florida, it was also a good riding experience except for traffic as we made our way around Tallahassee.    

It was a rather unique experience meeting 40+ riders in San Diego and then living in very close quarters for the next 52 days.  We came from many different life styles and occupations but all shared the same desire to ride from the Pacific to Atlantic ocean.  You make friends with new people and then upon reaching St Augustine Beach say goodbye and likely won’t see but a few of them again.  But those personal contacts were what helped all of us bike across America.  

Finally, thanks to my wife Martha for giving me permission to do this ride, not once but twice so that I could accomplish this and move on to more fun things requiring less preparation and planning and hopefully involving both of us going forward.  

I still like to ride my bike!