I had a restless night.  Too excited!  Yes, about completing the last century (100 mile) ride but also to see Chiyo this evening.  I arranged a car to drive me to Isle of Palms to surprise and spend the evening with her.  In the morning, I will car back to finish the last bit to the Atlantic Coast.

Today’s 110 mile ride reminded me of my more youthful days cycling around Florida—mostly flats with occasional bumps with palmettos and palm trees sprinkling the landscape.  I took it all in, remembering where I started—not only in Santa Barbara but in my early teen years cycling. 

Until next time…long life.

It was hard leaving today.  A part of me wanted to stay in Asheville and it’s familiar surroundings.  But, there was a ride, actually four, to finish.

Our regular group of four rolled out at 730am taking an alternate route through Town Mountain onto the Blue Ridge Parkway–a ride I do regularly when in Asheville.  But, I wanted to be along with Austin and Jeff to point out certain things. 

I also learned in the morning that we were working with some time constraints as Austin had a 2pm teleconference call.  Nothing like a little challenge, something I thrive on as most know about me.  In short, Austin, Jeff and I throttled for most of the entire ride.  It is always good when the group is working to its individual and collective strengths toward a common goal.

We also crossed into South Carolina today, our last state.  I swear I can smell the salt air.  Okay, maybe I’m imagining the finish a bit too much but, we are close—very close!

Until next time…long life.

Oh yeah, we got Austin to the hotel with plenty of time to spare.  Jeff and I earned a few drinks from him for doing so.

Another bitter cold start however, it didn’t seem as cold as the prior day.  But, it was definitely foggy! 

Our group stayed together until lunch enjoying a leisurely ride into North Carolina, our next to the last state for this trip.  After lunch, with some significant climbing ahead, Austin and Jeff jumped ahead.  I tried to limit the damage on the hills and with the hills behind me went into time trial mode to catch up.  Fortunately they slowed a bit which contributed to the effort.

This was a nice gesture by the two of them given that Asheville is a sort of second homecoming for me.  At the day’s hotel, the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Western North Carolina was having an event, in part to welcome me.  I was also going to see and spend a bit of time with my son, Kyle, who goes to school here.  The three of us rode in together and enjoyed a bit of a celebration put on be some of the local people attending the event.

The time spent with family and friends was too short.  However, I will be back to Asheville in just over a week.

Until next time…long life.

Cold!  The morning and first 20 or so miles were cold—like upper 30’s!  I thought my face would freeze with a grimace.  Fortunately it started to warm up and by lunch I was stripped down to a t-shirt while eating…allowing my cycling gear to dry and air out a bit.

Our group stayed pretty much together.  Everyone was in the mood to simply chill (pun intended).  Again, the roads and scenery was very nice.

We crossed into the Eastern time zone—another milestone and reminder that the end is near.

Until next time…long life.

125 miles along some really nice roads coupled with some nice climbs.  With yesterday’s rest day I decided to work on power for some of the hills.  Felt/did okay. 

 The weather stayed somewhat cooler.  It definitely felt “fall like”. 

Until next time…long life.

The day’s 95 mile ride was a very nice one along less-traveled roads with touches of fall throughout.  I started out slow—aside from needing a good 20 mile warm-up I found myself pedaling “squares”, a term used to describe not having fluid, circular pedal strokes.  Needless to say, I was soon dropped by Austin and Jeff.  After a van stop to layer down, I found a good rhythm and soon could see them around a bend or over a hill before disappearing.  It was a good challenge to bridge back up and soon the three of us were riding, okay drilling, down the road.  At least until Jeff flatted—twice!  On the second time we found the culprit and were on our way again. 

 We arrived Nashville mid-afternoon.  Ah, a rest day—the last one for this trip.  Bitter-sweet for sure.  While I long to ride into Charleston, dip my front wheel and simply “be” with my girl it will be sad to leave the challenge behind.  What next? Keeps nagging at me…

 Until next time…long life.

Today was a pleasant 75 mile ride.  The day was overcast with the feeling of fall in the air with leaves fluttering on mostly back country roads.  There were a few climbs that were good to power train on.  The ride went by pretty quick.  Accommodations were basic “cabin-like” rooms.

 Until next time…long life.

Today was another century ride.  Aside from just riding with the group the only other thing I wanted to accomplish was a 20-minute time trial test.  Figured as the ride’s end draws nearer with each passing day I should start getting in some selective race training.  Not long after I finished the time trial test and met up with my usual riding group, we learned that there had been a crash in the other group. 

Apparently somebody tapped wheels, one person went down and cyclist behind them went over too.  Fractured elbow on one; busted lip possible mild concussion on the other.  Needless to say, upon learning of the situation the mood in our group went somber.   At our 60 mile lunch slightly more detailed information was available.  The spouse of one of the downed cyclists had cycled on so, our group decided to wait.  Upon the spouse’s arrival, the decision was to cycle on citing it’s what their mate would have wanted.  It seemed befitting to finish as a group.

I counted my blessings the last 40 miles of riding.  Having ridden about 2,500 miles and had terrific weather, rekindled good friendships while sowing new, reaffirmed love, discovered more self, kept healthy and reaped a lifetime of memories spun by the fabric of a great nation, I have indeed been blessed.  The road continues…

Until next time…long life.

After yesterday’s double “power hour”, today was a planned recovery day intended to keep power low.  It didn’t take much to do so.  At mile 10 or so we hit a gravel section of road for about 4 miles.  Of course, I flatted.  A second set of gravel at mile 40 yielded another flat.  Hey, that’s all part of it.

Being detached from the group allowed me to keep focused on the day’s intention, enjoy the scenery and allow my mind to wander.  All in all a pretty relaxing, and somewhat humorous, day.

Until next time…long life.

Today was billed as the third biggest climbing day of the cross-USA trip.  With a proceeding rest day, I decided it was a good day for some power training.  After warming up just over 10 miles I punched it—all systems were good.  After a quick water stop, I pushed power for an hour and was pleased with the results.  I tempo rode the remaining 10 miles to lunch.

After lunch and a warm-up, I decided to punch it again.  It is always good to get two comparative power intervals.  Again, I was pleased with the results.  Afterwards, I eased up and rode in with Austin and Jeff completing the 106 miles very comfortably.

The landscape was mostly rolling hills with nice vistas along lightly traveled roads.  Nice country-side.

Until next time…long life.