Date: 6 September Thursday
No longer with the daily mission of riding 58 miles a day on average, I have found, on reentry into my Maine life, new missions. So many people have warmly welcomed me home and that has been a wonderful facet of returning. Some people have asked how my ride was and that has revealed that not everyone reads this blog. Some have posited that I must be glad to be home; certainly I am even though I miss the challenge of riding those 58 miles no matter what terrain, weather, drunken campers, etc. It is not an easy process to return from an expedition of this length and just fall back into the “normal” routine. I’ve been back just over 200 hours and, still, am not fully unpacked. I’ve noticed that it reminds me a great deal of moving a household. Everything is in boxes and has to be found. Then those things have to find their place in the domestic universe. This doesn’t even address the issue of what was left undone before leaving at the end of May.
After safely arriving last Wednesday, I was planning on attending the “official” farewell party up in Bar Harbor. The group officially ended the trip there, but I took my leave in Brunswick. There were 9 riders in attendance (one more had left hastily Sunday morning) along with Linda’s spouse (who flew in from Scotland), my wife (who flew in with me in our Prius from Brunswick) and Aede’s wife, son and daughter-in-law. Normally during the trip when we ate out at a restaurant (not often, mind you) Tim would announce our budget beforehand and it would float around the $10-12 level (which would normally get an entrée but not necessarily dessert). That night he set a trip record: our budget was $25 per person. Take note that we were eating in Bar Harbor, the second most sought after tourist destination after the Great Smokey Mountains so $25 just about covered a decent meal. Also note that anyone who wanted alcohol had to purchase that on his/her own. Bruce and Linda had organized some lists of things to share before the meal arrived. They had compiled a list of quotable quotes including, the now infamous “I’m the law” declaration by the drunk in Minnewauken, North Dakota, Gregg’s renowned “Ugh” at the sight of any hill from Michigan to Maine, Richard’s loud declamation at 5am the morning after our first day of riding that translated for family audiences would be something close to “The gosh darned bathroom is locked.” He used way more colorful and colloquial terms for the adjective and the noun. There were other good ones, like Aede’s “It is what it is.” This philosophical observation usually related to the fact that an upcoming day was going to be hilly and/or hellish and there was absolutely nothing anyone could do about it.
There were also recognitions given out for everyone on the ride that highlighted some character strength or flaw. Tim, for example, won the Packrat Award because of his propensity to accumulate stuff on his bike. On his rear rack he had been carrying a ratty-looking broken cooler with the phrase “Bar Harbor or Bust” On the left side of his bike he was always carrying our juice pitcher and it often had strange objects inside: a shirt or a bottle. The awards were comical, kind and enjoyable. Soon after, the party was finished and people spoke of travel plans and reunion ideas and the like. Susan and I drove back to Brunswick. I felt that now, except for some fund-raising that remains, the ride was complete and successful.
Speaking of fund-raising…I have to find another $150 to reach my goal of $30,000. Please go to www.mainelung.org/pledgejohn.htm and give generously. In truth I have to find 10 people willing to give $15 or 5 willing to give $30. Certainly the drive this year is a little like Maine Public Radio’s in that it doesn’t stop until the goal is reached. Thank you in advance for whatever you may give. I do have to thank all 402 people who, thus far have so generously given $29,850. I thank them for their financial support for the American Lung Association of Maine certainly. There are all those people I have to thank who supported me in other ways: emails, phone calls, or letters. Along the way there were innumerable people who gave generously of their time or their home. This gratitude extends even to those who gave small things, like the farm stand in New York who gave me a free cold drink because I was on a bike. The participants this summer often spoke of the kindness of strangers and how we always found it.
Even though I spent 87 days (though in truth only 78 of those days were actual riding days) on the road, bicycle riding is still an integral, important and enjoyable part of my life. Since I’ve been home I have been on a few rides. These have been incredibly enjoyable in large part because I’m no longer hauling 50 pounds of stuff in a trailer, but also because the weather has been that kind of climate I have always loved in Maine: crystal clear skies, moderate temperatures, sun and tolerable winds. That special clarity and shimmer that one can see at the shore when the waves sparkle with the reflection of the sun is an aspect that has been present this past week and is just one of the things I sorely missed about being here. An interesting thing has happened on these rides: During the ride this summer, when there were many miles to go and the going was difficult, I often visualized riding one of my favorite routes here in Maine (Brunswick, Bowdoinham [with a stop at Town Landing for coffee and fries], Richmond [with a stop at the Railway Café and the ice cream place for extra energy] and back. It would help to imagine that I was riding along Route 24 and that it wasn’t that far to the end. Almost always that visualization helped through difficult terrain and long stretches. Now that the ride is done and I’ve ridden that very route that I describe, I find myself remembering and visualizing those routes I was on in the summer.
It still is an experience that requires getting used to again…I’m speaking of speeding along the road in a car at 45 miles per hour versus moving along on a bike at 10 mph. Somehow something doesn’t feel right if I drive somewhere. Each year after these expeditions I make the equivalent of a New Year’s resolution to ride more and do more errands by bike. This year will be different than the last three because I will do just that. Really.
