Woke up in the model and headed to take advantage of the continental breakfast. Today was the last day. We were just less than 70 miles from the coast. For the last time I loaded up my bike, checked I had enough water, strapped my helmet on and pulled on my gloves. Getting out of Eugene was a bit tricky as there was a bunch of construction. I left before my group hoping to do some self-reflecting and meditation. However just outside of Eugene I ran into someone walking along the road who flagged me down. He looked kinda rough but after meeting hundreds of people over the last two months I asked him if he was okay. He claimed he was lost and asked to use my phone. Contrary to his appearance his voice was friendly and he seemed really desperate. However I was still hesitant so I told him I would call and put him on speaker. I wish I didn’t. This guy called his friend to see if he could get a ride because he was lost. His friend said he was out of town. The lost guy suddenly lost his mind and started screaming at my phone. At this point I started getting somewhat nervous. The guy on the other line hung up and I said I had to get going. I gave the lost guy some of my candy, a cliff bar and a bottle of my water before getting the heck away from him. I kept glancing over my shoulder for the next couple miles before I pulled over and waited for my group to catch up to me. I wanted to ride the last day together. I didn’t have to wait long and soon we were all in a line. The road inclined slightly but getting over the coastal range was nothing compared to the last 56 days. Along the way we stopped and picked more blackberries. I ate so many I knew if I stayed I would make myself sick. I still couldn’t get over how many were just growing on the side of the road.

Moving on the scenery changed drastically. Soon we were covered with a thick green canopy. It was surreal and the miles melted away. I scarcely believe that this was the last day, the final miles. One of the coolest parts of the day was riding through a tunnel. You had to push a button before entering that let cars know there was bikes on the road. We screamed all the way through it for good measure. About 15 miles away from Florence we stopped to refuel on ice-cream and water. Time seemed to be on fast forward and soon we were counting down the last 10 miles. With each mile we screamed and shouted the number.

9

8

7

6

5  I can smell salt

4 I don’t think I will be able to stop smiling

3 It seemed like we were still screaming 4

2 I can see the town

1 I would give anything to add two zeros to this mile marker

I didn’t want the Florence welcome sign to be real.

Mark and Brent’s family were meeting us on the beach so we stopped at a small deli in town to arrange a meeting place. Soon we were off biking the 4 miles to the actual ocean. Florence was such a cute town, alive with activity that would be expected for summer. Suddenly the Pacific Ocean loomed in front of me. I have never been to the Pacific Ocean before. It seemed cold and harsh compared the Atlantic Ocean. A fog was rolling in making everything elritch-ly. It was exactly like I pictured it. Pushing our bikes through the sand we had the most wonderful welcome. Mark and Brent’s family had this huge banner and drew a picture in the sand. Mark’s wife made us this custom t-shirts and Brent’s Mom gave us American flag towels. I knew I had a crazy grin on my face and probably looked a little wild but I didn’t care. I had made it to the coast. Every struggle over the past 57 days didn’t matter. I ran into the ocean despite it being freezing cold. Evan dumped all his gear in the sand, lifted his bike over his head and ran into the ocean as far as he could. Everyone kept laughing and hugging each other. Over the last few days I have tried to define what feeling this was. I have never experienced it before therefore I don’t have a word for it. We broke open a bottle of champagne and took turns taking pictures of each other. It started lightly raining so we headed to the parking lot. Brent’s family were kind enough to give me a life to the ‘Shippin’ Shack’ where I said goodbye to my bike. We decided to get dinner one last time before saying goodbye. Dinner came and gone and it seemed like everyone wanted an excuse not to say goodbye quite yet so we decided to get ice cream one last time. Unfortunately it didn’t prolong the inevitable forever and soon we were standing around with empty cups. I tried my hardest to memorize this last moment. The way we were standing. Together for the last time. Many hugs were given and tears shed but all too soon we were waving goodbye as the Nicholas family got further and further away down the street. Brent, Evan and I went back to Brent’s hotel room with his family. They were nice enough to let Evan and I shower and reorganize our gear before heading back into Eugene via taxi. Standing outside of the hotel we became smaller as we left Brent standing there.

Riding back to Eugene was strange. It had taken us all day to ride the 70 miles but only an hour or so by taxi. The driver kept trying to talk to Evan and I but I was so tired I only made a halfhearted attempt to answer his questions. Getting to the airport I realized that I had 16 hours before my flight left. Evan’s flight left a little earlier than mine but it was barely 10:00am. The Eugene airport was small so we found a corner and rolled out our sleeping bags. I doubted I was going to get much sleep but I might as well been comfortable. Evan and I talked about the trip and what we were going to do now.

(This next part probably belongs in my secret stories I’ll tell later but oh well)

Not much later a couple comes over to us and asks if we are okay. They were horrified that I was planning to stay in the airport for the next 16 hours while I waited for my flight to leave. And then the kindest thing happened. They offered to drive us to their daughter’s house and then back the next afternoon. At first I said no as I had no idea who these people were. However Evan and I had no interest in sleeping in airport. Apparently their daughter, Rachel, had biked the Great Divide trail. After getting to her house I pretty much went straight to sleep. The next day I hung out with Rachel and swapped stories of our trails. She gave us a ride back to the airport and 16 hours later I began the 18 hour journey home. Let me tell how how strange it felt to make it back to the East Coast in so little time. 

I have delayed writing the last couple days while I think of the perfect words to say. While I try put the emotions in order or rather try to identify them. I’m sitting here a week later and still I do not understand what I did. Or why I did it. People ask me what made me want to bike across the country and I don’t have an answer. Because I can? Because I didn’t have anything else to do? Because I like riding my bike? Because it sounded cool? Maybe all of these and maybe none of these. I doubt I will ever truly find out why. All I can say is I would do it again without thinking. I would drop what I’m doing to grind up another hill, face the blistering heat or a frustrating headwind. The worst day biking would be considered my best day now. Now I feel like there is this expectation of me. What am I going to do next? How can I make my life exciting and adventurous enough to compare to this summer. And my answer is this:

It doesn’t matter what I’m doing. I refuse to accept that this summer will be the most adventurous thing I will ever do. It’s up to me to make everything an adventure. After this trip I realize that not everyone is going to agree with me and that’s okay. I know (or at least have a better idea) of what I want to do with my life. I would have been a fool to have been swayed against riding my bike across the United States. As for what I’m planning next: I have some ideas. I’ll keep you posted 😉

I’ve been asked if I would ride my bike cross country again and the answer is a YES!!!!