7/26/14

DAY 29 - THE FINISH

Well-fed and well-rested, we woke up to a great breakfast at our (last!) hotel and hit the road pretty early.


We knew we wanted to hit the beach at around 11:30, which meant we'd have to get moving quickly and take few stops. Luckily, the roads were pretty calm as we found our way through the suburbs west of Boston. The temperature and wind were perfect for the last morning of riding and the scenery, while more familiar, was beautiful.


With the adrenaline building and our bike computers tracking the mileage, we took only one break at around halfway back to Boston. The 30 miles seemed easy, and we were even surprised by Don's mother's cousin, Janet, who was waiting for us on the side of route 117 at the perfect place to stop! She flagged us down and gave us some bottles of cold water that were very appreciated.


After meeting her, we continued along 117, passing under I-95 to route 20. The territory started looking very familiar to us from our rides around Boston that we took before the trip.


As soon as we hit the Charles, we knew we were close to home and started hitting landmarks that reminded us how close we were. The Pru came into view, and we rode alongside the river before crossing into Boston on the Mass Ave bridge.


Straight down Mass Ave to Boylston, we took a quick stop for a photo in Copley Square and then were on our way to Southie and the beach!


An enthusiastic welcome party awaited us right at the end of Broadway, and we rode past the statue straight to the beach. Our welcome party was happy to follow us down, and took some wonderful photos of us at the water.






We're happy we made it, and thankful for all the support that we got along the way from everyone. The people who hosted us at their houses were all so terrific, and the people we met along the way made the trip even more fun and exciting. And the support from afar - whether it was phone calls, comments on this blog, encouraging text messages, or even asking a friend to let us stay at their house along our route - we appreciate all of it. Thank you!

18 comments:

  1. Spectacular! Well done! And huge congratulations to all three of you!

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  2. Melanie7/26/2014

    Welcome home!!

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  3. Great job all! So glad you all got home safely from a trip you will never forget!

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  4. Maggie7/26/2014

    Welcome home!! I've so enjoyed following along during your adventure; this blog was one of my first 3 visits each morning! When's the next trip? ;)

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  5. Chris Tessier7/26/2014

    Welcome back! What a journey. I will miss my nightly blog read and updating your progress on the big map at Ocean Springs HQ. One of my Mississippi patients just returned from South Dakota, when I mentioned your trip, she described to me your shirts having seen you in her travels. It really is a small world. Congrats!

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  6. We salute you all! Enjoyed meeting the full squad this evening at the S2B party. Hope to see u all next year. Ciao Mark & Mary

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  7. Glad y'all made it home safely! We enjoyed following your adventures!

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  8. Congratulations and welcome home. What a remarkable accomplishment! I am going to miss being stationed at Command Central. I felt like I was on the ride with you. Can't wait for the next one!

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  9. Congrats!! I'm going to miss reading about your daily adventures! The one takeaway I have from this trip is how nice and generous people can be to strangers!
    Hope you have a relaxing weekend!!

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  10. Congratulations! Will you ride to South America so we can keep reading bout your adventures?

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  11. Congratulations on your amazing accomplishment. Best wishes!

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  12. Congratulations Don. Barb Resnick, Becky and I have been following your tour from Portland. We're impressed.

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  13. OK, What is next? We need your next adventure to look forward to. Oh, just wondering, who carried the tent?

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  14. Anonymous7/28/2014

    Congratulations! Welcome home!
    Geneva

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  15. Welcome back! I read this blog all month. IT was great!

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  16. Anonymous7/29/2014

    Congratulations gentlemen; very impressive! Wonderful blog, too; I feel like I know all of you better. :)
    Can't wait for your next adventure!
    Peter B

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