WE FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today was the fastest day of all. We woke up singing, making up words to songs, like "On the road again, I'm never gonna get on the road again, going places I will never go again, I don't want to get on the road again." We had what I hope is our last 6:15 breakfast at IHOP for a really long time, and then rolled out last from the hotel, just for old times' sake. The day was really easy-- mostly flat and well-paved roads, tailwind, easy traffic.
One of my favourite moments of the day was about 30 miles from the end. That's when I smelled the Atlantic Ocean. The end was near! The whole gang regrouped about 5 miles from the hotel on the beach, and we rode the last little bit together, just like we'd ridden out of Santa Barbara together.
When we rode up to the beach, we had to pass under a big Trek Travel Cross-Country banner. There was a DJ playing "We Will Rock You" on the loudspeaker, and dozens of people (some friends and families of the riders, others just hanging around the beach) were cheering for us and congratulating us. We got off our bikes, took off our shoes, and dipped our wheels into the ocean. We did it! And we still want to be married to each other! I think this bodes well for the future.
And now, we get to sleep for a really, really long time...
