Day 37 (6/28/09)

Again, Joe Kaehler will be the guest blogger accompanied by Tim Rohrbaugh to recap the next to last day. I was met by my wife, oldest daughter, Sarah, and my three grandchildren at the end of today's ride. Understandably, the last thing I want to do is make a blog entry. We rode 92 miles at a brisk pace under skies that threatened to rain on our parade. Fortunatly, it didn't and we made it with neither sunburn or wet britches. Again, take it away Joe ...

The pen is mightier than the spoke as Tim and Joe relieved Sam of his blogging duties for the final night. Sunday morning welcomed us to cool temperatures of 60 degrees and a day of promising weather. Our uneventful breakfast at the Best Western Cavalier was just that other than Jere woofing down his customary five hard boiled eggs as an appetizer. A quick rundown on the bikes for maintenance and we then loaded up the bikes on the truck to return to yesterday’s finishing point in Palmyra, Virginia. On our way to Palmyra riding along Interstate 64 we saw a hot air balloon pass above us. Our first support stop of the day came at mile 29 in Mineral, VA as our volunteer support team of Sharon Rohrbaugh and Marlene Steinour showed their hospitality by filling our bottles and feeding us healthy nutritious food. A communication error at this stop had the cyclists and the support crew just a few hundred yards apart and not able to find each other. This supports the theory that men are from Mars and women are from Venus!

After this stop we cycled through the nice Virginia countryside with minimal competiton from vehicles and an ill attempted chase by three dogs that were left in the wake of four cyclists on a mission. As previously arranged we again met the female support crew at noon for a lunch break. Just as we were finishing our meal a few raindrops started to fall, so we jumped on the bikes and took off for our final destination in Mechanicsville, Virginia. For the remainder of the trip, the rain never materialized. At mile 72, we arrived in Ashland and met up with Tim’s daughter, Jana and boyfriend, Mike. We were back in civilization at this point as the traffic increased significantly. Pulling into the parking lot at the Hampton Inn in Mechanicsville, completing the 92 miles for the day, we were greeted by Sam’s wife, Gretchen, his daughter, Sarah and his three grandchildren, Avery, Beckham and Cohen.

Everyone enjoyed a fine meal at the Outback Restaurant and went back to the hotel to prepare for the final day of the trip, Day # 38. All systems are go for the grand finale as Tim, Sam and Jere are determined to dip their wheels in the water at Yorktown, Virginia as a sentimental ending to their cross country journey.