WE DID IT!!!!!

Day 66: Portland, ME to East End Beach (in Portland)--5 miles


We MADE IT!!!!! And Here's to Tom Maddox, our inspiration and brother!

We spent a little time in the morning at the Ives home, saying good-bye to Mindy, Russell, and Bonnie, and getting organized. David even managed to help Cliff put up a gutter at the house! But I was getting pretty anxious to be on the road, so we left at about 8:30 in the morning.

We got on those bikes, and I felt like I could have ridden up a cliff to get to the Atlantic. Fortunately, the ride was mostly downhill or flat, and was very easy! I had a hard time wiping the smile off my face during our ride, and probably swallowed a few bugs while I was whooping and hollering in celebration every few minutes on the way. We were both a bit in shock that this would actually be the end of our ride--and really excited that we were really getting it done!

We got to the bridge where we caught the bike path and there it was--the Atlantic! It just had that unmistakeable smell of salt water, and I was really happy to recognize it because we hadn't smelled the ocean since May 23rd. We went along the trail, basking in our ride and of course, sweating like pigs because the humidity and heat were already on the rise! We stopped a couple of times to take some pictures on the Eastern Promenade--just beautiful! And then we came upon the East End Beach. There was a group of kayaking students there practicing paddle strokes on land, and some trucks bringing in more sand (evidently they had a bad storm in April that washed away some of the beach and the bike path). Of course, I didn't immediately see the path to the beach, so David had to direct me! He focused right in on that and I had to hurry to catch up with him!

We dragged our bikes through the sand--luckily, not more than about 50 yards to the water. David stopped short of dipping his tire, and tried to get his camera set up or to find someone to take the picture. I waited a few minutes while he looked around, and then suggested that MAYBE we could dip our tires and then re-enact the picture when the people wandering the beach got up to us??? Thankfully, he agreed (I was nearly bursting to dip that tire) and we simultaneously dipped our front tires in the Atlantic and then had a cheer for ourselves (and a high five and a smooch). The two men walking up the beach finally reached us and took our picture, and we just stood there for a few minutes. It was hard to believe we had run out of easterly road--and that we were really DONE!

In a bit of shock, we pushed the bikes back up to the picnic area, and just sat there for a few minutes feeling a bit emotional. The feelings were coming from all over--pride, excitement, sadness that it was over and Tom wasn't physically there with us, thankfulness for all the blessings we received on this trip, and some confusion of what to do next. So we did the best thing we could think of--started calling people to tell them where we were! We kept the cell phones hot for about 30 minutes calling folks.

After we called our family members, we decided it was time to make a move--after all, David hadn't eaten for almost 2 hours! We rode up into the Old Port area and had a coffee/chai break with some granola, and then did all the errands associated with coming home. We took a very expensive trip to the UPS store to ship the bikes and much of our gear. Then we took just the gear we would need for the night and started walking around Portland. We found a great place for a lobster (yes again--how often are we in Maine?) lunch and spent some time just looking through the journal and talking about the trip.

On the way to lunch, we saw a group of demonstrators from the Congo who were protesting the genocide that is happening there. They were all refugees from the Congo who had escaped maiming or murder. As we were talking about this, we both were feeling pretty emotional about the whole situation--injustice and treating other humans without respect. And we were once again reminded of Tom Maddox, who traveled the entire world from Mongolia to Europe, and managed to make friends everywhere without confrontation. He looked for the best in others, and that is part of his great legacy. And he wasn't afraid to speak his mind and demonstrate when he didn't agree with what was happening in the world or in our country. In my opinion, that's what made him a great American--he took advantage of his right to listen and his right to speak out. Both are important. And he didn't let one day pass without learning something and trying to gain new perspectives on life.

Although we will have a follow-up blog with thoughts, I think it's important to capture part of Tom's legacy here. It's not the 3,600 miles of cycling that we have just completed--it's the adventure we have been on every day for the last 66 days (and more). The value of the adventure is to give ourselves new perspective, and that's a big part of Tom Maddox's legacy to us all--to remind us to explore, learn, and make our own informed opinions based on what we see and experience in this wonderful world.

Thanks to every one of you reading this--you have been so supportive. So many of you have prayed for our safety and success that we felt blessed every single day. And every comment on the blog and on my email has bolstered us and made us feel like we could really accomplish our goal. Never underestimate the power of good thoughts and well wishes. They made a difference for us! Finally, each of you who made a donation to Bikes Not Bombs for Tom's Ride has made a personal difference in the life of an underprivileged person who will get a bicycle to ride and will learn to maintain it.

Our love to you all, and check back for trip stats and final thoughts!