Almost exactly one week ago, the Ride Against Hunger came to a glorious conclusion as we dipped our front wheels in the Atlantic Ocean near Portland, Maine. The last day of riding was magical and thrilling as we rounded a final curve on a bike path running next to an interstate highway and first saw the beautiful Portland Bay, sail boats and all in panorama in front of us. Joe and I could not contain ourselves. We started yelling, whistling and in every way we could find, expressing the deep satisfaction, joy and probably exhaustion as our ride was coming to a completion.
But it got better. As we came closer to the conclusion, we saw a group of people that seemed larger than our few supporters waiting with balloons and huge smiles awaiting our finish. The welcomers were Cindy, Kathy, Joe's brother, Bill and his family, and a few others who simply wanted to see what too old guys who had just ridden across country would look like. They all welcomed us in a way that made me feel like we had just done something very significant. OK, it wasn't the Tour de France, but for Joe and me, it was a close as we will ever get.
One young man came up to us who had been very vocal in his welcoming. He said he had ridden across the country a few years back, that he had finished in Portland, his home town, and had been welcomed home by his mom who said, "Welcome home, what do you want for dinner." He said that was not an adequate response for someone who has just ridden their bikes across the continent. I agree. The welcome home somehow needs to recognize the size of the accomplishment...and in Portland, the celebration was perfect in every way.
After showers and a brief rest we went out for a wonderful lobster dinner and continued the celebration amidst incoming e-mails and phone calls from lots of people congratulating us on the completion of the ride. I was grateful for every call and e-mail message. It meant we were never alone, that we had taken a number of people with us as we travelled across the nation. It felt very good.
But what are my reflections after a week? Has there been a "let-down". Are we still living in the "glow" of the ride? For my final blog I wanted to see if I can respond to some of these questions.
First, some reflections on the ride.
1. The Importance of the Ride Against Hunger. Many times as we rode across, people would ask, "Why are you doing this? Are you doing it for some cause, or just because you wanted to do it?" I would always answer, "Both!" And that was the truth. I have a passion for biking. I absolutely love working on them, teaching people about them, and riding them. Traveling by bicycle for me is just the best way to go. So for two-plus months, I got all the "fun" I could handle...and loved every day of it no matter how hard (or easy) it was.
But I also have a passion for people who are suffering from hunger or food insecurity. I think it was because as the director of Catholic Charities in Stockton, I saw the faces of friends, people I came to know and care about, who were standing in long lines to get a small box of food to feed themselves and their families. It is very hard to understand or explain why in the Central Valley of California, (or in the world where there is plenty of food for everyone) one of the most productive areas in the world, has so many people who are poor and/or hungry. It simply should not be. And so my Ride Against Hunger was for them; to use my passion and love for biking as a way to meet another passion...to feed those who are hungry.
The final numbers are not in, but it looks like the Ride will raise $12,000 or so. Frankly, I was hoping for more, but I am grateful for every dollar that was donated to insure that people have enough to eat, and I thank everyone who made a donation to this cause.
2. Disappointment at Losing Tim and John Viall. Tim is a very good friend of mine. He is the director of the Stockton Emergency Food Bank. We cooked up the idea of doing this ride a year ago, and it was something we were going to do together. His bike crash made that dream come a too early end; and John, his brother, also decided to wait until another time to do the long haul. So, in three days, we went from five to three riders.
A great joy for all of us, however, was the new friendship that developed with Chuck and Janet Boehme who continued on the ride as far as Billings, Montana. Chuck was a friend of Tim and John's and we were fearful that they too might decide not to continue. The time that we spent with them will never be forgotten and we have new valued friends that we look forward to seeing and staying in touch with in the future. And we certainly look forward a reunion of the whole group of five to celebrate and reminisce over our first few days together.
3. Immense Beauty of our Nation/and Canada. I've been asked a number of times what my favorite state was. I can say for sure that North Dakota was NOT it. And it isn't because it wasn't beautiful, because it really is. It is because the wind about blew us away. Joe and I agree that our hardest day was the day we rode into a 30 mile wind to Killdeer, North Dakota.
To pick out another state that was the most beautiful would be difficult. I thought that Minnesota might have won that award as we rode through, but then we hit Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine, all of which were just magnificent. So, I don't have a favorite or most beautiful award to give out, but I do know that we live in a magnificent nation that driving on our interstate system at 80 mph makes it hard to see. I am so grateful to have really seen a few of our states in a slower, back-road way.
4. Importance of Support. Some of you might know that Cindy and I rode across the country in 2001 on a tandem. We rode unsupported...so we carried all of our own stuff, etc. In some ways the accomplishment of that ride seems even greater than this one. We did it on our own. There were times on this ride that I felt like we were cheating. We both carried two panniers (saddle bags) with jackets, tools, lunches, etc. but we were NOT carrying tents, sleeping bags, clothes, etc. So the ride was simply easier. Carrying an extra 50 pounds up 37 miles of Bear Tooth Pass would have been even more difficult.
Not only did we not have to carry our stuff, we had Cindy and Kathy "taking care of us." They made sure we had a place to stay, food to eat, and lots of emotional support. It was wonderful, and they made the trip much more enjoyable. I'm glad to have had the experience of doing the ride both ways, but if I were ever to do it again, I'd have to think long and hard about which way to go.
5. The Old and New Trek 520's. Bikes are amazing machines. And we had two of the most amazing. My 1984 Trek 520, the first year they made such a ride, was steady and faithful. I cleaned and oiled it about every third day, and never had a flat or a problem on the road. Joe's 520 was a 2009 model. A new one that was as steady and trouble free as a bike could be. We simply spent very little time on bike trouble on the road. If I were going to take another ride, I would stick with the Trek 520 with the wonderful Brooks saddle (or the tandem if riding with Cindy)!
6. Trucks and Let Downs. I wrote in the blog about the plan to purchase a truck in Maine to drive home. We did just that. I bought the 2003 Chevy S-10 with about 45,000 miles on it. We are now half-way across the country (in Nebraska with my family) and the truck runs like a charm. But the reason I add it into this blog is that I was very excited about getting this new vehicle because I've been contemplating starting up a mobile bike repair business. Cindy says the name of the company should be, "The Bike Man Cometh". Sounds good to me. I would be available to drive to where a bike needed work, get out my bike stand and tools, and do tune ups and clean ups at the home of the bike owner. Whether this will come about our not is really not clear, but it is fun to create new visions and new dreams. When one has a new vision or goal, there is very little let down or depression for what it past.
7. And Finally, the End of the Blog! I had no idea how many people were following the ride via this blog. People have even called to say, ''Hey, you promised some final pictures and reflections...where are they?" I thought it might become burdensome to keep up with a daily report of what was happening during the ride, but that simply didn't happen. In fact, it was very useful to have made the commitment to write something each day. It encouraged me to be looking, listening, and writing (in my head) the blog as the day unfolded. It made me more aware and more sensitive to what was happening all day. I am grateful for your feed back and for taking the time to ride with us on our Ride Against Hunger Blog.
So, this is it. I would of course love to hear any other reflections you have had on the ride. If you'd like to share them, send them to my e-mail address at: richowlman@gmail.com.
God Bless you all!
Rich Fowler, August 7, 2010
Ride Against Hunger
Final Blog
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