A Week Later

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

The Ride Against Hunger is Complete...Finished!!!

Portland, Maine
Saturday, July 31, 2010

Today at about 1:30 p.m. EDT, Joe and I finished our ride. You may have heard the whoops, whistles, and yelling. The scene could not have been more beautiful. We arrived at the East End Beach and Boat Ramp and were welcomed not only by our own crew and Joe's brother's family, but some interested by-standers who also got into the spirit of the event and welcomed us "home".

I'm not going to write much tonight other than to say that when Joe and I hugged each other, we both started crying like babies...without shame. We were so filled with emotion that it just came rolling out. The moment was caught 60 different ways on camera, but I like the one that shows us riding the last 50 feet, tongue hanging out and absolutely full of joy. Two seconds later we were hugging everyone in sight and then dipped our front wheel in the Atlantic ocean. My words now simply cannot express the sense of accomplishment, gratitude and relief that we felt.

Our final day was pretty magical. We started at the normal time, met the gang for lunch around 11 a.m. and rode the last 20 miles very carefully so as to avoid any last minute mishaps. Our final mileage was right at 75 miles and put us well over 4000 for the whole ride.

Tomorrow we start the transition from bike ride to truck ride home. I am excited to see this new truck and get it on the road toward home. I'll post some more pictures of our finish tomorrow.

Love to you all and thanks to all of you who are sending good wishes. It means so much to receive them.

Last Day--Tomorrow

We are in Maine tonight and saw our first sign indicating that Portland is less than a 100 miles away. So after riding more than 4000 miles, we are closing in on the goal we set so long ago: to dip our front wheels in the Atlantic Ocean. I've been trying to get in touch with what I'm feeling about finishing and thought I would share those reflections in my blog today.

The first thing that comes to mind is gratitude and the list of things that I'm grateful for is long. Most and most importantly, I am grateful for Cindy and Kathy who have given themselves totally the past two months to support this Ride Against Hunger. Joe and I get alot of credit for doing the ride, but they have done so much work to make the ride possible, easier and safer.

I'm also grateful for my riding buddy, Joe. We have stayed together almost every mile of the trip. We've supported each other, watched out for one another, and have respected the differences between us. We have very different skills. I'm more the bike geek/mechanic. Joe pays attention to the detail of what roads we should be on al all times. He uses road maps as well as the Map My Ride cue sheets. Several times, Map My Ride was wrong, and his checking has saved us many hours of being lost or riding off in the wrong direction. I will never forget this time of riding with Joe whom I now call Joe Awesome Man rather than Joe Ossmann.

I'm also grateful for all the words of encouragement and support that has come from family, friends, blog followers and contributors to the Ride Against Hunger. I will report at a later time how much has been raised. Whatever it is, I will be grateful and know that it is a drop in the bucket to what is needed to really end hunger in our world. I've tried to balance the blog with some information about our ride and some about hunger. I hope I wasn't too heavy handed in my encouragement for you to contribute to ending hunger.

And frankly, I am grateful to God. I'm not sure why or how I've been blessed with the good health to be able to do a ride like this, but I know it isn't because I've been "good". It is a gift that I acknowledge and appreciate. I wish I could tell you the number of days that we have looked at the weather report and found that the wind was blowing our direction. I don't believe that God did that for us, because if that were the case, all those riders going the other way were getting a bum deal. But when the wind was at our backs, we just kept saying, we are blessed and we are grateful...and when it was in our faces, we tried not to whine too much.

And finally, I am grateful for good fortune. We just learned of a California cyclist who was killed two days ago in Quebec. I'm not sure where he was from, but it could easily have been one of us. But here we are, a day away from finishing, and I have not fallen nor have I had a flat. (LOUD LOUD KNOCKING ON WOOD SOUND HERE). That is pretty astounding. My old 1984 Trek 520 will have an honored place in my garage. It has become my good friend, one that I have tried to treat with respect and care.

In addition to being grateful, I am feeling a sense of accomplishment. When we think back on May 27th and our start in San Francisco, it almost seemed impossible that we could, by pedaling our bikes, make it across the continent. That day in SF seems both like an eternity ago and also like it was just yesterday. The ride has gone quickly even though it sometimes felt like it would never end. But here we are, on the threshold of finishing. The accomplishment is such that I feel like walking up to strangers and just working into the conversation that I just rode my bike across the country. I'll try not to be too obnoxious about this, but it feels like a big deal this afternoon.

The final feeling is one of relief. It has been hard and some days very hard to do this. My body feels on the one hand like I've never been in this kind of riding condition; but on the other hand, that I am tired and need not one day, but several days off. That will happen starting tomorrow after about 3 p.m..and continue as we drive back across the country to our wonderful home in Sacramento.

So, gratitude, accomplishment and relief. Those are the emotions of the day. I'm sure others will come as I reflect on the trip. Tomorrow (or Sunday) I will complete the story and post my last blog. Thanks for checking in on the ride once in a while. I'd love to hear from you your reflections on the ride. Send them to richowlman@gmail.com. OK?

Back in the USA!!!

Danby Quebec to Colebrook, NH (93 Miles)

The pictures tell the whole story for today. We are BACK IN THE USA! After eleven days of riding in the great nation of Canada, we are very pleased to have returned to the U.S. OK, so it took 93 miles to get here and so what if we spent most of the day climbing (much smaller) mountains. We are "home" in Notch View Campsite over looking a beautiful valley and mountains in the back ground. There is a picture taken from where the RV is parked.

Also shown in the picture is a very happy rider who has just left Quebec and has finally arrived in the state of Vermont. About five minutes later we took another picture of the welcome sign for our entry into New Hampshire.

Two more days of riding left, and tomorrow is shaping up to be a fairly short day, maybe less than 50 miles. We will ride to Hanover, Maine. Then Saturday we will finish in Portland. The tradition is that we will dip the front wheel in the Atlantic...and then go out for a Lobster Dinner!!!

The other big deal for the day is that Joe's brother and his family joined us at campsite tonight and will be with us for the duration of the ride. It is great to begin reconnecting with family and friends.

Coteau-du-lac, Quebec to Danby, Quebec…87 miles

For the third day in a row, Joe and I put in more than 85 miles, this time in the suburbs of Montreal. And frankly we did not get off to a good start. After riding for nearly five miles, we were right across the street from where we started. We were looking for the pedestrian and biking bridge across the St. Lawrence, a mighty river in this part of the world. Fortunately, Joe had taken French in college and knew just enough to get us the directions we needed to finally find the bridge.

Riding in cities (or suburbs) is hard riding…lots of traffic, noise and way too many decisions. We stopped numerous times to consult ride sheets and maps, and when that failed we would try to find someone with enough English to help us (and that was not easy to do in Quebec). I mentioned to Joe that Quebecans are as mono-lingual as most citizens of the U.S. Even though they are living in a bilingual nation where all the signs in other provinces of Canada are in both English and French, here the language is FRENCH, and that’s it. And very frankly, they don’t have much time for those of us who don’t speak French. Tough day for all those reasons.

But the real thing on our minds today is that we have only three days left. I can feel myself begin to transition from cross country bike ride to car trip home, to friends, and to work. I’ve been really trying to stay present and enjoy these last several days, but I find myself thinking more and more about the route home, stopping in Nebraska to see my mom and family, and a lot about the new truck I’ve purchased to bring home.

OK, so it is not really new. It is a 2003 Chevy S-10 Pick up…crew cab, etc. etc. We sold my car (The Subaru Forester) before we left Sacramento. Since we have Ginger with us, we could not easily fly home, so we decided that we would buy our new vehicle when we arrive in Portland. I kept looking on Craigs List/Portland, and finally found just what I’d been looking for. I called the people who were selling it and sent them a deposit for them to hold it for us. So Monday morning of next week, we will drive up to Richmond, ME to pick up our new/old pick up.

We will load up bicycles, dog, bags, etc. and start home…still anotherl leg of an amazing adventure.

But tomorrow we ride once again into the mountains. We will be climbing most of the day. And our mileage is again over 90 miles. Yikes…what are we doing? But by the end of the day we will have returned to the good ole USA, signs in English, and maybe wireless service that actually works. I’m at an Internet Café right now, and can’t seem to get on line at all. May have to send this tomorrow. My best to all of you and we are looking forward to seeing you all very soon!

Oldest Polish Catholic Church in Canada

The church shown with the blog from yesterday was at the top of a hill a few days back. We stopped to take pictures, but I could not work it in to the blog, but I wanted you to see it. We are seeing a whole lot of beautiful churches these days and I could load the blog with them, but will not.

This one was interesting to us, however, because I've never thought of Canada as a place where there were large communities of Polish people. The signs out in front of this church indicate that Mass is still said in Polish at 10 a.m. on Sunday mornings....prime time.

Tonight we are about 15 miles south of Montreal in Quebec. YAY! We were in Ontario for 9 days. We are in a great camp-ground with an internet cafe...so al of us are sitting here trying to catch up on our blogs.

I've got to go start the fire for our burgers tonight.

Did 87 miles today and will do 90 tomorrow. Yikes!

What Tail Winds Do to Rider's Egos…

Ride Against Hunger
Renfrew to Kemptville, Ontario

What Tail Winds Do to Rider's Egos…

Tonight we are in a campground about five miles outside of Kemptville, Ontario. I’m calling it a campground, but it seems more like a town. There are lots of “permanent campers” who live here, with children, etc. Not long after we arrived the kids came around with their bikes to see if we had any oil for their chains. (We did.) So we are not seeing a lot of other motor homes; rather, long time residents who treat us a little like “strangers in town.”

I wanted to comment briefly on our ride today. At first it was a lot of hills, up and down short but steep inclines. But then we turned just the direction that the wind was blowing and it just kept growing in velocity. At one point I looked down at my odometer, was not pedaling very hard, but was going almost 27 miles per hour.
We finished 87 miles before 2 p.m. and had gone 70 by lunchtime. That’s just plain fast for two old guys.

And you know what happens? We start feeling like we have legs of steel. I’ll speak for myself here, but I start feeling like I have something to do with how fast I’m going. There was even (frivolous) talk of who would take Lance’s spot on the Radio Shack Team, and Joe said that the new sponsor would have to be Metamucil or Geratol (for those of you old enough to remember that product). I said the peloton would have to stop every ten miles for me to relieve myself. But the point is, we start feeling really good about ourselves and how we are doing, etc.

We then turned and had a cross wind for the last 20 miles or so, and all the sudden the big talkers went quiet. I started feeling the fatigue creep in to my legs and I had to gear way down to hold the bike in place against the heavy “breeze”. What became obvious to us as we rode is that the wind was what gave us such an easy day…not our “legs of steel.”

And so it is with many of us in life. We are born with the wind to our backs…with parents who care and plan for our education and/or training for careers. They attend our ball games and give us “roots and wings”, as they say. And we don’t even realize that we have it “easy”.

That is clearly not the case for so many in our society/world. Millions of people are born into poverty and deprivation, do not have parents at all, or do not have families that provide a vision and support to achieve the goals attached to that vision. They do not develop the “I’ve got legs of steel” mindset. In fact they may decide that they are weak and that something is wrong with them.

So these wonderful people some of whom come to our doors week after week and month after month to get a small basket of food need much more than a little food. They need a vision. They need lots of support and love. They need opportunity to grow and learn. They need jobs, medical care, and good, nutritious food. They need hope that things can be different for them.

You and I can help our neighbors achieve these goals by making a contribution to Catholic Charities or the South Sacramento Interfaith Partnership. Please do it!!!

Five more days left to ride. Tomorrow is another 80-mile day…and if it is ok with you, we will pray for the winds to be at our backs for a

Zero Day in Renfrew, Ontario

Sunday, July 25, 2010
Ride Against Hunger

It is 6 a.m. on Sunday morning and I'm trying to write quietly while the others continue sleeping. After getting up every morning at 5 for the past two months, my body just doesn't "sleep in" very well, so I thought I would work on my blog for a few minutes.

We are in a very nice KOA campground near the little town of Renfrew, Ontario which is maybe about 45 minutes to the west of Ottawa, Ontario. Tomorrow as we ride we will circle under Ottawa and avoid the traffic and congestion of the City. We will then move on over toward the Province of Quebec where we will be riding for a couple days, and then back in the U.S.

Joe and I have been pushing our bodies pretty hard the past few days. We have had several 80 plus miles in a row and were really feeling it the last couple days. Decided that this would be a good place to just take a rest. In fact we found a woman here at the campsite who is a message therapist and we both had her work us over yesterday afternoon...on the picnic table outside our RV. No pictures of that sight.

In today's blog I've included a few pictures from our las few days of riding. We rode through Algonquin Provincial Park a couple days ago, and the lake and river shots were taken there. We've also had some days with a lot of road construction and I've included a shot that pretty much defined one whole day of riding. And of course it continues to rain off and on, and I caught Joe in his very dorky (but functional) rain gear.

Hope you are all well. We will rest today and then push on towards Portland, ME where we plan to finish next Saturday afternoon. Big challenge for us is to focus on the day and miles ahead and not get ahead of ourselves.

Have a great day!