Wrap up- thank you everyone!

The last 2 weeks flew by. I made it back safely to Indianapolis where I am sorting through the hundreds of pics of the the ride that I gathered from fellow riders. This morning I went in to speak to 2nd and 3rd graders at the local elementary school. It was a great ego boost to hear the kids shout "It's Dr. Ben!", but then several gave me a harder time about the appearance of my beard than Lori did, which I didn't think was possible. I had to barter with them and came to an agreement that I would shave if they had a healthy summer and wore their bike helmets. One teacher went to great lengths to set up a bulletin board in the hallway with a map, pictures, and excerpts from my ride. The kids were a great audience and hopefully learned something from the powerpoint today and while following the trip.

I owe everyone an update status on WV to Bethany Beach since I have not added a blog submission in quite sometime. The same excuses apply: too few hours in the day, usual lack of wi-fi, and wanting to spend any free time enjoying the last few days with fellow riders instead of in front of my computer. With the now being over, I feel like I just returned from a 2 month long summer camp for adults. It was a tremendous experience. The top pic is me tossing up my cycling gloves while on the steps of the Lincoln memorial.

The breakdown by state:

WV- included some pretty long days of riding, rolling in and out of the Appalachian Mountains. There was a sense of duty as we marched through West Virginia in our groups, passing many homes in shambles with derelict cars scattered through their yard. Given the nature of the state, we were all hypervigilant for IUDs (intercepting unchained dogs that kamikaze themselves between your wheels). Thankfully there were as many as expected, yet there were frequent howls from the several that were chained to their doghouses as we rolled by. My support day fell to allow me to ride the entire state of WV, nearly 400 miles in 4 days. My legs were throbbing, but got me through.

Virginia- was beautiful, came and went fast though. I'll remember:
1) attempting to bike through deep gravel roads
2) beautiful Colonial homesteads- The majority of which we couldn't see the homes from the street, only the immaculate yards and old world style stone fences.
3) The Bachelor- Andy Baldwin (center of pic), star of the second season of the TV show, "The Bachelor" joined us for a morning. He is a Navy medical doctor, experienced cyclist, ironman, public health promoter, one of America's 100 most desirable bachelors (according to some magazine), a great guy, and some other stuff, but other than that hasn't done anything. For his joining our group, I think most of the guys wanted to prove that we could out ride him and his $10,000 sponsored bike, while most of the ladies just wanted him to pose for a picture with them. I think both groups fulfilled their wish. He was a very good sport and we were glad that was interested in riding with us (Which came about because he lives in DC and heard about the ride while speaking at Ohio State last year).
4) Alexandria- We stayed in a church in old Colonial Alexandria, a suburb of DC. It felt like a step back in time to the 1900s with large brick homes lining the brick streets, no showers, etc...(ya, no showers for 2 days after riding 90miles in 85 degrees. Thankfully, several riders had families visiting and therefore hotels with showers that we could use). We had some free time in Alexandria and walked around the boardwalk area, amongst the hundreds of other tourists who were visiting for the holiday weekend.

DC- The highlight of our trip. DC had a great "Rails to Trails" bike path that we were on for most of the day. Surprisingly, we road all the way to right up to the Lincoln monument on this path which was nicely wooded and took us through many parks by the riverside. I was quite impressed by the trail system and in shock at the sight of the Washington Monument from 7 miles out. I think that was the point for most people when we had realized what we had accomplished and what a surreal experience this had all been. Upon rolling in to the Lincoln Monument, there was a large group of family members/long lost loved ones all decked out in orange, with signs, cheering like crazy at everyone's arrival. There were at least 100 other random people standing around on the steps that joined in both before and after hearing about our accomplishment. It was an unforgettable moment.

Bethany Beach- talk about getting spoiled in the name of World Health. The last night after riding into Bethany Beach, Delaware, we were awarded 5 complementary beach front condos. The last couple of miles we dumped out the water in our bottles and filled it with some Champagne for a Tour de France-style finish. The beach was packed with Memorial day travelers who again gave us great applause after hearing our accomplishment. When carrying our bikes onto the beach, one security guard told us that we were not allowed to take bikes onto the beach. He could have been shooting at us at point blank range and we still would have all tried running by him with our bikes. The water felt so cold and so good. Later that night, we had a cookout, hung out, and had one last hurray prior to shoving off back for Columbus early the next morning (only to sit in gridlocked traffic for 6 hours prior to crossing back over the Bay Bridge).THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT, INTEREST, AND DONATIONS