The ride today was great! Only 42 miles and almost all on trails. The trails were very crowded, so we were constantly calling bike left, bike left, as we passed. We had a sprinkle of rain, but a really nice day and ride.
Rolling into DC was a very emotional experience for me. I was riding sweep because I wanted to be the last rider to finish this ride, since I was the last full time rider to join the ride because of the accident. We swept around the Capitol, and as we reached the steps, we started to ride in a circle for a while, stopping one by one, while the rest of the riders continued to circle. I continued to circle around all of the other riders, watching them celebrate, until I finally joined them. We had stopped about a half mile from the Capitol to regroup so that we could ride in as a large (30 rider) group. We were impressive! Then a long celebration of hugs and tears and cheering for each other. This is such an exceptional group of caring and loving people that I was and am in awe of the entire group.
Linda Fuller was there to pass out medals to all the riders. We were riding as a team, and as a team we all finished. Not all of us rode every single mile, some got sick and missed a day, others may have missed a week, Martha missed a few weeks because of her fall and knee injury, I missed a few weeks rehabbing my shoulder, etc. But we all received a gold medal from Linda for finishing. Then a long session of picture taking, in groups, and individually holding our bikes over our head. Not easy for me, because of the shoulder. Then we slowly started to ride to our final church destination about a half mile away.
More later.
Peace
CONGRATULATIONS - YOU DID IT!! After the accident at the start I didn't think you had a chance to return to the Group let alone finish the entire ride. You don't know how impressed I am. GOOD GOING!! TED SWARD
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