is this the end or the beginning?May 26, 2007
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"every exit, is mealy an entrance into another scene"
- William Shakespeare
Sitting in Calgary, at my parents dining room table looking back on the ride, dispite only getting off my bike 36hrs ago it all seems very far away. The headwinds are starting to fade into memory and as the dull ache wanes from my legs my only hope is that the memories wont fade so quickly...
The last two days of the ride were a whirlwind. Leaving St. Thomas we got into a good groove, ducked onto a scenic drive and got a great push from a tailwind. It was a welcome reward; Andrews' cold was still raging so the extra bit of help was a welcomed surprise. Once we got up to speed, we were steaming! Easily averaging 30 km/hr we covered ground at an exhilarating pace. It was a great feeling to be making some serious distance, a tangible linear measure on the roadmap. After a great day on the road and 130 km on the clock we pulled into Chatham for the night.
Tired from the day and starting to feel lousy from the inevitable cold, passed on from my comrade, I passed out into bed and fell into a deep restful sleep. Waking in the morning knowing that we "only" had 80 km to go to Windsor was a surreal feeling. To know that this was to be my last day on this ride it was hard to know what to feel. My head was a mix of emotions, from excited to be finished the adventure, sadness that it was coming to an end and curiosity to see the city that I was born in, but haven't been to in 29 years.
Amongst the wash off emotion was the shadow of sickness that was pushing its way to the foreground. My head was pounding with a sinus headache and despite gallons of water, the scratch just wouldn't leave my throat. I knew I was on borrowed time, eventually the immune system would throw up the white flag and I would be forced to rest. My only hope was that I could get through the day, finish the ride and then have all the time in the world to feel miserable.
Where the day before was a rollercoaster ride of tail winds and big speed - our final day was anything but. A steady headwind greeted us as we pulled into traffic and didn't relent for the remainder of the day. As if to add a special sting to the tail, the temperature reared its head too - jacking up to 30c with humidity on the rise too. There was nothing to do but just keep pedalling. The km's ticked by slowly as I shuffled through inspirational music on the iPod, doing whatever I could to keep my spirits up.
With 30km to go we ducked off the main road and headed north to a quieter stretch of pavement. Before long we were on the outskirts of Tachumseh the small town that borders Windsor and the town that I fist lived. As the density increased so did my energy, all of a sudden the idea of finishing the ride was becoming a reality. And then almost before I knew it, we came upon Centennial Drive and a block or so later I pulled up in front of the house that I first lived in.
With a deep breath of emotion my ride was effectively over. I had wanted to ride from New York City to where I was born, and standing there looking at a house that I didn't know, a home that first welcomed me into the world it was hard to believe the adventure was over.
As I rode through the streets my mind was filled with the experiences over the last two weeks. There have been great highs and some real challenges too. We had seen some incredible places, from the madness of New York City, to the unfathomable solitude that described nearly everything else. We met people who welcomed us into their homes, offered us directions and support. People who thought what we were doing was crazy or great or somewhere in between. Not all was rosy; we found roads that looked like they could be in downtown Beirut, drivers that passed way too close and the odd person who would warn us to steer clear of "dark neighbourhoods". There were headwinds and tailwinds, cold days and way too hot days. Days where it felt like we could have ridden to California by that afternoon and times when it felt like we were working hard and getting nowhere.
Chains broke, tires popped, iPod's crashed and sunglasses got smashed. 1000 km in 12 days of riding from NYC to Windsor, Ontario. Andrew and I started this ride as friends and ended as better friends - we forged that bond that can only come from experiencing something as intense as this as a team. When I look back on this experience there will always be highlights, little moments that will never leave me. Snippets of time, moments of a greater whole that will come to define the experience. And maybe that is the perfect metaphor for this ride, it will become another spoke in my wheel, a moment of my life that I will never forget...
We continued into Windsor and found a place to stay for the night. The next day we bid goodbye to one another, I was off to the airport to fly to Calgary and Andrew would continue on his way to San Francisco, we shook hands and wished each other well. I stood a moment and watched him ride down the road alone. As envious as I was, my part in this journey was over, it was time to move on to the next adventure.
Thanks for reading everybody.
Be well and good luck with your own adventures!
~Scott
