Finally: Bob does ride to Boston!

After 880 miles (plus the previous 2.550) the end was in sight, the ocean was right in front of us, we had only to walk over the sands to dip the front wheel into the Atlantic. Wow...what a journey it has been.
Twenty-five riders (along with numerous supportive family including Susan) assembled in a gray light rain and began the last twenty miles to complete the long cross country journey that started at Manhattan Beach in California and concluded at Revere Beach just north of Boston. Every one of us had a story: there were two father/daughter combinations, one man doing the ride in memory of his wife, a woman who was struck with a near fatal illness and has waited 5 years to recover; two of us suffered serious accidents on a previous tour, spent months healing broken bones and came back to finish the journey. We all rode two by two through the suburban streets with our support vans as escorts front and rear. With our flags flying and the escorts honking horns I'm sure the folks on their morning commute wondered just who these idiots were who chose to ride city streets through the rain.
It took us maybe 90 minutes to get to the beach and as we turned the final corner (photo below) a cheering crowd of family and friends was on the opposite corner...I saw Susan immediately - and can say truly that after a long solitary effort was thrilled to have someone I love to share the final moments of the journey. I thought about this moment when I read the blogs of my mates from the 2009 ride in my hospital bed and I have probably thought and imagined the scene at least once a day since then.
We rode the final yards, dismounted and carried our bikes to ocean for the final ritual of standing in Atlantic water and dipping the wheel - all of us shaking hands, families snapping photos and yelling congratulations, a few over-exuberant folks just plunged right in and celebrated with a dunking. The rain had stopped, the gray skies persisted but it was a glorious moment for each of us.
We celebrated last night with a closing banquet at the hotel where we could tell stories, make a couple of speeches and generally start to try to understand what the whole experience would mean to us. Just as each of us has his/her own story each of us will be processing this experience in our own individual way I am sure.
I have had a sense of incompleteness for four years. The goal seemed so very close when I went down in Marysville and I have never stopped waiting for the right moment to finish this ride. Even more, I love cycling and was determined I would come back on my own terms. I think I rode strong for each of these 880 miles and I know I enjoyed every day - the long days, the hills, and even the rainy days. I also enjoyed the people. It was a fantastic group of riders and I felt a part of the group almost from day one.
I will be thinking about this experience for many days, probably weeks - and Susan will be hearing stories that might seem to go on forever.
The father of a twenty-eight year old rider made a short congratulatory speech last night that included one line that sticks with me...."There are some 250 million people in America and last week they probably did nothing more remarkable than go to work, watch a little TV and repeat the process the next day. The riders in this room have just crossed an entire continent, climbed mountains, rode through deserts, braved rain and heat and did it all on their bicycles - that is truly remarkable and I congratulate you all."
Not often do we get the opportunity to meet a challenge, prove ourselves to ourselves and know in our own inner being that truly we have done something remarkable. It's a feeling I will savor for awhile.