Tour Day 103 Starting To Close A Book Oct 6 2010

Trying to sleep last night was a tough thing to do. My mind has been racing and eating me alive. With less than 500 miles to go till I hit the water I am having a tough time thinking about the end. I was thinking what to do after the trip, but then I got to thinking why I did this in the first place. For 102 days I have been trying to convince myself that it is for personal growth, but the fact of the matter is this trip was an escape. A chance to run away. It is hard for me to come to terms with but this is the end of a not only a chapter but an entire book in my life.

What am I running away from? I am running away from the future because I do not know what it holds for me. I have only thought about life up till this point and no further. The truth is the reason I decided to continue from st. Johns, Miami, and Austin is because im scared.

That brings me to another point that has really been eating at me. When I tell people about the trip 9 people have given me a response that has left me… dumbfounded. When I say I am riding for a hospital they have said “what did you have cancer or something”? Why is it to do something amazing I have to be affected by something? Why can’t someone normal undertake a huge task? Then why is it at this age we are so scared to be normal? Is normal going to university? If so am I not normal? I have so many questions that I cannot answer. It helps to write this all down even if it does not make any sense because it is just what my mind is thinking.

Thinking about the past I got to thinking about my childhood and what memories have stuck with me. When I think back 4 events stick out. The first was riding with my dad down to the duck pond with a bag of bread and feeding the ducks. That pond seemed so far away on my little bike but when I ride it now it is only 3km away.

The next was getting my 24inch wheel bike. I remember that we went into this little shop in the middle of nowhere and there right in front of us was a black with that 90’s splatter paint pink paint job. I remember my dad asking “do you like it”? Even at that young age I remember thinking “damn its pink”. But to appease everyone I blindly agreed. No matter the colour I rode this pee out of that bike.

After that came my first attempt at mountain biking. We were up riding burke mountain on my trek 4300. My first adult bike that we got from my Keith (a family friends) basement. I fell multiple times and I kept hearing “get you butt back”. I heard those words but never really put it into practice. I kept falling and kept getting more and more frustrated. Mid way through the trail dripping in blood from numerous flesh wounds I started to cry. This was the point I hung up my bike for and extended period of time. Until I started to work at Westwood cycle. I have never thanked Glen and Kelly but after looking back cycling has been a huge part in the process of me growing up and maturing. And I almost lost that until they stepped in that night and called me asking if I wanted a job.

The last memory is one that does not involve a bike. I was sitting in the basement with my sister. I think I was 8 or 9 at the time. At this point in time the Rosie O’Donnell show was huge. What was even bigger was the coosh balls she launched into the audience. Everyone wanted one. Even if you don’t think you wanted one when you had it in your hand you could not stop playing with it. I was no exception. I played with that ball right until the point I threw it into the open upward facing lamp. When that lamp was turned on it got very hot. Hot enough infact to light it on fire. My sister and I scream “Fire” and my mom runs downstairs. Without missing a beat she unplugs the flaming lamp and runs up the stairs with it still in flames and throws it on the porch. Out rolled that coosh ball in a black mess. There was not any anger about the situation; probably because the house did not burn down, but that was my favourite memory of that old house on Chestnut Street. Fallowed closely by family viewings of married with children.

I don’t know why im writing about all of this but it is soothing. I think it is giving me some form of closure to this book.

As for today it started with hail still resting on the ground and a tornado warning for the surrounding area. This came after 3 smaller tornados hit the valley. When I left to start riding right away I had a 1600foot climb on legs that did not want to move 1km. After a short descent I then had another 1200 foot climb. It was at that point I was thinking, “I thought the run into phoenix was downhill”.

At that point I saw the magical sign. It read 7% downhill grade next 5 miles. This sign was fallowed by one that said turn your lights on. Around the next corner was a tunnel with no internal lighting. Now my headlamp was useless because I was doing 60km/h and this road had no shoulder so my only option was to ride right down the centre. After shooting out of the tunnel I hit a series of switchbacks that were even tighter then in the canyon yesterday. It was the first time I have used my brakes on a descent to date. The shoulder then opened up and a flood of cars passed me. I was so focused on not dieing that I ignored the car piling up behind me. When I got to the bottom I let out a huge yell. The people walking along the sidewalk looked at me as if I was drunk, a common thing in Arizona im sure.

Then it levelled out and I was on the run into phoenix. Mile after mile was ticking by. My legs were starting to stretch out. As much as I love the hills I love the challenge of the flats. I know that sounds backwards but when you have a wind in you face and you have to keep hammering with really goal to achieve it is something else. Today was no exception only for 15km I had a tailwind the rest of the time it was pretty neutral with the odd bust into my face. I just kept hammering and hammering. Ignoring my body and focused on my goal of reaching phoenix.

Before I knew it I was there and even with the mountains I managed an inhuman 25km/h average. I was happy with what I had achieved but was not content with stopping so I pushed on.

This is when I hit construction along route 60. This road is 6 lanes wide with a sidewalk on one side. The construction closed 4 of the lanes and the sidewalk. So I had a choice. Ride on the road and get hit by a car, or beat my way through a closed sidewalk that was more side and less walk. The closed sidewalk was the choice and boy was it an adventure. It had sections pointing up at a 45-degree angle that gave me airtime and promptly shattered both bolts holding on my front rack. It was worth it though. Unfortunately it meant I had to bring a stop to the day. It turned out to be a good thing though because my scheduled stop in Wittham is was apparently the roughest part northern Arizona.

Thank you for listening to my rambling for the day. I realize now that I have to close one thing before I open another.
Trip Distance: 169km
Ride Time: 7:08hr
Avg. Speed: 23.73km/h
Total Distance: 15418km
Total Ride Time: 715hr
Destination: Sun City, Arizona