50 miles to go!
12:30am I get up to pee.
3:47am I get up to pee.
6:01am I wake up 29 minutes before my Palm Pilot ringy dingies to wake me up.
6:05am 2nd shower in 11 hours. I really wanted to shave because I knew there would be pics taken.
6:55am I witness Robbie from AIDS Action riding tandem on some crazy bike...without a helmet (tisk tisk)
7:00am BREAKFAST! And I give Regis man his apron back! The knees are feeling incredible.
8:10am We take off on our last 50 miles! Powerhouse and Sarah are in tow.
The ride this 3rd and final day was so much easier. Much less hillage, much less cursing! But let me tell you, my gloves smelled like a dead body, washed to the shore after 3 weeks. Rank! Yuck. Mix of sun and clouds on the way to Pit Stop 1.
Pit Stop 1, I call and let Jon know where I am and how fast so he can plan on getting to Salem before I get there! We figured around 3 hours more as it was 9:20-9:30 already. Fuel up. Pee for the first time since breakfast and off we go! We get to see the Sanyo blimp on the runway at Hanscom Airfield, which was kinda neat.
We make it to Pit Stop 2 with ease only to be greeted by Sarah's parents. She was excited and it gave her the energy to finish the ride. She was a bit sluggish, but I ain't one to gossip.
With only 15 more miles to go, we were friggin' pumped to finish this thing. The ride had been amazing so far, it was a bit windy and cloudy, but I would have clouds any day over blazing sun. A couple sprinkles on Friday and Saturday were nothing compared to the intense humidity we were experiencing. At one point on Saturday I was in fog for a couple minutes and I couldnt tell if it really was fog or my glasses steaming up. Each and every time I stopped over the 3 days, my glasses fogged up. The good ole Triple H's were in effect (Hazy, Hot, Humid).
So, with that said about 12 miles from Salem the skies get black and it gets windier. Sprinkles turn into turrential downpours for the next 30 minutes. At one point we have to pull over and I take off my glasses and rebag my cell phone and wallet in my bag (just in case). About 3 minutes later, its blazing sun and super humid. We pull over again. I put on my glasses and head on out.
6 miles out the skies open again and soak up for about 3 more miles. Puddles the size of the Charles River got acquainted with my shoes... it was nice. I stick the glasses into one of the 3 pockets of my shirt and peddle my ass off.
2.5 miles out. Sun Sun Sun. Humidity Humidity Humidity. I keep the glasses off as to not curse ourselves. Powerhouse is once again in the lead, Sarah and I behind. I use them as my eyes as I can barely see without my glasses and we make our way into Salem.
As we rounded the second rotary of the day, I could see the balloon arch and a bunch of people. We rode in at 1:11pm. I saw Jon and Janet first! Then as I got off my bike, it was overwhelming to see so many friends there! PJ and Eric, Scott and Janet, Jenn, Jon... it was very special to me! Then about 5 minutes later guess what happened? RAIN!
There was a BBQ, I had veggie burgers and grilled veggies, salad, chips and salsa and relaxed. This puppy was over! And speaking of animals... I saw a fox, 2 lamas, tons of cows, horses, goats, dogs, 2 cats, and a woodchuck on my journey.
After finishing these 225 miles the real 3 H's kicked in. Hills, Humidity and Humanity