The Home Stretch

The Home Stretch
One thing we’ve discovered over the course of this cycling journey is that distance traveled, particularly on a bicycle, is somewhat relative.

Let me give you an example. About a year before we left, we were hanging out with a group of my college friends and their husbands, and our scheme to ride our bikes around the world came up in conversation.

At that time, we were still formulating plans for our official departure, and though we ended up doing nothing of the sort, we told the group our general thought was to start with a “shakedown” ride from Auburn to Nashville (about 300 miles), where we could reassess our equipment before hopping a flight to Alaska.

“BETHANY…” said one my friends. “You mean you are going to ride your bicycle from AUBURN to NASHVILLE?” She seemed both surprised and impressed.

Her husband responded: “Babe… they’re gonna ride their bikes around THE WORLD.”

And so goes it. It turns out that people are just more impressed when you put the trip on a scale they understand. We’ve especially seen this as we’ve come across the United States. When people asked where we were going, it’ was“Alabama.” When they ask where we were coming from, we said“Vancouver.” That’s a lot simpler (and faster) than explaining “we rode around the world!” People are sufficiently impressed with the Vancouver response. “Wow… that’s a long haul,” they respond. In a few situations, we’ve gotten more involved in conversation and have divulged the “full story.”

“Well, actually, we say Vancouver, but that is just one part of a bigger trip. We’ve actually been cycling for about two years and have ridden around the world through Central and South America, Europe, Asia and now back home across the US.”

Total blank look. “Oh, that’s nice,” they might say. No comprehension. In almost every case, they were far more impressed when we said we came from Vancouver. Why? Because that is on a scale they understand. When we throw in the “round the world” card, it gets too big and actually LESS impressive. It’s an interesting phenomenon.

All that to say this: on the day before we officially finished the Tour, a man in a gas station in rural Alabama asked where we were going. (At this point, we were a mere 40 miles/65 kilometers away from the finish line.)

“We’re headed to Auburn,” we responded enthusiastically.

“Well, you have quite a ways to pedal to get there!” he exclaimed. But by this time we knew the truth. Nope, not a long way at all!

The home stretch of the tour was bittersweet. We commented on many of the “lasts” of the Tour—last time staying with a warmshower, last time crossing a state line, last night sleeping in our tent, last time cooking breakfast on our stove.

Our last warmshowers hosts: Kevin and Sissy. This community has been such an important part of our life these past two years!

How did Alabama end up with the nicest state line marker? We’re not sure, but this almost-posh marble sign greeted us back to the state we’ve called home.

But more than we were sad about this season coming to an end, we were excited about what the next season holds. And we were definitely getting excited about our homecoming celebration!

The Homecoming
If you have read our blog, you know that we invited people to come and “finish our ride” with us. We knew we wouldn’t have many “locals” because our homecoming was the same day as a large charity bike ride in the area. However, we were thrilled to have some great company for our final seven miles from Kiesel Park to Town Creek Park. Dave’s brother Bob flew in from Denver to surprise us and ride with us, which was a huge treat! And Anna Claire and Stuart Day, two great friends from Atlanta, drove down that morning, bikes in tow, for the big ride.

Our riding buddies (left to right): Dave, me, Stuart, Anna and Bob

Our riding buddies (left to right): Dave, Bethany, Stuart, Anna Claire and Bob

And off we go! Last seven miles of the Tour.

And off we go from Kiesel Park! Last seven miles of the Tour.

Despite our track record of rainy days each time we finish a leg of our journey, we were blessed with perfect and sunny fall weather for our big ending.

This was by no means a race… it was more of a social event for us and our fellow riders!

Rolling past Samford Hall as we went through downtown Auburn–beautiful!

At long last, we finished our ride… the one we started just over two years ago. As we rode into Town Creek Park, we were welcomed with balloons, flowers, family, and friends. And a real finish line even appeared before us.

Crossing the finish line! Victory!

We were blown away by all the people who took time out of their busy weekends to welcome us home. To those who were a part—THANK YOU! We were honored and it means more than you could know. At the risk of getting sappy here, we’ll finish the story with photos from the grand shindig/hour-long hugfest.