Today was our last real day of riding. I rode with my Miami brothers Jason and Saurabh. A few miles into the ride Saurabh took his first spill of the trip. We were riding down a steep hill after it had rained and Saurabh was going a little too fast and hit an oil slick and fell to the ground. I heard him go down behind me so I slammed onto my breaks and started to fishtail as I headed toward a one-lane bridge. Luckily I came to a stop and was able to dismount and check up on Saurabh. Save a few scrapes and bruises he was fine so we continued on our way. In the next town we stopped at McDonald's and ate some breakfast. There was no rack-point so we had no hesitations about stopping for a bit.
At mile 37 we ran across a 15 meter section of road covered in shattered glass. We pulled over to check our tires and as we did that a truck pulled up to start taking some of the glass and metal off the highway. It appeared as though several windshields had fallen off the back of his truck.
We finished out the day in decent time and arrived in Bethesda at the Landon School. We were treated to a Subway lunch by a couple former JOH cyclists and then showered up. After showering we cleaned our bikes for the big day tomorrow. We had a lot of fun trying to get our bikes to look new, but wow have they taken a beating after making it across our great nation. By the time we finished cleaning our bikes it was time to head to dinner.
For dinner we drove to Virginia for the all team dinner. The Trans America, South Route and Build America teams were all in attendance. It was great to share an awesome meal with them and catch up with my chapter brother, Peter, who rode the South route this summer.
After dinner we went back to the Landon School and made final preparations for arrival. We spent the night reflecting on the summer with each other, signing each other's jerseys.
Tomorrow is the big day. I cannot believe how fast this summer has gone. I cannot put into words what it has meant to me, and saying goodbye to my team will be incredibly difficult. I'm trying not to be sad that it's over, but joyous that it happened.
Thank you for following my blog this summer and for continued prayers for our team.
Love & Honor,
Beau
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