St Augustine

(Note from Linda: I'm so grateful to Bill for writing these entries day after day. He does a beautiful job of expressing what we're experiencing, in addition to pulling me across the country. I'm a better rider because of him.)

 DONE!

Short, slow 35 mile ride to the beach. Lots of stops for photos. Nice stop for lunch on a 2nd story porch on the water in the old city of St Augustine (est 1565 or around there).

As we got to the beach for the front wheel dip, our travel buddies (Linda's sister Susan and our brother in law Ray and Ziggy were there to meet us.

Heck of a celebration with lots of hugs.

This is Sam, a wonderful young man and an ultralight hiker. He supported us on the trip and educated old people on the language of the young. He has the funniest stories of his colorful experiences. He has done so many things we had never heard of.

His next adventure is competing in 8 different 12 to 24 hours races which include running, biking, and kayaking. Like the other staff members, he will be missed.

Rolling through St Augustine for our lunch stop.

Everyone's favorite. Good thing I like to share. A beast on the bike with a heart of gold.

2 of our favorites, Bailey and Jake. They made everything better. Or as a couple of riders shared "they polish a lot of turds". They joined the tour in AZ after 2 staff left and made it hum.

They are moving to UK and now are considering opening the bicycle touring company. Many of the riders will happily ride with them.

This is Judy, an inspiration to us. She had the most flats, dealt with some medical issues, and was on the saddle everyday riding as far as she could. She was selected as our leader for the last 2 miles of our ride to the beach. A perfect selection.

This is the Jersey girl Sherry.  This is how we saw her for 53 days, posting great photos to the tour's facebook page. Always a smile and a kind word.

Nice path into St Augustine. It was the slowest and had the most talking of the 43 days we were on the saddle. Very relaxing.

Sherry (staff), Lisa (rider), Bailey (tour mgr) and of course Linda. 

We stayed at the beach for 2 nights. So nice to meet people's significant others and partners, after hearing about them for 53 days. There were some significant emotional reunions. When one person's wife saw the rider for the first time in 7 weeks, she just lit up and ran to him. Wonderful to witness.

Linda's sister Susan had one last surprise for us. Linda's Dad passed 5 years ago this week. Her mom passed a few years before that. Her mom and dad's best friends from Jefferson, OH were in the area, so we got to lift a few celebratory beers with them and catch up with each other.

We are sitting in the Jacksonville airport waiting for our flight. We have dinner tonight with family. Been too long since we saw them last.

I have similar thoughts now that i had 3 years ago in Boston: "glad i did it, won't do it again."

Next month we rejoin the LA to Boston tour in western NY with 6 other riders from the 2019 tour with a friend that couldn't finish that tour. 

Linda keeps mentioning other rides.

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