America the Beautiful (June 19th to Aug 8th)

Seeing our country from a bicycle was one of the incredible parts of our journey across the USA.   There were times that I found myself so taken with the beauty of our land that I would sing or hum parts of Katherine Lee Bates famous "America the Beautiful".   Other times I just stopped and took pictures.   Here are some of my favorites and words that seem appropriate to each. 

Oh Beautiful....(Old Glory over Horseshoe Falls, Niagara, NY)

For Spacious Skies...(Wind River Indian Reservation, WY)

For Amber Waves of Grain....(Wheat fields in South Dakota)

For Purple Mountain Majesties... (The Grand Tetons, WY)

Above the Fruited Plain....(Hay bales in Minnesota)

America....(Crazy Horse Memorial, South Dakota)

America... (Mount Rushmore, South Dakota)

God shed His Grace on Thee...(Congregational Church, VT)

And Crown Thy Good...(Maid of the Mists, Niagara, NY)

With Brotherhood.... (my favorite Idaho)

From Sea....Astoria Oregon, 19 June 2011 (The Rocket)

...to Shining Sea.  (Wallis Sands Beach, Rye, NH, Aug 8th, 2011)

Thank You for joining me on this great adventure!
Mike Elliott,  8 August 2011

Day 50 - Our Last Day (Manchester to Rye Beach and Portsmouth NH)

Today was our final ride.   Hard to believe 50 days have passed.   This morning we left Manchester, NH at 6:30 am and cycled 50 miles to Rye Junior High School near Rye Beach arriving at 11:15 am.   There we formed up a peloton, and rode the final 3 miles (en masse with police escort) to Wallis Sands Beach.   We arrived at noon to the whoops and shouts of our cyclists, their families, friends, and even some onlookers who didn't know what all the fuss was about.   There we held a wheel-dip ceremony in the Atlantic Ocean marking the completion of our ride.   Here are a few pictures of the day:


Departing the Hotel in Manchester at 6:30 am wearing our dress jersey's (from left Dan, Matt, Mary, Blythe, ME, Russell, Barry, Damien)

Heading off to Rye Junior High School (50 miles away) where we will 

proceed to the Atlantic Ocean and the wheel dip ceremony

A stop at the High Street Bakery at 37 miles for a little mid-morning fuel 

Russell and Mary stop at the Tramp House for a comfort break

We arrive at Rye Junior High School at 11:15 am (its time for pictures)

We gather for a group photo (of course everyone is combing their hair)

Here is our official photo.   The good looking guys are in the top row ME and Barry on lower right


Here are the 3 oldest riders (Barry (71), Terry (74), Ed (72)

Here are the nine International Riders - Andres (Holland), Barry (Australia)Lucy (UK), Damien (Ireland), Terry (UK), Jan (Holland), Connie (Holland); Colin (Bermuda), Michelle (Montreal)


The 12 oldest cyclists (riders over 60).   I am proud to be part of this group (from left Jerry, Russell, Terry, Matt, Nancy, Ed, Diane, Doyle, Colin, Bruce, ME, Ohio Dan, Barry in front)

Next we form up the peloton for our 3 mile ride to Wallis Sands Beach

Pretty soon we are ready for the three mile ride (with full police escort)

And we are off en masse, full peloton (40 cyclists) riding to the beach.

We are following the road markers (and the police escort) to Wallis Sands (Rye) Beach

It's a 3 mile ride to the beach.....this is the best part of the cross country trip by far.  The three lead riders (ME, Terry, Barry)

We pass through the familiar town of Rye Beach (Judi and I have been here in times past)

And the beach is now to the left...we can see the Atlantic Ocean to our right...

The peloton hails the American Flag, enroute to our final destination 

We enter Wallis Sands Beach, Rye New Hampshire at high noon...

We dismount and walk across the sand to the awaiting Atlantic Ocean...we are here at last!

The celebration begins as we group up at Wallis Sands Beach in Rye New Hampshire!

Judi and sister Chris are here to welcome me, as they were there in Astoria to send me off.  My journey has now gone full circle.

The lion is the Tour de France symbol of courage (in this case perseverance), a gift from the girls....the coeur de lyon.   

Our cyclist Dan O has carried the American flag all the way.  (And yes, 

the American Flag is the most photographed item in the blog site)

Montreal Mike and I took this same picture side by side in Oregon
when we departed.   Here we are again on the Atlantic Coast.

Judi and I celebrating.   We took a similar picture in 

Oregon (Here we are 3700 miles later).

Here is my niece Claudia and Alexis and Jenna from Portsmouth, NH

proud of their Uncle Mike

The Black Rocket remembers the cool salt water from our last dip at Astoria Oregon on 19 June.   We've come a long way together and here we are in Rye Beach on 8 August, 50 days later!

And here's how we really feel about it.   "Wonderful, wonderful, and more wonderful and after that, beyond all whooping!"

This was quite a celebration.....and all good things must come to an end

My riding partner Barry and I saying "see you soon".   We've been great partners.   Barry has been my guardian angel, and I have been his eyesight.  We will meet again in California in the autumn. 

A quick good-bye to Sharon Griff (who brought T-Shirts for all of us with the 50 cities we visited on this trip).   Sharon overcame some early fears about cycling to become one of our most inspirational riders.   Sharon lifted us up with her personal courage.   I will be telling her story for some time to come!

Now it's time to pack up.   Mike Munk is loading up bikes for a trip to the airport and their return home.

A last goodbye to Barry (heading back to Sacramento) and Damien (heading back to Ireland)

(As the tumult and the shouting die, the Captains and Kings depart.......)  The last few riders leave the beach, our final photo remembrance of this great trip.

So this is the journey's end.   Hard to believe it went by so quick.   My father said the same thing about a lifetime, and so it was for this great trip.

For those of you still following along, I will have one more final blog post that I think you will enjoy.   In the meantime, here are some final thoughts.

Throughout this trip I was aware of an overwhelming feeling of thankfulness.   This gratitude extended to just about everyone that touched my life during this period.   It was like the whole universe rose up to support me in this endeavor.   To all of you who supported and encouraged me, I am grateful and offer my heartfelt thanks.

I also want to pass on to you the special joy that comes from riding a bike.   It is an indescribable feeling of soaring and well being that just lifts one up.   Our kids who ride their bikes and our fellow cyclists know this feeling well.  A part of this comes from just being in the present moment enjoying the great now.   Just think if we could suit up for work just as we do for a long bike ride and carry that feeling of soaring thru the workday.

And lastly, seeing this beautiful country of ours from a bicycle.   Each day I marveled at the scenery, the fields, the lakes, the rivers, the mountains, the people and also the enormous number of American Flags that decorate our landscape.   I took nearly 1,000 photographs trying to capture it all.   As you  may have guessed, many of these include the American Flag, the most photographed item in the blog.

Some of the sites we saw are unforgettable, e.g. following the Columbia River in Oregon (as did Louis and Clark), parts of the Oregon Trail, traversing the Snake River in Idaho, seeing the Grand Teton's, crossing the continental divide, visiting Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse memorials, ferrying over Lake Michigan, approaching Lake Huron, crossing the Mississippi River, riding the Maid of the Mists at Niagara Falls, following the Erie Canal, riding the hills of Vermont and New Hampshire.   Oh, the sites we have seen.   This country of ours, so beautiful, is worth every penny of our attention and investment.

Thank you for following along.
There will be one more post, Love to All,  ME

Day 49 (Sunday, Aug 7th) - Brattleboro VT to Manchester, NH

Today is the 49th day of cycling.   We have seen some beautiful sites in the last 49 days.  The consensus after today's ride is that New Hampshire is one of the very prettiest states and belongs right up there with other favorites Oregon, Idaho, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Today we got our first glimpse of New Hampshire.  We departed Brattleboro early and within a mile crossed the state line into New Hampshire.   It was a beautiful day of riding (with big hills and some great New England scenery) followed by our final banquet celebration at dinner.   Judi and Sister Chris (along with other guests) arrived in Manchester in time for the banquet.   Here are a few pictures of the day and the celebration in the evening:


Welcome to New Hampshire!   We crossed the NH state line in the first mile today.
(from left Barry, Connie, Terry, Matt, ME, Russell, Blythe, Mary Andries, Jan)
We have now been in 11 states and Ontario, Canada.

At the 15 mile point, we enter the town of Keene, New Hampshire

Barry and Connie (from Holland) check out the Keene "green" 

or common (town center)

On the Keene Common is a beautiful white presbyterian church (with steeple),

the first of many we would see in New Hampshire

Here is route 9E, one of the long roads (and hills) we would encounter in the "Granite State" (note the granite on the right) and pending strorm in the background

Another steepled church in the town of Antrim.  Each New Hampshire town seems to have such churches.  

In the town of Bennington is the Historic Monadanock Paper Mill

Here is a dam used by the paper mill

An an old bridge downstream providing access to the mills

Here is the Bennington Historical Museum (every NH town seems to have such a museum)

And one of several Bennington Churches....

Here is the last SAG stop of the day on the "common" in scenic Francetown, NH

At one end of the SAG stop is an old school (with steeple) and Karen Bauer (one of our trip leaders)

At the other end of the common is a the Presbyterian Church (with

Dan, Lucy, and Connie) 

Five miles down the road in New Boston is another set of churches

and Civic buildings that look like Churches....I think you get my drift here, New Hampshire is proud of her landmarks.

We couldn't resist this rock wall, also a common feature in the Granite State (Barry in background)

So we make a beeline to our lodging in Manchester, NH as tonight is the banquet celebration that precedes our final ride tomorrow.   Here is Barry and Damien Demster getting ready to celebrate.

Here is the cake decorated in honor of our cyclists!

Judi and my sister Chris have come to celebrate with us.  Also pictured are Sharon Griff (Most Improved Cyclist) and Lucy Biddlestone (Miss Personality).

Barry Lucas, ME and Russell Goins (do these guys look like they could bike across the country??)

Mike Munk (our trip leader) presents the cross country map to Lucy Biddlestone (our youngest rider) who most exemplifies the enthusiasm and spirit of the journey

So the banquet celebration lasted until 10:00 pm.   It was great fun and each cyclist had an opportunity to speak about their experience in crossing the United States.    This is a very interesting group.   Nearly half of the group are cancer survivors, there are 4-5 with knee or hip implants, some with MS or diabetes, and a few with other physical afflictions.    Three of the riders are over 70 years old, twelve are over 60 years.  At first blush, one would not think of this as a cross-country cycling group.   Yet the group has cycled over 3,700 miles, climbed over 100,000 feet of mountain terrain, traversed 11 states (and portions of Canada), ridden in rain or shine, wind or calm, stayed in 45 hotels - all in 50 days.   While each has their own life story,  several themes are common to all - persistence, determination, love of cycling, and a desire to celebrate life.    As I heard many stories at the banquet, I  found myself proud to be included in this group.

After the banquet speeches, we all retired for the evening.   We still have our final day of cycling beginning tomorrow morning at 6:00 am.   So it was time for all to hit the rack and get some rest before our final day.
More tomorrow and our final ride.
Love to All, ME