The final day is done and we arrived on Tybee Island about 4 this afternoon. It was both a relief and exciting at the same time. The riding today was flat and windy and the traffic was bad as we got close to Savannah. The road from Savannah to Tybee Island was also busy so it was nice to get off the roads today. We all met a few miles from the hotel this afternoon and rode in all together and then walked down to the water for pictures. What an exciting accomplishment!
The last 6 days have been a challenge because once I got to Mena Arkansas I knew I was going to finish. It's hard to explain but I lost some of my motivation at that point. Once you know you can do it, you have nothing to prove. So the last few days have been going through the motions except for today, when I was excited to be on the bike again.
At the finish I was as happy for many of the other riders as I was for myself. People like Brad Haslam of New Mexico are an example. Brad started the Elite in 2007, was involved in an accident during the trip and could not finish. Six years later he came back to try to finish and today he got it done. He was so happy and relieved and I was happy and relieved for him. It's really neat to see people accomplish huge goals in the face of adversity. There are many other stories of riders overcoming large odds to finish this trip.
I have a few final thoughts that I will compile and post tomorrow. I have a lot of thank you's and kudos to those that helped make this possible. I'll make that post to the blog tomorrow evening.
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