Sunday, June 30, 1996
Day 50
Purcellville, Maryland to Washington DC
Today's Miles: 58
Cumulative Miles for the Tour: 3270
Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Terrain: Flat, Rails to Trails
Find of the Day: The Mall in Washington DC
I didn't sleep well last night. I don't know if it was the excitement of being so close to the end or the bunk beds at the hostel with Dave Blair tossing and turning over my head.
No one had to be woken up this morning. Even our "sleep through anything" Sarah got up without much prodding. It rained very hard last night. The clouds were still heavy as we rode from the hostel, but at least it wasn't raining.It was a quick 8 mile ride to Purcellville where we all stopped for a final breakfast. As we were parking the bikes in front of the cafe, I heard a sharp intake of breath from my left and then heard, "Dude, that's my MOM!" Adam's mother had surprised him by showing up in Purcellville to join us for breakfast.Breakfast lasted about an hour. There was no hurry to get on the road...except for the adrenaline of knowing it was the last day. After spending 49 days biking across the country, we were only 4 hours from the finish.The beginning of the W&O Rails to Trails path is in Purcellville. We left the cafe at 9:00 and were on the trail within 2 minutes. The Rails to Trails path made it possible for us to stay off the roads until our entrance into DC over the Memorial Bridge.About five miles up the trail, Lee had to pull over to look at his bike. Something was making noise and he couldn't figure out what it was. We left him there, thinking he would catch up with us within the next 15 minutes. After an hour of riding and Lee still not having caught up, we decided to send Ken back to find out if Lee had real trouble. As it turns out, he didn't have REAL trouble, just a double whammy of it...two flat tires.We've been pretty lucky along the way with no major bike problems other than...well, let me rethink that statement. We had a three bike pileup that put Lee's bike in the repair shop for a day. We had two bikes that broke some spokes. Ken had three flats within an hour of each other on the first day. Adam had a flat that stranded him near Cody, Wyoming for 6 hours. Ken had to rebuild his rear bearings twice because they were ground to a pulp. But with over 17,000 road miles between us, I wouldn't consider those "major" problems. It's just part of cycling.As we got closer to DC, our speed gradually started to pickup, until we were racing along at 20 to 22mph. The adrenaline was really kicked in for the last 10 miles. We were screaming and hollering at anything and everything. When we finally saw the Washington Monument peeking over the trees, we knew we had made it! Dave Blair, Beth, Donna and Sarah were waiting for us at the Roosevelt Island Park, near the base of the Memorial Bridge.
Roosevelt Island Park, the last stop before crossing into DC
We began riding over the Memorial Bridge at 1:15, crossing over the Potomac into the mall stretch of DC. Dave, Donna and Beth followed us in the van with the video camera running. From there, we lost them for the next two hours. DC parking is horrendous. We left the van crew to their own devices and headed up the mall for the final two miles to the Capitol steps.
Biking along the mall is like biking through a U.S. history textbook. All the major monuments are along the two mile stretch...Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, The White House, The Smithsonian, The Vietnam Vet Memorial, The Capitol Building. It's all here within walking distance of each other.We arrived at the steps of the Capitol at 2:00pm. Adam's family was there to greet us along with Lee's wife, Gena. We stood on the steps, talking for an hour while we waited for Dave, Beth and Donna to show up with the video camera. The cops came over to tell us that we couldn't have our bikes on the steps, but when they heard we had just gotten here after a 3000 mile trek, they were awestruck. A couple of them stood around for a half hour, asking questions, shaking their heads in disbelief.Dave, Donna and Beth showed up and took what seemed like hundreds of pictures and thousands of feet of video tape. It was the culmination of six months of planning for Dave and he wasn't going to miss a second of it.After the Capitol steps, we walked over to Union Station and had our final meal together. It was probably the last time we will ever see this group together in one place.
The Capitol Steps
The culmiation of 50 days, 3300 miles
Bike America Tours
dblair@wtp.net
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