Day 10, Tuesday, August 26, 2008
End of My Ride, Return Home Day
Up at 5:15, organize and pack, breakfast here at our hotel Best Western Georgetown Suits. Maria Bareiss, our daughter in law, drove down to visit friends Saturday in Baltimore and then drove here today to pick me up and drive me home to CT. The weather was fine and traffic wasn't too heavy but it was a long 8 hours and we arrived about 10 PM. Donna (and our dog Foxy Lady), were both very glad to have me home again.
Maria got to the hotel about 8:45 and we loaded my stuff into her car and then drove to a parking garage to leave the car. Our plan was to then walk to Washington Monument and take some pics. We had to walk 1 mile to get there and we did the typical tourist thing, take lots of pics. I had never been to Washington, DC so became interested in seeing as much as possible in the brief time we had. We noticed off to our right what looked like the Lincoln Memorial and went over there because it appeared that this was on the way back to the car garage. But it turned out to be the Jefferson Memorial, so more pics. We then turned around and soon came to the WW2 memorial and behind that was the Lincoln Memorial, so lots more pics and time. We then headed back to car garage and on the way stopped to eat at a small Luncheonette. We also came across the coolest bike. It was a steel or aluminum frame but was wrapped in wicker and had parts made from bamboo (see pic). All this tourist stuff caused us to actually get on the road about 2 hours later than we planned, but Maria was a good sport dealing with my sightseeing and photos.
This was the most difficult ABB ride I've ever done in 10 years, mainly due to the many climbs with 6% to 18% grades. We had about 4,000 feet of climbing almost every day. My training did prepare me for this ride, but, it was a tough one.
It was great, very special, in Windsor Locks, CT when Ed, the Alzheimer's Association and TV channel 30 met me at my hotel. Ch 30 aired the interview that night and the next morning (see link to video on the main page). I also had a telephone interview with 96.5 WTIC that afternoon and a live "on the air" interview 8:00 AM the next morning prior to that day's ride with Sebastian and the morning show on WCCC 106.9 FM. He was a bit controversial and difficult, but invited me to come back and do it again during my ride. I immediately agreed of course. But it was difficult and not fair to ABB to ask them to support this encounter again while on the ride. So it occurred at 8:30 AM, on Thursday, August 28, after I got back. This time I did a much better job interacting with Sebastian and representing the Alzheimer's Association. I really felt good. I was able to say what I wanted people to hear about my effort and the Association's effort to provide awareness and support for families that have to deal with this terrible disease. My stepson Ed, played a major role in organizing and planning all this fantastic, wonderful media exposure for the Alzheimer's Association and my cycling effort. Ed is also the creator and manager of my website. Every night I send him my daily journal and pics and he posts it on my site that same night. Sometimes I don't get it to him till 11 PM. Thank you Ed so much for what you do!
The final piece of the year's ride will be a thank you gathering Saturday, August 30, at Alice Acres Farm, Bud Crandall Pavilion, from 3 to 5 PM.
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