St. Louis and Jim's final thoughts

J:  The only thing I’ll add about the final day’s biking is this – the hills made sure that I had a good workout. Pulling the trailer up steep hills without a granny gear was challenging. Sometimes I would need to take a break when getting to the top of the hill. Sometimes I would need to walk up a portion of the hill.  Getting off course while trying to get to the airport was frustrating, because it meant that we would loose time and I would have to climb some hills that I had just coasting down. None-the-less, pulling an 80-90 pound loaded trailer over the course of an entire week made my legs much stronger. I was able to climb hills that earlier in the week might have been impossible. From a physical perspective it was a challenging trip, more challenging than I had originally envisioned.


From a personal perspective it was a great trip! While Marie and I had done a bike trip together before, but it was a fully supported event. This time around she and I did it all ourselves. I am very proud of what she accomplished. She was very confident when we sat down for breakfast on the very first morning of the trip. Her confidence was very well founded. I have to admit I was not as confident that she wouldn't have challenges. I felt that she or I would run into physical or emotional challenges. Bike trips can often do that to you. However, she held up extremely well and was even leading the way towards the end of the trip.

I love to bike. It is an incredibly efficient means of human powered transportation. It gives you beautiful views, physical challenges and you get to meet fascinating people along the way. In my view there is no better way to see the world. It was just great to have her along experiencing the world through the tires of a bike. Having had Marie along with me on this trip will give us both many good memories for years to come; something to tell the grandchildren…

Thanks for your comments and friendship along the way. We appreciated having your feedback and felt that in some small way you were there with us. We’re glad you could join us.