Day 23: Waycross, GA to Jekyll Island, GA
Strava Link: Petoji Day 23
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| Dipping the wheels in the Atlantic Ocean |
I got an early start on Day 23 and I was riding high on a wave of adrenaline. I was riding hard and feeling good. I can still replay parts of it in my mind- riding on that 4-lane road just screaming with joy. I've never felt anything quite like it.
The closer I got to the beach, the less real the whole thing seemed to me. I was seeing things that I recognized from pictures I had seen online. It was a strange feeling, almost like I was watching TV or something instead of actually doing this myself.
When I finally saw the beach there was a complete lack of emotion. I'm not even sure how to describe it. I think there was just way too much going on all at once. I couldn't process it. What do you do when you're so energized to have accomplished something, yet so tired from 23 difficult days of riding? Do you run out and jump for joy in the ocean, or do you sit back and soak in those relaxing beach sounds? On one hand I felt like this was the most important moment of my life, yet on the other hand there were plenty of other people out there on the beach who were just going about another normal day. Was this one of life's great moments or just another day? On one hand I had just finished 3,000 miles worth of riding, but on the other hand I had only done a 60-mile ride. It felt odd to want to celebrate such a short ride.
I didn't know what to do, so I rode around the beach a little more. Eventually my wife showed up and we did the obligatory wheel in the ocean photos. I didn't know what to do with myself, but (thankfully?) there wasn't a whole lot of time to take it all in. I still had to take my bike to the bike shop so it could get packed and shipped out by the end of the day.
I thought I needed some time to soak it all in. I'm not sure it will ever soak in. Here's what I wrote a week later:
As I write this post, it's been less than a week since I finished Petoji. It still doesn't seem real to me. I've had this dream for more than 10 years. I always felt like I was physically capable of the ride, but where would I find the time and money to do it? Well, the truth is that I never found either one. The original goal was 30 days, which had to shrink down to 23. When it comes to the money, let's just say that this wasn't the most financially responsible thing for me to do right now and leave it at that. But you know what? I did it anyway.
They say a dream is a goal without a plan. For most of those 10 years, riding across the country was a dream. Early in 2014 I broke my hip and things changed. What if something worse happened and I never got the chance to ride again? Something like that could happen at any time. I better ride as much as I can while I'm still able. Riding across the country was always my biggest bike dream, so why not start there?
About a year and a half later, I did it. The dream got a plan. That's all it really took.
Well, here I am a few extra weeks later and I still don't know what to make of it all or where to go from here.
