Cycling Into Daytona Beach

It's the last day of my 2011 Eastern Seaboard cycling trip. Taking pictures before we left for our 53 mile ride to Daytona Beach was the order of the day. We got all the XC 2010 riders together for one last picture. This year I rode with all my friends from XC10. Even Michel, who was kind enough to stay with me on the day we road down "mosquito alley" and Sam, well it was "pleasant" to follow your red blinking light!

We also took a picture of the Pedigrees before heading out for our easy ride to Daytona Beach....not! The first 18 miles out of town was at a pace of 20-22 mph. Hey guys where's the fire???

What happened to that leisurely ride on our last day? It's a sunny warm day no need to rush, or is there a football game you have to watch? Thank goodness for the SAG stop at mile 23 and that sanity prevailed.

The Pedigrees took their time enjoying the great road 1A1 as we cycled along the coast line through small beach towns and finally into Daytona Beach. As we cycled into town, we found ourselves sharing the road with hundreds of motorcyclists who were in town for a 4 day Motorcycle Rally. As we weaved our way through the traffic we enjoyed seeing what the "other cyclists" were riding.

As I cycled my way to the hotel it dawned on me this was our last hotel for the trip, I was cycling to the end of another fantastic adventure! I had started this trip riding for days in the rain and was happy to be finishing it on a sunny day. To get to Daytona Beach I rode through the Bear Mountain Park, saw the damaged roads from Irene, rode on three different Ferrys, crossed to many steel plated bridges to count and counted far fewer smooched snakes then last year...which is a good thing!

My Garmin Edge 500 recorded/charted all of my information which includes riding a total of 1,643 miles, in 115 hours, at an average speed of 14.3, with an average heart rate of 131.

I'm sad my ride is over, I'll miss my old friends and the new friends I've made. I believe I leave this ride a better rider for having ridden for so many days in the rain, for using a controlled descent coming off all those mountains in the Northeast, for sharing the rode with all those logging trucks, (oh by the way, I know what they are going to do with all those logs, they are making pulp for paper), for carefully crossing all those steel plated bridges for learning to ride more comfortably in a pace line and for leading a pace line riding at a more consistent speed.

All of these are great accomplishments and I'm very proud to have learned/done each of these. However, the most important accomplishment for my great adventures is the fact that with the help and support of all my family and friends I have been able to raise more than $50,000 during my 2010 Cross Country and 2011 Eastern Seaboard cycling trips.

I couldn't have done any of this without the love and support of my husband Don. Thank you so much for going along with my crazy but worthwhile dreams and supporting me the entire way! Love you!!!

Semper Fi