The Perfect Ending

For all of the ups and downs that we endured during this trip, from the flat tires to the bad weather and the hills... we could not have possible had a better final day of our trip. We woke up in Worchester and knew we had about 43 miles to finish our trip. The weather was beautful, and I actually felt really really good considering all that we had been through.

John and B made a decision last year that the last 26 or so miles of the trip would be the Boston Marathon route. I loved this decision for a few reasons: 1) It was cool that we got to see the route that the runners run every year, another little tidbit that we picked up during this trip. 2) Every mile we covered was marked on the side of the road, so I was able to have a mental countdown in my head the closer and closer we got.

We covered ground in a hurry today... we only briefly stopped for a quick granola, bathroom break and another quick water fill stop. As we got closer and closer I got more and more excited.

The 1st time I really felt that we were close was as we were coming over the Boston University Bridge and John pointed out that you could see the lights of the stadium over the buildings... what an incredible feeling that was. Then the other noticible sights of Fenway came into play slowly, the Citgo sign, the Monster and Yawkee Way. Once we got there the 5 of us approached the wall and at the same time put our hands on Fenway Park. What an incredible feeling that was... to know where we started and what we went through. Liz's mom and aunts were there waiting for us which was pretty cool, they congratulated us and had drinks for us.

We got lunch ad the "best sports bar in America" and ran into Peter Gammonds of ESPN. we took a picture with him, but the guy taking the picture screwed up and it did not take, either that or the camera broke because Peter Gammonds was not looking too good when we ran into him.

Looking back on the trip it is really hard to put my thoughts into words. Its Satruday afternoon and we are sitting in Liz's apartment having a few drinks watching the game (we were not able to scalp tickets.. too expensive which was a bummer) and just talking a bit about what we did on the trip. Its hard to explain to anyone who was not on the trip just how much fun it was, and in such a weird way it was fun despite the fact that it was probably the hardest most grueling week of my life. I know there are absolutly some things that I will miss.

1) I will miss the silly converstions on the road, trying to pass the time, trying to get through the tougest parts of the trips, or just trying to make each other laugh. Sometimes its just a matter of someone saying one word and everyone else laughing: maybe out of delusion, or because its something we had been joking about but that is something I will miss.

2) Our pre-trip prayer/talk...this has not been talked about much by anyone I dont think, but every morning we would come together after we got our bags on our bikes, brng our hands in and Billy would lead us in prayer. It was usually along the lines of asing that God protect us and help us have the mental and physical strength to make it through the day. It was always a great way to start the day and it always ended with a word, usually our final destination

3) Ill miss the sence of accomplishment every time we made it up a hill, or reached our stop for the night. Some days were much tougher then others, but we made it and I will remember every step forever.

Looking back on what we did it would be impossible to write a post about the last day with our thanking the members of Team Shamrock (our team name) for the trip.

B- The leader of the pack... without Alex we would have not made it past the 1st day. From the helpful hints about riding to the ability to fix just about every problem that we had with our bikes he was the glue that held us together. He was our map and our guide and I am sure that there were times that he was frustrated with the fact that we were slow, or not as strong as he was, but he led us all the way. I hope the documentary is able to be put together and it is an honor that I was able to be part of it.

Liz- We voted her "most improved biker" yesterday at lunch and it was absolutly not meant to be a joke or a knock on her. Her desire and ability to finish the trip despite day 1 is something that i envy. She almost always was leadng the pack and digging as hard as she could to climb every hill. I am sure there were times when she was sick of being with 4 boys...but she was great and I am glad for her that she finished with us. She was a huge part of our group and it would not have been the same with out her

Billy- When my tire busted for the 3rd time he was the one that convinced me that quitting was not an option. He rode ahead of me for the 2 and a half miles and let me blow off some steam. He was always the one who would drop back in the pack to make sure noone was riding alone, trying to keep everyone moving and motivated. He contributed in so many different ways and was a huge part of why we were able to finish.

John- First off if it was not for John none of us would even be on the trip. I want to thank him for the offer, and for doing this trip again. A quick story about the kind of guy John is, yesterday after the trip we were walking towards the bank to get money for lunch and we passed a homeless man by the bridge, we both gave him change and then after we got our money John went into McDonalds and bought that man a Big Mac, fries and a soda. Thats just who John is, and more importantly he is probably embaressed that I am even putting this story in the blog. He does good things because he knows they are good. That is one of the things I will miss most about John next year at St. Anthony's. I can never thank him enough for doing this trip. I know he said last year that it was one of the greatest experiances of his life, and after doing it for myself I have no choices but to agree with him. It was an unbelievable experiances, he was the captain of the Shamrocks.

Another bit of thanks has to go to my family for all the encouragment even when I did not sound so good the pushed me to keep moving and working even though I know they thought i was out of my mind. Also to my cousins and friends who read the blog sent texts along the way and were quick to call, or send well wishes.

Also a huge thanks to everyone we stayed with along the way... The Bova family who provided us with a great meal and night sleep on day 1 when we needed it the most. The Letson family for showing us a good time. Aunt Deb and her family for a great pasta dinner, some great videos of the kids (which should be on YouTube they are so funny) and introducing us to So You Think you Can Dance. Without the kindness of these people this trip would have been much tougher.

A final thanks has to go to the nameless people that we met along the way who helped us out. Whether it was a place to refill our water, use the bathroom or somethign bigger like fixing a tire, giving us a tire, helping us with directions or just offering us encouragment when they heard about what we were doing. It is amazing the kindness of strangers and what a good feeling you get from it.

I dont know that ill ever do somethign like this again, or if ill ever want to do it again, but we did it once and that is waht is important. Thank you again to everyone who donated. If you still want to donate its not too late. ALL the money goes to cancer research, two great causes, and tons of people will benefit from it. I will probably post another time with a better reaction once I am a little more removed from the trip. So keep checking back to read everyone elses reactions.