Nov. 8 – Going Home

Well, the party is over. Like it or not…now it is time to get home and re-enter society. My flight left at 7:40pm, so I had the day to pack and get ready. My first task was to find a big duffle bag that would fit all my gear as on my American Airlines flight I can check two pieces of luggage – one being my bike, at no cost. I had stopped at a Walmart on my way back from Tybee Island, but no luck. This morning I got up early and rode over to Target as online it showed that they had what I needed. Unfortunately, the reality was different and they didn’t have anything either. I was starting to stress about it when I had an epiphany and went to the Home Depot next to Target. They had just put out all their holiday stuff – and I found that a Christmas tree storage bag makes an excellent big item travel duffle! Whew.

I made it back to the hotel in time to enjoy breakfast and then packed all my gear up and put it back on my bike as I had to go to the bike shop to get the bike box and prepare for travel. Brian was going to meet me around 4pm, so when I checked out of the hotel just after 11am I felt like I had plenty of time. I had ridden by this BBQ place on my way out of town the day before and had made a mental note to try and stop by as it looked and smelled like the real deal – Randy’s BBQ. I pulled in at 11:30 and there was already a sizable line of about 10 people – although my fellow BBQ aficionados told me that we were lucky as the line would grow to 30-40 at lunch time. The menu was: Ribs. They usually have chicken too, but at 11:30 they were already sold out -?

The guy in front of me ordered a “Medium Rib” which was $8. Not wanting to seem like a rookie, I also confidently ordered a “Medium Rib”. I strapped the box onto my bike and continued on to the Trek store a few miles away. There I sat on the curb in front of the store and enjoyed my box of ribs dripping with mustard bbq sauce and a couple of slices of white bread. Wow. If you are in Savannah, go to Randy’s….and get there early with cash in hand. Once I washed the sauce off my hands and face it was time to start packing up my bike – or so I thought! Turns out that the box they had saved for me was not tall enough to fit my bike. Crap. I didn’t have time to waste, so I got on the phone and found a shop on the other side of town, Quality Bikes, where the mechanic was just unboxing a full-sized E-bike and I could have the box. So I put my bike back together and put all my gear back on it and headed on down the road. I also texted Brian and told him about the change of location. Luckily I was still good on time and when I got to Quality Bikes the guys there were very friendly and helpful and together we were able to get my bike broken down and boxed. Brian arrived just before I taped the box closed. We loaded my bike and gear into his truck and since we still had some time he took me on a tour of the waterfront residential area of Savannah, which was incredibly beautiful. Then we headed off to the airport. Evidently Brian and I had met 30-35 years before, but neither of us remembered so we had a nice conversation getting to know each other. Always good to talk to other restaurateurs and hear their story. Brian has 4 restaurants and is in the process of opening his fifth. I wish him the best in all his ventures and am appreciative of him taking the time to help me out! We arrived at the airport with time to spare, which was good since my bike box was overweight and I had to do the “luggage shuffle” – moving stuff around to make it work out. And then – that was it. My flights were on time, my daughter Suzi picked me up, and now I am sitting at our dining table, sorting through mail and writing this last post. The past two months seem like a blur. I was gone for 64 days – two days traveling, two days off to come home for our dog, three days off for the football game and 57 days of biking. I am not sure what the exact mileage of the trip was, but a good estimate is 3,400 miles. Interestingly, I averaged almost exactly 61 miles per day. I was physically and mentally challenged, but never considered quitting…even on those tough mountain passes!! Overall the trip was a blast and I enjoyed it tremendously – it was all I could have hoped for. I saw so many amazing sights and met great people all across the country. I will remember it forever. I am very appreciative of all my co-workers who pulled extra weight while I was away, grateful for my family as they supported this crazy “bucket list” goal, and thankful for all of you – who cheered me on, read my blog, and gave me the motivation to continue when times on the road got tough. Through today there have been 1,897 visitors to my site who have viewed my blog 16,019 times. I never would have imagined that in my wildest dreams. You are the best!

Now get out there and have adventures of your own!

Much Love,

Jeff