Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Owen Sound -- MADE IT!!!

Well, here we are in Owen Sound, and very suddenly, we are done. Sort of. Yes, we have now completed the full 2059.4 miles of the UGRR route, biking an actual 2260 miles in the process.

We finished up yesterday at about 3:30 pm at the "Black History Cairn", a monument located in Harrison Park here in Owen Sound. This morning, we have ridden through the town, and down to the waterfront, where we did our front wheel dipping ceremony in the waters of Owen Sound Bay.

Our plans from here are to do a bit more sightseeing around Owen Sound today, and then tomorrow to ride on up to Joan's Aunt & Uncle's cottage near Wiarton, Ontario to visit them. We think it will be perhaps a 30 mile trip. We plan to be back in Owen Sound on Friday, and will take the bus out on Saturday, transporting our bikes and ourselves at unbelievable speed back to Cincinnati in one day!



So, how do we feel? To be honest, a bit numb, kind of like when we had arrived in Cincinnati after the first leg of this trip. But there is a sense of completion that we are now beginning to realize, and that feels very, very good.



We will take some time between now and when we return to Cincinnati to pull our thoughts together, and will post some final messages then. Mainly, though, we wanted to post this message to let everyone know that we did make it, and were still well and in one piece!



Thanks again for all the continued support!






Posing at the Black History Cairn, the terminus of the UGRR bicycle route.

Dipping our wheels in Owen Sound Bay, the ceremonial end to the ride.

3 comments:

Nancy said...

MAZEL TOV!!!!! You guys are amazing!! Hope you are proud of what you've accomplished and who you've accomplished this for. We're so proud of you!!
Safe travels home,
Love,
Nancy and Bruce

Mourad & 4L said...

Joan and Mike, you are simply great and inspirational.

Great Achievement. Have a safe trip home!!!

Ken Lyon said...

Congratulations!

Mixed feelings? Yes, indeed. At least that's what Carol & I had when we dipped our wheels in the Atlantic.

An exultant "We made it" mixed with a rather more mixed "It's over" with a nagging "Is that all there is?" in the backs of our minds.

It takes a while to absorb the meaning of an effort like this.

Ken