Photos, Riding into San Diego, CA

Good Morning, Day 54
Time to get this show on the road....

Jim tuning up our bikes for the last ride...

Final adjustments before we take off

And we're off...

Our last page of written directions..

Entering Mission Trail

Crossing Mission Bay to get to Ocean Beach Bike Path

Ocean Beach Bike Path

Getting closer to the Pacific...

We spot the RV parked near the beach...

Ocean Beach
The Pacific Ocean

Front Wheel in the Pacific!

Time to take a dip...

And that's all she wrote....
Thank you for making this adventure so special! Until the next one.....

San Diego !!

ON NOVEMBER 15, 2011 WE RODE 41 MILES FROM OCOTILLO, CA TO OCEAN BEACH PARK, SAN DIEGO, CA. AFTER RIDING THROUGH SOME BUSY STREETS WE MADE A FINAL TURN ONTO THE OCEAN BEACH BIKE PATH. I TRIED DESPERATELY NOT TO LET MY MIND THINK ABOUT WHAT WE WERE ABOUT TO ACCOMPLISH. I COULD FEEL MY HEART POUNDING FASTER AS WE APPROACHED THE END OF THE PATH. WE COULD SEE THE PACIFIC OCEAN PEEKING ABOVE THE HORIZON AND 53 DAYS AND 3,900 MILES LATER, WERE HAD ARRIVED.

WE HOPPED OFF OUR BIKES AND WALKED THEM DOWN TO THE WATER'S EDGE. JIM HAD FOUND HIMSELF A SURF BOARD AND WAS JUST COMING OUT OF THE WATER TO MEET US. AFTER A FEW PICTURES WITH OUR FRONT WHEELS IN THE WATER, I STRIPPED DOWN AND DOVE INTO THE SALTY OCEAN. OH, WHAT A FEELING.

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ONCE WE STOPPED PEDALING OUR MINDS BEGAN RACING AS WE TRIED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WE WERE GOING TO DO WITH THE RV, THE JEEP, OUR BIKES AND GEAR, OURSELVES.....

WITH THE SAME GUSTO THAT WE BIKED ACROSS THIS COUNTRY WITH WE BEGAN, WITH THE HELP OF KEVIN'S FRIEND DON LASPESA (AKA DON DIEGO), A MAJOR OVERHAUL ON THE RV. WITHIN 36 HOURS WE GUTTED IT, CLEANED IT, DETAILED IT AND FOUND A GREAT PLACE TO STORE IT. PHEW!!

WE SOON REALIZED HOW MUCH GEAR WE ACTUALLY HAD AND IT WAS GOING TO BE A HUGE UNDERTAKING TO PACK AND SHIP IT ALL BACK TO NEW YORK. SO WE DECIDED TO RENT A U HAUL, PACK IT TO THE BRIM AND DRIVE BACK.

3 DAYS LATER THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE DOING.....

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MY TIME AWAY FROM THIS BLOG HAS HELPED ME TO BEGIN WHAT I IMAGINE WILL BE A LONG PROCESS OF TAKING IN THIS INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE. TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, I THINK A PART OF ME DIDN'T WANT TO WRITE THE "FINAL" BLOG AS IT WOULD MEAN THIS JOURNEY WAS TRULY OVER.

FOR 53 DAYS AND 3,900 MILES OUR HEADS WERE DOWN AND OUR LEGS SPINNING-  WE FOCUSED ON OUR DAILY ROUTINE AND THE CHALLENGES THAT LAY AHEAD OF US WITHIN THOSE 75, 85, 111 (!!) MILES. WHEN A TRIP OF THIS CALIBER ENDS IT TAKES DAYS AND MAYBE WEEKS (MONTHS?) TO REALLY ABSORB WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED. AND, COME TO THINK OF IT, I SUPPOSE THE ONLY PART OF THIS JOURNEY THAT IS OVER IS THE PHYSICAL ONE....I IMAGINE I'LL BE REFLECTING ON AND TALKING ABOUT THIS FOR A LONG TIME TO COME.

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TODAY WAS A VERY SPECIAL DAY - I REACHED THEN SURPASSED MY $10,O00 FUNDRAISING GOAL!!!!! AND TO THINK THAT MY ORIGINAL GOAL WAS $5,000. IN FACT, RIGHT BEFORE THE RIDE BEGAN, WHEN SHANNON CUTS (THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MENTORCONNECT) EMAILED ME TO ASK WHAT I WANTED MY OFFICIAL GOAL TO BE, I FOUND MYSELF THINKING, "WHAT THE HECK, LET'S GO FOR IT" AND I WROTE BACK "LET'S GO FOR $10,000". AND TODAY WE REACHED THAT GOAL! WHAT A WONDERFUL FEELING TO HAVE RAISED THIS MUCH MONEY FOR A CAUSE SO NEAR AND DEAR TO ME - IT IS BEYOND WORDS.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED MAKE THIS JOURNEY SO SPECIAL AND SUCCESSFUL. I WAS DELIGHTED TO GET EMAILS, PHONE CALLS, BLOG COMMENTS AND TEXT MESSAGES FROM MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY ALONG THE WAY. THANK YOU TO MY WONDERFUL PARENTS, BROTHER AND SISTER, MY CLOSE FRIENDS (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE), THE NEW FRIENDS I MET, OUR SUPPORT CREW (JIM ARNOLD, CHIP RUMPH, JEFF GREGOR) AND, A VERY BIG THANK YOU TO KEVIN HARRINGTON - MY PARTNER IN CRIME/COMPADRE/SUPPORTER/MOTIVATOR ETC........I LOVE YOU ALL!!

UNTIL MY NEXT JOURNEY...

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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
- Mark Twain

Welcome to San Diego

We made it!! 3,907 miles exactly from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Montauk Point to San Diego. It has been a crazy day and I will make my final post tonight or tomorrow.

Thank you to all my wonderful followers, supporters and all the generous donations!!!

Day 53...Oh, The Mountains...

Winston Churchill once said, "If you're going through hell, keep going."

Well put, Winston. Well put.

Today was indeed this type of hellish grind. From the first down stroke of the pedal, we were climbing. And we climbed for about 50 miles, over 5,000 feet and through what felt like a giant wind tunnel.

After 10 miles riding on the shoulder of the freeway (Interstate 8) we turned on Old Highway 80 where we remained for the next 40 miles riding first to Jacumba then Live Oak Springs, Pine Valley and finally Alpine, CA. We saw our first sign post telling us the distance to San Diego!!

Starting the climb...

The first climb today was 3,000 feet and boy was it a grind. We made it to the summit and then coasted down into the town (unincorporated) of Jacumba. We had a coffee and PB&J and set off again for our next climb.

During this ascent we saw a motorcycle with a side car. In the side car there was a dog sitting as stoic as could be with goggles on, of course! We made a brief stop 10 miles later in Live Oak Springs and we came across the duo again! We said hello, learned the dog's name was Zig, and snapped a few pictures...

Zig + Dad (check out Zig's goggles!)

A kiss from my new friend Zig

20 miles later we reached our last valley, Pine Valley. We had a short but tough 500 foot climb up to the final summit before we shot down to Alpine. On our descent, a dense layer of dark clouds formed above us. The sun tried to make her way through to keep us warm, but to no avail.

Descending into Alpine, CA

When we were nearly at the bottom of our descent Jim pulled up along side us (out of no where!) and we all flew down to Alpine together.

Today we rode 60 miles from Ocotillo, CA to Alpine, CA. We have about 40 miles of riding tomorrow until we reach San Diego. I cannot believe this journey is coming to completion. Actually, I cannot believe I will have biked 3,900 miles across the United States. Wow!!

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Winston Churchill also said, "Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential."  This journey was definitely a continuous effort....

Day 52...Sand Dunes

Today was a tough day. Really tough.

Start of Day 52

We started today's ride 22 miles east of Glamis, CA on a calm, partly cloudy morning. We rode through Glamis, Brawley, El Centro, Seeley, Plaster City and, finally, into Ocotillo, CA.

Riding through Glamis, CA

In Glamis we entered the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreational Area where dune buggies, quads and dirt bikes zipping over and through the dunes. Glamis has no real structures apart from a few stores which sell supplies for the recreational visitors. Hundreds of thousands of people visit these dunes each year!

Sand Dunes
Glamis, CA

Sand Dunes
Glamis, CA

Today is Sunday which meant there was a TON of traffic. Kevin and I hugged the shoulder tight and essentially held our breath for the 20 miles into and out of Glamis. This was NOT fun. The roads that passed through the sand dunes, as you can imagine, were rollers. Up and down and up and down. What a terrifying roller coaster ride. Six Flags has nothing on Route 78.

Fifty miles later we finally entered Brawley (phew) and stopped for lunch. We refueled and set off for Ocotillo, where Jim (and the RV) were. This was another 40 miles away but if we could make it there we would be perfectly positioned at the base of tomorrow's climb.

Check out the road....

Just a few cracks!

Little did we know how awful the roads would be. These were the worst roads we have come upon in this entire journey, including Texas roads! At one point, when I was nearly at my braking point, Kevin started laughing. So did I. We were being rattled, shaken, bounced and beaten by the roads and all we could do to get through it was laugh.

89 rough miles in the saddle. We are now at the base of tomorrow's 4,500 foot climb over the Jacumba + In-Ko-Pah Mountain ranges. I guess a few days of tough riding will make reaching San Diego that much sweeter.....

Day 51...Welcome to California!

Beginning of Day 51
10 miles outside of Quartzsite, AZ

I slept well last night + woke up feeling a bit tired. Ha, I guess 111 miles took a little (a little??) out of me. I gingerly rolled out of bed and began fueling my engine, first with a cup of coffee and then with a heaping bowl of cereal + banana. That ought to get me through at least 20 miles today ;-)

The morning was bright with a very light breeze out of the west. We descended quickly for the first 12 miles and then cruised for another 20 before we made it to the state line. We climbed up a narrow bridge path and once again crossed the Colorado River, leaving the state of Arizona behind us ...and entering the mighty fine state of California. Yay! Sigh.

Eureka...I have found it! Welcome to California ...

California

Today we rode 75 miles from just outside of Quartzsite, AZ to about 20 miles shy of Glamis, CA. We finally entered the Pacific and have under 200 miles before we reach our final destination, San Diego!  Oh, but first we have to traverse a mountain range...

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Today there was a brief moment when I allowed myself to "realize" the magnitude of what I'm actually going to accomplish in a few days. I'll be able to say, "When I was 34, I biked across the country." Now, how great is that?

During the past 51 days I have spent countless hours thinking about my reasons for taking on such an endeavor. Every single day I think deeply and compassionately about the evil and consumptive diseases we call Eating Disorders. My heart grows heavy thinking about the people whose lives have been consumed by them and have felt shame no human should ever have to feel.

An organization like MentorCONNECT is invaluable to these people and to everyone who might know someone with an eating disorder: a friend, mother, sister, daughter, brother, father, uncle, aunt, son, cousin, colleague, stranger.....

Please, if you can, donate to a wonderful cause and help me reach my goal of $10,000. If you have already donated, thank you but please pass my link along to someone you know who might also want to contribute. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Day 50...An Honorary 111 miles

Start of Day 50
Surprise, AZ

Today's ride of 111 miles on this Veteran's day, 11/11/11, was in honor those service men and women who have served and sacrificed for this country.

For those of you who do not know the history of this day, it commemorates the unofficial end to WWI on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Although the war did not officially end until June 28, 1919, seven months earlier (November 11, 1918) is when the fighting ceased and an armistice between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect.  On Armistice Day president Wilson proclaimed,

"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"

During our ride, we passed a bike memorial of a man named Charles Peterson. On the top frame of the bike, which was painted white, was his name and that he lived from 1926-2007.  He was obviously an avid cyclist and perhaps he was a service man too.

Today we rode on Route 60 for 111 miles from Surprise, AZ to Quartzite, AZ.  The only populated area we passed through was Wickenburg, AZ. The rest of the day was one long stretch of rode. It was cool and overcast day although not unpleasant. It was a long day in the saddle but thinking of all those who have sacrificed for this country and continue to do so was a wonderful motivating force.

111.1 miles

Kevin is raising money for The Wounded Warrior Project and is riding in honor of his brother, Daniel F. Harrington, who served in Vietnam (Air Force) in 1969, his cousin, Kenneth McMahon, who was a marine and all the men and women who have sacrificed for our freedom.

My father, Colonel Bernard Berger, served in the First Infantry Division in Vietnam from July 1966-1967. He continued to serve in the army another year after the war and for four years after that was in the Air Force. Thank you for your service dad. You are amazing and I love you.