Recap

Note:  I wrote this last October and just noted that I never published it.

My 2009 mates.  A great group of men who bonded like only two days had passed rather than two years.  I miss them already.

The Eastern Seaboard tour ended a week ago.  Life goes on now for everyone.  The cyclists had to compete for a lane riding into Daytona Beach with over 100,000 motorcyclists who were there for their fun and games.  Many of them are in the same demographic as our cyclists.  To each his own, but the pedaling lifestyle is much healthier.

The final banquet was great.  Each of the riders expressed appreciation for the comaraderie and support of the group.  Larry Friedman received the map.  Larry was a guest of Al's and had never completed even a single overnight bike trip.  I enjoyed reading his blog leading up to the tour.  If I ever get some spare time, I will go back and read all the blogs.

Robin and I went to Atlanta for three days after leaving Florida and visited family there.  We arrived home on Wednesday.  I went to CrossRoads world headquarters on Thursday and helped to offload the truck.  It was amazing to see how everything is put together.  Everything has to be placed in the storage unit just so to maximize the efficiency of putting a truck back together next spring.

I went out for a ride on Friday.  It was nice to ride on my home turf again.  In a one-hour ride, I saw more riders than on any single day of the tour.  It was great to ride up and down hills again after the very flat last two weeks of the ES tour.  It was great to ride on a 55 mph highway that actually has a six-foot shoulder.  I thought it would be great to use the smaller chainring on a hill, but did not need it, even on a six percent grade.  Must have become stronger.  It was great to see 30 mile and more vistas rather than have vision obscured by dense forests on every side.