End of East Coast Bike Ride, 2021

After 42 days of cycling 2,579 miles, two hurricanes, and two flat tires we arrived at the southernmost point in the United States at 12:15 pm on Sunday, October 10, 2021. After a rest and shower at our hotel, we headed back to old town Key West and spent the rest of the afternoon walking Duval Street. At the end of the day, we returned to our hotel and celebrated with a bottle of champagne and two slices of key lime pie. After popping the cork, eating dinner and enjoying our pie we slowly began adjusting to a life not focused on weather, traffic, and route options down the east coast. 

This trip was not only a cycling but also a logistical feat. We suspect none of you are currently logged onto the weather app on your phone to determine where you will be sleeping later this evening. Once we understood weather conditions, Jay would project his riding distance, Helen then began the search for accommodations, whether camping or a hotel for our stay each evening. Sometimes a 60-mile ride became a 70-mile ride so we could finish the day at a facility that met our needs. As Jay rode, Helen would seek out a grocery store to buy food for breakfast or dinner. She also did laundry and occasionally had an opportunity to take a day tour in a city we visited. The next day, we would repeat the cycle of checking the weather and plotting out our day’s journey to the next location. This was an adventure that took the art of team work to a new level.

One observation about our trek is that ocean saltwater and sand is an undeniable magnet to humans. As we traveled down the east coast, we witnessed the many ways a coastal location attracts our attention. There are amusement-filled boardwalks where saltwater taffy and pizza can be purchased on a whim.  There are also endless complexes of high rise beach front hotels that line stretches of the coastline for as far as the eye can see. Wealth configures the shoreline into exclusive enclaves with gated entrances accessible only to the top sliver of the American economic food chain. Occasionally, a shore front bungalow erected a generation ago appears. These last hold outs from a quieter time have survived hurricanes, shifting shorelines and surely the overwhelming family economic pressure to “sell out” and take the money.

It is hard to consume these observations if you are zooming along in a car at 50 – 60 mph on a road designed to move you as quickly as possible to the next location on your itinerary. More details are seen when you are hugging the shoreline on roads named “Beach Front Ave” or “Ocean Boulevard” at 15 mph on a bicycle. There is more time to absorb, and cycling provides “infinite” think time as you propel yourself forward.

We are grateful that we had no mishaps or injuries to report. Although it was anticipated but never vocalized, Jay was the most vulnerable to a traffic accident. However, it was Helen who had the occasion to be run off the road and thankfully avoided a last second collision with a bridge abutment.

The Last Leg

Having completed our cycling adventure, we departed Key West and headed up the west coast of Florida to visit friends in Venice, FL. With the drive back to our home in Roswell completed, Helen logged 6.434 miles of support driving over the 62 days we were out exploring the east coast.

The Prius is now unpacked, and we are beginning to adjust to our “normal” life.  Surely there is another adventure in our future. We don’t know what that adventure is, but the possibilities seem endless to us.