Phil's Epic Ride : Day 33 - 108 Mi to Atlantic Ocean

Well the final day has come and gone and with it and end to this epic ride. What a day! everyone was jacked up about getting started today, myself included. The day started pretty normal for me but did not end up that way. The ride today was scheduled for 108 miles and 6493 feet of climbing. We left the hotel in Keene to a very humid and overcast day with a 30% chance of thunderstorms all day. The temps were in the mid 50s and we had about 25 miles of light rain/drizzle before lunch.

They had changed the course a bit from the plan so my GPS was going to be useless for an 11 miles section of the ride. I would have to refer to my cue sheet. After the first SAG stop, a group of riders dropped me and I was alone and missed a turn on the cue sheet. By the time I realized it I had gone 7 miles in the wrong direction and I doubled back to the road I should have been on for a total of 14 extra miles for the day. Then to make thing worse, I lost my cue sheet and had to call for directions. By now I was way behind the group and the last one into the lunch SAG and they would have to wait for me at the rendezvous point two miles from the beach. I bolted out of the SAG in hopes of catching the last riders and I did only because they stopped to fix a flat. I was no longer the one holding up our arrival at that point.

Now I am more relaxed enjoying the last few miles of the ride and with 1 mile to go before the rendezvous point I get my 8th flat tire of the ride. I quickly removed the wheel and tube and got assistance from the ride leader and within 5 minutes I am up and running again and am joined by the last 4 riders and as we rode in together to the rendezvous point.

Finally, all 24 of us are together and we pose for a group photo across from Brown's Lobster Pound. Then as a group we rode in together to the beach and were meet by our family and friends and the journey was complete. Later that evening we had a banquet and said are last good byes.

Its too early to really explain the reality of what we just did so I will reflect on it for a couple of days and do one final post with all the statistics and thoughts.

(Most Photos taken by Mike Munk- Bamacyclist.com)