< Day five: Sheep Mountain Gravel Pit to Palmer Fairgrounds
Day six – 45.6 miles
Based on the warm afternoon of the day before, we dressed light in the morning. When we got out of the tent, it was biting cold. We had packed everything into our bags before opening the tent, our wet-weather practice already becoming habit, and decided not to change. Better to start cold than add layers we’d take off later anyway, besides, it was dry. When we got to our bike it had ice on the seats and bars. We scraped off the ice and hit the road.
Day six was flat! For a tandem with semi-injured riders that still wanted to make a good showing, that was ideal. We’d mostly recovered from the pain of the prior day and we were very excited to get into Anchorage. The scenery had become much flatter and open and we were moving pretty fast. The first outpost required a small out and back trip of about a mile so we skipped it. At the second outpost the staffers had practiced a dance routine and were performing it to music from a boom box. By then it was warm again and we were enjoying the sun on our face, the live entertainment and of course, the peanut butter and jelly snacks.
When we left the second outpost we were on a bike path. When we read “bike path” on the route guide, I thought it would be slow. Bike paths I’d been on before were narrow and un-maintained, and generally a distant second choice behind a real road. But this was an Alaska bike path. It was a good 10 or 12 feet wide, perfectly smooth and clean. On the flat sections, we held our speed in the mid twenties for a while and only one solo rider kept up. For us, that was fast! Where the bike path turned back to a road, there was a CBS camera crew that interviewed us. Back home in Los Angeles, some of our friends saw us on a Cantonese station, and family saw us on a local station in Alabama. For the last stretch, the anticipation was palpable.
When we pulled into Anchorage, the reception was fantastic. Riders, friends and family lined the streets, cheering us in! It was a great feeling. We checked in, got our finishers jersey and cheered in the rest of the riders. An announcement was made when the last rider was coming in and there was a mad rush toward the finish line. Everyone was clapping and yelling congratulations to her as she crossed the finish line in tears. In the crowd we saw team Bissel, and Ed was practically glowing with joy. It was like standing in the middle of 1500 of your best friends, in a state of mass euphoria!
After we had all collected together and put on our matching finisher’s jerseys, we were a picture of solidarity. All 1500 riders were in uniform, riding together through the streets of Anchorage into closing ceremonies, in front of media, family and friends. We heard from Dan Palotta, and the three beneficiaries of the $4.2 million dollars that had been raised. We did something great, and we were proud of it.
Would we do it again? Yes!