Ed & Sharla's Final Thoughts

Now that this dream is complete we wanted to put together a few thoughts about the journey.

Ed's Thoughts:

One of my goals was to use this time to get to better know my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and I believe this was furthered in several ways.  The time on a bike allows you to experience your surroundings much more than in a car.  You not only can enjoy the surroundings more because you are doing it slower and have unrestricted views, but you also use your other senses such as smelling and hearing to experience it.  This allowed me to get a better view of His creation and recognize what a creative God we have.  He created magnificent vistas to view His handy work from the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean. He also created such a variety of wildlife from birds and mammals to many types of animals that live in the sea.  These experiences demonstrated what a unique and wonderful place God created for us to enjoy and take care of.

I really enjoyed meeting people along the way that were either interested in what we were doing or were fellow touring cyclists with various dreams of their own.  We got a chance to interact with people we never would have had the opportunity to meet without this journey.  A lesson I learned was that I should not judge people based on my first impressions, because after I spent a little time with them I found out they had a story of their own and it was probably not what I had imagined.  It was also very easy to start a conversation by being on a touring bicycle and meeting all these new people was a highlight of the trip.

This adventure really ended up being a journey and not a destination and I am now wondering how God will use it to shape my future.  I feel greatly blessed to be able to have physically accomplished this and also have the time and resources to do it.  I am most blessed that my wife, Sharla, did this with me!  She was amazing and experiencing this adventure together brought us even closer to one another!

One last thought is that people keep asking me what was the best part of the trip and other than meeting some amazing people, it had to be riding along side the Pacific Ocean on a bright sun shinny day with a light wind to my back and minimal traffic.  The miles passed quickly and it was utterly exhilarating!  We had a number of these experiences throughout the journey  in Canada, Washington, Oregon and California.  I still can't believe we did it...

Sharla's thoughts in a nutshell:

I also can't believe we did it but my knees, legs, funny tan lines and so many memories let me know we did. It was an amazing adventure to share with Ed. Beforehand, I wondered how we would manage with so much together time. I can say now, we managed pretty well and I would say our relationship is closer as a result of this experience. 

I think back on the mountains, mountain passes, hundreds of hills and even some bridges that challenged me the most. As you've read this blog, you know I didn't appreciate them too much but there is a sense of accomplishment each time I made it up and over them.  I learned to focus on the task at hand and just take it 1 day at a time, 1 visible climb at a time, a half mile at a time and know that there was a downhill coming. I praise God for giving me the strength and determination to complete this journey.

Having bikes with panniers and pulling a trailer was an instant conversation starter. A highlight of the trip was the people we met along the way. So many people stopped us and wanted to know where we were going to and coming from. It was very fun to meet fellow bicyclists...some of them several times at camps who we would have never met due to age difference or whatever but here we had a common denominator in bicycling.

I also praise God for the beauty He created that was so evident in the sites I saw. There were also so many times I felt God's intervention from using a car accident on a bridge for me to catch my breath to recently placing people who helped direct our path--one at the right moment came along and kept us from ending up on a dead-end strand of land and another helped us figure the best place for my sister to meet us by the border.

All in all, it has been a wonderful, unforgettable experience.

We also thank our neighbors niece, Tori, for making this possible by agreeing to take care of our house and animals while we were gone.  We also thank our neighbors Rod and Nella for their part in taking care of our property while we were away.  Without them this dream would not have ben possible.

We were unable to post pictures during our journey but will try to add them in the next few weeks after we get home, so check back later if you want to see them.

Mexico...The Dream Accomplished - Day 56 (October 16, 2012)

During the final  leg of our journey, we rode through Del Mar, Torrey Pines (a 300' hill that reminded Sharla of earlier climbs), La Jolla, Pacific Beach, San Diego, National City, Chula Vista, San Ysidro and Tijuana. Near the end, Ed was figuring maybe we didn't need to cross the border but Sharla said we couldn't say we went from Canada to Mexico if we didn't cross the border. That was about a 3 hour process--hour to get into Mexico, spent less than half an hour in Tijuana, and the rest of the time in a long line to get back in U.S.  Sharla's sister, Cindi, met us in San Ysidro after we got back across the border with her truck to give us a ride to our Mom's place in El Cajon. It is hard to believe our journey has been completed and Ed's dream accomplished.

Penultimate Ride - Day 55

For those of you who don't know (since Sharla didn't know) that means the next to last ride. Today's ride took us through San Clemente, Camp Pendleton (had to show our IDs to ride through), Oceanside, Carlsbad and Leucadia.  It was a 44 mile ride before arriving at our final campsite in San Elijo State Beach campground. We saw lots of beaches and many more surfers. We met fellow bikers, Tom and Richard, who were interested in what we were doing. At the campsite we met Don who has seasonal work in Alaska and is riding from San Jose to San Diego and then is going to head East to Florida.  His ultimate goal is to eventually ride the perimeter of the United States.  Today was a nice ride even though temperatures were the warmest we've had.

Back in the Saddle Again - Day 54

The last 27 miles out of LA was on Highway 1 and didn't have a bike lane or shoulder so we rode this on Sunday morning and it worked out well as traffic was light and we were able to take one whole lane (there were 3 lanes most of the time) without causing traffic problems. Traffic increased in the afternoon making riding more difficult as we were still on Highway 1 without bike lanes so we were glad that we started early and got through so much of the ride without difficulty. We rode through Long Beach, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach seeing some nice coastlines and lots of beaches during our 54 mile ride to Doheny State Beach campground near Dana Point. It is evident that the population density is much higher than any other part of our ride.

Down Time in Los Angeles - Days 52 & 53

After checking into the motel and having a nice dinner on the Wharf, we decided to enjoy the nice weather and spend a couple more days in the LA area. In order to get around, we rented a car for the first time on our journey. Friday we went to the LA Museum of Natural History. We were again amazed at God's awesome creativity and the diversity in life we saw in the displays of dinosaurs, mammals, insects, fish, etc. from  prehistoric times to now. We cannot possibly believe that this tremendous variety could have evolved without God's handiwork. We also visited the California Science Museum and Hollywood. The space shuttle, Endeavor, was scheduled to be moved into a special building at the museum the next day but we decided not to return and fight the traffic but we did see some of the  preparations being made for its arrival.

Saturday was spent as an easy-going day that ended with us attending Saddleback Church where Rick Warren was preaching. At the guest table we met Joel, who is an avid bike rider and triathlete. He told us he is biased because he lives here, but he still believes some of our most enjoyable rides are still ahead of us.

Blessings Abound - Day 51

We were soon into the rolling hills of Malibu...sometimes with expensive houses on both sides of us but many times with the Pacific Ocean on our right.  This whole trip Sharla has been looking for whales and dolphins. She finally saw several dolphins swimming along today. First blessing of the day. We stopped at a grocery store in Malibu to get a mid-morning snack of danish and juice (can do that sort of thing now that we don't have mountains to climb). Sharla stayed outside watching the bikes while Ed bought the goodies. She was soon entertained by a homeless guy who called himself Freddie the Singer.  He said he was a song writer and sang a cute song about a turkey who took diet pills before Thanksgiving and ended up putting the farmer out of business when he sold the diet pills to the other turkeys. He said he may be homeless but he lives in Malibu!  At the end of Venice Beach we were looking for a place to eat and were looking at a menu at Thomas Hamburgers when a man out front asked about our bikes.  When he found out about our journey he told a guy next to him to give us whatever we wanted.  We told him he didn't have to do that but he told us he was Thomas and he owned the restaurant and we could have whatever we wanted.  Ed had some excellent fish tacos and Sharla had the best gyro we have ever had.  We found out he immigrated to LA 40 years ago from Greece and now has several businesses in LA.  Our 2nd blessing.  We continued on a wonderful 20 mile ride on a paved beach bike path and the miles went by very quickly. After arriving in Redondo Beach, a lady told us where we could get a reasonably priced motel and also about an excellent wharf restaurant that had a great early bird special. We got a motel and cleaned up in time to catch the special. When the waitress found out about our journey, she treated us to a free dessert--chocolate mousse. Another blessing.

A WOW Day - Day 50

There was rain in the forecast but it ended up being a beautiful day. We are really enjoying the perfect California weather we have had.  Much of the day was spent on the coast, traffic was light, bike lanes were wide, roads were fairly level, and it was a great day for riding. Today was spent going through Ventura and Oxnard making stops for pastries and coffee, fish, chips and sushi, and ice cream.  Ed kept looking out at the Pacific Ocean and was "WOWed" that we have nearly completed his dream ride. We had a 50 mile day and ended at Leo Carrillo State Beach just North of Malibu and Los Angeles. A perfect ending to the day was spent sitting on the beach watching surfers, kayakers and divers enjoying the Southern California coast.