Fin!

Feeling: Elated at being able to throw out my incredibly manky socks.

From the last post, I forgot to mention my most recent and worst bit of abuse I've suffered on the bike. As I was leaving Lansing someone threw a bottle of what I believe was used chewing tobacco at me. These kind of things are annoying, but like all the verbal abuse it does no damage so you can just carry on cycling. And then when you meet someone watering their crops just down the road who lets you borrow their hose to wash all the crap off you feel good as if you've had a small victory.

Clarence F. Buckingham Memorial Fountain, Chicago IL

Yup. 3063 miles and I'm in central Chicago IL. From the beginning I wanted to get to Chicago as I loved it on a previous visit that lasted only an afternoon between airports. At about half 2 on Friday 27th July I pushed my way through the crowds to reach the Cloud Gate in Chicago's Millennium Park and my personal finish line. There were fanfares and shouting and cheering and congratulations and all of it in my head in the last few miles. Once at the park, nothing. You want to be able to let it all go and celebrate with everyone, but you can't because you're all alone in a foreign country surrounded by people who don't know you, don't know what you've achieved, and have achieved more themselves. Plus, the journey isn't fully over yet - there's still that simple matter of finding somewhere to sleep, along with selling the bike, buying a ticket for the bus, finding plane tickets home, and finding new socks as yours need hammering out before your feet will fit in them. I always thought that that 'new pants feeling' was the best, but no, it's all about the socks.

Lets have a look at the numbers...
3063 miles.
15 State capitals, 18 States.
108 days, of which 70 were on the bike.
28.4 miles per day average over the whole trip, or 43.8 miles if you only count the cycling days.
Maximum distance in 1 day was 85 miles from Williamsport down to Harrisburg PA.
Countless gallons of Powerade drunk.
Too few gallons of chocolate milk drunk.
1 train ride (but in my defense it was through New Jersey).
1 crash with 1 trip to hospital. 4 other very minor injuries.
1 bike, 1 new wheel, 2 new tires, 3 new spokes, 3 sets of new brake pads.
Just over 1 stone in weight lost, and a couple of inches from me waist.

My reflection in the Cloud Gate - the finish line in Chicago

What now for this blog? Well, I've still got some things to say and the fun isn't over yet so things will be continuing until I'm home in early September. Many thanks to those who've sent me messages and spoken to me through various means, keeping me sane and cycling (they're not mutually exclusive, it just seems like it).