Furthermore and ecetera

“The end of THE END is the best place to begin THE END, because if you read THE END from the beginning of the beginning of THE END to the end of the end of THE END, you will arrive at the end.” 
- Lemony Snicket, The End

I hope that the above quote seems as confusing and true to you as it does to us. It certainly casts an appropriate light onto the events and thoughts of the last few days.

We left off in Silver City, where we embarked on the beginning of the end, which in fact was not really the end as we still needed to ride to Tucson. We intended to conquer the last 125 miles of the designated Great Divide Mountain Bike Route in Antelope Wells by the end of the day. The task seemed simple as we had plenty of water sources, easy elevation, and plenty of pavement. We waved goodbye to Patrick as soon as the sunlight made its appearance and took off with feelings of excitement and anticipation.

Ooooooh, of course something should go wrong! The first 40 miles were fast, beautiful and fun. The surrounding desert area was filled with yuccas that gave the appearance of large ostriches. We arrived in Separ feeling home free and took our time roaming through souvenirs and postcards. Just as we were returning to the road, Josh discovered yet another flat tire. We sat down to patch it up, but had a difficult time locating the puncture and nervous to use a new tube. Finally we were off again, and having lost an hour meant that we needed to make up time on the next section if we were to reach the border before sundown.

We rode quickly to Hachita, the final resting point before the last push to the border. The day was turning out to be extremely hot and we were just ready to be done. After meeting with Sam Hughes, the legendary  Antelope Wells shuttler, and arranging our pick up time, we set off for the border- finally. 

The last 45 miles are on the paved "Lonely Highway." At any other time, I think we would have considered the view strangely pretty with the looming mountains that framed the desolate and endless road. While we did see some entertaining creatures- the biggest grasshoppers you'll ever see, dead rattle snakes and tons of hairy tarantulas- the road was painfully boring, and our legs could barely keep up. The Lonely Highway seemed to drag on for hours, until we finally viewed the END. We pushed as hard as we could, riding straight up to the Mexican border line and parking our bikes. 

For most this would have been the final final end- the last day of a long journey, with a stopping point that has been shared with thousands of cyclists and hikers in years past. For us, though, our journey continued on.

The next few days of riding seemed to be the hardest of all. For so long we had woken up with the intention of finishing the biking route, from Canada to Mexico. It is hard to explain the change that we experienced as we continued on to Arizona. It seemed as though it was time to celebrate, and yet we were still working. It seemed that we should be looking back, and processing all that we had accomplished. We were so ready to be in Tucson, on the train, and back at home, but we still had more miles to earn... So, on we rode, through 90+ temperatures, only managing 20-40 miles a day. More searching for water, many more flat tires, continuous sore muscles....we were finally ready to be done and to end our chapter.

Appropriately, as we finished up our last day of official riding, we fixed 2 flats before we could reach our destination. We arrived at our friend Robin's house in the full heat of the day (102 degrees), and walked into the blessed sanctuary of air conditioning. We've spent the last few days relaxing, processing, and preparing for our final leg of the journey. A few minutes ago, we had our friend Gen on the phone and had our official celebration- while Gen opened a beer in Virginia, we corked a bottle of champagne and cheers-ed each other- finally!!! (Congratulations friend!)

There are so many things we are looking forward to in the comforts of home. One of the things I hope to enjoy soon is a few still moments where I can look back and begin to remember and process all that has happened. More importantly, we are excited to foster the new relationships we've begun to build along our journey, and to start thinking of the next adventure. Because really, there is no end to a journey. There's only "volume 2," the sequel, furthermore and ecetera. Stay tuned.....

The End.

For Now.

O, and look for more pictures soonish!