Eleven weeks have passed since I completed my role as the support driver for Matt and Gary. Much has taken place during that time, but I still look back on my eight days with the team as the highlight of my summer. I am really glad that I offered to drive support and grateful that Gary and Matt accepted my offer. My only regret is that I didn’t offer to drive for a longer period of time.
Looking back at what Gary and Matt accomplished in 33 days this summer is quite impressive. But if you have followed the blogs over the course of this ride, you can begin to piece together the keys to this team’s success in their journey across the US.
The first key was the meticulous planning by Gary in preparation for the ride. He had everything covered. Long before the ride actually began, he had the route planned for each day; hotels booked for each night; a detailed packing list of items to bring; and printed this in booklets for reference during the trip. All this planning paid off as things did not always go as planned. Making changes during the ride were easier because of the advanced planning.
Another key was one that was totally out of the team’s control and that was the weather. Looking back on this summer, the weather has been anything but normal, at least here in the Midwest. Flooding and severe storms ravaged the Midwest this summer. (The Rock River in the Quad Cities is currently flooding for the 5th time this year as I write this blog.) Yet the weather was really not a factor for the ride. Yes, there was the rainy and windy day in Nebraska, but that was the exception. For the most part the team experienced good biking weather and that was definitely a plus.
Finally, I think the most important key to this team’s success was the team itself. When Gary first told me his plans to ride across the US, and this was very early in the planning phase, he was thinking of doing the ride alone with the aid of a support driver. This would have been a team of two, but I think it would have made the ride much more difficult. From my personal experience with long bike rides of 100 miles or more, they are much easier if you have a companion on the ride…and safer. Gary made a wise decision when he expanded the team to three by inviting Matt to join him on the ride. The team eventually grew to four, as Larry and I shared the role as the support drivers.
This team was not a team of two bikers who only rode and the support driver who just provided support. The mornings began with breakfast, packing the SUV, and sometimes driving to the point of departure. Once the riders were on their way, the driver scouted the route, provided support, procured supplies, found a place for lunch, located the hotel, and got the riders to the hotel. Once at the hotel the bikers relaxed, cleaned and adjusted the bikes, prepared supplies for the next day. The entire team then did laundry, found a place to eat, got supplies, wrote the blogs, and finally got some sleep. The days were full, there was very little time when there was nothing to do. This team knew their roles and everyone pitched in to help each other. I think I mentioned it in my last blog as a driver that Gary and Matt ended each ride with a smile. Looking back on the eight days as the driver and one as a rider, I don’t recall a time when anyone was upset or angry.
This team was successful, or as we like to say at my company, a “high performance” team. This team had a common goal and everyone did their best to achieve it. And in the end the goal was achieved. But many teams do. There was something special about this team that made achieving the goal so much more rewarding. This was a team of friends.
Larry's look back
It has come down to this word; final. Merriam-Webster says the word is an adjective with the etymology of Middle English, from Anglo-French; derived from the Latin finalis, from finis boundary, end. 1a: Not to be altered or undone; b: of or relating to a concluding court action or preceding
Final is a really great word; an acceptable adjective for me if we use the less ‘final’ definition of 3 and recognize that I am not finished with the ride. It continues to feed me with time, sight, sound, feelings and hope that I will continue to grow with what it gave me. I can describe it better if you think of going to a really great concert at the Bass performance hall in Fort Worth. This structure is internationally recognized for its acoustic performance. It allows you to absorb what a great composer created through the production of fine instruments and talented performers. When you leave you have been awakened by the whole process. The ride was this type of input for over a month. It reverberates in me now.
I thought I would read all my notes from each day before I wrote this. I did not! I think each day was like the separate instruments of a song and this final blog is more like all of them at one time; a concert. I hope that it does not reduce what the pictures and words can say each day but gives them all a connection as a group. I am pleased with the trip. I have thought that I could have this trip again by driving somewhere with a camera and stop every 3 to 5 miles. I have no doubt that this would be a good trip; however it would not recreate this trip. I could drive the same roads and it would not recreate the trip; it would simply remind me of the one we traveled. I say that a recording is a memory of a live performance that in itself has its own finger print that is remade and is never the original.
A lot goes into this uniqueness. I believe that the route was the result of a lot of study and is a cut of America at a moment in time. The weather was the seasoning and was never too much or too little for the ride recipe. The people we met remind me that it is hard to find unfriendly folks if you smile first. It is hard to have road rage in slow motion. If you have time to smile and have eye contact the human side most often wins. The epiphany that beauty is everywhere and that it simply takes a moment before your minds eye wakes to the fact. The equipment was the best. The roads, bikes, cloths and the SUV made the transport so much more comfortable than a covered wagon ride of three months. We were blessed with a gift of safety.
Maybe you could duplicate a lot of the above but the one thing that made this one of a kind was the people. Orpha was so good to allow me the freedom of this trip. Matt, Gary, Bob and Lesley along with all of the family and friends that were engaged and supporting were the concert hall that made this so real. I did not play every note in tune, but I did hear the music; even now. Thank you all!
