I guess we were all hoping that the last day would be a nice easy
cruise to the sea under sunny skies and a cool breeze. But the Fates
decided differently for us.

We left Bangor under a light drizzle, one that we could feel on our
faces and hear on our jackets. The light drizzle steadily increased
all day. So much so, that by the time we reached Bucksport, we were
all soaked to the bone.

But Bucksport is not on the way to Bar Harbor. Because of traffic
and road considerations we were advised by several people to take a
longer, but less traveled route. We discovered that on a holiday
week-end there is no `less traveled' route to the sea and so we
ended up on a narrow, very hilly and busy highway in the rain. It
was just a terrible ride, but nothing was going to stop us today
(except lunch at Ellsworth).

I suppose it was better that our day was more reminiscent of the
tough days we had, because we will always remember the beautiful
times, but tend to push out of our memories some of hard weather we
had to endure. When I arrived at the Atlantic Ocean I felt like I
really earned the sense of pride I was feeling.

We officially ended our ride at the Bar Harbor Fish House Grill, or
more precisely at their bar on the ocean side dock. As word passed
through the bar people started coming up to congratulate us. Some
even wanted their picture taken with us. The owner eventually took a
group shot of us in the restaurant for his bulletin board. All I
kept thinking was: We did it! We all arrived safely across the
continent to the Atlantic Coast.

I just hope that when I am grumbling up the Torrey Pines grade and
it gets a little too hot, or when the restaurent is a little further
than the ride leader had thought, I will remember that on some wall
in some bar on the North Atlantic Coast is a picture of six
Knickerbikers with tired smiles on their faces because they rode
through cold rain, hail, light snow, terrible winds, and blazing
heat, and cycled 3,762 miles and climbed 136,027 to reach their
destination.