Marty's epiblogue

I've been told, and I agree, that Jake's epiblogue will be hard to beat. I'll not try, but I do have some thoughts.

As Jake mentioned, we spent a good amount of time talking about family and friends and what they mean to us. I share all of those thoughts, but of course the names would be different. For me this trip was just all about the fact that we have just one life, and one chance to experience all that we can. I'll do everything I can to not look back and say "I wish I had...." Like Jake wrote the trip was life affirming and it also affirmed how nice people are. We were regularly being cheered on, encouraged and prayed for. There is little doubt that all that positive energy was wind at our back. It was pretty cool how often complete strangers would engage us in conversations about our trip and get truly excited about what these 2 smelly guys in goofy shorts (sometimes tights) were doing.

Sadly, at the same time Jake and I were ending this 43 day odyssey, about 115 people who have been cheering us on at my work, were being told they no longer had jobs. These are people I have known for years and care a great deal about. To all of you, I'm now cheering you on and I'll be praying for you. Remember, this too shall pass.

Back to the business of this last note: Jake talked about the lesson he hopes his kids get from this adventure. He and I had many conversations about this and it might have something to do with us actually getting this thing done. This was a hard trip. I knew it would be hard, but I didn't know how hard. It was really hard, but fun. As far as that "strong man" stuff ... really. This guy rode for 5 1/2 days sick as a dog. Stuff was flying out of him in every direction and he lost about 10 lbs in those 5 days, and yet we rode. When my knees blew up he took on extra weight on his trailer and he kept it until he got sick and he took it back once he was well. So, I'm not gonna say Jake's a strong man, I'll just leave you with a thought. The next time you're sick as a dog, throwing up, not eating and those other sick things are happening to you, think about getting on a bike for 6-7 seven hours, sometimes in the rain. Now that I write that, I think maybe he is crazy.

So beating Jake's epiblogue can't be done through normal means and I don't have the writing skills. I am however very talented at making fun of people and pointing out little items I notice and locking them away for just such a time. I hope that those who know Jake will get a good laugh. I hope those that don't know him have picked up enough from his writing to enjoy this. Here goes.

Jake and I are alike in many ways and way way different in others. One way we were different is our thoughts on what to bring on this trip. I packed thinking "will I need this for sure". Jake's packing thought was "Is there any chance that in the next 45 days I might, maybe wish I kinda had this". I should have known this. One year on our annual Mt Bike trip, the first thing he excitedly showed me was a combination chainsaw - flamethrower - flashlight - NOAA weather radio - ice cream scooper - tire pump - fingernail clipper - dart gun - floor jack. Lucky for me, all the other campers and probably the whole county, Jake had failed to get the jet fuel required for operation.

I hate technology and electronic gadgets. The only thing I packed for this trip that required power was a flashlight the size of an almond and weighing that much too. Jake brought the laptop, the GPS locator, solar panels, Ipod, gorilla charger (A battery pack use to charge other items), laser hair treatment thickener, an around the neck air freshener, under water video camera, a Garmin GPS, a rechargeable nose and ear hair remover, an electronic snore stopper thing (that didn't work), a 20 language talking translator (which was no help in the backwoods of Mississippi - obviously not an official language), a rechargeable blow up Kelly doll, and a battery operated talking garden gnome with eyes that lite up. (Okay, the talking gnome I made up.) I have to admit it was kinda fun watching the local news, in the real small towns, reporting on the roaming brown outs that seemed to start when we got to town and end about the time we packed up in the morning. Just the weight of all the cables Jake had to connect all his doohickeys to his doodads was more that my whole bike.

You might notice that I didn't mention his cell phone. That is because it holds a special place. I hate cell phones and really don't know how to use one. I can I only tell you my cell phone number if I've just happened to look it up in the last hour. Jake's cell phone is an appendage. I think he thinks he is getting points for how much he uses it. For the first 10 days of the trip, every time we stopped anywhere, Jake would pull out his cell phone and remark on whether or not he had coverage, and every time I got to hear one of the following things. 1 - "Unbelievable, I've got coverage .... here in the middle of no where". I'd give him my best "why are you telling me that, I don't care" look. Or 2 - "I've got no coverage here. Why the hell don't I have coverage here when I had coverage back in ______ , the middle of nowhere", to which I'd give him my best "why are you talking to me at all, don't you know I don't care" look. This went on for 10 days and we stopped 7-8 times per day. That means I heard one of those 2 saying 70 -80 times in just the first 10 days. It also means Jake got my best "why are you ......... ". you get the idea.

As Jake mentioned, he loves Kelly and these two are joined at the .... well, the cell phone. Here is my parody of our normal lunch stop: All of the following is Jake on his cell phone - "Hey honey, we just stopped for lunch in _______(enter any town between San Diego and St Augustine) at the local Burger King. Had a pretty good ride so far, we've done about 50 miles. Ya, the wind died down. Okay gotta go." end. "Hey baby, just standing in line. Think I'll get a number 3 combo but not sure, I'm not that hungry. Okay gotta go." end "Hey honey, I went with the number 5 combo cause I got hungry standing there. What was that thing you mentioned about Pepsi One the other day? Okay " Marty, Kelly said she read on line that Pepsi One has more chemicals than regular Pepsi" I give him my best "why are you telling me this?" look. (I've never drank Pepsi One.) "Okay gotta go, my food is here" end. Phone rings "Hey honey, Oh Jeff, sorry man, thought you were Kelly cuase we were just talking -. Blah blah blah divide the net revenue by 1.74 to give you that number. Okay gotta go, having lunch. "Hey honey, ya just finished lunch. Ya it was good but you know what they did to my burger? Yep, all the pickles were right on top of one another. Okay gotta go, Marty is riding away from me."

I make fun of Jake for a few reasons. For one, it's easy. For two it's fun. For three he can take it. But Jake made this a great trip and I truly could not have done it without him; he could have done it without me. Jake is the only person who I asked to do this trip with. If I had it to do again, Jake would be the person I'd ask again. (Don't worry, once should do it)

Folks, that's it for me. This was a great experience and all of the support, prayers and well wishes are so appreciated. People have asked "what's next"; well nothing like this. There are other things that I want to see and experience, but none of those remaining things will cause people to say "Are you crazy?", well maybe one of them, but that's years away.

Life is good, make it better.

Marty