Sunday, June 28, 2009

2009 Eagle HiWheel Mayors' Ride Terminated

As I posted to my Twitter and Facebook communities, my Eagle HiWheel ride is over, done and complete. In sum, I ran out of

* money
* weather (I lost 18 days to electric storms plus the $800 cost of doing so)
* routing (the interstates that flattened out the climbing, gave me a WIFII signal and afforded usually accessible lodging were far busier beyond Nevada and would have added many hundreds of miles to my next destination - Denver)
* support (the ride Sherpa(s) I needed to get through remote and mountainous northeastern Utah on the way to the Rockies and Denver never showed up)
* proper nourishment (without Sherpas to carry the higher grade of nutrition my bigger efforts were going to require, I knew I could not find what I would need in the smaller stores between SLC and Denver - the three days at the SLC truck stop that ran my batteries to a very weak low, showed me this)
* spokes (I had four broken spokes)

All, however, is not lost. As a trial balloon for next year, I was able to build a huge plethora of contacts as well as better define my needs. I now see and can justify every budget line item I am calling for. What some had dismissed as wild eyed luxuries, I now see as the difference between failure and success on my next run. As well, I am now able to see what part of my ride will keep the media interested and how much energy will need to be assigned to the Busycle and also to my book to help the 2010 Mayors' Ride dominate a lot of next summer’s news.

There are so many of you to thank that all can say is you know who you are and without you, this journey could not have happened. As well, I hope my ride showed all those who tuned in, how much love fills this nation. WOW - THX 4 all of U!!

Special THX to Penny Farthing Winery and all the love that holds that operation together for making most of this ride possible. If you want to honor the important part they played and keep their powerful energy interested for next year, please buy a commemorative t-shirt or a bottle or a case of their wine HERE!!

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