Ode To A Wheel

FINAL STATS
total mileage: 3,566
starting location: Wrightsville Beach, NC
ending location: Long Beach, WA
flat tires: 1
tires used: 4
# of identifiable types of roadkill: 27
# dogs that chased me: 14
# servings of ice cream: 144
% of riding days that i cried: 29
# thunderstorms ridden through: 8
marriage proposals: 2



An overcast day welcomed me west
to the Pacific, bringing this journey to rest.
The cool ocean air gave me a chill,
a break from the heat, of which I got my fill.
Through eastern Washington the heat was intense,
my life at the mercy of the van and the 'rents.
Mom drove the van up from the big C-A
and picked up my sidekick Matt on the way,
both ready to join with my dad and me
on the adventure's home stretch to the sea,
riding through one-hundred-eighteen degrees
and wind that nearly knocked me to my knees.
Jumped in the river whenever I could
to escape the hot wind that occasionally would
blow past my ears with such great ire
that the poor cartilage felt as if on fire.
My very last day of the ride was a treat,
as some pirate's booty was found in the street:
an oven-fresh pizza lay in the road,
still in its box, fallen from a car's load.
That "5-second rule" had long been forgotten;
the pizza, still warm, was far from rotten.
My Uncle Chuck and Aunt Pauline also came
and played the bike and sag-wagon game.
Jumped in head first to the dirty sea water,
nevermind the strong riptides that caused me to totter.
It was then that I made it officially
riding one wheel sea to shining sea.
No more chasing sunsets, wobbling to and fro,
now which direction will life's wind next blow?


me, friend matt, parents kim and dale (yes, my dad has a beard and shaggy hair now)