Day Fourty - Oh Heck No, AKA The Final Miles

Day Fourty – Oh Heck No (AKA The Final Miles)

Dana Point To Carson

Daily Brief

We made it to the end of the road. We are alive!

The Ride

The main crew awoke on the beach bright and early. It’s hard to sleep when there is sunshine seeping into your tent, but I really try anyways. Leaving the beach, we headed towards our final destination.

The further inland we got the hotter it got. The heat sorta snuck up on us and before we knew it, it was over 100 degrees. We probably drank enough water to fill a small pool. As we wound our way through the urban streets, we only took a slight detour by going too far west. Eventually we found the bicycle path the lead us to Corona. As the path broke away from following the river, the heat picked up even more. I know what we were all thinking, it was something along the lines of ‘Oh heck no! It better cool back off!’ We also found the faster you went, the hotter the wind got. The only release came from our frequent van stops when we would refill water and sit in the shade for a moment before continuing on. This was by far the hottest day of the trip.

Shaun’s fiancée, Faith, decided to try a leg of the day with us. It was pretty brave of her to wait until today. Plus, she didn’t have clips so she was riding with sneakers on the clip in pedals, on a bike that was probably a little big for her. Even so, she managed to tough it out, although she was more then thrilled to see the van again for the next rest stop where she could hop back in and drive to the next place, and I don’t think any of us could blame her.

At the van break where Faith finished her leg of the journey, we met her mom and she supplied us all with cool towels. They really helped cool us off. After that we were informed that we only had three miles until the finish at one of our church’s(Stake center). No one was waiting for us there, but that was where we had decided to end our trip. Chris and I were joking around that if we were told there were three miles to go, there was probably nine left…or more. It usually happened that way, that whenever someone gave us an estimated destination, that you needed to double or triple that number in order for it to be accurate. Like that last time in LA.

As we took our journey onward, our pace quickened, and quickened. We only had a few miles left to finish our 2,600 mile journey and we were anxious. As we went, Chandler and Shaun went straight because no one knew the name of the road we were supposed to turn right on. Ok, so, one wrong turn, not too bad right? Oh heck no! As we sprinted up the hill, we came to a church! Chandler and I sprinted up the last few feet into the parking lot, and gave ourselves a sweet high five and some hollers of enthusiasm. Russ was right there too, but that’s when Faith’s mom came and told us this wasn’t the stake center, it wasn’t the finish. Oh heck no! So, as Shaun and Chris were coming up the street we yelled at them to turn around. And so, we continued.

We were told that we should take a right after Wal-Mart. As we approached I stopped to get come clarification and Faith told me to take a right before In N’ Out. The problem was, with the tree’s you can’t really see In N’ Out from the street we were on. So I continued on straight to find it. Meanwhile, Chandler had seen me talk to Faith and continue straight and he thought that she had given me new directions, so after he took the correct right turn, he then turned around to follow me. As I journeyed on, I thought about turning around but then I saw Chandler behind me so I figured that Faith’s mom had caught him and rerouted him, like she had done before.

The city passed away and Chandler and I were on a dusty road, the heat was maxing out at 109 Degrees in the air, hotter on the road. I eventually stopped to wait up for him. When he caught me we collaborated and found our mistake. He was out of water, and starting to get dizzy and a little shaky. We were now 9 miles down the road, after we had been told we had three to go. I had hoped that someone would have sent a car to get us if we were off, but that never happened. As it was, Chandler and I made it back to the turn at Wal-Mart which wasn’t that far up the road, and found everyone waiting at the In’ N’ Out, which was by the Wal-Mart which we had seen. We both collapsed in the In N’ Out under more cool towels provided by Faith’s mother.

After some cool off time, Chris’s mother thought that we had gone far enough. I totally agreed. We still were not at the church, but then again, we had done the ‘only three miles left’ three times over, had a fake finish, and weren’t in the best of shape. Ergo, the In N’ Out became our final destination, our shelter, our finish. We ate and took pictures, re-arranged the vans, and split up after driving to the Pearson’s house (who were providing the evenings shelter for chandler and I). Shaun went to stay at Faith’s house. Chris went off with his mom and sister. And so, we divided.

That then is the end of the road for EB Trek 2008, and while we dismount and leave our bikes, and go to our homes, or wherever it is that we are headed, we know there are many who can’t just leave their pain behind. The kids that we met don’t just make a simple finish, or stop at a restaurant to end their hurt. There is hope for a cure, we look forward to see it, and we hope that many of the kids we met with EB will experience it. It is close, and with the right support it could be closer.

EB Trek raised money and awareness for a cure.

We want to thank everyone who donated their time, money, and means to accomplish this and make this Trek a success.

Without your help, we never could have made it.

Thank You.

Thank You.

Thank You.



Daily Stats

Distance: 59.13
Time: 4:05
Avg Speed: 14.5
Max Speed: 42.0

Total Distance: 2614.30

P&C Pushups: 100