Thursday, December 9th: Good Morning! The adventure is now complete! After finishing Tuesday’s ride of 77 miles we checked out the map and figured if we drove to the Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California that I would have enough miles left to finish my ride with at least 10,000 miles. While I was doing Tuesday night’s blog, Judy was calling people we thought would like to meet us at the end of the ride. In the morning I got up and noticed my rear tire was low for the 2nd day in a row. I decided it must be a slow leak so I replaced the tube and started out on my ride about 7:00AM. Judy asked me to leave her the camera so she could take pictures of me arriving at the finish line. I told her to take pictures of anything interesting along the way. About 15 miles into my ride my front tire went flat. The tire itself was also pretty well worn so I not only replaced the tube, but the tire also. (I always carry a fold-up tire in my waist pack.) I was back on the road in less than 20 minutes. I kept contact with Judy via cell phone and she kept others updated on my progress. Some of the pictures Judy took included the San Onofre Neuclear Plant, a business called “Intimate Obsessions” (what was on Judy’s mind?), shrubs wearing Santa hats, and a walkway in Huntington Beach that you can take from the business side of the street to the ocean side of the street. I arrived in Huntington Beach about 11:20 and about a half dozen bike riders from SCOR, my bike club, were waiting to help me finish my ride into Seal Beach.
Upon arrival at Seal Beach I was greeted by my wife Judy, Judys brother Bob and his wife, Eileen, other cyclists from my club, and a retired postal worker, Rick and his wife that I used to work with when I was a mailman. There was also a reporter from the Seal Beach Sun who took pictures for the local paper. At the end of the ride I had cycled 62 miles. The total mileage for these last four days is 368 miles. Added together with the 9,646 miles I had accumulated before my accident give me a total of 10,014 miles of cycling around the United States for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. A breakdown of the total event is as follows:
Number of Days of Event: 257
Number of Days Cycling: 129
Number of Rest Days: 57
Number of Hospital/Recovery Days: 71
Number of Flat Tires: 22
Injuries: 4 broken ribs, punctured lung, fractured clavicle, scapula, and vertebrae and separated shoulder.
Thank you to everyone who helped me acheive my goals along the way. I had hoped to finish my 10,000 miles by mid -Ocotober, and would have done so if it were not for my accident. I was, however, able to finish the ride before the end of the year and raised $4,120 in the fight against Leukemia and Lymphoma. Although my goal was to raise $1.00 per mile, which would have been $10,000, I was never-the-less, very impressed and thankful for the response I received. My ride is now complete, but my website will remain on line and anyone interested in contributing to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society can do so by visiting http://www.gsf.lls.llsevent.org/JACOBSONEXPRESS.COM. Thankyou again to every one and remember to wear your helmet. Saving Lives One Mile at a Time . . . Wes & Judy http://www.jacobsonexpress.com