Made it to the Atlantic! - plus pictures

Even with my front tire in the Atlantic Ocean (not to mention my feet), I still can't believe I rode my bike all the way from the boat launch in Everett (near Seattle) to the Boston Harbor...!


















On Friday I officially ended the ride at the front porch of my friend Jenni Lopez, who lives in Hull. We had to wait until this morning to take the photos, though, because I arrived just before the remnants of Hurricane Earl, and it started pouring rain in the afternoon. (Which was really fitting, since it's the story of my journey since mid-July: just missing the worst of every storm!)


My odometer reads 4,383 miles, which includes the joy rides on the Needles Highway in South Dakota and then from Ft. Erie to Niagara Falls; since most of the days I rode were joyful I decided to count those extra ones, too.

The last two days of riding were really fun - to Waltham, on the outskirts of Boston, and then into the city. I decided to stop in Waltham on Thursday because I wasn't really ready to be done, and wanted to save a nice, short ride for the last day. I'd found a nicer hotel than I usually stay in, for a treat. When the guy at the front desk saw my bike he asked where I'd ridden from, and when I said "Seattle! I'm ending tomorrow in Boston!" he got quite excited about my trip, and upgraded my room to an enormous suite with a view of the river. It was probably the nicest place I've ever stayed, and was a really perfect way to savor being almost done...


From Waltham I got to ride bike paths along the Charles River all the way into the heart of the city. The path started out as hard-packed dirt, with wooden bridges crossing over marshy areas and sometimes criss-crossing the river itself. These changed to paved paths leading into town, and then wider paths through parks following the river.



Then quite suddenly I realized I had reached the Boston Common, and had to take to urban streets to get to the harbor. That was actually really fun, riding in the streets of a city I'm completely unfamiliar with. I guess I've gotten used to riding in any condition, and I was so happy and excited I didn't mind all the traffic. Plus I had the Boston Bicycle Map, which is really great, and managed to wind my way down to the waterfront.

I took a ferry across the harbor to Hull, which is on a little peninsula dividing the sea from the harbor, and rode along the spit of land to Jenni's house near the beach that faces the ocean side; that's where we celebrated this morning.


After the photo shoot on the beach we went into the city, where I got to have lunch with Jonah in Cambridge, and then went to a park to hear great salsa music at a Puerto Rican cultural festival. It was kind of a shock to be in such a big city after so many weeks on rural county roads and in small towns, but I really loved being tossed into the mix of speaking Spanish, being led through busy streets, and the diversity of this city (in terms of ethnicity, languages, architecture, and nature/built environment - all the things I love about cities) and its historic buildings and institutions.

On Sunday I'm taking my bike to a shop to have it packed up and shipped back to SF, which is so strange! (I'm already excited about the prospect of putting it back together when I get home, and riding over the Golden Gate Bridge.) Then I get to cram all my stuff into a duffel bag and on Monday head to St. Paul for a few days before I fly home next weekend... I can't imagine not riding a bike for a week, so plan to jump on a borrowed one and ride a lot more of the amazing bike paths all over the Twin Cities. (Plus go to the movies! And maybe even read a book or two.)

I have a few ideas of things I want to summarize as this blog comes to a close - so if anyone has questions or topics to address, let me know!

Here are pictures of Massachusetts: http://picasaweb.google.com/106458209676650999720/Mass#