Patti said...

You guys done good! You should all be proud of yourselves as we, your friends, are. Your ride did so much for celiac awareness and fund raising. It was great seeing your family at Payson Park and the band was darn good too...as were those whoopie pies! Loved the song Alex and his friends did too! They should make a CD and sell it to raise more money! Welcome home! It's great to have you back safe and somewhat sound. Love ya...Patti

Pine Tassel said...

I knew you were willing to "take a beating" to get the message out, but you've outdone yourself this time! You have always put 110% into everything you do, and the entire Pine family is proud of you! I'm sure your efforts will continue to have a ripple effect in the celiac community for years to come. Please remember there's no shame in taking care of yourself for a change!

Many thanks to Alex and Bev for getting you home in one piece! Congrats to all of you!

Love, Pine Tassel

Anonymous said...

It's not too late to get that tatoo on the inside of your lip. Congratulations. I knew you'd finish even if it was in a box.

I'm proud of you!
Becky

Headin' Home

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Before I started the trip, I had made contact with a few places on the East Coast that had wanted me to visit them when I biked through their neck of the woods. They had made arrangements to get publicity for me, and these would be good opportunities to continue to spread the word about celiac. Well, obviously I wouldn't be biking anymore, but I still wanted to visit these places. They had worked hard to help me out and I didn't want to let them down. So we hopped in the RV and starting driving. First stop: Easton, PA and the "Water To Go" store. It took two days to get there, and after all that time on our bikes it felt a little odd to be cooped up inside an RV all day as Bev negotiated traffic through all the big cities on the East Coast. We arrived in Easton, and they had quite a nice little set-up for us. A big tent, lots of gluten-free food, a silent auction to raise money for my ride, and reporters from the local TV station and newspaper. And one other surpise: my parents! They had driven all night from Maine to Easton, and it was wonderful to see them. There were hugs and tears all around. They stayed overnight and then headed back to Maine the next day. But even though their stay was short, it was great to get a taste of home after all this time on the road.

The next day we got back in the RV and headed down to Philadelphia. We needed to be in Baltimore on Monday, but we had a day off in between, so we decided to go see a baseball game. The Red Sox were in town, playing the Phillies, and we sat out in the sun on a warm and humid day and watched the Sox beat the Phils in a slugfest, 12-8. It's unbelievable how many Red Sox fans were at the game and in the city itself. Everywhere we went, we saw people in Sox shirts and hats. Was this really a road game? Anyways, after the game ended we headed out of town and on to Baltimore.

All the money I raised on this trip was going to the University of Maryland's Center for Celiac Research, which is based in Baltimore. So I really wanted to visit them, see their facilities, and meet the people doing the research. Plus it was an opportunity to do a little more fundraising and PR work. So on Monday we went to the center, and they had set up a press conference for me. I said a few words, as did one of the doctors, and they presented me with a plaque of recognition for my ride. And we all shared some yummy gluten-free chocolate-raspberry cake! The Baltimore Sun interviewed me, as did the Associated Press, and then it was off for a tour of the labs. The facilities are very impressive, and the eagerness of the researchers is very encouraging too. One of them mentioned how my ride was inspiring her to work even harder - I can't ask for more than that! We wound up the day by strolling around the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore, and then going to another baseball game, this time the Orioles against the Yankees. The Yankees won, which made Alex happy.

The next day was another travel day (come to think of it, I guess every day since we started has been a "travel day"), this time up to Connecticut. We stayed there overnight at my cousin's house (thank you!), and then headed for Boston the next morning. There was time to take in one more baseball game, so we watched the Sox beat the Indians with a bunch of our friends who had come down from Maine that day. It was a lot of fun, and after the game they let everyone walk down on the field. Very cool! Afterwards, we had dinner with some of the members of the Boston area celiac support group. This group is large and very active - they have almost 800 members! Marge Rogers, a long-time board member of the group, and her husband Dick put us up for the night at their house, which was quite nice of them. We had a very nice stay.

The next morning, we woke up knowing we were only a couple of hours drive from Maine. Unbelievable! After all this time and everything we'd been through, we were almost home. We drove back on familiar roads, and soon we were at my front door, unloading the RV. It was a little sad unloading the bikes - I had pictured riding right up into my driveway at the completion of our ride, with a triumphant "I made it!" look on my face, but that was not to be. Oh well. Another observation upon returning: you know you've been away from home for a while when nothing in the house looks familiar. There were lots of "Now where does this go?" moments over the next couple of days.

It was on Thursday afternoon that we made it back to Maine, and on Saturday we had the grand finale celebration at Payson Park in Portland. There were still lots of little details to wrap up, but when Saturday came, the skies were sunny, the tents and tables and chairs were there, Outback Steakhouse was cooking away, and quite a crowd (approx.200 people) had gathered to welcome me back. About a dozen people joined us as we rode our bikes for a ceremonial "last mile" around the boulevard into the park, and when we arrived the crowd seemed even bigger and the cheers louder. At that moment it really did feel like we were finishing our ride, and I could feel myself tearing up. A lot of my family was there, and many friends and supporters, and it was quite emotional for me. Someone yelled out "Speech!" so I said a few words and tried to thank everyone who had helped me along the way. Then I had a surprise when Alex and our friend Phil got up and sang a song about my trip; they took "Surfin' USA" and turned it into "Bikin' USA", complete with amusing lyrics about the bike trip and celiac and broken bones. Then it was time to eat! Everyone enjoyed the food (graciously donated by Outback Steakhouse) and smoothies (provided by Wild Oats), and then the crowd slowly dispersed and then we were packing up tables and chairs and it was time to go home. It was a wonderful afternoon, but it all went by so quickly that it seemed like a blur.

So now the journey is officially over, and my recovery begins. I'm supposed to take it easy over the next several weeks to let my back heal, but I'm not good taking it easy so we'll see how it goes. And unfortunately, there is still much to be done concerning the accident - insurance, lawyers, etc. Not a lot of fun. But I hope when I look back on all of this, I won't dwell on the accident too much. Instead, I'll try to focus on the positive things I accomplished: raising awareness for celiac disease, seeing some beautiful parts of this country that most people don't get to see, and the satisfaction of having reached my goal of biking from coast-to-coast.

Thanks again to everyone who helped me along the way, both with the big things and the little things. Thanks to Bev for driving the RV and putting up with us for 10 weeks, and thanks to Alex for riding with me on this crazy 3000 mile trip.

Take care,

Regina