Highlights

The consensus on-the-bike highlight of the bike tour for all of us is a tie between Day 3 (the ride into Prescott, AZ) and Mt. Evans summit day. Here’s my list:

1. Stage 3 - This day was a major struggle against the heat and mountains—all in the same day. Jared has to go into the van in the morning for a couple hours due to the heat. I continue on by myself. After lunch, on the first major climb of the tour, a fully recovered Jared flies up the mountain like the wind. In contrast, I totally crack on the way up, completely exhausted from the heat and unable to continue. The boys then tell me they’ll handle it as I ride in the van for about 10 miles. Then, for the final 14 mile ascent into Prescott, Jared totally helps pace me through the pass and into Prescott. Day 3 was the ultimate example of ad alta simul (”to the summit together”) in action. The feeling of total jubilation that I experienced when we reached the Prescott city limits sign was never equaled for me, even if other rides were more epic in nature.
   
   

   Stage 10 (Mt. Evans) - was the epic ride we hoped it would be. We did not have the lows of Day 3 as we both felt strong, but it was 31 very very tough miles of uphill to 14,270 feet. No matter how many more rides I do in my life, I don’t know if any other will be as satisfying as that one was for me on that given day. Simply a perfect challenge in a perfect setting.

   

2. Stage 7 (Durango->Ouray) day with three 10,000+ mountain passes in one day. Amazing beauty. Tough, but doable climbs. Stunning switchbacks. This day gave us the confidence that we could actually make it up Mt. Evans.

3. Stage 9 - was extremely special to me because we started the day at the base of Mt. Princeton in Colorado, a place that holds a special place in my heart.

4. Stage 14 enabled us to cycle into Norman with a dozen riders from Journey Church. Great fellowship!
   
   

   Stage 21 - we had a great time cycling into Fayetteville, GA with Greg Rogers from Providence UMC.


5. Stage 12 (Clayton, NM->Guymon, OK) - gave us 25mph near-tailwinds. We did 100 miles in just over 4 hours. I can’t believe I’ll personally ever equal that sustained speed again!

6. Stage 23 - after a week of serious rides with pressure to ride long miles, the four of us totally let go and had a ball joking around together and being goofy while riding.

7. Stage 24 - Looking back and seeing my boys riding with me, seeing the feeling of accomplishment in each of their faces. Priceless

Struggling Days

1. Stage 1 - when it reached 116 degrees, and it was impossible to cycle any more that day without risking injury.

2. Stage 22 - I was feeling really worn out mentally and physically, especially when Jared wasn’t feeling great and so I rode most of the day by myself. The scenery in Eastern GA was ok, but nothing spectacular. Finding little joy in the ride, all I wanted to do that day was finish.

3. Stage 3 (first half of day) - during the first 50 miles, the roads seemed to go on forever and ever in a perfectly straight, monotonous line in Arizona — it was a major mental challenge to handle.

4. Stage 15 - Not sure if it was because of the rest day the previous day, but this stage was just a tough day physically to complete
   the full 100 miles. Felt good completing, but I was struck by the toughness of it, when it was not that difficult of a route

5. Stage 6 - This was a day I had looked forward to from the start because of riding through Monument Valley. The only downside was that we were getting really tired of riding through the desert by this time, so we really just wanted to finish up quickly so we’d be in a much greener and more pristine Colorado.

Off the Bike Highlights

Off the bike, perhaps the greatest highlight was all of the people we met along the way. Some old friends, some we met for the first time:

• The folks from Beacon Hills who came to the kick-off event at Huntington Beach
• Our good friends, the Saitos, who traveled down from the Bay Area to see us off
• Tom Cutlip and other men from Grace Community and North Point in Flagstaff, AZ
• Gary and Barbara Oakenson, friends of my parents, who stopped by while we were in Flagstaff
• Tom Hall and the other IC3 cyclists who rode with us up Mt. Evans
• Philip and Janet Yancey
• Don Pape
• Mountain Springs Church in Colorado Springs
• Nate and Tarina Reeds, super close friends of ours who met us in Woodward, OK
• Herschel Thompson and his family at Journey Church
• Journey Church cyclists and breakfast men in Norman
• Thomas Brewer
• Randy and Cindy Van Kanel and the congregation at First Baptist in Tupelo
• Greg, Karen, and Meredith Rogers and the congregation at Providence UMC
• My parents (Joe and Carolyn Wagner)
• Jessie Clemmons and others from Seacoast
• Angela Scheff from Zondervan
• John and Caroline Mitchell, relatives of my mom whom I met for the first time in Charleston
• East Cooper Baptist Church
• And last but not least: the Swampdaddy

Also, another great highlight was the constant flow of emails, calls, and blog comments that were so encouraging to us all along the way. Thank you all!

We had some great times on rest days. In Oklahoma City, all of us were interviewed on an AM talk radio show. It was so fun seeing the boys there with the headphones and mics.

We had a super rest day in Colorado Springs, first speaking at Focus on the Family and then exploring the sites:

A place we wished we’d have explored more

Jerome, Arizona. We rode into this “town built on a mountain” without ever hearing about it. Because of time, we passed right through it, but soon realized our mistake. It would have been a great stopover for lunch and a visit around town. We didn’t even get any pictures!!!

Best places we ate at

• El Rancho in Evergreen, CO
• Abuelo’s in Oklahoma City
• A “hole in the wall” Mexican restaurant in Blythe, CA
• Steamworks in Durango
• Flying W Ranch in Colorado Springs, CO

Worst place we ate at

The Jack-In-The-Box in Flagstaff, AZ. We had to wait 30 minutes for our (fast) food on our first rest day. Totally disorganized restaurant.

Best state drivers

Native Coloradans get the prize for best drivers around bicyclists. They are patient, give a lot of space, and often encourage you with thumbs up signs, etc.

California drivers were good too. They didn’t encourage much, but were never rude or dangerous.

Most impatient drivers

As I mentioned before, Alabama gets the prize for the most impatient state drivers from a biker’s standpoint. However, having said that, that’s probably a bit unfair. The vast majority of drivers were patient and completely fine, so I don’t want to paint too bad of a picture. Still, compared to others…

Oklahoma and Georgia get honorable mention.

Most dangerous drivers

The out of state R.V.s in Colorado and Arizona scared us more than anything else along the way. In fact, on two roads in Colorado and Arizona, we simply got into the car because the out of state RVs on state highways just would not give us any room at all. With their wide mirrors, it can get pretty scary.

Jared, reflecting on the tour

We biked across this bridge at the very end of our journey

Charleston

Justy

Jared happy with the ride’s completion

Walking through the streets of Charleston

Paparazzi surround Rich and Kim

Visiting relatives as we wrap up the tour

We look forward to reflection on the overall experience with you this week on the blog, posting some wrap-up blog entries as well as adding videos.

Tonight is our last night in Charleston. Tomorrow at 6:30am, we’ll leave the hotel and head towards our home 958 miles away. However, this time, we’ll be going at 65mph, not 17-22mph. All of us are glad to be heading home, but to be perfectly honest, I am really saddened tonight. Just between you and I, I am not sure I am ready for it to end. This tour and my book (The Expeditionary Man) has been such an integral focus over my life and the life of our entire family since last fall. In fact, for much of the winter and spring, planning/coordination/logistics/training seemed like a full-time job. A great deal of the conversation and activity of our family always seemed related to some aspect of the tour since the spring. I put much of my future authoring plans on hold until after the tour so I could concentrate fully on it.

Yesterday, I simply felt relief and joy in celebrating the ending at the beach. But, as we packed up our vehicle tonight, the reality of the tour being over hit me for the first time. I had to fight back a tear or two, as I joyfully reflected on the experiences that we’ve shared together over the past month. The tour really was “perfect”—I would not change a thing. We felt God’s hand of protection and blessing upon us each step of the way. We felt the love of so many brothers and sisters in Christ as we crossed the country. We were able to encourage and challenge fathers and families, sharing the core messages of The Expeditionary Man. We experienced an adventure together as a family that will be something we’ll never ever forget—even into eternity.

Tonight on my last night in Charleston, I feel the sting of living in a fallen, sinful world. As long as we live on this earth, great experiences will always have an ending. And when that ending comes, we will always feel the bittersweet sting of the intense joy of what we experienced mixed with the grief over that experience coming to an end. We’ll always want more. We’ll always wind to rewind the clock. We’ll always want an encore. It is just such a reminder of how incredible Heaven will be—that we’ll be able to experience unforgettable adventures, yet never have to have a “last night in Charleston.”

Wagners celebrating the start of the final ride

Approaching Charleston

Taking a break

Dipping our tires into the Atlantic Ocean

Ad Alta Simul

Interviewed by local ABC station

Celebrating with cake

Local CBS interview

http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0708/538813_video.html?ref=newsstory

We finished!!!! Today’s ride may not have been our favorite of the tour, as we had a lot of traffic to contend with as we approached Charleston. However, it was a joy finishing the tour together—ad aqua simul!

We started the morning in Walterboro, a smaller town which was 58 miles from our ultimate destination—Isle of Palms beach, a few miles north of Charleston. Because the mileage was shorter than our usual amount, Jordan and Justy decided that they wanted to finish strong and ride with Jared and I the full miles today. They did a super job—in fact, it was among the longest distances that those two have ever ridden.

Other than steady stream of traffic, the ride was fairly uneventful for the first 40 miles. However, after lunch, we got into full board city traffic, which was a first to us—as we had always avoided metro traffic as we crossed the country. However, there was no way around this one, so we took it on the best we could.

The plan was to ride into the city of Charleston and then head north towards the Isle of Palms. Getting into Charleston was quite an experience—going over a drawbridge, over another major bridge, and then into downtown. After riding through the streets of Charleston, we headed north towards Isle of Palms beach. The ride through the city was not as fantastic as I had hoped. The problem was that we’d run out of water (Kim went on towards the beach, as it was too hard to have follow in the vehicle) and the boys were a bit tired. Plus, we just learned that two TV crews were going to cover the beach ceremony—so we knew we needed to be sure to be there on time.

All four of us made it to the beach by 4:15pm or so. There was a small group there from Seacoast Church and Zondervan to welcome us. (Thanks guys! You made the day complete!) There were also two TV crews from the local ABC and CBS affiliates. They ended up doing interviews with all of us for their evening news programs.

We ended up having a great night in Charleston in celebration. More to follow on the end events and especially on a tour recap.

Our final state sign

Rich changing his gloves

And here we thought the hills were over!

Our new pet—given to us by the Rogers family! (Eat More Chickin!)

Jordan and Justy rode with Jared and I a long time today. After lunch, we began riding together as a foursome when something cracked. I think it was me. I started singing a silly song about our bike tour, Jared soon joined in. Then Justy and Jordan got into a goofy mood as well. So, for the next hour, we were riding together, acting like a bunch of kids. Jordan and Jared then started spraying water on me and Justy to mix things up even more. I sure hope that the people who live along side Hwy 64 did not hear us as we sped past—If they did, I am sure they probably thought we were a bunch of lunatics!

The goofy Wagners

Rich expresses his excitement over seeing a real live train!

Team Wagner in a more serious mode

My mom and dad joined us later in the afternoon along the roadway. They drove down from their home in Indiana to see us finish up the tour. They then spent the afternoon with us as we headed into Walterboro, SC. We forgot to take a picture with them—we’ll do that tomorrow.

Jared and I finished up the last 30 miles into Walterboro, and knowing that this was our last full day, we decided to put the hammer down. We both were going all out, particularly over the past 12 miles, maintaining speeds of 25-31mph. It felt great! I will miss that feeling when the ride is over!

Rich and Jared getting focused again

Well, tomorrow we wrap up the tour. Wow! 23 riding days we’ve ridden so far. 4 rest days. Just one more day of riding into Charleston. So much to reflect on in the days ahead—which we will do on the blog. But for now, we’ll focus on those last 55 miles. It should be quite an experience riding through the streets of Charleston on our way to the beach. We are going to have an end of tour celebration put on by group of people from a local church at the Isle of Palms State Park Beach at 4pm. We’ll provide full details tomorrow!