Welp (Big Gulps...)

It's Monday, July 26.

A day that seemed so far in the future the first time I hopped on my bike and attempted riding it down Fair Street in downtown Franklin.

A day I thought would never come, and at the same time, once the trip started, a day that I knew would come too soon.

Most of the team has headed out - some by air, some with friends or cars or our support van...

One by one we hug the departing teammate, our circle of remaining cyclists shrinking smaller and smaller.

I'm about to get into my own rental car - I'll be in Myrtle Beach an extra day and flying to Canada, of all places, tomorrow - thrown back into the real world and real life and real work faster than one can say "Eh?" - and then meeting back up with my husband in Minneapolis on Thursday so we can begin our drive back to Nashville.

Last night we sat in a circle and attempted to process this insanely lovely trip in an hour.

As impossible as it sounds, we finished early; nobody had many words to say.

We're left in a state of wonder about what just happened...a paradoxical time warp of two months that have flown by in slow motion.

It seems surreal, but tan lines and broken hearts as we say farewell to each other prove to us this indeed was a very real, very powerful story that has taken hold of each of us in unique ways.

For now, I'll leave you with a few pictures from the trip...I'm sure as time and space continue to hold me as I walk through the upcoming weeks in reflection, more layers of this adventure will be exposed.

Packing up to Leave Nashville


At the Pacific Ocean

Beauty Was Not Absent at Any Point


Dustin & I at the VLA


Darth Vader was on Our Team


My Longest Ride - 106 miles into Forrest City, AR


The Girls Wore Tutus for the Last 20 Miles of the Trip!


Team Photo at the Atlantic Ocean


Girl Tan Lines :)


Abandon