FRIENDS WHO BIKED ALONG WITH ME

Michelle (left) is the guide who made sure we had a place to sleep each night, planned and checked the route each day, and led "cue sheet" meetings each night, to let us know what the next day's ride would be like. She also is a whiz mechanic who fixed and adjusted our bikes' many quirks, flats, and other oddities. Penny (center) is from Hawaii, and at 70 years old, is the only one of our group consistently in pig-tails during the ride. She's participated in Iron Man competitions! Linda (right) offered up an amazing array of food from the back of her trailer kitchen, and always encouraged us to eat well, drink enough, and enjoy the snacks.



Penny and Peggy often biked together, and each was independent enough to know when they just didn't have the oomph to bike, too. Peggy lives in Seattle, and is sort of "recovering" from having homeschooled her two children, both of whom have Asperger's Syndrome, and are now in college. I really enjoyed her company.



Jane is our mischief-maker, a former doctor now in medical informatics, who also had that interest in missile silos! She's from Minneapolis. Ellen (right) is a kindergarten teacher in Brattleboro, VT, now going through a lot -- selling her Mom's house, deciding to divorce -- yet she is someone I admire because she always particpates fully in biking and is a worthy partner in crime for Jane.

Laura is my "laundry buddy," because we always seemed to be on the same schedule as to when we were running out of clothes. None of us ever had enough for a full wash load, so we teamed up in two's or three's. Laura lives in Idaho City, and is a retired attorney with Amana Refrigeration. We spent time together off the bike not doing laundry, too.

Cheryl (left) and Juani (right) often biked together. They both had hybrid bikes -- no dropped handlebars for them -- and became good friends, too. Cheryl has two grown sons, missed her "knight in shining armor" as I did mine, and was one of the four sag drivers. They called themselves "sag hags," and Cheryl always corrected them that she was the "Sag Queen." Juani teaches math in Colorado, but for ten years, she lived in the Galapagos Islands and worked as a naturalist guide there.

Barb (as opposed to Barbara) has boundless energy, and after completing each day's ride, she also served as Linda's sous chef, preparing the plates, silverware, tables, and chopping veggies, making salads, etc. On the day I told her about the Wild Things Taxidermy and Spicy Road Kill Cafe, she biked back an additional 10 miles to get a T-shirt there, and then 10 more miles to where we were to resume her ride!

Carolyn is the one who invited me to her party to be sure I didn't leave the ride when Barbara was killed. She taught for over 40 years, and really loves to bike. Once after a biking accident, she was in traction for five months, and then couldn't work for two years! But still she bikes.




Nancy freely describes her haircut as butch, and she has the most wonderful dry sense of humor. She's a very huggy person and great to have around.








Vicki (left) is a retired engineer, living alone on Whidbey Island near Seattle. She's got a wonderful singing voice and presence, and in this picture, she's serenading us with new lyrics to "What a Difference a Day Makes," in Chester. She's my coffee buddy. Christine (right) is a retired attorney and ace poker player. When Barbara died, Christine left the trip and so did two others, but on the last day, she returned to welcome us to Fargo, presenting us with medals around our necks that all said, "Winner."

Sue is one of the few other "newbies" who had never been on a Womantours trip, and she and I also seemed to bike at a similar pace. She's a retired air traffic controller, living in Rocky River, Ohio, with her husband and two high-school / college-age kids. She has great exuberance that's very infectious!







And then there's me, finally having found a proper Fargo sign to signal the end of the trip. Unlike so many wonderful people on this trip who are true athletes, I'm still just an overgrown kid who sometimes likes to ride a bike. Thanks for coming along with me on this journey.




BYE-BYE!