Got up early; definitely excited for the last day’s ride. Today I loaded my bike not with food and camping gear, but the clothes/etc I’d be using for the next three days during the work offsite. (Yes, I’ve been commuting to work this whole time… I have to work today!) I was out the door a bit before 8:30am, which should give me plenty of time to get to the Hard Rock by noon. The meeting starts at 1pm and I’m supposed to be there by noon, and I can’t be late.

I had tweeted about my last day and was getting a fair amount of attention that morning from people who’d been following the trip online. I saw Bryan Miller had mentioned on Facebook that I needed to stop at this Mexican place in Solana Beach called Roberto’s and try a carne asada taco… don’t have to tell me twice.

 the taco was excellent, well worth the stop. on the left you can see some Spandex weenies that I destroyed on my way up the hill [mwa ha ha!]

Alright, enough dilly dallying… time to get back on the road. I proceeded on, tackling the one hill heading into La Jolla (I thought I was done with hills!) and towards UCSD. Here is where despite the shorter ride today, I managed to screw up the directions. Naturally this was on the one section of road that I actually was familiar with; I’d been to USCD for more than one SoCal Code Camp. I turned off when I shouldn’t have, and ended up riding down a street that was parallel with the one I was supposed to be on. I figured I’d ride it out and look for a cross street to get back since I was going downhill and didn’t want to double back. Fast forward a couple of minutes and I’m on the shoulder of I-5 dodging car parts and debris.

I was on the interstate for about a quarter mile, getting off at the next exit (which was another highway). I figured out how to get back on track using the map on my phone. My reward for the mistake was another hill to climb… oh well. Clock is ticking. What started out as a leisurely ride now was a race against the clock to get back on course and make it to work on time.

I found a street that would take me back over I-5 and in the general direction of where I should have been in the first place. There I found a bike path that got me back on the straight and narrow. From that point forward I was pretty much home free, cruising past Harbor Park and towards downtown.

downtown San Diego, straight ahead

At noon on the dot I rode up to the Hard Rock Hotel, my three weeks of riding to work a success. I had stopped at Seaport Village to get an ice cream and stall for time a few blocks short of the goal so I’d pull up right at noon. One of my coworkers who I will not mention was supposed to be there capturing my ride in, but he was too busy eating lunch at the time. (Sorry Tim, no champagne. :) I had a random passerby snag a couple pictures to capture the final moments of my ride.

from Portland to San Diego in three weeks… right on time.

I don’t know if it was the helmet-formed double fauxhawk, the imposing stance of the Hulk bike beside me, or my abundance of sweat, but for whatever reason the person at the Hard Rock front desk offered me an early check-in. Why yes, a shower and change before resuming work would be nice. I popped into lunch with my coworkers to scarf down some calories before ditching the jersey for the last time and resuming life as a civilian. In one hour’s time I was back to work (in body at least).

The meeting kicked off, and I was surprised to see my face up on the projector as my trip was one of the first things mentioned. (I was also surprised there wasn’t a betting pool if I would survive the journey or not… at least I didn’t hear about it.) Someone during the first break came up and said, “wow, you rode a motorcycle from Portland to here?” Uh, no… it was a bicycle. “Wha-wha-WHAT?!?” :) It was definitely the main topic of discussion for me while I was down there, both in person and online.

Most Exciting Moment
Pretty much the whole ride was a highlight. The Dos Equis party at the hotel that evening took the cake for scenery though. (Free beer too!)

Roadkill Report

• Nothing!

Postscript
The rest of the work week was spent at the team offsite… they tend to pack the schedules in pretty good at these things. Friday afternoon Woody helped me drop off the Hulk bike at the San Diego Bike Shop for boxing and shipping. (A tough moment, saying goodbye to my steed for a while.) He then gave me a lift back to my aunt’s place in Carlsbad, as I would be staying for the weekend to spend some time with family here. This would really be my only “time off” of my whole vacation. :) I ended up partying downtown (blocks from the Hard Rock) with my two college-age cousins and some friends of theirs from England, all of them girls and apparently built with superhuman livers. Not easy keeping up with them especially after three weeks of sobriety, but it was fun trying.

Sunday evening I was back in Portland to be reunited with my son Zach, who I’d missed the most. (Now I just missed the Hulk bike.) Monday was back to the grind; I had an MSDN event in two days’ time to present on my own. Cram time. The next couple weeks were a blur of trying to catch up after a month off, dealing with a slew of events, and spending time with Z. (Last week I had six events over seven days, two on the same day, five where I was presenting.) This is why I haven’t posted these final updates until now.

I’ll have another update or two to close out the chronicles of my journey, but I do want to take this opportunity to say thanks again to everyone who helped support me through my journey, whether it was a place to stay, a lift to town, a riding partner, or an encouraging word to keep the pedals turning. I look forward to rooting you on in your own adventures.