Age and Doubts: When  I started this tour I had serious doubts about being able to handle it physically. I am 67 years old and this tour was filled with climbing, something I have never been good at. Although I was very tired by the end, I managed to handle most of the climbs reasonably well. 

I mentioned that I was having some trouble with leg cramps at night near the end of the tour. These cramps were bad but nothing like what happened a couple of days after the finish. I woke up at 2 a. m. and stretched out. Massive cramps in both legs from my butt to my ankles came upon me. They lasted at least a half hour. I thought they'd never end. Lesson learned: hydrate and restore electrolytes as you ride.

Mind Set: I was mentally calmer on this ride than any other tour. The words "It'll work out" and "You'll figure it out" kept popping into my head. Maybe it is the benefit of experience or maybe I'm just too old to worry anymore.

Rookie Wheel Builder: My wheels were brand new. They were hand built by Beth at Bike at Vienna. The rims were Velocity Dyad, the same rim I use on the rear of my Tour Easy recumbent. This was Beth's first wheel build for a customer. I am happy to report that they took loads of abuse and were true at the end of the tour. 

Lodging: This tour benefited from my extensive use - ten nights - of Warmshowers.org, an online service that provides free accommodations for bicycle tourists.  Special thanks to Tom and Kate in Newcastle, Maine who put me up twice.

 I also stayed at four different hostels and a bunkhouse. 

I stayed with friends and family four nights. 

Hotels and a B&B accounted for 18 nights. As is usually the case, I became sick of cheap motels and ended up liking Holiday Inn Express hotels a lot. After several mediocre to bad experiences, I am giving up on Super 8 motels altogether.

I only camped six times, in large part because of the rainy conditions during much of the tour. I spent a bunch of money on new sleeping gear. The sleeping bag worked out fine but the pad was meh. As is almost always the case, I didn't sleep well while camping. 

My Bike and Gear: Despite having over 70,000 miles on its frame, The Mule held up very well. 

I brought exactly the right on-bike clothing. I was really only cold twice, once in the rain on a cool day in Connecticut and again in a downpour in Ontario.  

A last-minute visit to my local bike shop, a Trek store in Belle View Shopping Center near home, resulted in a miraculous fix to a long-standing problem with the granny gear on my front derailleur. During the tour, I had a total of five bad shifts, two of which were caused by grit infiltrating the mechanism. One seemed to be caused by a misaligned chain checker, the other two by sloppy, over-aggressive shifts. Not bad considering the fact that I must have shifted hundreds of times into and out of my small chainring. 

Beth specked salmon brake pads on The Mule. They worked remarkably well in the rain and in the mountains.

Back home: Special thanks to Mrs. Rootchopper for holding down the fort while I was spinning across eleven states.