Day 78 – Aug. 29, 2015 – Shepardstown WV – Leesburg VA – 45 miles

Day 78 – Aug. 29, 2015 – Shepardstown WV – Leesburg VA – 45 miles

It is hard for me to write this Blog entry today.

Alan Kaplan, Gregg’s very close friend and long time colleague, died this morning. He had been hospitalized for almost 2 months and in our thoughts daily as we crossed this country. He first suffered complications after a routine hernia surgery which put him in a medically induced coma. It was touch and go for many weeks. But the last few weeks and days he had been making some marked improvements. But last night, after a drawn out battle to stay with us on this earth, he lost that battle.

I have many thoughts about this that are hard to put into words. Alan has been traveling with us this whole journey. I often think of the long hug he gave me just the day before we left. What a good soul. He wished us the best and walked away. But Alan has been here, right by our the whole time, watching over us.

As I heard the news, I felt a huge sense of loss. Gregg read the emails as we stopped for lunch in Brunswich. I had to get out of the restaurant and on my bike and pedal away, and back on the journey and hope that Alan would be there somehow. But he wasn’t. He was gone.

Yesterday he came to us in the form of the young frail doe on the side of the path. There he was waiting for us. He scurried away but stopped before disappearing into the darkness of the thicket. He stopped and looked at us, as if to say good bye. Gregg agrees, that was Alan saying good bye. Goodbye Alan.

So a day that was to be full of joy and excitement turned into a numb sad grieving moment. We pedaled through the thick forests and crossed the Potomac in silence for the most part. Gregg need to talk, he told Alan stories. I listened.

Our journey was so full of life. Our journey was full of strength and perseverance. We rode on and on. We really hoped that some of that would translate into a powerful vibe that would somehow cross back over the country to California and hit Alan’s hospital bed to heal him, and speed up a recovery. Sadly that recovery did not happen. Alan left us today.

I don’t really know what this trip will mean to me after it is over. How will it change me? I have no idea. I try to think about it but maybe it is too profound, it may only come out of me slowly, in small pieces that I will put together later. But I know that it is the small things, the slow riding, the thousands of moments on the road, up and down the hills, into the winds, and across the prairie, that I will remember. I will remember all my friends and family following this Blog, which really meant a lot to me. Thank you all!

Life is all these little moments. Cherish them, they are precious because someday it may be all gone in an instant. We will miss you Alan.