Full Circle, guest post by Linda Crout Spevacek

By now the readers of this blog have followed all of the adventures and escapades of the CC C2C team’s two-month cross country bike trip. But you may not know that this massive undertaking was a full year in the planning, starting almost exactly one full year ago at our Class of 1978 40th college reunion in Colorado Springs

On the final day of reunion weekend, Cathy had invited us over to “help us eat up our leftovers” at the big house she and others had rented for the occasion. Now to many of you, that may not sound like much of an invitation. But knowing the culinary skills of Wayne, Rob, Peach and the rest, we were excited about the gourmet prospects!

Cathy answered our knock at the door, saying, “Fix yourselves a drink - we’re having a meeting that we have to finish.” At the back of the kitchen we saw a houseful of heads huddled around a table covered with books, maps, computers, phones, beer bottles, water bottles, coffee cups and perhaps one or two alternative legal substances (this was Colorado, after all).

We had no idea what this was all about, but words like “mountain pass,” “rapid descent,” “chain derailment,” “flea-bag motel,” “passport,” “semi trucks,” “busted rim,” “dog spray,” and “chase van” reached our ears. Finally the group began to disassemble and joined us in the side room. “We’re planning a bike trip,” Rob said. “Coast to coast, next summer.” OMG would have been an appropriate response to anyone else, but knowing the athletic intensity of this group, John and I could only nod in awe and excitedly ask for more details about their plans.

Dinner was of course delicious and the room rocked with much laughter and the solidarity of camaraderie hell bent on succeeding at the great excursion to come. They would train all winter, prepare detailed maps of preferred and alternate routes, purchase a van, arrange for someone to watch their homes and pets, prepare others to take charge of business endeavors, and buy umpteen pieces of equipment of all types - bike parts, geo tracking devices, special shoes and rain gear, and pepper spray. Must have pepper spray!

Following their journey online was a daily pleasure that reached a peak for us when we met the lead trio of Cathy, Rob and Tex in person as they stepped off the coal-fired ferry boat after crossing Lake Michigan from Wisconsin. Once again, we were awed by their look and spirit - they were neither tired physically nor of each other; indeed they were giddy like kids having the time of their lives! (Well OK, maybe that was partly the champagne.)

Now they are safely ensconced back into their ‘normal' lives, having come full circle in one year’s time. We could not be more proud of these road warrior Tigers. Give ‘em another 40 years and let’s see what else they do! Go CC, Go Team C2C!