USNA 1973 Ride-2-Remember

Day 62, 4 October: Arlington, VA

Our final rest day was a day of contrasts and transition. 

For me, it was a chance to go home and reconnect with my family. Patricia picked me up yesterday and we took everything except my road bike back to Fairfax.  I spent a good deal of time on laundry and repacking for the weekend. Our daughter Jacqueline also came from New York last night and will be at the ceremony in Arlington tomorrow, which I really appreciate. And the dog was very happy to see me.

For others, it was a chance to separate out items they don’t need for the final ride tomorrow or our reunion this weekend.  I gave Tes and Dave a ride to UPS to ship back home spare wheels, raingear and such. 

We held our final quarters this morning, at which we honored Dave Lucas, who passed away the day before yesterday after a long battle with dementia.  We always knew there was the possibility we would lose someone before we finished the ride, and it was particularly poignant that it happened this close to the end.  We added a tag for him to the 137 others to date. May we remember them all and may they rest in peace. There is no individual for tomorrow – we ride to honor all 138.

Fort Myer is a nice base and the hotel is very comfortable.  The team and their spouses relaxed and enjoyed the views and historical elements here.

The class of ’83 started arriving late this afternoon.  It turned out the hotel serves dinner only on Wednesdays and today was spaghetti and salad, a perfect cyclist’s meal.  Dinner was also an opportunity for the two teams to mingle a bit, compare notes and get ready to ride together. Afterwards the R-2-R team adjourned to the porch for ice cream (of course!).  I then departed to finish packing, notify folks of some last-minute changes to access at Arlington National Cemetery tomorrow, and hopefully get some sleep.

One more night at home, and an early start to get everyone’s bags loaded and launch from the hotel to ANC at 0700.  The end is in sight, and a return to the “real” world from the little community we have formed. It’s bittersweet, but it’s also time to finish what we started – for all those who lost classmates. Onward.

Bill Montgomery