The day from Modesto started off exciting. Everyone was excited and so ready to get out of there and going! We only had to 56 miles (which is funny how long that seems to me now) and then we got to take Shayan to do his own personal wheel dip! Natalie was also going to be meeting up with us that night at the host. There aren't many days, especially so far into the West, that aren't really hard. Just like all the other ones, this was a pretty difficult ride and it was all because of the wind again. There was one particular spot where we rode through a wind farm, and that was extremely difficult to get through. Shayan got to ride this day after the lunch drop so that he would be able to ride his last day, which was really exciting. Once we got through the wind farm, the ride wasn't as bad and we even went through one part where we were completely surrounded by vineyards. And they were super nice vineyards where you could schedule a tasting and buy stuff from them.. not like the ones from the day before where they were in the middle of no where. There was one specific part of the ride towards the end where the girls I was with and I were stopped at a red light and a guy pulled up next to us and told us how happy he was to see strong women like us out in the world and making huge accomplishments and that we should be proud of ourselves. I still remember him saying that to us. It was so nice of him and so uplifting to hear. We made it into the host very early on this day so we were able to all jump in the pool and relax for a little while before mobilizing again and taking the van over to the bay area for Shayan. We had the van and then other people drove us over so that we all would be able to make it at the same time. When we got there, we waited a little while for everyone and then made a big production where Shayan rode his bike through the tunnel we made with our arms and then ran himself and his bike to the ocean to dip his tire. Everyone got really emotional and he gave his own little speech and then we sang Kumbaya Shayan in celebration. Right after we were done, we realized that we totally forgot that one of the cars never made it and got lost!! We had to pretend that we never did the first wheel dip and did the whole thing over again so that they wouldn't feel sad. It was actually pretty funny. We then just took lots of pictures and were sad because we knew how close it was to really being over and Shayan leaving. That night, we ate and swam in the pool, all hanging out together and enjoying each other's company. Looking back, it was such a complicated feeling of being fulfilled but so so sad knowing how close we were to being through.
The next day we had one last long ride to Hollister. This entire ride was really enjoyable for me... except for the last few miles when my knee decided to give out. I rode with the guys for most of the time and it was all through the foothills of California. We got up into the mountains and it seemed to just keep climbing and climbing but it was beautiful and we didn't see a single car. There were a ton of bikers on the road too, enjoying the ride with us. After going through that part, we got to go down a massive descent and into the next little part of California where the roads stopped winding and we were headed straight into the wind. I got to do a lot of talking with Dylan and Charlie and I really enjoyed getting to do that. We all kept getting flat tires though and it became extremely frustrating. I guess it comes with the territory. One of my favorite parts of this ride was getting to stop at a tiny convenience store where they had cold coconuts that you could cut open and drink from. That was a neat little experience. The host was a YMCA and we were grateful that there wasn't anyone there because this was the night where we had our final family meeting. We sat in a circle and talked about the main take away we had and our favorite part of the trip. We then had a minute where after one person spoke about what they loved, everyone else told that person what they loved about them. It was really cool to see how the trip could end on such a perfect note. It was like a 3 hour family meeting but I loved every second of it. We also got rope bracelets that we had burned together on our wrist so that it doesn't come off. Just a small something that would remind us of the adventure we had everyday. When the bracelet falls off, we email the group and tell them how it fell off and what we are doing with our lives at that point in time. That whole night was so bittersweet and we all dreaded but were so excited to wake up the next day and finish off the final day..
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