Day 31: The Last Mile

A little over a month ago, an average guy who didn't own a bike, who had never ridden further than the city limits set a goal to ride across the entire nation alone to raise money and awareness for WWP. He rode for his son and your son's and daughters to let them know we remember the sacrifices so many have made to ensure the freedom we enjoy. Tomorrow Frank is scheduled to visit the Sacrifice Center at the Wounded Warrior Project in Jacksonville, Florida.

Mission accomplished.

Send Frank an email message: averagefrank@gmail.com
If you have been following Frank, maybe you met him during the ride, or you were raising money for him, or you just found out about him and something in this story means something to you - send him an email. He would love to hear from you as he spends a few days recovering from the ride. Stay tuned, you never know what "average" frank will do next.

The last hours of the ride: Day 31
Frank made good time this morning after mailing what turned out to be 29 pounds of gear from the post office. The bike was light under him but his hip was still very stiff. "My lungs are great, my legs are unbelievably strong and my hip is really hurting" Frank told me about his hip the first week after the Ft. Davis, TX.

By late morning, he had ridden around 35 miles, the Florida sun was shining and it was perfect for riding, but his hip was now getting really painful again. For short intervals Frank was riding then getting off to walk and repeating the cycle before he stopped along a rural roadside in some pain. The last day was not going to be easy.

A man came out from his house and asked if Frank was ok. He said "no". A few minutes later Frank was inside the house with a heating pad on his hip. This is where I caught up to Frank this afternoon - being treated to the kindness of another stranger. In another 10 minutes Frank was back on the road grinding out some more miles. He needed to get another 20 miles to meet Dana from Jacksonville's Wounded Warrior Project, so he gave the bike one last push.

True to her promise, Dana met Frank as darkness fell over Florida and Frank's riding was now over. After one month, 2,000 miles, and too many stories to count, Frank was on his way to a Motel 6 in Jacksonville.

My phone rang around 10 pm eastern. "You'll never guess where I am" he said.
"in a bathtub?" I replied. "No, at a chinese buffet"
The perfect ending to the day and the adventure - an all you can eat superchinesebuffet!