Day 56 - The trip across the U.S. comes to an end

A day of reflection to be sure. The last 22 miles from Port Jefferson to Smith Point beach was on the docket and the ride and event did not disappoint! The weather was good and the mood was definitely celebratory. The three members of the cross country team met about 35 cyclists at the start of the ride - many of them Puppy Ride Long Island teammates. It was an emotional start for the three of us and for Kevin to be back among great friends after two months of being on the road!

Due to the hard work by Ed, Michele, Jay, and Bill, we had a fantastic front and back Suffolk police escort, a huge trailer to bring bikes back from the beach at the end and a county permit to do this event legally at the beach! We had Art and Ed, two talented cyclists, step up to ride tandem as pilots (both new to piloting) with our two sight impaired guest riders - Kyle and Melissa from The Seeing Eye. My wife Cari came up to the start to take care of Bailey - Kyle’s guide dog and to provide return transport for riders after the event. Kevin, our SAG captain, also came to the start and drove the SAG vehicle in formation with the riders in case we had a breakdown. Finally, some of our riding friends including Jay, Rob, Victor H. and Bill provided traffic support by riding the group’s flanks and blocking intersections as the convoy advanced across the island. I was so proud to lead the team knowing how much went into making this last-day event happen!

In short, it was so heart warming to have our riding community and family with us to celebrate what we have accomplished these last two months for ourselves from a personal standpoint while successfully supporting The Seeing Eye mission!

The ride took almost two hours. No breakdowns, no traffic incidents, so much chatting and camaraderie. Most riders had Puppy Ride or Seeing Eye shirts. We were a good looking crew! There were so many pedestrians and cars along the route cheering the group (even if they didn’t know what our mission was!). It was such an amazing way to bring this ride to an end.

We finished riding in front of the main building at the beach pavilion. We were greeted by members of the press and some family and friends. Hundreds of photos were taken, lots of hugs and high fives, we were interviewed about how we were feeling and what this ‘end’ of a journey means to us. We thanked the awesome policemen for our escort and then worked our way down to the beach with our three bikes. We dipped our front tires. This was the end of the journey! Wow, words can’t describe how this felt after 56 days!

I thank everyone who participated in making today so special, I thank my coast to coast team for putting up with me for two months (support by Kevin, Rick and Jenny and fellow riders Vic and Glenn), I thank our families, our friends, our corporate supporters, people we met along the way who asked and listened to learn about our mission - and from all of these folks the selfless act of donating to The Seeing Eye on our behalf! As of this writing, we have raised nearly $100,000 which when added to our group’s historic total brings us to over $400,000 which over time has paid for nearly six guide dogs from breeding, raising, training and placement!

Strangely enough today, I saw three New York State license plates that started with the initials JMF. My brother‘s name was John Michael Freiss - as my sister said to me “I think John was saying hi today”. Pretty crazy how the universe works sometimes!

Until we do something crazy again, I sign off and assure you, my heart is filled with love. With my best regards, Puppy Ride Long Island Team captain and founder, Jim.