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It feels like the ride has been going on for months, and a lot of the habits are hard to break. I feel awkward walking around in street clothes, and it was weird not reaching for the spandex shorts and jersey. I grab my water bottle reflexively whenever I get up. I don’t pass up opportunities to use the restroom, assuming the next one is 20 miles and hours of hard pedaling ahead. And even with a chance to sleep in, I still woke up at 5:00 ready to go. If I hadn’t accidentally left my sunscreen at Rest Stop 2 on Day Six, I probably would still be re-applying it every two hours, even though I’m indoors and behind UV-shielding glass.

There’s a lot of things I already miss from the ride. The AIDS/LifeCycle operation is second to none – every need and request is taken care of professionally and quickly – from showers to medical services to food. I’m looking forward to setting my own menu again and playing around in the kitchen, but I’ll certainly miss the simplicity and ease of having it all prepared, warm, and served with a smile and a joke. Heck, today isn’t even “Sunday” to me (I had to check the computer calendar) – it’s Day Eight.

From orientation day through to the last moment of closing ceremonies, a lot of people mentioned the sense of community ALC fosters among the participants. And life certainly is different at camp and on the road than here in the real world. The general mood couldn’t be more different. We all shared a common purpose and common adversities, and people were nice, accepting, and interested in each other – like a big family. I had full trust that if something happened to me, someone would step up to help, whether it was someone lending me a CO2 air pump to save me a few minutes of hand pumping a tire or other riders jumping into action when one rider fell over a curb.

It’ll be interesting to bike again outside of the ride, too. We were all careful to point out hazards to each other, keep each other abreast of potholes and upcoming left turns and so on. That’s not exactly normal behavior for riders in the city or even on the American River trail.

And I’ll miss the light-heartedness that permeated the event. Chicken Lady’s Day Seven surprise and the sarcastic sniping between the camp news hosts and the fabulous costumes and set pieces hosted by the rest stop teams and the roadies (especially the redneck infighting to open Day Six) all maintained a wonderful atmosphere, making it a treat not only to come back into camp every night, but even to get moving in the morning in the first place.