EFI

Please forgive me but celebrations and get-togethers and pampering have delayed me from getting out this blog. Now here is the blog about EFI.

Some cross-country cyclists are purists and require themselves to cycle EFI. I would be one of them.

“You receive EFI status when you have cycled every inch of the road of a tour, for every single day of the tour, without getting on the support vehicle and by making it to the night’s accommodation…” (retrieved from http://7epics.com/faq/)

Of course, EFI stands for Every Fantastic Inch! On Sunday, I finished the last inch and it was fantastic, indeed. Here is a video of the final mile as seen from my bike as I rode with several Sussex Cyclists through Bethany Beach into Sea Colony, found family and friends gathered at the beach to witness as I rolled my bike across the sand, dipped my wheel in the Atlantic Ocean, and raised my bike over my head!

Here’s a video of what the final inches looked like to family and friends. 

Mission accomplished!

I mentioned in the last blog that my daughter was diagnosed with diabetes just weeks before my ride started. She is the picture of health, cooks and eats very well, and she exercises, so this was a total surprise. I had been waiting for a cause to emerge for my ride, and it had just presented itself. Should you be inclined to grace my ride with a donation to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), I’d be honored. This link will take you to my JDRF page. This time the link should work.

Acknowledgements are in order, foremost to Susie, who embraced the adventure right from the beginning, who did the test drive in April, who drove the support and gear vehicle for six of the eight weeks, and who provided moral and other support throughout. Also thanks to my brother, Mike, and my sister-in-law, Sandra, who covered Kansas and Missouri while Susie rested during the middle two weeks. Many more thanks will be forthcoming.

Ride details

Start location: Rehoboth Beach DE

End location: Bethany Beach DE

Distance: 16.8 miles

Cumulative distance: 3163.0 miles (final total)

Elevation gain: 131.2 feet

Cumulative elevation gain: 116,440.2 feet

Strava track: https://www.strava.com/activities/753787574

Strava heat map of entire adventure: https://www.strava.com/athletes/9271993/heatmaps/263ed6e#5/39.43619/-96.67969