Day 57 - Port Angeles, WA - La Push (Rialto Beach), WA - 70 Miles, Cole Malinchock

We did it! After being on the road for 57 days, we finally dipped our front tires in the Pacific Ocean today!! Today is the day we've all been thinking about since we left Havre De Grace, MD. Even though we were all very excited to see our families and get the chance to sleep in, it also marked the end to a great chapter of each of our lives. Although this chapter ended for me, it's opened up many more possibilities for me with my new hobby of cycling and wanting to seek adventures in all parts of the world. This morning, I woke up before the 5:00 AM alarm because of the intensity of the bright full moon that was shining on my eyes. I layed on my back thinking about the trip and the fact that it was my last time packing up my tent for a very long time and in just a few hours I would see my mom and be on my way to our house. When the alarm finally went off and we started to pack up, we were all equally excited because we knew this was our last cold and dewy morning for a while! Our amazing hosts, The Swanson's, made us a small breakfast buffet with hot chocolate, orange juice, and parfaits. We all said our good byes and took one last photo together before we took off. Although I was fatigued from the past seven days of hard riding, I still got a chance to see the beautiful scenery as we rode by lakes and went through a rain forest. It was crazy to see so many mountains but also know that we were only 30 miles from the beach. Our group took a relaxing pace and the rest of the crew caught up to us about 20 miles from the beach. We all enjoyed the ride together as we like to call it "mega group" and made it to a vampire themed convenience store in La Push. This was a crazy moment in the ride for me because I remembered eating here last year right after my two older brothers and Brian Richardson departed on their 2019 cross country bike trip. It was a slap in the face for me that we were so close to the end, and although we wanted to take our time and enjoy the moment at the convenience store, we wanted to finish up the ride since we were only 5 miles from Rialto Beach. To make it more exciting we joined the bikeloud instagram live stream, until Max got a flat tire from his tires sitting in the sun. After changing the tire, we headed out for our final 5 miles of the 3,300 mile trip. We decided the order before departing the convenience store with my dad (Mike Malinchock) in the front, leading the rest of the crew. We continued the instagram live as we rode, until we decided to turn it off and enjoy the last mile as a crew. As we got closer, more and more cars passing us cheered us on because they must have heard our story from all of our family members at the beach, waiting for us. We turned the corner and were faced with a roaring crowd with cow bells and many friends and family cheering us on as we completed our final 100 yard stretch. I was shocked to see my girlfriend was part of the group cheering us on because I didn't think she could make it all the way out to Washington to see me finish. It was really so amazing to see her and my mom and give them both a big hug after being away from them for 2 months. We all walked our bikes down the beach that I saw my brothers and Brian take off from last year. I was filled with so much excitement and relief to have no more hills, headwinds, or bad gas station breakfasts. We all dipped our front tires, and took many photos but we were all too excited to just stand there so we threw our bikes on the beach and jumped into the Pacific Ocean. We cheered and hugged and splashed water every where until we nearly froze in the cold, salty water. I could barely feel anything from the amount of excitement and adrenaline I was feeling! We dried off and took many more photos before heading back to our houses in Port Angeles. As we drove back, we took the exact same route we biked, but we did it in a fraction of the time. We got our showers and cleaned up before having a big dinner to celebrate. It was so good to relax with a Spindrift and some of Evan's warm risotto as we laughed about all the stories from the trip. Looking back on the day, it really was filled with so much joy and surprises but also a sense of completetion to have finished so many miles in just 2 months. We all worked so hard for this moment of dipping our tires, and although I haven't really taken it all in, I'm excited for my next adventure. Signing off for now, Cole Malinchock