Skip riding inSkip crossed the finish line of his 4,280 mile trek across the United States for Parkinson's Disease on September 18th, 2009, at 4:45 p.m. at the Victory Monument in Yorktown Virginia.
This cycling adventure never stopped testing Skip on his endurance and strength of will, even on the last day. Although it seemed touch and go on the weather, it held off, and seemed to brighten the closer we got to our final destination. This final destination seemed to be eluding us ever so slightly... We encountered two road closures, some confusing and contradicting directions, (apparently each town has different roads with the same names), and the route we came in on, wasn't the route the map suggested, although we did follow all the directions... But in the end, Arch and I found the Victory Monument, and were there to cheer Skip in along that last stretch to the finish!
Here are a few words from Arch on how finishing this great adventure with his son means to him:
"After completing this trip across the country it had given me a great respect for the USA and it's people. Skip has shown perseverance that would impress anybody. Ashley did a great job on the blog and keeping Skip and mindset. We gained so much on a personal level being able to raise money for PD research added icing on the cake. I want to say thank you to everyone thats donated. This has been a great ride in every aspect the only downside of this is not being able to be with Cindy for such a long time." This has been a life changing trip for all of us. All of the wonderful memories of the good people we have met along the way, the places we have seen, and ultimately, the cause we have supported. We could not have done it without all of you! All of our family, that supported this right from the very beginning, our friends who have cheered us along the way, and the strangers that have changed our lives.
This ending is the start of another beginning, a stepping stone in life that has shown us what a dream can become, and how far it really can go. There was never any doubt that Skip would succeed, that every mile, every hill, every bump in the road would be conquered and make him that much stronger to conquer the next one. We raised $8,816.80 for Parkinson's Disease research, and even though Skip has gotten off the bike, we will still continue our fundraising efforts. It's been a long road traveled, and there may be a few more mountains to climb before a cure is found, but it will be, we are 4,280 miles closer.
