Full Circle and Thanks_Day 7

We arose, had our breakfast, chatted over coffee about what a good ride this had been and what a good crew of riders and staff we had been blessed with and how each of us was glad to have helped out the ‘Lung’ as we came to refer to the American Lung Association. There was a small unspoken sadness that our adventure was coming to an end, as usually happens on these events; especially when they are as enjoyable as ours has been with the closeness that we had established. There were only 15 of us, riders and crew in total. Our route for the day had us riding Montana Highway 2 straight back to Whitefish with a single detour to the Hungry Horse Reservoir. As we got underway we rode a few miles to the turn to the reservoir; spread out as usual. I had been to the reservoir before on a previous trip and had no interest in riding the steep hill to see it again so I continued straight on to Whitefish with a couple of stops thrown in along the way.

The speed demons, Lance and Ryan still caught up to and passed me before I got back to Whitefish. The route is along a busy local highway; no longer a scenic country ride. It was back to paying attention to the rumble strip, the gravel and glass on the shoulder and the sound of on coming trucks. I arrived at our destination in Whitefish, a local gym, checked in and then rode to the Glacier Cyclery where I dropped off my bike to be packed and shipped. The Glacier Cyclery is a great locally owned bike shop and I highly recommend them: knowledgeable, accommodating, good service and friendly. That task completed, I walked back to the Whitefish middle school and pickup my other two wheel machine and motored back to the gym. Lance, Ryan and I had just settled into watching TV in the locker room's small lounge when the gear truck arrived with our bags. Sharon found us and we had a small closing ceremony when everyone arrived at the gym, a few minutes later.

First Sharon and Nick thanked us all for our participation and service to the ‘Lung’; followed by presentation of glass Glacier National Park tumblers to everyone. Tony Sleva received a special award for his heroism and Lance and Ryan each got the “Lost Boys” award for their wayward journey after we left Waterton Lakes Park; smiles and laughs abounded. We finished with a ceremonial meal of Huckleberry pie and then we got a change of clothes and bath kits for our luggage and showered up and then repacked the truck and returned to the Whitefish Middle School where we did the final off load of truck.

I loaded my gear on to my moto and rode over to the Bulldog Saloon where I had lunch with the Williamson. The Bulldog Saloon is one part sports bar with multiple TVs showing various sporting events, one part museum with old photographs of area schools championship sports teams, and one part Old West collection of railroad lore and memorabilia. Oh yeah, they had a lot of girlie pictures in the men’s john, very NC-17. Burgers were the house specialty and we all ordered one and we shared a pitcher of ‘Moose Drool’ beer, a local favorite and not a bad amber brew to boot. Obviously a sophisticated establishment...cheers!
So there you have it: The good, the bad and the ulgy of The Big Ride Glacier, 2008. I hope you enjoyed being my travel companion as much I enjoyed sharing the the story.


I want to thank all 58 of my friends and family members who pledged their donations to the American Lung Association of Washington, in my name or who made personal donations to offset the expenses involved in participation. Big or small, your donations and gifts are helping us all to better heart and lung health. Thank you very much for your generosity and for all of the personal support that was offered to me throughout this endeavor.



With Deep Gratitude,


Jim Warner

PS: If you are interested in seeing more pictures please visit Tony Sleva's photo gallery site; he has some great photos and funny captions: http://picasaweb.google.com/tsleva/BigRideGlacier2008 .