“Ride along on the webTo see Pinky Nelson’s and Ryan Arndt’s cross country ride in grueling, day-by-day detail, visit their Web site, www.100miledays.com. Sometimes, life reads a bit like a joke. For instance, why did the 50-year-old former NASA astronaut and his 25-year-old friend get on a pair of bikes to ride across the country in less than two months?Why, to get to the beer on the other side!On Wednesday afternoon, part-time South Whidbey resident George Pinky Nelson and South Whidbey High School graduate Ryan Arndt rolled up to Langley’s Dog House Tavern on their bicycles, 39 days after riding off the front stoop of Madam Organ’s Tavern in Washington, D.C. on July 1. A crowd of friends and relatives greeted them with balloons and flowers. The Langley Police Department provided an escort into town, and Mayor Lloyd Furman even issued a proclamation recognizing the achievement.They deserved every bit of the fanfare, having executed the beer-to-beer ride in impressive fashion, riding at least 100 miles almost every day of their trip.Nelson, a former astronaut, said it was definitely more than a tall, sudsy brew that inspired him and Arndt to ride cross country. Since he was turning 50 this year, Nelson thought it was time to undertake his lifelong desire to ride from coast-to-coast.I’d always wanted to do it, he said.Nelson and Arndt work together for the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C. Nelson is Arndt’s boss, so he was able to allow both of them the time away from work for the ride. To give the ride a theme, the pair dubbed the trip 100-Mile Days, and pledged to ride at least 100 miles a day. Making the trip even splashier was their support car, a bright-red Porche 911 convertible driven by Nelson’s wife, Susie, and Arndt’s girlfriend, Melissa Pugh. Susie is well known on South Whidbey as an originator of the Maxwelton Salmon Adventure, and Melissa graduated from high school here.The riding was fast and the weather was generally good. By the time the two men coasted down First Street in Langley Wednesday, they were both deeply tanned, thin, and possessed of the kind of legs any cyclist would kill for.Nelson said the trip was so much fun that he will consider doing it again someday — a someday far in the future.It was a great trip with great company, he said. Twenty-five years from now, we’ll do it again.The trip’s only major mishap occurred just days into the ride. Riding over the July 4 holiday, Nelson and Arndt got lost a couple of times while trying to reach their campsite for the night. Instead of riding a little more than 100 miles that day, they piled on 140 — their longest day in the saddle. The 12 hours the ride required was about twice as many as either man wanted to see.Fortunately, they had gotten in shape before starting the trip.We were in good shape to start, Arndt said. We’re a lot better now.Not only did the pair finish the ride well ahead of time, they did it with a minimum amount of mechanical trouble. Over the course of 3,790 miles and 39 days of traveling, the duo went through just two tires and flatted just one tube. Arndt was responsible for the only broken spoke along the ride route — not bad, considering the riders had a total of 128 between them. The most unusual mechanical failure struck Nelson, who snapped one of the cleats on his cycling shoes.Arndt said he did not even put in much maintenance time on his bike. In total, he said, he lubed his bike chain twice.Both men were ready for a short rest Wednesday. After completing the day’s ride from Deception Pass, they quickly made for a pitcher of beer at the Dog House and talked about what they would do over the next two weeks. Nelson said he may have to go hard on himself for ducking out of his job.I’m going to have to fire myself when I get back because I’ve missed so much work, he joked.In fact, Nelson has been so generous with vacation time that Arndt will spend two weeks on South Whidbey before heading home. His parents are Bob and Bonnie Arndt of Langley.It’s hard to say no when the boss gives you time off, he said. Both men said they will be back on their bikes within a couple of days, because it would be a shame to lose all the fitness they gained riding across America. “