Monday, June 4, 2007
On the way
OK, here we are about 4 days deep and already we've seen such lovely things and weathered (no pun intened) some real adversity. I'll break it down day by day.
Day one: Pretty hot, but a great ride. It all started with possibly the finest send-off in bike touring history. A whole passel of pals showed up to ride us on out of town/see us off. It was great to pop the cork on a bottle of champagne on the New Haven Green at 9:15 Friday morning start our adventure. Patch definitely got plenty of attention along the way. Mostly very beautiful coast line, though Bridgeport was a rough one. The trail we followed went right through the heart of town, which means some pretty shady neighborhoods. But, it was daylight, so no serious worries on that front. The best part was our arrival in Norwalk. Unbelievable what a great reception we received. The inimitable Francis X. Fay Jr. hosted us in the grandest of styles, replete with many a story from the good ol' days. Pals from The Hour showed up to fete us in fine style. Thanks folks. Biked about 58 miles.
Day two: Pretty good day. We did have a minor meltdown trying to find a place to stay. We ended up backtracking about five miles into Rye, NY, in order to find a vacant hotel room. And even that hotel didn't allow pets, so Patch had to come in the back door real sneaky-like. Biked about 35 miles (25 miles net).
Day three: Possibly the most schizophrenic day I can imagine. The morning was this idyllic ride through the extensive greenway network of New York City. It was awesome and we met some really great people on the trail, not to mention some awesome parks deparment employees to help us out. The early afternoon was spent trying to find a ferry, that I think might not even exist, to Jersey City. We eventually found out we could take the train directly to Newark (which was the next step anyway) from the WTC site. This was 3 or 4 hours of frustration/10 extra miles of biking, but we were still in pretty good spirits thanks to the great morning we'd had. However, we'd committed to powering through 30-plus miles on the New Jersey side to get to our motel. That's when tropical storm Barry decided to have a little fun with us. The rain started just as we left the Newark train station, light at first, but steadily harder. Within two hours, I was completely dependent on Kerry (who doesn't wear fog-prone, rain and mud spattered glasses. Almost six hours later, dead tired and soaked to the bone, we finally found our hotel. Our rain gear didn't stand a chance. I think I sacrificed at least two electronic devices to Barry's nasty temper. We biked about 88 miles all told. It was tough, but we have now bestowed upon ourselves the title of hard-core bikers. Anybody who wants to argue should speak with my complaint department.
Day four: Awesome. Our friend Charley came up to meet us in Piscataway, NJ, and escorted us down the towpath of the D & R Canal. The unpaved path was pretty soft (curses again to you, Barry), so the biking was hard and the mud and sand made us dirty and Patch upset, but the ride was beautiful and it was great to have a knowledgeable person (Charley is on the New Jersey committee of the East Coast Greenway) to tell us about all the sites and show us the little-known nooks and crannies. Plus, we were fed well and put up in as comfortable a setting as one could ask for. Thanks Charley and Lisa! Biked about 40 miles.
Well, until the next chance I get a good Internet connection ...
Day one: Pretty hot, but a great ride. It all started with possibly the finest send-off in bike touring history. A whole passel of pals showed up to ride us on out of town/see us off. It was great to pop the cork on a bottle of champagne on the New Haven Green at 9:15 Friday morning start our adventure. Patch definitely got plenty of attention along the way. Mostly very beautiful coast line, though Bridgeport was a rough one. The trail we followed went right through the heart of town, which means some pretty shady neighborhoods. But, it was daylight, so no serious worries on that front. The best part was our arrival in Norwalk. Unbelievable what a great reception we received. The inimitable Francis X. Fay Jr. hosted us in the grandest of styles, replete with many a story from the good ol' days. Pals from The Hour showed up to fete us in fine style. Thanks folks. Biked about 58 miles.
Day two: Pretty good day. We did have a minor meltdown trying to find a place to stay. We ended up backtracking about five miles into Rye, NY, in order to find a vacant hotel room. And even that hotel didn't allow pets, so Patch had to come in the back door real sneaky-like. Biked about 35 miles (25 miles net).
Day three: Possibly the most schizophrenic day I can imagine. The morning was this idyllic ride through the extensive greenway network of New York City. It was awesome and we met some really great people on the trail, not to mention some awesome parks deparment employees to help us out. The early afternoon was spent trying to find a ferry, that I think might not even exist, to Jersey City. We eventually found out we could take the train directly to Newark (which was the next step anyway) from the WTC site. This was 3 or 4 hours of frustration/10 extra miles of biking, but we were still in pretty good spirits thanks to the great morning we'd had. However, we'd committed to powering through 30-plus miles on the New Jersey side to get to our motel. That's when tropical storm Barry decided to have a little fun with us. The rain started just as we left the Newark train station, light at first, but steadily harder. Within two hours, I was completely dependent on Kerry (who doesn't wear fog-prone, rain and mud spattered glasses. Almost six hours later, dead tired and soaked to the bone, we finally found our hotel. Our rain gear didn't stand a chance. I think I sacrificed at least two electronic devices to Barry's nasty temper. We biked about 88 miles all told. It was tough, but we have now bestowed upon ourselves the title of hard-core bikers. Anybody who wants to argue should speak with my complaint department.
Day four: Awesome. Our friend Charley came up to meet us in Piscataway, NJ, and escorted us down the towpath of the D & R Canal. The unpaved path was pretty soft (curses again to you, Barry), so the biking was hard and the mud and sand made us dirty and Patch upset, but the ride was beautiful and it was great to have a knowledgeable person (Charley is on the New Jersey committee of the East Coast Greenway) to tell us about all the sites and show us the little-known nooks and crannies. Plus, we were fed well and put up in as comfortable a setting as one could ask for. Thanks Charley and Lisa! Biked about 40 miles.
Well, until the next chance I get a good Internet connection ...
# posted by Andy @ 10:27 PM 
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