The first road I was on for a while was yard sale alley. Just ys after ys for miles. Went my fastest today, got up to 42 mph. Been a lot of climbing and a lot of descending.
-
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Friday, May 14, 2010
Just some pix of the day
I'm keeping my eyes peeled for Jesco White. Almost into his territory. If u don't know who he is, look him up. I'm dying today. In the midst of the Appalachians. Trying to reach the town of Cumberland by night fall. Started out another dreary morning where it was supposed to rain. So far no rain.
The first road I was on for a while was yard sale alley. Just ys after ys for miles. Went my fastest today, got up to 42 mph. Been a lot of climbing and a lot of descending.
-
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
The first road I was on for a while was yard sale alley. Just ys after ys for miles. Went my fastest today, got up to 42 mph. Been a lot of climbing and a lot of descending.
-
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Cinco de Maryland
Four states in just five days. Another great day of riding. We're at Barefoot Bernies in Hagerstown, MD. Feels good to have gotten this far down the road. The moto here is, "it's always a weekend at bernies."
GPS. Giant piece of shit. That's the real acronym. I'm selling this thing as soon as I get a chance. My iPhone has all the same tricks and then some. I should have invested that money into an IPAD. Should have taken one of those on this trip. My concern was breaking it or it getting wet. Live and learn.
Today was almost a 70 mile day. Rain was expected all day agian, yet we were sparred. Just grey luminous clouds hanging over our heads all day. That doesn't stop the sweat from pouring down but it is more comfortable than the sun blaring down.
Today we also had another day of hilly terrain. Felt so much better than I did two days ago. It's amazing day five of this trip already, it's becoming a reality! The first few days were novelty. Still pretty close to home. Now I'm really feeling excited about it.
Its fun talking to all the animals as I'm riding. Been trying to get them to lift there heads to stare at me. So far they are pretty responsive. I've seen cows, horses, chickens, rabbits, ground hogs, pheasants, llamas, goats, sheep and a few other things. Along with a ton of road kill and old carcusses. Unlike Philly and Newark where the old torn out weaves looked like road kill.
Everything is still holding up. Today I had my first technical difficulty. Biking up a steep incline changing into my small chain ring the chain overshot and came off. Otherwise smooth sailing. Was almost tempted to stop at a few post offices I saw today to ship some stuf home. i.e. The extra bag I'm not using and my heavy lock. Since I've only locked my bike up once.
My legs are really feeling it. Hopefuuly they will keep up with the ride. It's so dangerous on the road. You really have to be in the moment. Any crack, pothole, curb, branch or anything can take u out. Including your gps taking u off course.
Listened to the "Power of Now," by Ekhart Tolle for most of the day. His voice and teachings were really good to listen to. Very basic and he pulls from all the religions to share his views. Then towards the end of the day it was some rock and roll to get through those last 5 or so miles.
Broke the speed limit twice today. Got just over 35 in a 35 zone. That's the beauty of climbing those hills, you get to motor down. Yesterday my top speed was just over 38. Think those tour de France guys get over 60. The bike feels really solid in all conditions.
Not sure where we will end up tomorrow. Have to do some reviewing of the maps. We've been staying at Super 8's and they don't have a business center. Then when you ask somebody a question of where to find something and nobody knows. So u have to be very resourceful. This iPhone is great. The aps I'm using most are maps, kayak, warmshowers.org, where and blogpress. They provide pretty much everything I need.
Have not seen one internet cafe. But have seen plenty of fast food joints, gas stations, we buy gold and tattoo shops. Also haven't seen any Starbucks since Philly. I've also seen a lot of characters and some interesting outfits. Still a lot of cars on the road that u don't see in NY. People seem to keep up and hold onto thier cars for a lot longer.
Thanks for reading along. I know this was a bit lenghty but had to share a few things on my mind.
That's Robert E Lee in Gettysburg.
What the bike looks like geared up. Then a farm house iPhone bike by picture. Tomorrow I'll actually stop and take some legit pix.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
GPS. Giant piece of shit. That's the real acronym. I'm selling this thing as soon as I get a chance. My iPhone has all the same tricks and then some. I should have invested that money into an IPAD. Should have taken one of those on this trip. My concern was breaking it or it getting wet. Live and learn.
Today was almost a 70 mile day. Rain was expected all day agian, yet we were sparred. Just grey luminous clouds hanging over our heads all day. That doesn't stop the sweat from pouring down but it is more comfortable than the sun blaring down.
Today we also had another day of hilly terrain. Felt so much better than I did two days ago. It's amazing day five of this trip already, it's becoming a reality! The first few days were novelty. Still pretty close to home. Now I'm really feeling excited about it.
Its fun talking to all the animals as I'm riding. Been trying to get them to lift there heads to stare at me. So far they are pretty responsive. I've seen cows, horses, chickens, rabbits, ground hogs, pheasants, llamas, goats, sheep and a few other things. Along with a ton of road kill and old carcusses. Unlike Philly and Newark where the old torn out weaves looked like road kill.
Everything is still holding up. Today I had my first technical difficulty. Biking up a steep incline changing into my small chain ring the chain overshot and came off. Otherwise smooth sailing. Was almost tempted to stop at a few post offices I saw today to ship some stuf home. i.e. The extra bag I'm not using and my heavy lock. Since I've only locked my bike up once.
My legs are really feeling it. Hopefuuly they will keep up with the ride. It's so dangerous on the road. You really have to be in the moment. Any crack, pothole, curb, branch or anything can take u out. Including your gps taking u off course.
Listened to the "Power of Now," by Ekhart Tolle for most of the day. His voice and teachings were really good to listen to. Very basic and he pulls from all the religions to share his views. Then towards the end of the day it was some rock and roll to get through those last 5 or so miles.
Broke the speed limit twice today. Got just over 35 in a 35 zone. That's the beauty of climbing those hills, you get to motor down. Yesterday my top speed was just over 38. Think those tour de France guys get over 60. The bike feels really solid in all conditions.
Not sure where we will end up tomorrow. Have to do some reviewing of the maps. We've been staying at Super 8's and they don't have a business center. Then when you ask somebody a question of where to find something and nobody knows. So u have to be very resourceful. This iPhone is great. The aps I'm using most are maps, kayak, warmshowers.org, where and blogpress. They provide pretty much everything I need.
Have not seen one internet cafe. But have seen plenty of fast food joints, gas stations, we buy gold and tattoo shops. Also haven't seen any Starbucks since Philly. I've also seen a lot of characters and some interesting outfits. Still a lot of cars on the road that u don't see in NY. People seem to keep up and hold onto thier cars for a lot longer.
Thanks for reading along. I know this was a bit lenghty but had to share a few things on my mind.
That's Robert E Lee in Gettysburg.
What the bike looks like geared up. Then a farm house iPhone bike by picture. Tomorrow I'll actually stop and take some legit pix.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:U.S. 40,17, Hagerstown,United States
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Day Fource
Today was a fun day of biking. Got about Ten hours of sleep last night. We got rolling about 9:30 and had breakfast at Claire's in Morgantown. Had some good eggs, homefries and I was ready for the rain. Accu weather said rain at 11 and 1 and there was none, thankfully.
Today was the best day of riding so far. Felt like it was downhill most of the time. Was in my biggest chain ring for the whole day. It was realy nice to bike on a misty morning through southern PA. The smell of farms and fresh cut grass.
Today marked over two hundred miles so far. It was just over a fifty mile day. Which is good, we're right on pace. Felt like I could've kept going today. But York is a pretty big city with plenty of accomodations. Still looking forward to our first day of camping. Tomorrow we'll make a pit stop in Gettysburg. Supposed to piss all day tomorrow too.
Sorry there hasn't been that many photos. The weather hasn't been that good and the iPhone is limited. So for today I'll share one of a horse and buggy I tool just outside of Lancaster. Thanks for reading along.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Today was the best day of riding so far. Felt like it was downhill most of the time. Was in my biggest chain ring for the whole day. It was realy nice to bike on a misty morning through southern PA. The smell of farms and fresh cut grass.
Today marked over two hundred miles so far. It was just over a fifty mile day. Which is good, we're right on pace. Felt like I could've kept going today. But York is a pretty big city with plenty of accomodations. Still looking forward to our first day of camping. Tomorrow we'll make a pit stop in Gettysburg. Supposed to piss all day tomorrow too.
Sorry there hasn't been that many photos. The weather hasn't been that good and the iPhone is limited. So for today I'll share one of a horse and buggy I tool just outside of Lancaster. Thanks for reading along.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Manchester,United States
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Day tray!
Just like that Beach Boys song Sloop John B "I feel so broka I wanna go home!". But I'm a trooper and moving on. Laying in a hotel room in Morgantown, PA. My body is feeling it. To long ass days of biking really took there toll on me. My legs are pulsing.
Today was a hellacious day! Not only was it our first day of hills but also rain. The one big hill today was only about an 800 ft climb and took it out of me. I was really overheated by the top. But I did motor through and make it to the summit. These hills are tricky when your biking. You think your approaching the top and then it evens out for a moment and then continues. Can't give up after only three days.
Biking with this much gear is gruelling. Next time I do this I will have a Sherpa, masseuse, an RV and a nutritionist/chef. Tomorrow is supposed to be another rainy day but we are going to press on to at least Lancaster, Amish country.
The roads today were pretty solid. Did have one mini van get within a hair of me. My bike is holding up great. Thank God, three days and no flats either. Just seems to be me that's the problem. Also need to tighten up my gear a little bit still. So tonight I repacked and fit all of my stuff into four bags. Still the same weight but less resistance. Within the next week I think I'll be shipping some stuff back to NYC.
Everywhere we go people are asking what were up to. Even when we're stopped at traffic lights. Kind of fun to chat with different folks and listen to thier reactions. Today a woman at Dunkin Donuts was telling us about a couple that came through who were on a two year bike trip and have sent her a letter since then. Then there a was a driver for walmart that told us how bored we are going to be going through Kansas. Thanks Buddy! Everybody has thier opinion.
Thanks for riding along.
~LHR
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Today was a hellacious day! Not only was it our first day of hills but also rain. The one big hill today was only about an 800 ft climb and took it out of me. I was really overheated by the top. But I did motor through and make it to the summit. These hills are tricky when your biking. You think your approaching the top and then it evens out for a moment and then continues. Can't give up after only three days.
Biking with this much gear is gruelling. Next time I do this I will have a Sherpa, masseuse, an RV and a nutritionist/chef. Tomorrow is supposed to be another rainy day but we are going to press on to at least Lancaster, Amish country.
The roads today were pretty solid. Did have one mini van get within a hair of me. My bike is holding up great. Thank God, three days and no flats either. Just seems to be me that's the problem. Also need to tighten up my gear a little bit still. So tonight I repacked and fit all of my stuff into four bags. Still the same weight but less resistance. Within the next week I think I'll be shipping some stuff back to NYC.
Everywhere we go people are asking what were up to. Even when we're stopped at traffic lights. Kind of fun to chat with different folks and listen to thier reactions. Today a woman at Dunkin Donuts was telling us about a couple that came through who were on a two year bike trip and have sent her a letter since then. Then there a was a driver for walmart that told us how bored we are going to be going through Kansas. Thanks Buddy! Everybody has thier opinion.
Thanks for riding along.
~LHR
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Main St,Caernarvon,United States
Monday, May 10, 2010
No Philly Cheese Steaks
Day 2 was no where as epic as the first. We headed out at about the same time today, 9:30 and the weather was 45 degress again. Bet I'm going to miss that when we're sweating it out down the road.
My body was feeling it today. Especially right now at 11:30 at night. Staying with a fraternity brother down in Philly. He lives in Port Richmond. We ended up going out to eat at a Brazilian BBQ joint. The food doesn't stop coming til you put up the flag that says stop. Literally there is a marker on the table, one side is red the other green. Til you turn it around they will keep coming to your table with skewers of meat. Not the best value after having a big lunch. Went to a local pizza spot here in Port Richmond. Ben didn't get out of work til 6:30. So we ended up riding around to look for a cafe. To make a long story short, the pizza didn't look that good so I ordered the Monday special. $4.30 for spaghetti with meatballs or sausage. Thinking NY prices I thought this would be a small portion. This thing was enough to feed a family of 3-4.
Even though I didn't eat a Philly cheese steak, I still took it down today. Gonna need the energy though. I am not 18 years old anymore. That's the last time I went on a bike tour. My body was sore today. Going to have to learn some good stretches. That's something I never really done in my life except for in Phys Ed classes.
Thankfully all of our equipment is holding up well. No problems yet with the bikes or our gear. Tomorrow we plan on doing about a 50 mile day. Today was 55 miles. But with all the head winds it felt like double. It is no joke riding a fully loaded bike into direct winds.
Also can't wait to get to the Trans America Bike trail. http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/transamerica.cfm That is a link to the route we are planning on taking. The next week is going to be spent meandering our way to the trail. We'll probably end up meeting up with it in West Virginia. This will help out big time. It's very time consuming when the trails are not mapped out so well. Especially the past two days. There have been a lot twist and turns. The GPS I spent $500 on sux so far. It really seems to take you out of the way to get to your destination. This has been my experience in the past as well. When I've been in familiar territory and know the best route and the GPS suggest a different route all together.
The highlight of the day was getting here to Philly and being able to watch last nights episode of Breaking Bad. Ben is also a fan and hooked me up with it On Demand. That is the best show on television. Wonder where I'll be next Sunday?
Been getting a lot of text asking if my butt hurts. Not that bad at all. Think I made a great choice on my Brooks saddle and Pearl Izumi bike shorts. Hopefully this remains the case. Yesterday I sweated through every article of clothing I brought with me. It was cold so I layered. Some of the best purchases I made where the Icebreaker wool shirts. The dry super fast and don't have any odor. So today I was swapping between those. Yesterday I wore one of those with a cotton henley over that and my light weight goose down vest. Both of those were soaking wet with sweat. It is so important to have the right gear. Going to need to buy a long sleeve one of those wool shirts and a warmer riding jacket.
That's how this trip is going to go. Sure I've done quite a bit of research before we left, but there will be some trial and error. Also haven't used more than half the stuff I took with me. Thinking about another week from now I should have that all figured out as well. Shed the excess weight and make the cruising easier.
If you take a look at the route and have any family or friends along the way. Please let us know. It would be nice to have some fun friendly destinations. Have a great week and thanks for following along with the long haul.
My body was feeling it today. Especially right now at 11:30 at night. Staying with a fraternity brother down in Philly. He lives in Port Richmond. We ended up going out to eat at a Brazilian BBQ joint. The food doesn't stop coming til you put up the flag that says stop. Literally there is a marker on the table, one side is red the other green. Til you turn it around they will keep coming to your table with skewers of meat. Not the best value after having a big lunch. Went to a local pizza spot here in Port Richmond. Ben didn't get out of work til 6:30. So we ended up riding around to look for a cafe. To make a long story short, the pizza didn't look that good so I ordered the Monday special. $4.30 for spaghetti with meatballs or sausage. Thinking NY prices I thought this would be a small portion. This thing was enough to feed a family of 3-4.
Even though I didn't eat a Philly cheese steak, I still took it down today. Gonna need the energy though. I am not 18 years old anymore. That's the last time I went on a bike tour. My body was sore today. Going to have to learn some good stretches. That's something I never really done in my life except for in Phys Ed classes.
Thankfully all of our equipment is holding up well. No problems yet with the bikes or our gear. Tomorrow we plan on doing about a 50 mile day. Today was 55 miles. But with all the head winds it felt like double. It is no joke riding a fully loaded bike into direct winds.
Also can't wait to get to the Trans America Bike trail. http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/transamerica.cfm That is a link to the route we are planning on taking. The next week is going to be spent meandering our way to the trail. We'll probably end up meeting up with it in West Virginia. This will help out big time. It's very time consuming when the trails are not mapped out so well. Especially the past two days. There have been a lot twist and turns. The GPS I spent $500 on sux so far. It really seems to take you out of the way to get to your destination. This has been my experience in the past as well. When I've been in familiar territory and know the best route and the GPS suggest a different route all together.
The highlight of the day was getting here to Philly and being able to watch last nights episode of Breaking Bad. Ben is also a fan and hooked me up with it On Demand. That is the best show on television. Wonder where I'll be next Sunday?
Been getting a lot of text asking if my butt hurts. Not that bad at all. Think I made a great choice on my Brooks saddle and Pearl Izumi bike shorts. Hopefully this remains the case. Yesterday I sweated through every article of clothing I brought with me. It was cold so I layered. Some of the best purchases I made where the Icebreaker wool shirts. The dry super fast and don't have any odor. So today I was swapping between those. Yesterday I wore one of those with a cotton henley over that and my light weight goose down vest. Both of those were soaking wet with sweat. It is so important to have the right gear. Going to need to buy a long sleeve one of those wool shirts and a warmer riding jacket.
That's how this trip is going to go. Sure I've done quite a bit of research before we left, but there will be some trial and error. Also haven't used more than half the stuff I took with me. Thinking about another week from now I should have that all figured out as well. Shed the excess weight and make the cruising easier.
If you take a look at the route and have any family or friends along the way. Please let us know. It would be nice to have some fun friendly destinations. Have a great week and thanks for following along with the long haul.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Day 1
What an amazing and epic day one! Today could not have been more fun. Although it was 45 degrees and hella windy. For my norcal crew. They say hella up there to describe things.
Stuck with the plan. Met at mud and got on the road at a out 9:30. There was about 15 friends and family to see us off. Thank you so much, each and everyone of you that got up early on this cold and windy Sunday morning to see us off.
We started with 7 of us up to the bridge. We took the George washinton bridge. It's the only way to get to Jersey by bike power from Manhattan. It was RVK, his gf Jen, two guys named Dave. The Norcal crew and myself. Nico and Sean are the two guys who stayed with me Saturday night and are biking from DC to Boston.
One of the Daves dissapeared after 14th st. So we were down to 6. Then we lost the Norcal crew about 100th st and the west side hwy. They were staying at the hostel up there.
Then ran into Carolyn and her friend Sherry with her son Jordan. Who I found out is quite talented and only 9 years young. So we were back to 7.
The wind was fierce up the west side. So the other 5 biked with us up to the base of the bridge and said smell u later! Then it was up probably the steepest hill of the day. That's the highest point of manhattan right where the bridge is. If u have biked up there you know what I'm saying. This was truly our first test. We both made it up the whole way. Keep in mind. Today was our first day biking with all of our gear. Rocket scientist I tell you.
So we get all the way up the hill, stop at starbux to take a leak and then my first "incident.". When we were getting onto the GW. There is a tight turn to get on. It's a downhill and we had good momementum. There was a road biker in front of us. Of course he's not moving fast and has his head phones on. Not only is a sharp turn but it gets real steep. So he is taking up the whole path. I start yelling to him. To late. I get stuck int toe clips as my back bag catches his back wheel. I go straight into the stone pylon face first next to me. Luckily I caught myself. Could have really sucked. Anyways, got it out of the way quickly. Rich had his today too. So hopefully were good. Check out his blog as well, www.rvkusa.blogspot.com. But finish reading mine first. It's going to get good.
Holy shit! New Jersey sucks for biking Judy outside of the city. Well south if the GW anyways. Google.com/maps with the biking option really took us for a ride. We actually went right by my boy Terrances house. So that was the last good bye. We literally rode by his block, got to say wassup.
The route through the industrial areas were very dangerous and trecherous. First of all, the shoulders are littered with filth. Glass, pieces of metal and car parts. If we were going to get flats that would have been the spot. The dangerous part was the no shoulder and cars zinging by. Luckily it was daytime and the traffic wasn't bad because Sunday and mothers day. After that it was down through Newark which wasn't that bad. But by this point we were getting hungry. Especially biking through all those multi cultural neighborhoods where the food smelled amazing.
We kept biking south and this incredible thing happened. We saw hundreds of cyclists biking on a road to the left of us with blue jerseys on. We looked at each other and pitched our route and jumped on the mix. It was great, I was biking and had my blue Patagonia wind breaker on. Rich was a little more obscure with his red wind breaker. But both of us stuck out like sore thumbs without the jersey and our gear. Automatically we were accepted to ride along with them. Then everyone want to interrogate us.
It is a law enforcement bike ride called the "police unity tour.". They come from all over America to raise money for the memorial in DC. I was told they are adding 308 names to the memorial this year. Wow, all day long we were biking slow. Looking for the right road, wind and highly trafficked side streets really slowed us down.
Now we were cruising with hundreds of other cyclists and a police escort. They were moving really well. We held our own with all our gear and the uphills. It was great every intersection we could just cruise through.
Met folks from all over in all types of law enforcement. Secret service, corrections officers and cops from all over. Met a dude from Oregan who biked from Seattle to Wisconnsin for his 20th ha reunion. Then some dudes from Vegas. A lot of riders from Jersey and the DC area. Told Agee of them about the blog and asked them to follow along. Everyone seemed envious. Just made me feel that much better about our decision to bike accross the USA. Really could not have envisioned a more uplifting experience for our first day.
It all went downhill after that. We had lunch at a real greasy Greek diner. So after lunch we were a little sore, tired and it got a but colder out. We then had to find a hotel. Both of us have Iphones. Also have the Garmin edge 705 GPS with me. They really seem to not be the most direct routes. We ended up taking way to long to find our hotel. Hopefully that will get better down the road.
Oh yeah, almost forgot about Matt the school teacher we met on the west side hwy. He was riding next to me and had a similiar set up on a touring bike. He asked what was up, so I told him. He is doing the trip in July. Good luck to you Matt.
Time to go eat some dinner! Thanks for following along. I'm finally excited about being on the trip. It's been a crazy couple of weeks and my emotions have been all over the place. Off to Philly tomorrow. Staying with my fraternity brother Ben. Going to be a good time.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Stuck with the plan. Met at mud and got on the road at a out 9:30. There was about 15 friends and family to see us off. Thank you so much, each and everyone of you that got up early on this cold and windy Sunday morning to see us off.
We started with 7 of us up to the bridge. We took the George washinton bridge. It's the only way to get to Jersey by bike power from Manhattan. It was RVK, his gf Jen, two guys named Dave. The Norcal crew and myself. Nico and Sean are the two guys who stayed with me Saturday night and are biking from DC to Boston.
One of the Daves dissapeared after 14th st. So we were down to 6. Then we lost the Norcal crew about 100th st and the west side hwy. They were staying at the hostel up there.
Then ran into Carolyn and her friend Sherry with her son Jordan. Who I found out is quite talented and only 9 years young. So we were back to 7.
The wind was fierce up the west side. So the other 5 biked with us up to the base of the bridge and said smell u later! Then it was up probably the steepest hill of the day. That's the highest point of manhattan right where the bridge is. If u have biked up there you know what I'm saying. This was truly our first test. We both made it up the whole way. Keep in mind. Today was our first day biking with all of our gear. Rocket scientist I tell you.
So we get all the way up the hill, stop at starbux to take a leak and then my first "incident.". When we were getting onto the GW. There is a tight turn to get on. It's a downhill and we had good momementum. There was a road biker in front of us. Of course he's not moving fast and has his head phones on. Not only is a sharp turn but it gets real steep. So he is taking up the whole path. I start yelling to him. To late. I get stuck int toe clips as my back bag catches his back wheel. I go straight into the stone pylon face first next to me. Luckily I caught myself. Could have really sucked. Anyways, got it out of the way quickly. Rich had his today too. So hopefully were good. Check out his blog as well, www.rvkusa.blogspot.com. But finish reading mine first. It's going to get good.
Holy shit! New Jersey sucks for biking Judy outside of the city. Well south if the GW anyways. Google.com/maps with the biking option really took us for a ride. We actually went right by my boy Terrances house. So that was the last good bye. We literally rode by his block, got to say wassup.
The route through the industrial areas were very dangerous and trecherous. First of all, the shoulders are littered with filth. Glass, pieces of metal and car parts. If we were going to get flats that would have been the spot. The dangerous part was the no shoulder and cars zinging by. Luckily it was daytime and the traffic wasn't bad because Sunday and mothers day. After that it was down through Newark which wasn't that bad. But by this point we were getting hungry. Especially biking through all those multi cultural neighborhoods where the food smelled amazing.
We kept biking south and this incredible thing happened. We saw hundreds of cyclists biking on a road to the left of us with blue jerseys on. We looked at each other and pitched our route and jumped on the mix. It was great, I was biking and had my blue Patagonia wind breaker on. Rich was a little more obscure with his red wind breaker. But both of us stuck out like sore thumbs without the jersey and our gear. Automatically we were accepted to ride along with them. Then everyone want to interrogate us.
It is a law enforcement bike ride called the "police unity tour.". They come from all over America to raise money for the memorial in DC. I was told they are adding 308 names to the memorial this year. Wow, all day long we were biking slow. Looking for the right road, wind and highly trafficked side streets really slowed us down.
Now we were cruising with hundreds of other cyclists and a police escort. They were moving really well. We held our own with all our gear and the uphills. It was great every intersection we could just cruise through.
Met folks from all over in all types of law enforcement. Secret service, corrections officers and cops from all over. Met a dude from Oregan who biked from Seattle to Wisconnsin for his 20th ha reunion. Then some dudes from Vegas. A lot of riders from Jersey and the DC area. Told Agee of them about the blog and asked them to follow along. Everyone seemed envious. Just made me feel that much better about our decision to bike accross the USA. Really could not have envisioned a more uplifting experience for our first day.
It all went downhill after that. We had lunch at a real greasy Greek diner. So after lunch we were a little sore, tired and it got a but colder out. We then had to find a hotel. Both of us have Iphones. Also have the Garmin edge 705 GPS with me. They really seem to not be the most direct routes. We ended up taking way to long to find our hotel. Hopefully that will get better down the road.
Oh yeah, almost forgot about Matt the school teacher we met on the west side hwy. He was riding next to me and had a similiar set up on a touring bike. He asked what was up, so I told him. He is doing the trip in July. Good luck to you Matt.
Time to go eat some dinner! Thanks for following along. I'm finally excited about being on the trip. It's been a crazy couple of weeks and my emotions have been all over the place. Off to Philly tomorrow. Staying with my fraternity brother Ben. Going to be a good time.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Departure
Here it is! Mothers day and time to take off on the cross country adventure. Destination somewhere about 60 miles into Jersey. Leaving Mud right on time.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:E 9th St,New York,United States
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
