Tour Day 65 Having Someone Look Up To Me Aug 29 2010

Before I talk about today I want to talk about something very special that happened last night. After saying goodbye to all the adults I went to say goodbye to the kids. I was not looking forward to saying goodbye to knolly. He had taken such a liking to me, and the feeling was mutual. I am not usually very fond of children but knolly is special. He is a deep thinker for his age. He is not like other kids. He gives me hope for the Future.

When I walked into Devons room they were all hanging out so I said a group goodbye to everyone. I felt bad about this because I did not get my ideal goodbye for knolly. I got to thinking about this while I was in my tent and I was starting to contemplate going back in when I hear a young voice outside of my tent. It was knolly asking me to come outside.

It was as if he had read my mind. I jumped outside with my headlamp blaring and gave him a big hug. I was at a loss for words because this took me by such surprise. All I could grab from my mind is “you are going to do something special. You are special”. I would have loved to say something more profound but that’s all I could think of. As he started to walk away he said goodbye again. To which I said “see you soon”.

I never anticipated wanting to come back to Connecticut because it is not one of those states that tourists flock to. But after having such a great experience I cannot wait to revisit it. As well it would give me a chance to see the surrounding area in a much easier way.

With that last sentence in mind I will start by saying today was easily the most mentally exhausting day of the tour thus far. It all started fine I navigated the first 70km no problem. Even better I ran into an awesome cycling group native to New York. They were so excited and amazed by the tour. They regarded me as a “bad dude”. Which I took as the highest complement they could give. It really made me feel… special.

All 10 of us stopped in at a gas station to drain our bladders and talk. They were kind enough to offer me a guide to get across the George Washington Bridge. That was an offer I could not say no to. It easily saved me half a day’s navigation through New York.

Now let me talk about New York. It is a place of great divide. 10km north I was standing amongst 15 Aston martins. Right next to me was the Ferrari and masseratti dealership. And at the dunkin donouts rested two Ferraris 599’s.

10km south I was in the Bronx. You saw bars on every window, and people simply disregarding traffic laws in their cars. That was if they were in a car. I saw one guy ripping down the wrong side of the road on an ATV. It was like something out of a bad rap music video.

Another 30minutes down the road I was at the bridge overlooking all of New York. I was blown away by the extremes of this urban jungle.

I could not dwell on that for to long though because I did not want to finish my day in New York. So I had to find someone who knew how to get to philli. Thinking I was smart I stopped into the nearest bike shop, which was a treat for my eyes. Every bike in this shop was over 5 grand. And they were good brands like giant, trek, cannondale, and a few treks. I was also very tempted by the great selection of team kits that were up for sale. Staying strong I stayed on track and got one lady to look up direction for where I wanted to go. She gave me a 127 direction map to philli on a scrap piece of paper from google maps. That simply was not happening so I pushed on with a few key routes in my head.

So lets get this straight. I am in one of the largest cities in the U.S. I had no map. I had no idea where I was. All I knew is I wanted to go south.

The first turn I made was down a steep hill. I asked a lady at a stoplight if I was going the right way. She said no. I was not turning back and climbing back up that hill, so I kept going down said hill. I then ran into route 105 souths. That was one of my key markers so I took it. I kept going and going for about an hour then stopped to ask an older man if I was going the right way. He said no. He said I was going north. At that point I pushed on the same direction because the sign said I was going south.

Luckily by some luck I got onto route 1 and 9. I know that this road will take me where I wanted to go but I still needed a map. Wouldn’t you know it all 10 gas stations I asked had nothing.

So it was 3pm I had not had lunch and was still navigating with my useless road atlas. I saw the road for the skyway. That would take me over the river, which I needed to do. It did not have a no biking sign so I was set. Well I was not set because it was the scariest thing I have ever done. This bridge was longer then any bridge in b.c. and had no shoulder. I was white knuckling it the entire time until I got to get on the exit.

At that point I breathed a sigh of relief for a second. The next step was to talk to a local traffic cop stationed at the stadium the nj devils play at. She was very funny. Cracking jokes about the trip, and telling the other gentleman that was hanging around to “shut the hell up”.

By some luck I got back onto the 1 and 9. Again no shoulder and again it had three lanes. Again I was white knuckling the ride. Thankfully once I passed the airport there was a selection of seedy motels. I did not want to push my luck with even further today so I took the first one.

When I pulled into the ritz I was literally shaking. Im not sure if it was the hungry. The stress, or the massive amount of water I lost thought sweat. I was ready to stop. I would love to plan my route for tomorrow a little better but the ritz does not have wifi access or maps of New Jersey.

I don’t know what tomorrow holds but by the looks of the road I have to tackle first thing tomorrow it is not good.
Trip Distance: 161km
Ride Time: 8:14hr
Avg. Speed: 19.62km/h
Total Distance: 9422km
Total Ride Time: 439hr
Destination: Elizabeth, New Jersey

I am not fist Pumpin right now at all. If you watch Jersey Shore youknow what that means.