Monday, May 25th, 2015

Start/Stop Location: NYC/Beacon, NY
Mileage: 70 miles
Weather: Beautiful

Today was extraordinary. And I am quite fatigued so I do so apologize for the potential short or ramble-y.

We started off very early so that we could make it to Manhattan (we were staying in Brooklyn) to pick up our bikes so that we could start out our ride….
And this is where I stopped my blog last night because I totally fell asleep…so let’s pick up from there!

We picked up our bikes at the Damon Runyon Foundation and walked them to Battery Park. Several of us took pictures near the Bull of Wall Street which was pretty cool. At the park, we pumped up our tires and did lots of pictures (which I am sure can be found on the team Facebook page, or Instagram). Then we did a ride dedication, which is done everyday. Today was dedicated to a rider’s grandmother, who lost her fight to 4 different types of cancers. She was a math and physics teacher and really had a huge impact on this rider, and likely many others. From there, we rolled out.

I found biking in NYC rather stressful, even though there was not much traffic. There were a lot of very athletic cyclists training at the time, so they zoomed right past. Once we got into New Jersey, though, we followed the Hudson River Bike Path. It was shared between cyclists and pedestrians and at some points vehicles, but this was beautiful. We did quite a few miles,mad our first rest stop to fill up water and eat a banana before heading back into New York State. By the time we had returned we were in a beautiful part of the state that was a little busy but quite bike friendly. It was like everyone was riding a bike! It was great.

After lunch and a third snack break (oh and lots of cycling) we were about 15 miles out. This did not seem like a big deal, until several members of my group got flat tires- oops! So we worked together as a team pretty well to get everyone to know how to do this and get them changed. This set us back, but we kept rolling. When we made