At long last, we’re happy to announce that the 2024 Bike America Team is fully assembled and well on their way to beginning a truly amazing adventure from New York to San Francisco. In our first somewhat-official day of the 2024 ride, we have all safely arrived at our first stayover in New York City, explored some highlights of the area, and chowed down on some stellar eats.

Ride overview

Mileage: 725 (by plane).

Elevation: a cruising altitude of approximately 35,000 feet.

Points of Interest: Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Times Square, the Washington Square Arch, and discovering how New York traffic works!

Presenting our 2024 addition to the daily Ride Overview, the Quote of the Day:

Quote of the day

Day -1 started bright and early for the I4K gang with a call time of 4:30 a.m. at Midway Airport in Chicago. Arriving fairly on time (with some stragglers caught red-handed on our freshly active TikTok account — be sure to give us a follow!), we’re glad to report that we made it through airport security with few issues (pesky multitools can make for a pain and a couple of stripped down backpacks). While 13 members of the team took the 6:40 a.m. flight, 3 others flew in from alternative spots across the country. Dylan and Michael drove through the day Friday and Saturday morning to bring the trusty I4K van — this year named “SAV” for “Super Awesome Van” :D — containing everyone’s bikes, sleeping gear, and other necessary snacks and equipment for the ride.

After landing at LaGuardia airport, the team bussed to our first stayover, Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church in North Harlem. Unpacking the 18 bicycles in the van proved to be a piece of cake with the full power of the completely assembled team. 

After getting everyone’s transportation for the summer set up and sorted, the team was turned loose on the town for the afternoon, and we used our time well! With a shocking amount of energy considering the early start, we split into small groups to explore the ins and outs of NYC.

Claudia, Olivia, and Kev chose to stop by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to view the largest art museum in the country. The group saw many cool sights including a dress recently worn by Anya Taylor Joy, which Olivia would like to note “made her entire day.”

Tommy and Kavin explored the city and found quite possibly all of the coolest eats NYC has to offer. These included mind-blowing bagel sandwiches and “coffee-sodas,” which they enjoyed alongside a visit to the National History Museum.

Neal, Logan, Jack, and Dylan took the time to go on a nice ride through the city, venturing through all of the different sights of NYC for about 22.6 miles — although Logan swears it was more.

Riddhima, Joey, Anthony, Maaike, Emma, Izzy, Lucas, and Olaf went for a ride around Central Park and stopped by the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well to get some pictures by the building’s historic steps. The group was greeted by two “I-L-Ls” while riding through the park, which brings the team’s total up to three after hearing another on the plane this morning.

Michael spent his day in a beautiful fashion as he visited both the Lego and the Nintendo stores on Fifth Avenue. You’re never too old to have a good time.

The team reunited for dinner with the absolutely wonderful staff of Saint Mary’s, who prepared a barbecue for us to enjoy alongside cookies and drinks — a huge thanks to them for preparing options for our two vegan team members to enjoy as well. We’re so excited to be staying with the church as they celebrate 200 years together, in a beautiful building over 100 years old (another fun fact: Elizabeth Hamilton — American socialite and philanthropist, as well as Founding Father Alexander Hamilton’s wife — was a pew holder at this very church in the late 18th century). An enormous thank you to the staff of Saint Mary’s for such a wonderful meal, and the perfect start to our journey. We’ll stay with them again tomorrow night as we prepare for the official start of our trip on Monday morning.

As we wrap up this journal, we’re settling into our first official night together on this trip as a complete team. The day has held countless beautiful moments already, from reuniting with one another to meeting some of the kindest hosts we could have hoped for. Having so many amazing memories in just one day is leaving us with huge excitement for what’s to come. 

(A reminder that any unfamiliar terms can be found in our handy I4K dictionary.)