So I'm writing from Newark, DE. I can only find wireless on the outside of the very corner of this church we are staying over at tonight- Salem United Methodist Church in Newark, DE, dangerously close to the U of Delaware (the destination of one of the most historical road trips of my life, about six years ago) but I'll get to that soon.
So riding out of NYC was pretty nuts. We had great weather and left Central Park at about 8:30 Saturday morning and it seemed like it took forever to get out of the city. Riding over the GW Bridge into Jersey was really cool. We had about a 65 mile ride to our next destination and once we got across the bridge we split into groups. I didn't feel like hammering so I settled into the second group-great decision. Great group of dudes, decent pace, and a lot of good laughs... After leaving the city we rode through a lot of suburban NJ and then into Newark, which was, well... ok. We made some wrong turns but eventually found our way out of that place and only for the last 15 miles did we get on some decent countryish sort of roads. We didn't get into Hillsborough until maybe 3:30 or so due to the constant stopping and wrong turns, but when we did, it felt great. That night we stayed with the family of the one of the founders of the I4k ride. They were absolutely amazing. Had tons of food waiting for us when we got in and a huge dinner for us later on. Needless to say, I did some work.
The next day we rode into Philly- about an 86 mile ride, which I really was not super pumped about. We took a minor wrong turn at the beginning, but didn't go too far out of the way... Once we crossed the Delaware river and left the dirty jerz in the dust, the ride really got beautiful. The first town across the bridge was a quaint small town that seemed to be filled with cyclists... That swwwweeeeet Pennsylvania air was tasty. About a mile into PA we saw this huge, odd abandoned castle looking type thing, which we stopped and explored for awhile. The bike through the PA countryside was amazing. Eventually we stopped for lunch (pretty much always PB & J) in some small town across from a baseball field. We went over to check out some little league action and saw a game clinching inside the park grand slam... We went nuts for that 11 year old, probably the best day of his life... We spent about the last 20 miles on the Skuykill (spelling?) trail which leads right into downtown philly. Even with the long ride the day before, I managed to be feeling super strong and our group was rolling pretty good on the last stretch. Then, about 5 miles from our destination, suddeness happened and I bit the dust big time, nailing this huge hole and going over the handlebars... I have no idea how, but somehow I managed to will myself into a small patch of grass and escape with just a sore knee and a bent brake hood, which was an easy fix- I felt pretty lucky. Our group rolled in around 3:30, the first group for the second day in a row, even though we're labeled as the second group.... As they stay, slow and steady and also hilarious, always wins the race.
Last night we stayed in Chabad (Jewish) house at UPenn and dinner was on our own- Philly cheesesteak, cheese fries, and a Yuengling, even got to watch some of the hockey game (man I still cant believe the Sabres missed the playoffs)- what more could a Pennsylvania boy want...
Today we had a short 40 mile ride into Newark, which was awesome after the day before. We pretty much just saw a lot of the not so pretty parts of PA (who knew the even existed). I got a flat tire and so did another kid in our group and so did Saebin- this Korean kid from Vancouver who can change a faster than anyone you've ever met. We got to the church around 11 and had the whole day to chill out. Naturally, I got in a good 7 miles on my feet, without wheels. It was nice to finally get a run in, gotta start doin that more but im just so dead after these long days... I also got a new saddle today. The one I had was tearin my shorts apart and tearin me a new one... hopefully this new one works out ok.
Tomorrow we have a 80 mile ride into Baltimore, followed by another 80 mile day into D.C... man I hope my legs feel good.
Outside of the ridin- the hangin out is great. Amazing group of people- a good "rowdy bunch" as our fearless leader Brad likes to call us. After just a couple of days, we're already makin fun of eachother quite a bit and throwin around a good amount of dirty jokes... Most people generally laugh at my jokes, which I think is a good sign.... I can't believe this is all I have to do this summer. This blog is the closest thing to work I'm gonna do for like the next 60 days. On that note, I've been staring at this screen far too long...
P.S. I'm not proofreading or spell checking any of this- so don't judge
I suppose I'll look at some Bills fan pages real quick... PEACE