Everyone has been putting up all these great posts! I really wanted to let everyone know how the trip is going so far but time seems to be escaping me!We made it through the first day! Spirits were high this morning as we woke up at 5:45am to get ready to embark on our first 65 miles of the ride!! We got to Central park at 7 and had some awesome words of encouragement from past riders and pumped ourselves up to get started!Riding through New York City sure was a rush! There were cars, potholes, buses, taxis, and glass pieces everywhere (huge hazard to biker's tires!). We couldn't even get out of the city without two flat tires. Jordan is definitely in the lead for most flats.It took FAR too long to get out of the stop and go of the city, but riding out over the George Washington Bridge was beautiful (and scary, I don't do bridges well). I think we actually went over about 7 bridges today. I suppose I'll get used to it!I started fading fast, it seemed like a lot of us did. We had 4 flats, a chain fall off, some spills on the pavement, and some getting lost. Things just didn't seem to be going very smoothly for the first ride of the summer! Part of why we were so tired may have been that our last training ride was 3 weeks ago and many of us were out of practice. Hard to find to time to ride between finals and getting ready for leaving for the summer!But we FINALLY made it to Hillsborough, New Jersey! The wonderful Thakkar family has taken us in, fed us well, and given us so much support and encouragement. They have been a great first impression of the summer- the rest of our stayovers have a lot to live up to!For now I fear I need to get some rest for the 83 mile journey through hills and 93 degree heat!! I promise to write something more interesting when i have time!