Onward and Upward To The Finish

It's now been two weeks since we departed Jacksonville and all we have to show for it is close to 1100 miles as we sit in Farmington, Ct. tonight trying to relax after a long, hot day punctuated by a serious climb in the last two miles to get to our hotel.
We started at the Norwalk train station this morning meeting Wayne, Christina and Chris who are friends of Betsy and Alicia at the MMRF. They directed us along the beautiful coast of southern Connecticut toward New Haven where we were to pick up a rails-to-trails from the Yale Campus to the day's finish town.
Most of those reading this blog are not cyclists but I can offer this to you -- if you ever have a chance to ride on a rails-to-trails (converted railroad tracks replaced with pavement for joggers, cyclists and walkers), take advantage of it and do it. Most are scenic, flat and just beautiful. Today's was no exception going through some natural wetlands, forests and of course behind some factory buildings no longer active.
Betsy joined us down the street from her house and rode the longest she has ever gone on a bike, she said. We had lunch adjacent to the Yale Campus at Educated Burger which was good. Then we met Alicia a couple of miles down on the trail and off we went.
The pair -- Alicia and Betsy -- are truly a pair. Hard workers, always looking to get the word out about MM and quite devoted to the foundation. I can't say enough about how they have cared for the three of us since we left Jacksonville.

Our designated driver stands on the coastline of southern Connecticut between Norwalk and New Haven. She earned her "angel" wings she received from Betsy and Alicia at the beach party yesterday.

Betsy (left) and Alicia have been controlling my life for months now -- which is a good thing. They have coordinated so much on this ride that a simple thank you doesn't come close to express my appreciation for all of the things they have done for the three of us on this ride. Alicia is even going to the finish line Tuesday to greet us.

An Unbelieveable Day

From the time Carmen showed up at Bruce's house at 5:50 a.m. to the time Alicia dropped us off at the hotel we are staying at in Norwalk, the day was filled with unbelievable happenings.
Carmen is a mid 40s mom who has already been through two stem cell transplants in her fight against multiple myeloma. She lives in my old home town of Little Silver and she wanted to be part of the ride so she joined us for only about 5 miles. You can see her on my Facebook page.
From there, Bruce, Diane and myself caught the 7 a.m. Seastreak to Manhattan and while on board, a conversation started with a couple of businessmen on the way to work. Seems like one man's friend is in stage 4 of multiple myeloma and the prognosis is not good. Next to him, a gentleman named Neil was listening to the conversation, heard what we are doing, and said he was going to donate to the cause. A short time later, a donation was received in the amount of $500!! Wow. Thank you very much Neil.
Dolores and Diane met us in Manhattan to escort us through the Bronx after riding up the Hudson River on the west side of the city. Bruce joined us all of the way until 125 street before turning around and taking the train back home. That was great and I really appreciate the time we spent together riding two of the last three days.
By the time we got into Connecticut, Tom joined us and led us to the beach party Alicia and Betsy from the MMRF had planned for us. When we rode into the park, about 15 MMRF folks were there cheering, ringing cow bells and making us feel very special. Thank you to everyone who turned out.
Waiting for me was Channel 12 to do an interview, which has already aired here locally. The first question from the reporter put me into a crying, choked up mode and it took me awhile to compose myself before I could talk.
Alicia and Betsy arranged a massage at Equinox in town and that was terrific as well.
And finally, to cap off the day, the two of them took us to dinner and we didn't arrive in our hotel until well past 10 p.m.
Special thanks have to go out to:

• Alicia and Betsy from the MMRF finding us tour guides in Manhattan and planning out the entire day for us. It continues tomorrow as well
• Tom Holland,the MMRF endurance coach who guides us from the Connecticut border to the party
• Dolores and Diane who spent all morning with us guiding us around Manhattan and putting up with all of the photo "ops" we had to stop for.
• My brother Bruce who had better things to do today but opted to ride his bike with us to Manhattan and then take the train back home to Red Bank
• Alicia and Betsy again for making a big deal over the three of us, giving us all medals of distinction for our work so far. Bobbie also received a special honor -- an angel costume because she is certainly one.

A special mention should also go to the Dunkin Donuts person at the Mobil gas station just inside the Connecticut border. Today, the temperature was hovering about 97 all afternoon and Diane and I were out of water. So, Diane went inside to ask for some ice and was promptly told it would be $1. She told the guy what she was doing and he still refused. Ice is expensive these days I guess.
A young lady in line behind Diane saw what was going on, made her purchase and then asked for a cup of ice, which she received and promptly gave it to Diane.
I went inside a short time later and asked for a cup of ice. The same guy looked me straight in the eye, walked aside and brought me the ice. I told him I would return any ice I didn't use because I knew how important it was to him to keep a close watch on that inventory.

Local television Channel 12 in Norwalk interviewed me immediately after reaching our destination. Hope to get a copy of the finished show to place on the blog.

Diane and Carmen join me at the start of the day around 6 a.m. before riding to the ferry in Atlantic Highlands. Carmen is going to beat the disease and we are counting on her doing that. What a great outlook she has.

Kickin Back

Not much to report today except we spent a couple of hours with Capt. Bruce and First Mate Jill on the Hannah Lee cruising on the Navisink River which separates Red Bank, Fair Haven and Rumson from Middletown. Directly across from the Fair Haven Yacht Club where the boat is docked sits Jon Bon Jovi's mansion. His neighbors include Maury Povich, Queen Latifa and Derek Jeter. This is not your low rent district.
Red Bank is an old town, built in the 1800s and is a suburb community for those who work in Manhattan. Commuters can reach the city by car, bus, train or boat, which we are taking Friday to the base of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Bruce and I grew up from 1955-1967 in Little Silver, the next town over and the present home of Carmen, a multiple myeloma survivor who has had two stem cell transplants and she is only in her mid 40s. She is joining us on the bike ride from Bruce's house to the first bridge, about 3 miles. I can't wait to meet her.
Red Bank was also the home of Count Basie, a world renowed musician from the 40s and 50s. The old movie theater here in town is now a playhouse named after him and tonight, Crosby Stills and Nash is playing there. We can walk to the venue if we were going.
The Count Basie hosts terrific shows during the year, especially in the summer when it is delightful to be in this area. Bruce loves the four seasons (weather, not Franki Valli) and that's why it is almost impossible for him to leave the area except during the grey months of winter.
And finally, a visit to Red Bank can not be complete without an Elsie's sub. In Miami, there was a place called Captain Jimmys on 8th street which we stopped at before going to a game in the Orange Bowl. That was a good sub. But it doesn't compare to Elsies. Last month, Bruce, who has free flying priviledges on United/Continental this year, flew down for a couple of days and surprised us with a couple of Elsie subs. Now that was a treat.

Who Says You Can't Go Home?

I spent 12 years growing up in a town called Little Silver and went to high school in Red Bank, the town we are in at my brother's house. He never left the area except for 4 years in the Air Force and a miserable time living in Miami for a year back in the early 70s.
Today, Bruce met us in Lakehurst and led us back 31 miles to his house where we are going to lay low until Friday morning.
The ride from Ocean City (we spent the night in Atlantic City but drove south to start the day) took us through a couple of state parks and forests and it was great not to have to fight 18-wheelers and tour busses for space on the road. In fact it was so quiet on the road today that I actually was able to listen to music while riding for close to an hour.
We also encountered our first "rollers" of the trip. A roller is a short climb followed by a descent quickly followed up another ascent. Fortunately the dozen or so we rode were not large or long and we breezed through easily.
About an hour from meeting Bruce, we passed through the bustling town of Chatsworth, population 2 families. And both were involved with the restaurant, err., hot dog cart which was parked on the sidewalk of the main through street we were on. So, we treated ourselves to a scrumptous, undercooked hot dog and a cold can of Coke. I'll let you know when the taste disappears for good.
The hot dog, not the soda.
Wound up with 90 miles more today and my total on the odometer is just 2 dozen or so less than the 1,000 miles I had expected to be at already.

The "restaurant" in Chatsworth. At least the soda was cold.

Thursday is not a travel day unless you want to count the miles we will be sailing with Bruce on the river. Then we get another Massage Envy massage (second of three we are receiving) before heading out to Manhattan early Friday.

4 States in One Day

It's a good thing the portions of Maryland and Delaware we passed through were small otherwise we wouldn't have been able to make it into New Jersey today after departing Virginia around 7:30 this morning. That's four states in one day and another 85 miles behind us.
We were pressed for time all day today because there was a strong headwind from the north at more than 18 mph which slowed our pace to under 14 all day. At first, we were shooting for the 12:45 ferry from Delaware to Cape May, NJ but that quickly was jettisoned because of the strong wind.
Another hour later and I was having second thoughts about making the 2:45 ferry because we were not going anywhere fast today.
Finally, with 9 miles to go and 66 minutes to get to the boat, Diane loaded her bike in the car and I set off on my own trying to make the departure.
All day, I have a real-time GPS going on my phone so those who are following on line can see the progress I am making. It also provides me a road map of where I am and gives me an idea of how much farther it is to my next landmark. However, my battery died at the wrong time and I had no clue as to my location and if I was going to make departure.
After much effort, I pulled into the parking lot of the ferry about 10 minutes before they loaded.
When we got to the other side, I became a little watery in the eyes as our friend from Miami -- Martina -- and her family were waiting on the Jersey side of the ferry with a sign that read, Go Marty Florida to Maine. I was humbled by that and really appreciated the gesture.
Instead of riding for another 2 hours, we sat and had a drink with her at the dock. Did I say I was touched by their gesture?
Anyway, because of the time spent sitting, Diane and I only rode another 45 minutes and while it didn't get us to OceanCity, we figured we had a full day.
Tomorrow, my brother is meeting us in Lakehurst, not too far from where the Hindenburg Blimp exploded during a storm some 60 years ago or more. My brother used to work at that airfield.

 Martina with her sign -- so appreciated and so thoughtful.







And after more than 850 miles and 10 days on the road, we are in New Jersey.

Our Weather Luck Continues

We beat a major rain storm into Chincoteague Island this afternoon completing a 75 actual riding miles day which brought our total since Father's Day to more than 800. I say actual because we cheated leaving Virginia Beach this morning, stacking the bikes into the van and driving to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel on which we were not allowed to ride anyways. So, if you are keeping score at home, add another 36 miles to the day's total.
Being an early bird, I was able to capture the sunrise on Virginia Beach before 6 a.m. and then here on the island, I captured sunset around 8:30. In between we saw pods of dolphins swimming close to shore, wild horses in the marsh lands here on the island and Diane saw a couple of Baltimore Orioles (and here I thought they were playing in Yankee Stadium tonight).
As for the ride, Bobbie said Roy is watching over us as again the prevailing wind was at our back and we cruised along for a couple of hours at 18 plus mph. When you are eating up miles at a good clip, it makes the day a lot shorter and easier.
Most of the ride was on Hwy. 13 which is a divided, 4-lane highway and for a majority of the 65 miles we were on it, the shoulder was extremely wide so Bobbie was able to hop-scotch with us all morning, going up about 5-7 miles and waiting for us and then repeating it again and again.
She stopped in one place adjacent to a SunTrust bank and Diane was happy because she had to take care of some banking business and her bank is, drum roll please, SunTrust. We were also able to fax Alicia the turn by turn directions we will use when we get to Manhattan on Friday.
I can't believe that we will be in New Jersey tomorrow afternoon. New Jersey!! Of course that is after we knock out Virginia in the first 15 minutes of our ride, then Maryland and Delaware before we hop on our next to last ferry ride of the journey.
A friend wrote and asked how I was doing because he knows I have not gone more than 9 straight days of riding before and tomorrow is day 10. I said my legs are good, my conditioning is good, even my shoulders are not locked up if you can believe it after being hunched over the handlebars for as long as I have been since last Sunday.
But without going into much detail, my left pinky is numb and has little or no feeling in it (no clue except to think I apply too much pressure on my left hand in the wrong spot) and the place which is in constant contact with the seat needs major attention. Did I say major attention? More than that.


Sunrise on Virginia Beach a couple of minutes before we spotted the pod of dolphins. The ocean, as you can see, was really calm.



Sunset (below) over the only road in or out of the island.

And the opportunity to take a solo shot against a field of wild flowers presented itself on a rest stop in Virginia (bottom picture)

I'm Getting To Be A Road Expert

Cyclists are pretty well tuned in to the sounds of the roads, especially sounds that are picking up speed behind you while riding. Well, after close to 800 miles on this ride (75 more today from Kitty Hawk to Virginia Beach, and goodbye North Carolina) I have been able to distinguish happy drivers and those I will politely call country bumpkins.
Since Bobbie is only going 15 mph behind us most of the day, on country roads like the one we were on today, traffic has a tendency to build up behind her. So, when a car passes, you can hear the engine scream into higher rpms and as they pass the two cyclists, they fall into one of three categories:

1. The passive driver -- just accelerate and get going.
2. The happy driver -- a couple of beep beep beeps on the horn and a friendly wave or thumbs up and
3. The country bumpkin -- a loud, long horn blast followed by a get off the road or some other foul remark and every so often the middle finger salute. Not to profile this individual, but every one of the half dozen bumpkins who have shot me the bird so far has a pickup truck, diesel engine usually, and some kind of rack on the window for guns or fishing poles.

Don't you just hate it when two cyclists delay your trip by 45 seconds or less?
For a majority of the ride, we have been travelling on Rte. 17 or Rte. 17A which are four lanes so we can block one of the lanes and traffic can still go past. But there is always a loud noise coming from the other lane -- be it with loud mufflers, engine sounds or tires on pavements, making it almost impossible to communicate with walkie-talkies.
But today we hit the jackpot. After talking to a local citizen at the museum Saturday, we decided to see if we could catch a third ferry in North Carolina which would take us away from the highway on to the country roads we have been searching for.
Well we made it with 10 minutes to spare and we were treated to that country road winding through and past waterways and beautiful lakes and parks. We even passed a vineyard along with numerous cornfields (I thought I was in Iowa with Moonlight Graham).
Monday we have to transport the bikes across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel as cyclists are not allowed on the span. So the day's ride will be shortened by close to 30 miles but will still be challenging at 75 or thereabouts. I'm excited because we are only a couple of days away from my brother's house and on Thursday we get to take a break -- no riding, just resting.