Suffern, NY to Somerset, NJ
63 miles
We had another GREAT riding day. Cloudy, a bit of sunshine, temperature 80+ degrees with humidity over 90% and very foggy up until about 10:30. For the first three hours I could hardly see through my glasses. They were all fogged up and my rear view mirror fell off of my glasses early on. I saved it, but couldn't get it right back on. So there I was, I couldn't see in front of me - or behind me. Not a good thing when you're riding a bike in lots of traffic. This all got squared away when the fog lifted. The ride wasn't as pretty as yesterday because of more cars, people, houses etc. Yesterday we rode for about 23 miles through Bear Mountain State Park in New York. It was beautiful - and shy of all the things I just mentioned.
There were a few Revolutionary War history markers, but nothing terribly significant (easy for me to say, I wasn't there).
We did a ride over a bridge with several dozen flags waving. I started singing "God Bless America" and all of the folks riding with me joined in. It was a very special moment.
Every evening at 5:45 we do a "Route Rap" (picture above of us gathered in the hotel lobby for the meeting) where we go over the next days ride. We don't have maps, but do have a daily route log. It spells out every turn, stop sign, RR Crossing, big climbs, Dairy Queens, places with restrooms and more. We all have odometers which tract our speed and the distance ridden by a tenth of a mile. So we are continually reading the route sheet, looking at our odometers and trying not to run into anything.
The average number of turns for both the cross country ride and this ride so far has been between 35 and 40. Today we set an all time record with 68 turns. Several of the riders have Garmins for odometers...so we count heavily on them to keep us on route. We've also broken out into riding groups. There are the "Big Dogs" - four guys that ride fast together (19-21 mph); next are the "Mid Dogs" - about 10 of us that ride about 15-16 mph and we stick pretty close together. Then we have the "Small Dogs"...about 11 folks that are a tad slower. Six of the latter group leave the motel a half hour ahead of the rest of us. Bill, from Seattle is our lead "Mid Dog". He's got a Garmin, keeps a great pace and keeps us on course. The Big Dogs ride faster, but seem to get lost almost every day...but they still beat us to the motel.
Above is a picture is of a gentleman from American Standard presenting me with a check for $1000 for the Scholarship Fund that I'm doing this ride for. These nice folks picked me up in a limo, took me to their headquarters and brought me back to the motel. I felt a little like a rock star. I REALLY appreciate their generosity. Many, many thanks to them!
Somerset is know for the New Brusdwick Marconi Station. It was an early radio transmitter facility built in 1913 by the American Marconi Wireless Corp. After the early failure of the transatlantic telegraph cables, the facility was confiscated by the US Navy in April of 1917 to provide transatlantic communications for WWI. It was the principal communications link between the US and Europe. Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points Speech" was from this site. After the war the facility was transferred to RCA.
Tomorrow we're off to Hammonton, NJ (79 miles)
63 miles
We had another GREAT riding day. Cloudy, a bit of sunshine, temperature 80+ degrees with humidity over 90% and very foggy up until about 10:30. For the first three hours I could hardly see through my glasses. They were all fogged up and my rear view mirror fell off of my glasses early on. I saved it, but couldn't get it right back on. So there I was, I couldn't see in front of me - or behind me. Not a good thing when you're riding a bike in lots of traffic. This all got squared away when the fog lifted. The ride wasn't as pretty as yesterday because of more cars, people, houses etc. Yesterday we rode for about 23 miles through Bear Mountain State Park in New York. It was beautiful - and shy of all the things I just mentioned.
There were a few Revolutionary War history markers, but nothing terribly significant (easy for me to say, I wasn't there).
We did a ride over a bridge with several dozen flags waving. I started singing "God Bless America" and all of the folks riding with me joined in. It was a very special moment.
Every evening at 5:45 we do a "Route Rap" (picture above of us gathered in the hotel lobby for the meeting) where we go over the next days ride. We don't have maps, but do have a daily route log. It spells out every turn, stop sign, RR Crossing, big climbs, Dairy Queens, places with restrooms and more. We all have odometers which tract our speed and the distance ridden by a tenth of a mile. So we are continually reading the route sheet, looking at our odometers and trying not to run into anything.
The average number of turns for both the cross country ride and this ride so far has been between 35 and 40. Today we set an all time record with 68 turns. Several of the riders have Garmins for odometers...so we count heavily on them to keep us on route. We've also broken out into riding groups. There are the "Big Dogs" - four guys that ride fast together (19-21 mph); next are the "Mid Dogs" - about 10 of us that ride about 15-16 mph and we stick pretty close together. Then we have the "Small Dogs"...about 11 folks that are a tad slower. Six of the latter group leave the motel a half hour ahead of the rest of us. Bill, from Seattle is our lead "Mid Dog". He's got a Garmin, keeps a great pace and keeps us on course. The Big Dogs ride faster, but seem to get lost almost every day...but they still beat us to the motel.
Above is a picture is of a gentleman from American Standard presenting me with a check for $1000 for the Scholarship Fund that I'm doing this ride for. These nice folks picked me up in a limo, took me to their headquarters and brought me back to the motel. I felt a little like a rock star. I REALLY appreciate their generosity. Many, many thanks to them!
Somerset is know for the New Brusdwick Marconi Station. It was an early radio transmitter facility built in 1913 by the American Marconi Wireless Corp. After the early failure of the transatlantic telegraph cables, the facility was confiscated by the US Navy in April of 1917 to provide transatlantic communications for WWI. It was the principal communications link between the US and Europe. Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points Speech" was from this site. After the war the facility was transferred to RCA.
Tomorrow we're off to Hammonton, NJ (79 miles)
Between the limo, TV in Illinois and giving lectures you are quite the star !!!
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