Day 1-4: From The Big Apple to Big Mountains

To any of the 5 people out there reading this blog, I apologize for not having updated it until now. It has been relatively difficult to find a computer and my laptop was just too much extra weight to carry on the bike. With the understanding that I will probably only be able to update from libraries and host houses (the latter in this case) I would anticipate that my posts will be for up to a week at a time and as such I will try to spare some of the smaller, insignificant details. Only receiving one update a week should be a good thing for you all but if not, follow me on Twitter. My username is clementefan87 and I can update throughout most days on there.

On to the good stuff. We started out in NYC. It proved to be a difficult task getting Carson's bike as well as mine to the city as I couldn't find anyone willing to call in sick from work to take me 8 hours out and 8 hours back...people.

So I rented a car and purchased a bike rack on Craigslist that I could throw out when I got to the city. Unfortunately it turned out to be a Saris Bones 2 rack, which is the kind I have always wanted, but I left it for someone else at LaGuardia Airport anyway. After getting lost a million and a half times, Travis, Jared, and I made it to the Alamo Car Rental in Manhattan and dropped off the car. Because Carson's flight didn't get in until 4:30pm that day we had to walk not only our own bikes fully loaded, but his unloaded bike as well, fairly difficult and quite a spectacle for all the New Yorkers who we probably then proceeded to bump with our panniers since there is no such thing as personal space in Manhattan.

We finally reached the Westin at Times Square much to our relief. Only problem was that we weren't staying there. See Carson's mother works for the hotel ownership group that controls Sheraton and Westin and others and we made the mixup. Turns out we were at the Manhattan in Times Square, not much difference in name, but at least a dozen blocks through NYC traffic in practice.

We waited outside the hotel until Carson finally arrived but at that point we were too tired to do much so we headed down to the closest Ray's on 7th St. for some New York pizza. Probably should have gone to another pizza place because it wasn't very good by New York standards. By 10 o'clock we were in bed and excited but nervous for the next day. Thanks goes out to Emily, Carson's mother, for the incredible hotel rooms. They provided the perfect nights sleep for our journey, but may have spoiled us a bit as you will read about in Day 2.

Day 1...

So on we go. Day 1 began early as we were out the door and on our bikes by 7am (early for me at least). We snapped our last pictures of Times Square and headed north up toward Central Park. When we made it up there I decided the opportunity to ride through the park was too much to pass up so we rode along the road through it for a bit before turning out to the west border of it and following that along until the northern limit of the park. It was a nice ride, getting to see such contrast. To our left the most obvious example of capitalism and to the right a beautiful God created oasis for New Yorkers to escape from their crazy (albeit incredibly fun) lives. I don't think I'll ever forget that stretch for some reason.

As we rode across the George Washington Bridge we realized it was really happening but I was still in doubt to some degree. Quite a scary thought to be leaving this city, heading out into the unknown.

New Jersey was much like NYC, only way crappier. If you're from NJ don't get too offended, the eastern part of your state is just not a place any human being should live and yet so many do, for reasons beyond me. Maybe I think it's crappy because it is so overcrowded, although so is Manhattan and it's one of my favorite places. Most of the state is actually gorgeous, much like the Eastern part of PA, but the first day in Jersey was a bear going through run down town to run down town. Eventually we hit a really nice community, but because we were looking to press for miles we pushed for Dover which is the Warrensville Heights of NJ in my opinion (Clevelanders understand this reference). We tried a church to see if we could stay the night but they told us that they couldn't allow us inside and that camping outside was too dangerous in a town like that, but they did recommend a park.

When we arrived at the park we found a spot that seemed to maybe be okay and out of sight from others, but then we went further back by some railroad tracks and a river. The spot was pretty moist so we were eaten alive by mosquitoes while putting up our tents. The next morning we were low on water (which seemed to always cost money in NY and NJ) so we used Carson's backpacking pump to fill our water from the river...pretty sketch and we could have died or grown extra legs (would help up the mountains) but we made due.

Day 2...

We broke camp early and headed out of Dover. We were tired and sore but it didn't take long before we stumbled upon Heaven, otherwise known as IHOP where we loaded up on as many calories as possible. I got the French Toast Combo with Cinna Stacks, bacon, eggs, potatoes, and extra whipped cream, a whopping 1,400+ calories for those of you keeping track.

Those were burned off pretty quickly after carrying a heavy loaded bike with gear up a few hills and we resorted to a lunch on the side of a road on top of one of those very hills. Quick lesson, bicycle touring requires sooo many calories! We are learning to eat as much as we can for as cheap as we can and I've even started eyeing other people's scraps when they are done eating, although I haven't resorted to it just yet. I would approximate that through these mountains we burn at least 4,000 calories a day, and that's pretty conservative.

Another big challenge we are learning is that water is all too scarce to come by so far. I long for the day when we can walk into a fast food place and just top off our water at the soda machine like I'm used to at most places. Out east the water cost money, but in PA the problem is that we can't find a fast food place, but all this to say we drink probably 2-3 gallons each per day and it truly is a precious resource to us at this point.

We ended Day 2 in Brodheadsville, PA after a day that included crossing the Delaware River, bathing in the Delaware River, riding through the Delaware Water Gap (probably my favorite so far), and then climbing some massive mountains. We were tired so we settled at a campground that we had to ride along gravel roads to get to up big hills. The campground we stayed at was asking $42 for two people to camp in a tent. No thanks! We negotiated down to $42 for all 4 of us which was $57 after tax. We didn't have to stealth camp like the night before and we got a shower but I'm not convinced it was worth the money.

Day 3...

Heading out of Brodheadsville was a good moment as we tore out of that terrible campground as fast as we could. We climbed some more big hills before finding Coffee Corner, a small diner with great breakfast prices so we loaded up on protein and carbs (the two things I look for in all foods now that I'm on the road) before heading out for more giant hills. Before leaving the diner we decided to call churches in the destination we were shooting for which was Conyngham.

Along the way we struggled. First I had something kick up and hit my left heel. It hurt really bad and as I started screaming out I realized it was more than just a little bump. I looked down and saw my sandal running red almost immediately and the pools of blood on the road were enough to get me to stop pedaling. I sat on the grass beside the road and waited for Travis who helped me clean it out with hand sanitizer. We then bandaged it and wrapped my ankle with electric tape that I had handy. While doing this, a woman with a buzzed head came roaring up in an SUV. She asked if I was okay and if I needed anything. I told her I was fine but thanked her for asking. She then proceeded to pull into the next driveway and wait to make sure I could handle it and went back past to check on us one more time, but again I thanked her and said I was alright. A half hour more of riding went by and to my surprise the lady came riding toward me once again with a water bottle out of her window. I quickly pulled over and grabbed the chilled bottle of water and thanked her, for she was Mother Teresa at that moment. This kind of helpfulness and kindness is quickly becoming a theme for Pennsylvania, a state which I am growing to love despite the Steelers being in this state.

After pushing up hills all day, myself having a taped ankle and Travis having tire difficulties that required him to pump up the tire, ride a bit, and then do it all over again, we descended down a 14% grade hill for roughly 3 miles which amounts to 45 miles per hour on a loaded bicycle, scary but takes you back to childhood. In that valley was Conynham.

Conynham is perhaps the greatest town there is, located in the valley of the mountains in PA, it is lush and green and wonderful. Beautiful houses and as we learned, even more beautiful people. The Lutheran Church in town agreed to letting us stay there and when we arrived in late after having endured the worst day we could imagine, we saw a soft patch of grass overlooking farmland that reached down into the valley with glorious mountains all around. We thought camping there would be incredible but when Reverend "Chip" arrived he greeted us with a warm smile and handshake and asked what he could do for us. He said we were more than welcome to camp outside on the grass or we could sleep inside the church but that they didn't have a shower unfortunately. He said that if we wanted to go really soft he would get us a hotel as well but that was too much for us to accept. When he asked us if we had dinner yet he offered to drop us off at a nice Italian restaurant in town and had them hold the bill for us, insisting we eat whatever we wanted. We gladly went along with this.

Day 4...

After sleeping in a comfortable foyer, we woke up at 7am and got ready for service. Pastor Chip walked in with coffee and pastries and that warm smile again. This man of God embodies holiness with every fiber of his being and we were overwhelmed with his hospitality. During the service he introduced us to the congregation as though they were honored to have us, rather than 4 young adults who waited until the last minute to beg a church to bail them out. He also prayed for us extensively and treated us as guests at the brunch they invited us to. During brunch we met Kent who is a writer and cyclist, a man after my own heart essentially. Kent rides his bicycle to church and commutes to work on it...nevermind that he lives in some intense hills. Kent offered to take us by his house to try to help repair Travis' tire and he went over some maps with us to help us on to our next location of Danville from which I am now writing.

To get here was relatively simple after a few tough climbs. A good part of our day was spent with gradual climbs followed by sweeping downhills. It was as though the valley would never end. Then we finished off the day with an hour along a river on relatively flat ground, getting in to our host by 3:30pm.

Our host tonight is Jack, a fellow cyclist and great guy. He and his family have gone out of the way for us, his daughter J.J. and son Jacob are letting us have their beds tonight and his wife opened up the refrigerator and told us to eat everything so she wouldn't have to deal with it. We pigged out on lasagna, ham and cheese sandwiches, apple pie, baked beans, ice tea, salad, and veggie squares with cream cheese that I found myself drawn to for some reason (I'm oddly liking healthy food and water so far). Jack took Travis to Wal-Mart to find a replacement tire to get him through to the next town and then went over some routes with us while asking us to add him on Facebook. Jack is going to do the Southern Tier next summer and his son Jacob seems like quite the cyclist from what we can tell so far. It will be hard to leave these great people tomorrow morning but we must push on to Bellefonte by supper time tomorrow...or midnight, whatever comes first.

Until next time,

Matt

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Sacrifices: Meet My Cause, Lighthouse, Inc.

Today is to consist of more packing, a few things to do with the bike, and preparing for life away from the lifestyle I've grown accustomed to. I pick up my rental car at 6pm tonight and must drop it off by 6pm tomorrow night. After that there is but one time that I must adhere to and that is checkout time at the Westin. From that point on I will enter in to a new lifestyle in which the clock means very little to me. This is going to be a culture shock for an Americanized guy like myself. No more rushing, no more places I have to be. Of course in our case there are some deadlines such as making it within a reasonable drive of Bedford by June 3rd so I can make it to my sister's graduation and then of course Carson and Travis have a deadline to adhere to with school for next year, but by and large we have all day to do whatever we want with it. Sure we know that 60 miles a day is pretty much what we'll have to hold strict to if we want to make the West Coast but even that is not enforced on us by any outside structure. We can wake up with the sun or sleep in. Ride until we're tired or stop at 2pm and enjoy our surroundings. I'm a little nervous about the strangeness of this whole thing.

As I prepare to ride I cannot help but think of all the things I'm giving up in order to do so. After being away from my family for the past 3 months and more often than not for the last 4 years, it would be tempting to stay home for some time and enjoy the ride.

I also won't see my girlfriend of over a year for the duration of the trip and will find my opportunities to communicate with her to be limited. With no access to a laptop this summer, we cannot make use of Skype as we did last summer to feel a bit closer to each other.

And finally for the first time in years I will not be able to work for Lighthouse, Inc., but then again, maybe I can. There are few cycling tourists out there who ride without a cause attached to their ride and for good reason. While you're riding a tank of a bike with huge bags attached to it, people are going to notice you and it can be a great way to pass attention on to another organization. After quite a great deal of thought I have decided to promote my cause as well. Now before you start thinking that this blog will be all about trying to get you to empty out your wallets to donate to a cause I think is worthwhile, understand that this is not going to be the case. This blog will from this point forward be entirely focused on the trip itself and the thoughts and findings of the riders. I will not attempt to bait and switch in any way.

From the beginning of my trip planning I decided that this trip is above all, a great experience for me. It would seem foolish for me to think that you would find reason to donate money to my cause just because I'm getting to do this great trip. Imagine a guy saying, "please donate to charity X because I'm taking a 2 week vacation in Hawaii." Not a good sell, and to be honest I view my ride as being far greater than a 2 week vacation to Hawaii, although I have no grounds for comparison (if you want to send me to Hawaii for 2 weeks after this trip, get in contact with me). This trip is going to be fun and enjoyable for me and that's the bottom line. All that being said, humor me for just this one post as I explain what Lighthouse, Inc. means to me and why they are worthy of your donation and more than worthy of my effort to generate awareness of the work they are doing in the Central community of Cleveland.

Lighthouse, Inc. was founded 30 years ago by a pastor who had a passion for the underprivileged youth of Cleveland. I will not go into great detail in this post for brevity's sake, but please check them out at www.urbanlighthouse.org for more information. Over the past 3 summers I have had the opportunity to work with this grassroots organization that has a genuine passion for the poor of the city of Cleveland. They have made it their mission to be Christ to this community and do so in many ways, whether it's a hot meal in a church, a short worship service and lunch for kids on Heaventrain (a mobile church sanctuary on a renovated bus that takes the church to the people and communicates the gospel message), tutoring in the Cleveland public schools, or through a basketball team that is coached to be godly young men in a dark world first and outstanding athletes second. Lighthouse, Inc. does all of this with a very lean operation as the paid staff is only a handful of individuals. In 30 years Lighthouse has always been responsible with the funds entrusted to them and for this reason you can be confident in your investment into the lives of young people who just need a jump start on life.

As I ride across this nation all summer long I will see some awe-inspiring things along the way, but if you volunteer for just one Saturday morning or afternoon on Heaventrain you will understand why this trip is a bit on the side of being bittersweet for me. My posts will have a donation box following them. Do not feel any pressure to donate, but I would urge you if you get the chance to contact Lighthouse and find a time you can come see what God is doing in the city of Cleveland through this organization.

Closing In On Departure...2 Day Until New York City

This will more than likely be my last blog post from home. I'm sure anybody who has been keeping up with this blog will be thrilled at this as a blog about a bicycle trip is undoubtedly going to be more interesting when it's actually being written about a trip rather than the preparation. My opportunities to blog on the road may end up being limited as I will have to either find a library to sit down at or borrow Carson's netbook and find a place with wifi. In order to give an accurate account of our journey I will be writing out entries by hand in my tent at night and throughout the day so that when I do have an opportunity to get online I can write several entries at a time. I look forward to taking you all along with me this week and in the months ahead.

Everything is finalized at this point. I'm in the difficult process of packing my four panniers and handlebar bag, trying to figure out how to pack everything for easy access while keeping weight in mind in order to balance it out appropriately. It is kind of amazing to me that I'll be living out of these bags for the next two months but in time I hope it will be routine and I will have a good system figured out. For now it will have to be trial and error time.

I went in to the barber today to have my head shaved and it is easily the shortest it has been since I was a baby. I think it's a weird experience to feel my spongy scalp so well but I also feel so free from the tyranny of what was once a head full of hair in need of liberation. I will have to adjust to my new found baldness by remembering to apply sunscreen and keep it covered with a bandana and helmet.

After getting packed the only thing left to do is to purchase a bike rack off Craigslist that I can throw away after dropping off my rental car on E.31st Street. The plan is to leave on Wednesday morning around 4am EST. That should put me in Manhattan around 12pm EST, leaving me with six hours of wiggle room before I have to have the car dropped off. The plan is to meet up with Jared somewhere outside of the city and then drive in together where we'll meet Carson and Travis at the rental car place before loading up the bicycles and riding them back to the Westin at Times Square where we'll be fortunate enough to stay for free courtesy of Carson's mother who graciously got us a comped room.

Thursday morning, time to wake up and ride. We'll try to make an early morning of it in an attempt to beat the busyness of the city and ride out before sunrise across the George Washington Bridge. Our goal for the first day is probably not the most well advised as we'll make it our sole purpose to put as many miles between ourselves and the city as possible by dusk so we can have a chance of camping out without fear of shady individuals.

I'm excited, time to go. Come with me along for the ride.

T-Minus 23 Days

I began writing a post a few weeks ago, but never posted it because I couldn't find enough time to finish it. That about sums up how things have been going as I come down the final stretch of the year. I'm desperately trying to make sure I pass all my classes so I can graduate without having to take anything later, but my gen eds have left me feeling like I dropped off of a cliff from the height of Systematic Theology to the low of World Civ, not exactly the best way to finish out my collegiate career as I find the classes to lack enough to keep my attention.

I've been working just about every day for the past two months and have probably gone on three or less bike rides in that time. The only saving grace is that I work at a huge restaurant where I'm walking for 3-5 hours a night which is enough workout to keep building up my leg muscles. Unfortunately it has also brought on a terrible eating habit as I go through a drive thru every night for a quick dinner after work so I can do a little homework and fall right to sleep most nights.

All this to say, I'm ready. Let's go! I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike. No more sitting around dreaming, it's time to go make a lasting memory.

And so it shall eventually be. Our first day of riding will be in just 23 days, barely 3 weeks. It has been over 11 years since I first googled "coast to coast bicycle trip" and found a passion for this crazy endeavor as soon as I first realized that people could (and actually do) this kind of thing. The reactions I get are across the board. Most think it's cool, others think it's ridiculous. Some think it is both, like my co-worker Donnie who told me that it didn't make any sense but then went on to talk to me about it all day and how much he wishes he could just drop his responsibilities and do it (and get his girlfriend to be okay with it). When I was 12 I wanted to do it right away to be maybe the youngest to do it, but 11 years later I no longer feel it is about that. I just want to prove to myself that I can do it, but even that element is somewhat lacking in my consciousness right now. I find that the real motivating factor for me is that I want to see this country and find myself in awe. Aside from riding along the coast of the Pacific, I have had few awe inspiring moments come as a result of the natural wonders of this world. Seeing it by bicycle should provide a means to this end with a slower pace of travel.

And now for the logistics. Jared and I will be driving to New York City a day or two early, probably May 24th. I still have to find someone gracious enough to drive me out there with two bikes but that will get figured out and if I have to I will take a bus. We decided as a group that New York was the perfect compromise. It lets us see a lot and start on the coast while still starting together. We'll depart from the city on the 26th and from there I will have until June 3rd to get as close to Bedford, OH as I can. One of my parents will come pick me up from there so I can be at my sister's graduation and grad party the next day. At that point the group will probably be close to Bedford so I will rejoin them and continue on the trip.

In other news, our thriftiest team member finally gave up on his old 1980's Nishiki 10 speed and purchased a Fuji Touring bicycle at virtually half it's retail price. We are all equipped for the road ahead and it's no longer as stressful as the final details and savings are falling in to place.

And so the wheels begin to spin...