Tues., 5 October 2021
The day started with two great things--no nausea and the best meal I had eaten since the trip began. Grant made me a fried egg on one piece of Manchego cheese toast, and another piece of buttered toast, and coffee. I knew I'd have a good day! Can't thank the host enough for his attention and help. (I did take a meclizine...just in case.)
I was somewhat concerned about getting the few blocks down to the greenway. It was easier than I had thought, although the concentration of delivery trucks, sometimes three (or more!) across, was intimidating. I followed the lead of some cyclists who snaked through the congestion. In no time I was welcomed by the Hudson River Greenway (HRG). It was quite abuzz with pedestrians--walkers, runners, skaters, cyclists, even the prohibited ebikes and escooters. Easily made my way to the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal to get passage to Jersey City.
I'll let the overview video tell the story in pictures later, but I here is my loaded bike on the ferry as we pulled away from the dock.
The ride through Liberty State Park is lovely. And moving. We had visited in 2019, but we weren't cycling through. It is always an emotional thing for me to see the Statue of Liberty. She is still a magnificent reminder how we are a country that welcomes those fleeing less fortunate circumstances in order to pursue Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
The diversity of visitors is incredible. Passing by pedestrians, I could see people of various colors and dress, could hear several languages, but almost everyone smiled and/or nodded. On the boardwalk/bridge crossing Upper Bay (which has cool views), I encountered a huge group formation of (maybe three lines of ten to twenty) cyclists wearing navy sweatshirts bearing "State Police". The majority were smiling, many greeting with waves, raised fists, nods, or "Way to Go" or "Yeah" or "All Right." Nice pick-me-up.
Shortly after exiting the park, I entered an industrial/commercial area. The ECG turned onto a less-traveled road for about a mile or so. The asphalt surface had been coarsely graded as if in preparation for repaving. It was more than bone-shaking. It was a beat-down. By the end of that section, my lower back was crying. If I stopped for any reason the remainder of the trip, I almost was unable to move my left leg. I was beginning to wonder was my ride done.
By the time I reached Edison and my hotel, I thought I was going to die. The hotel was new, and shared a parking lot with Target. I walked (slowly, and in great pain) to Target, even having to lift my leg up to the curbs. I bought two frozen dinners, a Coke, a pack of Reese's cups, some extra strength acetaminophen, and IcyHot patches. When I returned, I took my newly purchased pain pills with a huge swig of Coke. Then a very long, hot shower, put on my next day's sock & jersey and my sleep shorts, washed that day's jersey and socks and hung them near the HVAC unit. (Aside: this laundry routine was a daily thing while self-supported. I was carrying only one extra ride outfit.) Then I applied my icy hot patch and ate both dinners and candy. After conversing and strategizing via phone with DL, I decided I would change the next day's ride by decreasing the mileage about 8 miles, or however it would come out if increasing the mileage the day after that. So I made two new GPX routes (close to 47 miles each) for the next two days, downloaded those, and hit the sack. During the night, I could tell my back still hurt, but knowing I wasn't going to have to ride 60-plus miles was some comfort.
Here is the overview Relive video for your viewing pleasure.
35.7 / 100.4 / 1194.6 miles
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