Final Ride Report and Link to Pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/dnmoss/20080812BikeFromNYCToME
All in, we rode 266 miles over 17 hours or so. Just and incredible experience and can’t wait to do it again next year. If anybody is interested in the route we took for any portion of the trip, just post to this threat and I will send you the route.
Day 1: 75 miles from Kings Park to Orient Point, Long Island
We started by taking the long island rail road from Penn Station to Kings Park, Long Island. The plan was to ride 75 miles, partly through wine country until we reached Orient Point on the eastern tip of Long Island. Although the forecast was for rain, the weather held off the entire day. None the less, we got stuck with one flat tire (incredibly, the only one of the trip) and one crash. About 55/60 miles in I crashed while trying to avoid a pothole and some debris. Was lucky to walk away from it with only some road rash and a bruised hand (pictures of both included). We learned 2 really important lessons from this. The first, was to not ride too close to the person in front of you when you don’t know the roads that well. The second, was that between me on a bike and a Mercedes, the Mercedes will always end up in better shape. Anyway, we made it to Orient Point and took the ferry across to New London, CT. After a quick stop in a local bike shop we checked into the nastiest Red Roof Inn in America. The woman in the office there told us there was an Outback Steakhouse and Chili’s around the corner, but we opted for the local favorite – Gridlock Grill. This turned out to be a pretty big mistake. Both of our steaks were cooked to the consistency of shoe leather and covered in some flavorless sauces that represented tomato paste in one case and powdered gravy in the other. Not our best meal of the trip.
Day 2: 65 miles from New London, CT to Providence, RI
Day 2 was by far the hardest day of the ride. We used all back roads to work our way out of New London. The riding was extremely scenic, but also very hilly. Within the first 5 miles we had a dozen solid climbs and this was just to the start of a very long day. I wish we had stopped to take pictures of some of these climbs, but we didn’t – so you’ll just have to believe me. At one point, my two favorite numbers we 48 and 6.5. One many of the climbs, no matter how hard I pushed, I couldn’t keep my RPMs above 48 and my pace was a mere 6 mph. For those who ride, you know this is a painfully slow way to work up a hill. This was also our day of seeing lots of animals. We saw goats, sheep, cows, horses, deer, and even a fox (not including the various “flattened” animals like badgers and possums). Anyway, we made it to Providence and were thankfully staying in much nicer accommodations – a Marriott. We had lunch at a great sandwich place near Brown University and dinner at Union Station, which is owned by the same group that runs John Harvard’s in Cambridge.
Day 3: 45 miles from Providence, RI to Cambridge, MA
This was the easiest day of the ride. We ended up on more traveled roads, but they had decent shoulders and were relatively flat – especially compared to the day before. With the tail wind from traffic we were cruising at upwards of 20 mph for part of the ride. Really don’t have much to say about this day – it was entirely uneventful, and felt more like a rest day than anything else. For the Cambridge contingent, we had lunch of Cambridge 1 and dinner at Grafton. My buddy is starting at HBS this fall so we were able to crash at his new house.
Day 4: 80 miles from Cambridge, MA to Cape Neddick, ME
The best day of the ride. First half of it had pretty poor weather – grey, cloudy, and cold – but as we worked our way towards the coast line things cleared up and the sun came out. The last 45 miles or so were almost entirely along the coast, which was absolutely amazing. It’s much hillier than the coast in NJ, but that creates some dramatic views. The scenery, combined with the great weather, made me forget about the miles. Before I knew it, we were turning onto the Shore Road, where my friend’s family rents the house that would be our final destination.
