Thursday, July 5, 2018

New Amsterdam

Cree says:

Today was great! Got to see a different side of NYC coming in from the north and then alongside the Hudson. It is just wild to start to think about where we have come from and how much you can travel on a bike in a relatively short amount of time. It was a delight to meet and have lunch with Marcia (see below dad's better explanation). We really appreciated her taking the time to meet up with us! 

I don't know how dad has so much energy, or where it comes from. I fell asleep on the ferry ride, a hard sleep, and he just keeps chugging along, full steam ahead. It makes me laugh. Oh well, hopefully I have the same "kick" when I'm older too (;

He says:

What a fun day riding through NYC ( even though it was the outskirts), because I'm sure that's a once in a life time situation ( not that all of this isn't once in a life time ;).  We had a great last couple of days where 70 of 85 miles were all on trails, nice and safe but still seeing so much history and beauty.  Coming down the west side of Manhatten on the Hudson River was a real treat. If you've ever heard me talk about how I enjoy driving across the midwest to Colorado.... you know how I enjoy pondering families migrating across the plains.  So most of my day as I was rolling along next to the Hudson river, I was just imagining how people did it 400 - 450 years ago while seeing the vastness of the Hudson River.  I never feel good about how we treated Native Americans as we settled the US, but how people survived and created this country ( after getting to ride through it) is quite fascinating. Also killed some time on Wikipedia while on the ferry ;)

The rail trails from the late 1800's are indescribable of how the made them through this terrain.  The castles and churches  we saw on the cliffs of the Hudson today..no idea how the made them.  And obviously all the buildings of Manhatten in the last decade are a feat in and of themselves. The ride though was pretty calm and somewhat mis-leading. The strange part is that we knew what was off to the left ( since we'd both been IN the city several times), but from our vantage point, we really only saw about 1% of what we knew lurked to the east.  Because you could only see what's next to you, we didn't see Empire State Building, Chrysler building, Times Square, etc..

Bonus was seeing Marcia (our foreign exchange student from 40 years ago!!). That was great to see her after all these years and to hear about her many world travels working in International banking.  We made her get all the way to the other side of town from work ( and made her eat Shake Shack :) but so glad to have the chance to catch up with her.  ( Thank Marcia for making the haul over to WTC).

Anyway... what a fun day seeing NYC in a different way than the 4-5 times I've seen them in the past.

Stats:
Miles - 61 (406 total)
Calories - 2,855  (20,232 total)
Time - 6:00 (55:00 total)
Total Climb - 689 feet (16,544 total)
Elmsford NY - Hazlet NJ

Room 150
Hotel bar The Vide ( 2-12" chicken/mushroom pizzas, stale chips and salsa)

Took a LOT of pictures today because there was so many cool and different things to see.

7AM start


Had about 14 miles before we got to some city riding. A lot of what we saw yesterday, but with the excitement of knowing the city was right around the corner.






Got a little off roading and narrow for a bit.



Creean's bridge crossing of the day on the Harlem River ( it's what makes Manhatten the island... did not know that)

Last of the city street riding.

The George Washington Bridge  ( also did not know he led the Continental Army into NYC in 1776 to fight the Brits in this area)


Rock balancing feats

Bike balancing feats

Westward view.

Catching a break

A wide variety of views once we got to about 110th street ( top of Central Park ish)





First sight of WTC



Creeping up on WTC the rest of the way.





Hoping the ferry for the 20 mile ride to New Jersey!!





Power nap time for one of us.

Home for the night.



Today's ride

7 comments:

  1. Map and elevation? Love seeing those!

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  2. John, it was a very special day for me, first to get to know the lovely Creean and secondly get together after 40 years. That was so much to catch up that we even forgot to take a picture to show Mom & family this unique moment!! It is amusing that 40 years sounds a lot, but my feelings was that it was yesterday... time is a strange thing!! I am very pround of you two. And enjoy and thank God for this privileged experience. I am not gonna be able to wait another 40 years to see you guys again, so let’s keep in touch, hahah. Send may regards to everyone when you are back, I love your family. . All the best

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    1. I can't believe we didn't get a picture, I took a 100 of them yesterday and forgot the best one from lunch. Thanks so much for making the the time to come over, we loved seeing you and glad that all worked out. ( sorry about Brazil today... check out the picture of us on today's post stopping to watch the end of the game) See ya soon I hope

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  3. Unfortunate - they tried hard though - the rest is luck!! Now I will rooting fo Belgium!!

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  4. What a crazy day you had yesterday, between flat tire, rain, Brazilian fiasco game and finally a shady hotel!! Hope today it will be more pleasant!! Again, thank you for the lunch!!! All the best.

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