Journey with Jeff

August 6, 2018

Day 50 – Manchester to Portsmouth,NH and wheel dip in the Atlantic Ocean – 61 miles, 2,240 feet vertical

Journey cumulative totals:   3,691 miles, 121,500 feet vertical (that’s over 23 miles straight up!)

It was quite an emotional day.  For everyone.  

We knew this was it – the culmination of seven weeks of struggling, seven weeks of aches and pains, of climbs, of headwinds, of potholes and flat tires. (By the way, after changing my tires at the 2,000 mile mark, I didn’t have another flat – so my final total was nine.)

It was a beautiful sunny day that got even warmer as the miles clicked by.  Just as it started getting really toasty, we got to the coast.  At first, we could just smell – but not see – the ocean.  The excitement had been building all morning and we were chomping at the bit as we waited at a crowded junction.  Finally, we headed out onto the shore drive for the final two miles to Wallis Sands State Beach – our destination for the wheel dip in the Atlantic.  

The Atlantic Ocean!  We couldn’t believe it.  A different watershed.  We remembered dipping our wheels in the Pacific just seven weeks ago and here we were – at the other ocean.  Wow. 

The beach was packed and it was quite a scene as we all walked from the parking lot to the beach and the long walk to the water.  We were all wearing our ABB jerseys and Pam was blowing her whistle.  And pretty soon, the entire beach came alive and people were clapping and cheering as the word spread about why we were there.  It was unbelievable.  In addition to many family and friends, strangers were coming over to us to offer congratulations and ask for details.  “Seriously?  You rode your bikes here from the Pacific Ocean??”  Yeah, we just did that. 

It will take some time to digest all of this and I hope to have more reflections and pictures as the post-ride euphoria takes hold.  For now, it is time for a rest day or two.  Or three.  

Thank you ALL for following me on this fantastic journey and for your comments and support.  I am deeply grateful to you all.  Check back for more.  In the meantime, here are some amazing photos to give you just a glimpse into our amazing day. 

…Jeff 

August 5, 2018

Day 49 – Brattleboro, VT to Manchester, NH – 78 miles, 4,340 feet vertical

What can I say?  We are here on the precipice, just a short bike ride from the sea.  Just a short ride from completing a journey that seemed almost unimaginable only two months ago – and with success not always so assured even while we were doing it.  

And now, on our penultimate day, we celebrate our achievement with our last dinner together – our “banquet” – with family and friends.  

And with our new family:  the riders of Across America North.  

We have bonded.  We have ridden together, suffered together, laughed together and cried together.  Each of us has a story to tell.  Each of us has been enriched by listening to the stories of others.  And we listened once again tonight as, one by one, we each rose to accept our completion certificate and address the group.

The themes were pretty consistent.  Everyone thanked the staff and heaped praise on their professionalism, their attitude, their positive demeanor, their hard work and their patience.  “All” we had to do was ride our bikes.

We also celebrated each other and our sense of camaraderie and new family.  There were some tears, but mostly a ton of laughs as we all shared our thoughts, our experiences, the good, the bad and mostly, the very funny.  I cannot possibly convey the depth of the new connections made over the past 49 days and sealed with words tonight. 

As part of my remarks, I recited words I had heard in the past.  It goes by the name, “Wolf Credo”.   I include it here: 

Wolf Credo

Respect the Elders
Teach the Young
Cooperate with the Pack

Play when you Can
Hunt when you Must
Rest in Between

Share your Affections
Voice your Feelings
Leave your Mark

In completing this amazing journey, we have all left our mark.  And as I said tonight, each of the riders of Across America North 2018 has left his or her mark on me.  

Please enjoy this recording of 🎶 One Day More 🎶 from Les Miz and I hope you like these photos from the day before our One Day More day.  And check out the amazing map at Where’s Jeff.  Catch it now before it flips to all green!! 

Thank you for following.

…Jeff

 

August 4, 2018

Day 48 – Latham, NY to Brattleboro, VT – 80 miles, 5,190 feet vertical

We’ve travelled 3,552 miles with ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT. 

We crossed the Hudson River today and rode through Troy, NY – “Home of Uncle Sam” and also home to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and my son Matt’s alma mater.  The area looked very familiar from all the campus visits.   How considerate of America By Bicycle to take me to both of my kids’ alma maters. (A few days ago, we were near the University of Rochester where Samantha went). 

We also made it to our ninth state – the Green Mountain State – Vermont.  

It was misty indeed today.  We had a weather delay this morning with the main load postponed until 8:30 while we waited for the storm to blow over.  (See the radar map that I woke up to.)  It had stopped by 8:30, but the roads were still wet and we road through a constant mist and drizzle.  Rain gear on.  Rain gear off.  Rain gear on.  And so it went for the first several hours.  

Finally, around 1:00pm, the sun came out and stayed out.  This was just in time to relax at a cafe in Wilmington.  Unfortunately, the constant mist had played havoc with my chain and drive train and I could hear it churning away with every pedal stroke.  A quick call to Karen at SAG 2 confirmed she would have some chain lube waiting for me.  It was fine after that.  

The terrain reminded us of what climbing is like.  We haven’t had a day like this in … oh, … thousands of miles.  We survived.

Because our bikes were beyond filthy, we all spent some time at the hotel in Brattleboro hosing down the bikes and giving them some much-need TLC.  

At Rap tonight, I was gobsmacked to see my good buddy Steve and Karen standing in the lobby.  They had driven down from Manchester, VT to surprise me.  And surprise me, they did!  It turns out that my wife is an unindicted co-conspirator in helping to pull this off.  And Tami’s friend Gina surprised us too. Gina rode with us through the Wyoming segment.  It seems to have been “friend and relatives” night, since there were many more sprinkled throughout the troops. 

Tomorrow is our penultimate day and it will take us into our tenth and final state, New Hampshire, and a gala banquet dinner.  We all have the option to speak at dinner.  I will have to think of something witty and meaningful to say.  

Please enjoy these photos from today’s bifurcated weather display.  And don’t forget to look at our progress map at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com 

Thanks for following.

…Jeff

 

August 3, 2018

Day 47 – Little Falls (near Utica) to Latham, NY (near Albany) – 76 miles, 2,310 feet vertical

It was a soaker today.  All day.  It started off wet with a persistent drizzle.  The persistent drizzle eventually turned into a persistent rain that soaked us for most of our 76 miles today.  Not complaining, just reporting.  Given the fantastic weather we’ve had for most of the journey, it’s hard to complain.  Tomorrow is forecast to be more of the same, and if so, … all bets are off and I may consider a little whining.

We had a special guest this morning – a reporter for a local news outlet in Little Falls.  His name is Dave Warner and he did a really nice piece about our ride (and not just because he was quoting me.)

I am grateful to Gail Rochette in the Stone Mill card/gift store yesterday for asking about our ride and then putting Dave in contact with me.  He did a 20 minute telephone interview yesterday afternoon, and then took photos this morning.  His story is today’s feature article at My Little Falls .com (mylittlefalls.com)

The story link is here: https://mylittlefalls.com/cross-country-cyclists-overnight-in-little-falls-during-3700-mile-bike-ride-of-a-lifetime/   Enjoy the story and thank you, Dave!! 

Other than the rain, there’s not much to report.  We went through more Amish country and encountered a number of horse and buggies, with Amish folks huddled inside the primitive transportation.  Clippity-clop, clippity-clop, clippity-clop. 

The day finished with a nice (except for the rain) long section of a great bike trail.  I’m really enjoying the bike trails, especially so because there are no cars or trucks.  For the last ten miles, I kept repeating my standard two-word mantra in situations like this:  Hot. Tub.  

Tomorrow, we return to the mountains with some tough climbs into Vermont and our overnight destination in Brattleboro.  My local bike group, the North Shore Wheelmen, knows this area well, and it’s going to be … vertical. 

Three days left.  That’s it – just three days.  We’ve covered 3,472 miles so far, so bring it on, Vermont!! 

Please enjoy these photos from today’s wet ride and check out our progress at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com 

Thanks for following.

…Jeff

August 2, 2018

Day 46 – Liverpool to Little Falls, NY – 80 miles, 1,820 feet vertical 

We’ve ridden 3,400 miles so far with ONLY FOUR DAYS OF RIDING LEFT!   

We spent last night in Liverpool – that’s New York, not England – just a few miles northwest of Syracuse near Onondaga Lake in the Finger Lakes region.  Once again, dinner was celebrated at a nearby Mexican restaurant with good food (fajitas!) and monstrous pitchers of margaritas.  (If you happen to come across a photo of me sipping through a straw from one of those giant pitchers – don’t believe it.  It was a set up.  I swear.)  

After raining overnight, we were again lucky to have a rain-free day, although it was so humid and sticky this morning that it felt like it was raining from the inside out.  Still, with “only” an 80-mile ride, we were happy.  We’re on a bit of a “mileage taper” with our previous rides being 103, 92 and now 80 miles.  I’m already starting to think about my eventual “calorie taper” as I cannot continue to eat like this when I return to a more sloth-like existence (by comparison). 

By the way, a quick shout out to Evin who cracks me up with his tee-shirt featuring the “Sloth Cycling Team”.  Their motto is:  “We’ll get there when we get there.” 

After yesterday’s morning debacle, I set four alarms for this morning, starting at 5:00 am and repeating at 10-minute intervals.  When the first one went off, I shot up like a rocket and didn’t need the others.  I made some coffee and had a leisurely non-frenetic morning – a welcome respite. 

Breakfast featured lots of hugs, kisses and “bro-shakes” as one by one, everyone took turns saying goodbye to Tom Gjelten and wishing him well.  As I mentioned yesterday, Tom is putting a giant bookmark here to attend a family wedding in Charlottesville and plans to return to resume his journey (solo) on Monday.  Without Tom, I had no one with whom to share my Outrage of the Day (of which there were several quality candidates.) 

We had a large group of riders leaving town together this morning.  It took several miles of turns and navigation until we got back out to the beautiful rural countryside with more mild rollers and tracking alongside the Erie Canal for miles.  Two SAG stops and 80 miles later, we found ourselves in the beautiful town of Little Falls.  We got in rather early and so we showered, walked the two blocks into town, had lunch and were then free to explore the canal.  

One serene mile walk later, we found ourselves at Lock 17, which is the single largest lock on the Erie Canal with a total lift of 40.5 feet!  You can read a pretty good description here, and check out this nifty time-lapse video of a boat going from the lower portion to the upper.  We also met the lock operator, Paul, who was quite friendly and demonstrated the operation of the lock.  It takes about 5 million gallons of water to fill what is essentially a giant bathtub!  The downstream gate is a cantilever type and comprises a giant metal wall that lowers into the river bed.  The upstream lock is a traditional swing gate type.  The highlight, for me, was a small label on the operator’s console for the massive gate that read “Look under gate before lowering.”  Yeah, no kidding. 

Our special guest this evening was Jon Dobbs’ close friend and best man at his recent wedding, Steve Thomas.  Steve joined us for RAP and dinner and was able to get a real feel for what we are experiencing.  “It’s summer camp,” he observed wryly.  You got it, Steve. 

Please enjoy these photos from a really great day and check out Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com.  Only FOUR days left.  (Oops, I said that already.  Sorry.) 

Thanks for following.

…Jeff