Maplewood, NJ

Day 6

We are at Maria and David's in Maplewood, NJ.  The weather was beautiful today, the ride over the George Washington Bridge exciting, and the Bronx and certain areas of NJ were very interesting.  First, because I am usually at least a day behind, I'll post some pictures from yesterday.

     Day 5 Info

We left the Best Western around 10am.  The area around the hotel was very urban with a lot of traffic, so we had low expectations for interesting scenery, but very soon we found ourselves riding along the shore.

          Here is Di riding along the shore:

There were a lot of police officers on the road stopping cars and letting us ride through the red lights. We thought we were special but then we learned a half-marathon was in progress and was headed our way.  A lot of cyclists were riding on the shore road and some rode with us for a bit asking about our trip.  It was very satisfying to tell them we were on our way to Philly from RI because they were impressed.  I had been waiting for people to ask us where we were going because while we were training back in RI people always wanted to know where we were headed and we sheepishly had to reply we were just riding between North Kingstown and Narragansett.  Nobody was ever impressed with this information.  When we began our trip I was filled with anticipation about answering this question because finally we could impress people with our destination.  But, that entire first day nobody asked.  Still nobody had asked when we stopped for lunch on the second day.  So, I started dropping hints to try and get people's attention so they would ask.  'Yep', I would start, 'we're on our way to Philly.  Uh-huh, riding to Philly.  Philadelphia.  Started in Rhode Island and going to Philly.'  I would go on in this fashion for a while, but instead of asking me anything about our trip, people would just nervously move away from me.  Sometimes I would move with them to keep close enough so they could hear this important information, but usually I just spoke a little louder.  Despite my efforts people were still not asking where we were headed.  Eventually Di told me to stop mumbling and rambling on about Philadelphia because I was making people nervous and they kept staring at us.  This is why it was so satisfying that people finally started asking where we were headed.  

       After the shore road we rode alongside a river:

       (picture replaced with photo of Di with Rory (dog) and Fiesty (cat) at insistentence of you-know-who)

We stopped at an italian restaurant for lunch.  They served soda made by GUS, which is an acronym for Grown Up Soda.  This reminded me of the grown up macaroni and cheese my Mom serves on Thursday nights.

          Di and I at lunch (and the extra dry ginger ale by GUS):

          Afternoon break at the ubiquitous Dunkin Donuts:

We rode on the Greenway Bike Path for the last six miles of the day.  It was a beautiful ride, but none of the bikers will even look at you, never mind talk to you.  Unlike the bike paths in South County where everybody says hello, the bike paths in NY is where nobody says hello.

          Di on the appropriately named Greenway Bike Path:

         Majestic weeping willow on the Greenway Bike Path:

We arrived at the Residence Inn in Yonkers at some time I can't remember after riding some amount of miles that I also can't remember.  I know it was late and the mileage exceeded 50 miles.  We ordered delivery from a Greek restaurant (lamb gyro for me and a slab of chicken over rice and a greek salad for Di.

Day 6

We left the Residence Inn a little after noon.  This late start is partly due to my awakening at 9:30 and also because we were just moving slowly.  I think we were still tired from yesterday.  We got back onto the Greenway Bike Path which very soon went from a paved to a dirt path.  It was surprising that we were now riding on dirt, but it was easy going and made the scenery even more beautiful.

          Di on dirt path on the Greenway Bike Path:

We left the serenity of the Greenway and found ourselves in the stark contrast of a place called the Bronx.  There was little inducement for us to stop so we rode through the Bronx as quickly as possible.

          Di pretending to enjoy the Bronx: 

Then came the highlight of the day -- the George Washington Bridge!  It was very exciting to cross the bridge, especially for someone with a fear of heights.  But, it was awesome to be on this massive and towering bridge.

          Di at entrance to the GW Bridge:

          Di on the bridge!

We rode across the bridge and stopped at the first restaurant we saw, which served great ice coffee and charged only one dollar for refills (I only had two refills.)  In general, I find it very hard to ride by any cafe with outdoor seating.

          Di enjoying lunch:

The remainder of the day was a mix of riding on city roads and bike paths.  As to the cities I'll just say the manicured lawns and nice homes of Maplewood stand in sharp contrast to those found in the cities we rode through just before reaching Maplewood.

          Di on one of the bike paths on the way to Maplewood:

We arrived at Maria and David's around 7:30 and Maria treated us to a wonderful meal of brown rice pasta with mushrooms and chicken.