The day started off early with everyone trying to get their you-know-what together. We all had places to go and jobs to do. My mom and Russ had to catch a train to get to their first destination of the day. My mom then had to pick up our accessible van which we will have for the remainder of our trip. Special thanks to Bill & Amanda at Mobility Works in Deer Park! Russ had to catch a plane to Boston to visit his new granddaughter. Dr. B, Jimmy, and I had to find or way to the Hudson River Trail and start making some miles. And last but not least, after we all headed out, my dad had to pack all of our gear into a rental truck. No small task considering the amount of stuff I travel with (I have 25 lbs of haircare products alone), not to mention driving in New York City, finding a parking spot, and then driving out of New York City.
The boys and I were a little nervous about riding from our hotel to the waterfront to meet up with the Hudson River Trail where we left off yesterday. I was thinking if we could just survive the busy city streets and make it to the trail, life will be easy. Well… Other than all the cars and trucks honking, it turns out riding down 35th street in New York City is much more relaxing than riding on the waterfront trail on a Saturday morning. Once on the Hudson River Trail we realized this was not a place to relax and take in the sights. It was hella bonkers. The density of runners and bikers was astounding. What made it particularly challenging was the different speeds everyone was moving at, with cyclist and runners passing each other, crossing into oncoming traffic, and what seemed to be a lack of consideration for anyone’s safety. I think someone who studies chaos theory could earn a graduate degree trying to figure it all out. All this is to say, we had to stay very focused the entire time of the trail. I would post a picture to show you, but none of us felt comfortable enough to take any pictures. The only way to ride through there was to make the (false) assumption that everyone else would have proper trail etiquette, even if that wasn’t true. As far as power wheelchairs are concerned, I feel like face-drivers would have a tough time handling those conditions. The speed I had to maintain and the maneuvering I had to do was pretty intense.
After 10 miles or so the trail mellowed out a bit. We took our first break and hung out by the waterfront. Dr. B’s friend Gant who lives in Brooklyn met up with us and gave us some helpful advice about the route we had planned for the rest of the day. It was nice to get some local knowledge. Shortly after this we left the trail to ride through more city streets, ultimately taking us out of Manhattan and into the Bronx. I think we all found the neighborhoods of the Bronx to be charming with some cool architecture and brick houses you just don’t see on the west coast. Traffic was a little intimidating, but we managed.
Eventually we were able to leave the city streets and make our way to another trail that we would follow the remainder of the day. Although the trail we are following is known as the Empire State Trail, different sections have different names. I think we passed through four different sections today. A particularly beautiful section was the Westchester County Trailway. Visually this section felt secluded. We were surrounded by trees and bushes. There was often a creek on the left or right side of the trail. But… you can still here the traffic noise, which was coming from just behind the trees. I was excited about this section because it was going to take us through the town of Yonkers, which I have heard a lot about. It turns out the trail was too secluded for us to see much of Yonkers. We did really enjoy the trail though.
We made good time on our ride today. It turns out I set my fastest 40 km time of this year. Probably because of how fast we had to move on the busy trail section early on. We finished in the town of Elmsford, which seemed like a different world from where the day started. Dr. B. said to me “this looks like a town we’d see in Missouri.” At the finish we were treated to a surprise, my mom and dad jumped out of the bushes to cheer for us and celebrate the end of Day 1.
Another thing to celebrate today is my mom. Today’s her birthday and just like every other day of the year, she’s running around doing things for other people. It would be nice to celebrate her more today, she deserves it.
After a brief rest and trip to a local deli to grab some food, we hopped in the van and drove the two hours to Albany, where we will start the Erie Canal Trail tomorrow. Once in Albany, the boys and I headed out for food and a beer (or two) at Fidens Brewing Company. We are hoping to visit a brewery at the end of each day. Tonight we will be capping off the evening with a visit to Druthers Brewing Company here in Albany. When we got back to our hotel, both my mom and dad were asleep. If you have followed our rides in the past, you know the work they do each day (and night) is much harder than what me and the guys do. They need their rest. I guess I’ll have to wait to give my mom her birthday present tomorrow.
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