Day 1

Today, I learned two things:

1. Never let your mother help pack your panniers.

2. Never trust google map's bicycle routes.

It was an interesting day on the steed. I started out my journey at Sandy Hook. Good idea right? Maybe. After loading the bike, my dad and I began walking said bike down to the salty waters of the Atlantic Ocean. All 400 yards through the sand were grueling. My dad and I certainly got a workout from it. Imagine pushing 115 lbs of crap across the fine New Jersey sand with just two narrow tires under it all. Fun. After we dipped the rear tire in the water and took some pictures, we turned around and pushed it all the way back to were it came from - the parking lot. After a quick lube, I was on my way. The ride down Sandy Hook was beautiful. Riding across from the New York skyline was something else. Once I got over the bridge, I followed some local roads to what was once a bike path. There were huge signs saying "Path Closed." Sure, I saw them - I just didn't SEE them. The trail was initially very nice. Then, I got to the reason why it was closed. After riding through sand, mud and ditches I found myself staring at a complete mess. Apparently the trail was never fully cleaned up after the storm. Goodie. There were tires, barrels, and even assorted pieces of cement and metal half buried in the sand. I had to pick bike up and carry all 115 lbs over tis stuff. It was an adventure to say the least. Once I got out of that mess, I followed a bike path for virtually half the ride. I can tell my handlebar bag and i are not going to be friends. It likes shift around a lot when I hit big bumps.

At mile 50, I was tired and out of water, so I stopped at a Wendy's to get a refill. While I was there, I also rewarded myself with a large chocolate frosty.

I immediately regretted this.

A few miles down the road, I happened upon a mountain bike trail that Google seemed to have thought appropriate for me. It was not. I looked at my maps and found an alternate route. Under construction. Wonderful. So where does Google take me? The highway, where else. After and hour of that, it then plopped me into the heart of ghetto Trenton and made me do circles in it. That was not fun. Im frankly surprised I didn't get more rude remarks than I did.

Finally I found my way to the place I would stay for the night. Sheri, thank you so much for letting me use your yard - it's beautiful. 

So, after 6.5 hours and 73 miles, my first day is complete. Tomorrow, I head through New Hope to Audubon, PA. Let's hope that ride doesn't have as many tricks.

Now to lie herein my tent and sweat myself to sleep.

Like always, the donation link is at the top - any help is appreciated!