Day 7 Layton to Lake Wallenpaupack

Wednesday 26th May
Daily mileage 35 miles Average Speed 9.3mph Ride Time 3hr42min

Hills and headwinds, the kind of conditions that do not make for easy riding. We were up at 6am to meet Tiffany who is Scott’s wife who was out last night. She kindly made us more pancakes with honey than we could eat and we had a great chat for an hour or so as we were all like minded. We cant thank you both enough for your generosity and good luck for your tandem ride!
We set off at 7.30am when it was still misty and cool. We had a lovely and easy ride for 10miles into Milford where we sat for 10mins on a bench for a breather. Back on the bikes the hard work began. The hills were bigger, longer and steeper. Yes they went down a bit but not before they had gone up a lot! Both Kris and I had the bike in the granny gear to tackle the climbs. Overall we had climbed a total elevation of 3,074 ft. Now Kris told me we were cycling USA from east to west so that it is flat from new york to the Rockies! I think not. We made it another 10 miles on where we came across a lake where sat and rested for a while. This was beautiful scenery, and really is God’s country. I could not relax as we were so far away from our bikes and we had walked far through forest I was on constant bear alert. We decided to crack on until we came across a garage where we rested in the shade with cool Pepsi and a roll. We stayed for an hour as it was the hottest part of the day. The sign at the garage said 94 degrees Fahrenheit. At 2pm we decided to hit the road to try make it to Hawley a further 8 miles or so.
However, we only just really left when we came across the biggest hill so far at which we both collapsed at the top in a mans garden that was selling cold coke from his trailer. We sat and chatted to him in the shade and he assured us that there was only one more big hill before Hawley. We took a nose at his lake that was from a spring and was tempted to crash there but the long grass put me off as we were told that deer ticks live in the grass so we forced ourselves to continue.
We definitely climbed more than one more hill before we came across lake Wallenpaupack and almost threw our bikes to the ground as we ran to the lake and jumped straight in. It was beautiful and felt so so good. After cooling down we put the tent up, showered and a quick market trip we were back to the lake to watch the sunset over the lake. Awesome, this is what its all about.

Day 6 Andover to Layton

Tuesday 25th May
Daily mileage 24 mile Average Speed 9.4mph Ride Time 2hr33min

We woke at 10.30am after Paul and Jane had both long gone off to work. We helped ourselves to breakfast and a shower then took a short walk down to their private lake. All the locals use the lake to swim and take out the kayaks, it was massive and very beautiful. I think it looked even more appealing as the weather was a good 28 degrees and very sunny.
We finally managed to drag ourselves away from the house at midday some might say we were reluctant to get on the bikes! Paul had been kindly given some maps so we had our route planned north on the 206 heading for Milford.
The road was surprisingly up and down. Kris described it as slightly undulating hills however my legs were telling me the hills resembled the alps! After an hour or so on the bike we had decided to stop at the next place we came across to grab a nice cold drink and as we pulled in to the car park of a diner we came within 50ft of 2 BLACK BEARS!!! We kept our distance but soon realised they were only interested in the garbage behind the diner and were not bothered by us.
We attempted to take some photos which I thought was particularly brave and I had this overwhelming urge to give them a big hug as they looked so big and cuddly but managed to resist! I am sure you will not be surprised to know that we decided not to stay there and headed slightly up the road to a lovely bakery.
We quizzed the staff about their knowledge of black bears as we had everybody we met so far and were slightly reassured that they are considered as big racoons/foxes that have been forced to the towns to feed. We were told by many that they only want food and are not bothered by us.
Back on the road for an hour or so and we met another cyclist Scott that stopped to chat to us. He was cycling his commute home from work but tours the country regularly. We asked about camping grounds nearby when he kindly suggested we stay at his. We met Tattoo the horse and Rose, Low Rider and Edwina the cats, oh and the 3 chickens. We showered and took a ride in his massive truck into town for Pizza and beer.
It was only a short ride today but we are breaking ourselves in gently and giving my cold a chance to clear. A big thanks to Scott for rescuing us on the side of the road and making us feel so welcome in his home. I hope this amazing hospitality never ends!

Day 5 Andover New Jersey

After a hugely comfortable nights sleep we were up early as Todd and Maureen had kindly agreed to drive us the 2 hours to Philadelphia in particular to the Museum of Art, but not for the art, we just wanted to run up the steps and jump about on the top punching our arms in the air! This has been a childhood dream of Kris’s and when we got there we found Rocky’s statue standing there and Kris reverted back to his childhood! We run up the steps I don’t know how many times with big grins on our faces. Back in the car we drove the 2 hours back to New York. I have unfortunately caught a bit of a cold so a quick stop at the drugs store to stock up on pills and a lot of power naps were in order.
Back at Zev’s apartment we changed into our cycling gear and packed all our stuff away into cycling mode for the first time as it was time to load up the bikes. I had forgotten how heavy they were. On the bikes we rode over the George Washington bridge into New Jersey where we were met by Paul our host for the night. Todd and Maureen had also stayed to wave us off and had randomly got chatting to Paul as a mere coincidence.
The south cycle lane on the bridge was closed so we had to take the north side that unfortunately did not have any ramps, but did have a shed load of stairs! I cant lift my bike so Kris had to lift them both and all I could do was carry the helmets! Back at Paul’s house which is set in the beautiful forest area we met his wife Jane who had prepared us a lovely meal which we ate outside on the decking. She showed us a photo on her mobile of a black bear that she had taken. The bear was sniffing about on the decking where we were sat. Need I say more.
Paul and Jane are fellow cyclists who are too off on a tour in a months time so we had a lot to chat about. They were a wonderful couple who made us feel very welcome and we feel privileged to have been their first www.warmshowers.org guests. We wish them all the best for their adventure.

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Day 4 Sandy Hook

Today we escaped the big apple and took the train south west to Sandy Hook leaving our bikes in Zev’s apartment. We were met at the train station by Todd who is a friend of a friend named Helen that Kris met in Jacksonville, Florida. Todd drove us around New Jersey to see the highlights. We took a tour of the twin lighthouses then ventured to another lighthouse at sandy hook which is next to a nudist beach that was empty due to the weather being cool and rainy. We picked up a pebble from the beach that we intend to carry across on our journey to drop off on the beach at Seattle.

This lighthouse has only ever been switched off once in its 246 years of operation during World War 2 and almost for a second time today as I nearly leaned on the electricity off switch! The tour guide asked a question about which was the first lighthouse to operate by electric rather than lens and Kris answered correctly the statue of liberty which the tour guide said was the first time anyone has ever answered correctly this was thanks to watching too many daytime TV quiz shows!

Todd then showed us to some local historical forts that were very interesting and we also learned about deer ticks that carry lime disease that live in the tall grass and how to identify poisonous ivy which had never crossed our minds before… if it has 3 leaves, leave it be.

As it approached dinner time Todd took us to an Italian restaurant for more delicious food. Todd’s wife Maureen met us at dinner where we learned that every Costco customer is now aware of our blog address… the pressure is on! We all went along scenic drive which is the home of Bon Jovi, to the harbour where we passed all the huge houses with people that owned huge boats!
We took Brandy Rascal (Maureen’s tiny dog) for a walk, then went back to their place to meet Teebo (The parrot). The glass cabinet holding a collection of skulls was quite amusing, we hoped it was not previous guests of theirs! Kris was impressed as Todd had owned a ‘back to the future car’ and a ‘a car that face had in the A team’. We want to say a massive thanks to both Maureen and Todd to go to such great lengths to fulfil one of our dreams.
　

Day 3 New York Mission

First stop today was Madison Square Garden which is the arena where so many amazing sporting moments have happened in our history. Kris stood staring at a wall of fame lost in the past of his childhood best memories.
We then took the subway to Grand Central Station which was very Grand indeed. In the basement there was a meeting point of four corridors with high arching roofs that if you stood in one corner and faced the wall while Kris stood in the opposite corner and faced the wall you could whisper and the other could hear it. It was quite freaky how clear it was! We stopped for lunch then ventured to the surface to photograph the Chrysler building from close up.
Our mission then took us over to china town where there were tonnes of people hustling and bustling trying to get a cheap imitation hand bag etc. We carried on walking and found ourselves in Little Italy which was slightly more relaxing with the main street being just for pedestrians and many a restaurant spilling out tables onto the street. We then finally ventured into Soho which is where we hoped back on the subway to Central Park.
Central Park with its 843 acres is even bigger in real life than it sounds! We walked and walked and people watched for several hours. There were so many people either playing softball, rollerblading, cycling, running, throwing a ball, boating or just laying in the sun on the grass. it’s the place to come for New Yorkers to grab some fresh air and keep them sane apparently. We visited Strawberry Fields which is an area of the park dedicated to John Lennon which is just across the street from where his apartment was where he got shot.
We had arranged to meet Zev for a Dinosaurs BBQ dinner which was great then even though we were exhausted we hopped back on the subway to see Times Square by night and again went to the top of the rock Rockefeller Building to view the city skyline by night which was definitely worth it. We crashed in the apartment at midnight… a mission and a half!

Day 2 Exploring New York

Today was a full day of serious sight seeing! We started early to make full use of the day. First stop was Time Square which was crazy. There was a Toys R Us with a proper size big wheel inside, tonnes of NYPD standing about and theatres everywhere. Next stop was the fast elevator ride to the dizzy height of 850feet on top of the rock. The views were ace as the sun beat down on us. We took the subway downtown to the most southern point of Manhattan Island at south ferry. We had intended to take a ferry ride to Ellis island and The Statue of Liberty however the queue was literally a mile long with the temperature soaring we took shelter under some trees in battery park and watched a street display of gymnastics which was pretty amazing.
We then walked up to ground zero and visited the memorial centre which detailed the new plans for the area. It felt very eerie to look up to see a big whole in the skyline. We had a McDonalds for lunch and were serenaded by a man playing a grand piano!

We had learned of another ferry ride leaving from 42nd street which we had hoped would have a significantly smaller queue and were pleasantly surprised to turn up just as a 3hr ferry trip was leaving. We were also very lucky as the ticket guy only charged us for one ticket which was nice! The ferry ride went the whole way round Manhattan Island and went up close to the statue of liberty and under Brooklyn bridge.

On the way back to our base we dined in a grill bar in an area named Hell’s Kitchen. Back at the apartment we met up with Zev and chatted until late.

Day 1 Sunny Gravesend to New York, New York!

The alarm went off at 3.20am, an ungodly hour of the morning. The bikes were loaded into 2 cars as my parents drove us to Heathrow. We checked in without a problem and watched our bikes roll off down the belt. Kris was hoping they would arrive safely in New York while I was secretly hoping mine might not! We were also told whilst checking in that we were not sitting together which meant Kris was gutted he couldn’t polish off his plane food and mine while I was thinking… my plan worked! He managed to sweet talk a stewardess to seat us together in the end.
A few whisky and cokes reduced the price of the flight with one eye asleep and one eye watching the new releases. We touched down and got the bikes ok. However getting them across the city from the airport to our host Zev’s apartment was not quite so straight forward. We both lugged a 23kg bike box each plus 7kg hand luggage with Kris having an additional 18kg rucksack on his back! We got some funny looks from all sorts of funny looking people on the subway!

All our gear filled Zev’s apartment in Uptown Manhattan Island. After a quick chat with our host, he went off to work and left us to play with Jacob the cat and assemble our bikes. A quick freshen up and headed back downtown where Carolyn on the subway recommended pizza for dinner. We sat on a street corner and people watched when having been up for 24hrs took its toll on us and we called it a night.