Bicycle Touring in New Jersey : Sunday May 18

Odometer reading at start of trip: 0000

Average Speed: 9.7 mph

Max Speed: 28.5 mph

Total Riding Time: 6:29:41

Trip Mileage: 63:03

Total Mileage to Date: 63

Wake Up Time: 4:45am

Leave Time: 6:05am

 

Wrote 5:30am...

Just woke up a little while ago. It's weird, I'm preparing as if it were one of my routine bike rides.  I should leave hopefully by 6am, but it may not be until 6:30.

 

I will stop at Eric's house in Clifton, New Jersey to say my farewells to he and his wife. Eric is a good friend and I know I'll hear his jokes and wisecracks when he sees how loaded my Cannondale bike is. It will definitely put a smile on my face.

 

Wrote 11:00am Verona, New Jersey - food rest stop...

Made it out of my mom's house at 6:05am-not bad. My mother was very emotional and cried like I've never seen before. We just held each other and I just kept kissing her while she kept on saying to be careful. What could I say, I would. She stayed by the front gate as I left. First thing I noticed was a severe shimmy on the rear of the bike. I continued anyway as it only got bad when I went slow or started off.

 

I now had to ride from my mom's house in North Bergen to Eric's house in Clifton by way of the Route 7 bridge, which links Jersey City and points west. It was the only way I could find to get out of this congested urban area without hitting any major highways. I tried crossing the Route 7 drawbridge into Kearny, New Jersey, but had to dismount mid-span because the steel grating made it very difficult to ride with a heavy load at one point forcing me to scrape alongside a guardrail to prevent me from falling down.

 

I made it to Eric's house at 8:20am and took some pictures. Also redistributed the weight around in the bike panniers to help reduce the shimmey and it worked. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as before. Eric and his wife gave me directions to Bloomfield Avenue, which is a main road heading west. Made it to the town of Verona at around 11am (where I'm writing this now) and stopped at a deli and had a bagel with chicken salad. Sat down in a park across the street to have my lunch when a man stopped to ask about the bike. His name was Barry Freeman and as we spoke he gave me directions through the South Mountain Reservation and on to the Round Valley campsite. He was a professional photographer and travelled extensively and gave me some good travel destination tips.

 

I feel good because this is what I envisioned the bicycle trek to be like (meeting people, discovering new places...). As we spoke he missed his bus into New York City so we ended up speaking for another half hour.

 

Just spoke to a man and his two children who were riding their bicycles-he wished me luck. I had to find a restroom. Must be all the water I drank, but that's good.

 

Cycled the route Barry recommended and it was very nice as it was a nice downhill run through the South Mountain Reservation. I then crossed over Route 24. I remember taking Route 512 west through Berkeley Heights. I was eager to make it to the campsite at Round Valley, but it turned out to be much farther than I had hoped.

 

Wrote at 5:30pm...

Took Route 202 south and booked a room at a Motel 8 in Raritan. It was $50.00, but I was tired. I took a shower and then started to throw out things I didn't need. The bicycle is way too heavy. It's really slowing me down-I mean a lot! I'm tearing pages out of my Hostel handbook that I think aren't needed. It's amazing how heavy the torn pages weighted. Even threw out a copy of Herman Hesse's "Demian" and a full box of Grape Nuts cereal in my bid to reduce weight. 

 

For dinner I just ate a can of tuna fish. I wanted to order pasta from a local pizzeria, but wasn't able to dial out and I was too lazy to walk. I also figured may as well eat the food I have to lighten the load even further.

 

In retrospect, the ride began pretty easy, but the excess weight is really bogging me down. Another thing is that my lack of training is obvious. As the trip progresses I'll get into better shape. I had to get off and walk the loaded touring bike up hills about twice during the day. I am not used to that. Touring with a loaded bicycle is a lot different than riding my nimble and quick Italian Bianchi road bike.

 

Will wake up tomorrow and head into Pennsylvania and hopefully stay in a campground because I want to try camping and also save some money. Besides I've never camped before!

 

Tonight was actually a very important moment because my motel room was literally only fifteen minutes from my youngest sister's home. Before I booked the room I had thought to call my sister and ask to stay with them, but I knew that if I did that I may not continue the bike trip as she would have tried talking me out of continuing. My decision to stay independent and fend for myself was very important.