Day 62 New City, NY to Staten Island, NY

Well, here it is, the last day of the tour. In a way it has gone really fast, but when you look back at that it took most of our summer, it was a long time and we are ready to close it out and get back to our normal life. This summer has been a real blessing to us. We have again been reminded of the vastness of poverty in the world and challenged by what our continued response to poverty must be as followers of Jesus, who had much to teach us as to what our response should be.

Today was a very packed day. We needed to make our way through the greater New Jersey/New York City metro area, to Staten Island for our tire dipping  and closing ceremonies. The mileage was about 38 miles to get to the Staten Island Ferry dock and then another 6-7 miles to the Atlantic Ocean beach for the tire dipping and then another 9 miles to the camp for the closing banquet and program at Mt. Lorreto on the end of Staten Island.

The day started with some steep climbs as we made our way along the Hudson River through New York and then New Jersey to the George Washington Bridge. The ride through the corner of New Jersey was very pretty on a good road. We met many local bikers going the other way. They looked to be pretty intense cyclists. The G. W. bridge crossing was nuts!! There is a very narrow walkway on the side of the bridge that is hardly wide enough for 2 bikes to pass each other. Also, there are pedestrians on the walkway. There is a 90 degree sharp corner on the beginning and end, and a very steep, narrow ramp at the end. These facts do not seem to slow the local bikers down one bit. They are weaving in and out of the walkers and when you meet them, they are going at a pretty fast speed. I don't like narrow walkways in the first place, but to then have to meet them when they are going so fast, it was crazy and nerve wracking. One time I had to grab the hand rail of the bridge to avoid a cyclist and whacked my camera against the railing, as I had it on my wrist. Fortunately, the camera was ok. At the end, I walked my bike down the narrow walkway and did not care if I held up some of the local bikers, backed up behind me. I just wanted to complete the day and trip in one piece.

Once over the bridge, we rode streets along the Hudson River until a pedestrian/bike pathway began and that runs all the way to the ferry terminal. I had been alerted by my brother Larry and sister-in-law Sue that they would be along the bike path at about 79th Street in Manhattan. They were visiting their daughter Kerry and son-in-law Michael and their son Sam, from Massachusetts, for a big city weekend. It was so great to see them and really appreciate their interest and support. We talked for a bit and then Dan Kiel, Frank Folkema and I had to get going, as we needed to be on the 11:30 ferry to Staten Island. We did have a little time, so I led Dan and Frank to Central Park to see what that looked like. It was so full of weekend walkers and bikers that we left after a short way in the park and made our way back to the bike path. The bike path was also loaded with people and we had to go very slowly to avoid any mishaps. We made our way past the cruise ship docking area and the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum that had long lines of visitors awaiting tours. We passed the former twin tower area and the new Freedom Tower building on ground zero. We really wanted to tour that, but tickets must be gotten ahead of time and our schedule really did not allow it. We arrived at the Staten Island Terminal as the first cyclists of our group and it was fun watching all the others arrive and everyone was pretty pumped.

The free ferry ride was fun on this beautiful day. The clear, bright day reminded me of the weather conditions on 9/11 when the World Trade Center towers were attacked and recalled all those terrible images in my mind. We passed the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Liberty Park, that had been our end point of the 2008 Sea To Sea tour. Julie had to drive her Scoobie Doo SAG van through New Jersey and then on to Staten Island. She is so thankful for Garmin's help in finding her way. She arrived early at the ferry dock on the other side and rode to the NYC side to meet us and ride back over again.

We exited the ferry as a mass group and were led by NYPD escort to a Project Hospitality building to hear about their work in the Staten Island area and gather again as a mass group for the escort to the beach for the tire dipping. Julie got lost on Staten Island and missed the ride out to the beach procession and made her way to the beach and met us there. I rode these final stretches with Adam to close out our incredible experiences of the 2013 tour. As Adam told me, "We began together, we will end together"!. Adam's Grandpa and Grandma Koeman were waiting at the tire dipping site to surprise Adam. They were holding a big sign, that congratulated Adam on his accomplishment. They had visited relatives in the Boston area and included this surprise on their way back. It was great to see them as well.

After many photos on the beach and a prayer together, thanking God for His protection and leading in this great adventure and for the days ahead, as we have been reminded and experienced some of the conditions that poverty brings to people, with no end to their conditions. We prayed that this experience would shape and mold us for the days ahead for all of us.

It was then back on the streets under NYPD escort for the 9 mile ride to our campsite and closing evening ceremonies at Mt. Lorreto, a Catholic Church grounds that is now underfunded and is used for many community development projects and youth projects. We were told that there are still many people in the Staten Island area that are still without a home from the Hurricane Sandy event.

We had a great dinner that was catered in and had a fun program to close out the tour and evening. Everyone stood and sang "My Friend, May You Grow in Grace" together and had a time to say our good byes. Some left yet that night for going home and some of us camped for a last night and left the next morning. Julie, Adam, and I camped overnight and helped load up some of the last things into the gear semi, including the porta-potty, so no one would have to pull that all the way back to GR. The kitchen staff did a great job of having a breakfast out for us and things that we could pack a lunch with for our trip home. We left at about 8:00 a.m. and got home about 10:00 p.m. Sunday night.

I spent most of the summer looking at the backside of Dan Kiel, following him across the continent. On the way home, we followed the backside of Michael Jordan's head, as we followed his cologne semi most of the way across Pennsylvania. Dan and I had a great time experiencing this journey of cycling and of life's journey in general.

This had been an incredible journey this summer. Julie and I want to thank all of the many people who donated to the cause, supported us with their prayers, and offered so much interest and encouragement. We are so blessed to have been able to experience this journey with our grandson, Adam.

I will post some final thoughts about our experiences on a later post.

 

 

Day 61 Hyde Park, NY to New City, NY

Today kind of fooled most of the group. They saw that the mileage was only 56 miles and thought it would be a piece of cake. Well, the mileage was short, but the climbs were not. We had over 1,000 feet of climb on this second to last day. The toughest climb was up the mountain that West Point Academy is on top of. It was about 6.5 to 7.5 degrees the way up. On the way down, it was a fast ride. The shoulder was missing most of the way, but fortunately, the road was two lanes going up and the vehicles could move over for us.

The quick view I had of the Hudson River down below was beautiful. I was going so fast though that I did not stop to take a photo. The traffic was fairly busy most of the day.

Early in the day, we crossed the Hudson River from Poughkeepsie (sp?) on a walking bridge that was spectacularly high. It was an old railroad bridge converted to a very wide bike and walking path. The view over the Hudson River was great.

Julie was done with her #2 SAG about an hour after I got into camp. So, we are really celebrating an afternoon off with a quick bite at Mac's and updating my blog. The camp tonight is on an inlet to the Hudson River. There is an outdoor swimming pool for our use. I have attached a photo of Ross and Terry Luurtsema's gang which includes Ross's sister and husband from the Philadelphia area who are faithful followers of my blog.

Well, tomorrow is the last day of the tour. We will be biking through Manhattan on a bike path along the Hudson River all the way down to the Staten Island Ferry dock. All the bikers need to meet there to leave on the ferry at 11:30 and then all gather up and do a mass ride to the beach on the Atlantic Ocean to do our tire dipping ceremony. Then, we will bike out to the last camp ground for our banquet and praise service. Then all will scatter to their various destinations for home.

 

 

Day 60 Albany, NY to Hyde Park, NY

Today was about a 68 mile day. We made our way through some rural rolling hills and later in the day it was more urban. We are following NY bike route 9 most of the way to the metro New York City area.

In the first section today, we had a whitetail buck jump across the road about 20 years in front of the front riders in our group of 5. He was still standing in the ditch when I rode past in the rear position.

It was very humid today and the temperature climbed into the low to mid 90s. It is very uncomfortable for sleeping tonight. I thought a front was supposed to be coming through to clear out the humidity and cool things of, but as of 7:00 P.M., it is still sticky and warm.

The route along the Hudson River today had many historic plaques for events that happened along this route. The waterways were so important to early trading and travel. Today, the area is more depressed and a bit run down. As we came closer to Hyde Park, the area became much more impressive. There is a Vanderbilt mansion here on the Hudson that you can tour. Also, the Franklin Roosevelt home and library are here. The area is getting very urban and I wonder how our route will get us into NYC outskirts tomorrow.

Thanks for your continued interest and support. The tour is nearing the end.

Day 59 Whitehall, NY to Albany, NY

Today the bike worked great and I felt good and strong. We made our way further along Lake Champlain and later past the Hudson River the rest of the day. We enter the Albany urban area through Troy and snaked out way through the cities to our camp at a beautiful YMCA building. This makes up for yesterday's experience! We have a pool to use and sauna and hot tub.

I need to make this short, as I am almost late for supper and I had a lot of blogging to catch up on today.

Day 58 Ausable Chasm, NY to Whitehall, NY

Everyone was awaiting this day with worry, as it was a long 84 miles and it had over 5,500 feet of climbing in the Adirondack hills. Also, the temperatures have gone up to about the low 90s by the end of the day. As cyclists, we have had it pretty easy for the past week in terms of distance, flat routes, and low temperatures. We maybe got a little spoiled.

Well, the first half of the route was really tough with very steep climbs. I had a bike shift cable break at about the 36 mile mark and it took me out of the biking for the rest of the day. I flagged down one of the passing support vehicles and got a ride to Julie's 4th SAG stop. We then heard that one of our bikers had an emergency call that his son was in a very bad car accident in Zeeland and needed to be picked up off the route and gotten to an airport asap. We then went back and got him from the 3rd SAG stop and brought him back to the 4th SAG and someone else took him from there. Our chaplain Jay had a prayer with him before leaving and told the person how Julie and I could relate to what he was going through with a call like he received.

I was able to borrow a vehicle and find a bike shop about 20 miles away that could take care of fixing my bike. They got right at it and I was out of there in less than a half hour. It was too late for me to try and finish the day.

We are camped at a dumpy marina in the middle of a swamp. Just as I was about to get our campsite ready, Julie spotted a huge snake under the van and went into a panic, as she is deathy scared of snakes. I chased the snake into the swamp and we slept inside the van for the night! There were also so many mosquitos after dark it was unbearable.

May tomorrow bring a better campsite and experience! We did have some great views of Lake Champlain today, that we beautiful. It is huge and long!

Day 57 Montreal, QE Area to Ausable Chasm, NY

Today we left Canada and entered back into the good old USA. As well as the Canadians treated us the past week or so, it is still good to be back in your own country.

Today did not start out good for me. Within the first 3 miles I had 2 flat tires. That doubled me flat tire count for the whole trip to 4 total. My flat was caused by a tiny piece of glass that I must have picked up on Saturday and it finally cut into the tube. Dan and I changed the tire kind of fast and apparently did not have the replacement tube seated all the way. When I flagged down Julie as she was going by, I used her pump and pumped it up. Suddenly as I got it to 115 lbs, the tube exploded like a gun shot. At the time there was a dog from a nearby house with us, barking. When the tube popped, the dog was so scared, he took off for the house and did not return.

Also for the day, we were told in advance that we would have 2 sections of gravel roads, 3 miles in total. The first was not so bad, but the later one was terribly bumpy and loose. Also, some sections of the paved roads were in terrible condition with busy traffic flying by. I felt the breeze of one passing car, it was so close to me. Later, before getting to the border crossing, we had a long section of paved trail, that was more meant for snowmobiles, but it was nice. We got in line at the border and it took about 40 minutes to get across.

Our camp was nearby the Ausable Chasm, a deep gorge with a fast river going through it. The area is private and requires an entrance fee to tour or use. We arrived to late in the day to do any of that.

Just before dinner, our kitchen received a replacement food delivery from Sysco. They back up to our kitchen trailer and unload. As the semi was about to leave, he became stuck in the sandy soil and could not get out. We took one of our tractors, and hooked up to the Sysco truck to pull it. Now, I must tell you that I pack almost everything I might need when we go on a trip and Julie usually accuses me of overpacking. Well, guess what I had packed for just such an occasion.....my heavy duty tow strap!! It was just what we needed and with a little digging in front of the wheels, we got it out. You never can be too unprepared!!

Day 56 in Montreal Area

For worship today, we were bussed in downtown Montreal to the morning service at St. Paul and St. Peter Presbyterian Church. It is a large cathedral type building. The First CRC church on Montreal gave special music at the service. After the service, we were treated to snacks, ice cream, coffee, and cold drinks in the churches Quite Garden, behind the church, away from the traffic.

We were then going to be bussed to the Old Port area of Montreal to do some sightseeing on our own for a few hours. There were a couple events going on in downtown Montreal and a lot of construction, so our bussed could not get through the normal streets and the bus drivers needed to detour way around and we were on the bussed for over an hour for what was planned as a two mile trip.

We wandered around the Old Port area. There are many old buildings. I included a photo of the Notre Dame Cathedral and some old building fronts. There are many places to eat and shop. We were back on the bus at 4:00 p.m. to return the 15 miles or so to our camp.