artorbust.com Blog

We are in Maryland, where in Maryland, who knows.  Its been three days of riding in hot, hot, hot weather.  There are basically no pictures to show right now, it has been intense these past few days.  Witnessing the car accident, with the three flat tires that followed immediately after, has set us off course.  There aren’t many campgrounds or hotels in the are we are in right now, which has added much tension to our riding.  I (Alexa) had to be in cell phone range today to conclude a five year legal situation, with a telephone mediation to settle the case today.  We thought we would be right near D.C., but it turns out we are not…and so we have been forced to stay in the place we knew for sure we would have service, but the only hotel here is VERY expensive…and we had to ride 5 miles on sidewalks next to a highway to get here…after riding 60 miles.  We are tired, frustrated, and not exactly sure where we will sleep tonight…but on the upside…free breakfast.

Some people may think that the word ‘mindfullness’ is merely a spiritual catch phrase, but I’ve come to realize after yesterday’s events, that it is more than that, using your mind to be completely aware of what is happening in the present moment can save your life.

Yesterday we witnessed a fatal car accident.  A person was driving too fast around a curve before a one lane bridge and hit a tree.  The car then lit up in flames.  There was nothing any of us could do.  Two people who got there before us tried to pry the door open, but they couldn’t and the emergency people on the phone told everyone to get away from the car because it might explode any second.  It did shoot up in flames.

We need to be so careful when we are manuevering our way around this world.  Life is so precious.  May everyone be mindful of what they are doing in each moment.  May we all be safe and protected from harm.

The City of Brotherly Love 

Alexa and I have realized that one of the most challenging things about this long-distance bicycle trip is… the maintenance of our blog that relates our story.  So, we are going to do our best to catch up.

 Where are we?  We are in Maine, once again.  We have returned for the wedding of Alexa’s step-sister Emily which is this Saturday.  This will be a great weekend spent with some of Alexa’s family, and it will also give us a week-long break from our bicycle trip.

We arrived here today after an hour flight from Philadelphia where we have been spending the last couple of days at the home of Alexa’s Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Larry.  The last ten days have seen us go through southeastern New York state and then follow the Pennsylvania/New Jersey border down to Philadelphia. 

 

The Shawangunk Mountains in rural New York 

We have had a slower pace in the last week and a half, and we have even taken a couple of days off from long rides.  We arrived in Philly on Monday, and we will return there this Sunday in order to begin again on Monday.

 Our last posting came just after we had entered New York from Connecticut.  That night we attempted to stay at a state campground that had closed after Labor Day weekend.  We were hoping it would be empty, but instead we found that the entrance was gaurded by a live-in caretaker.  We decided on taking the honest route and just asking him if we could stay since there were no other campgrounds within 25 miles (on our route).  Well, he wasn’t so excited about our idea, but he did offer to drive us to a different state campground about 12 miles north (off our route), and we accepted.  This ended up being somewhat helpful since he gave us a route to avoid the steep hills we had planned to ride over the next day.

That next day, we began our ride after a night of threatening rain by taking the NY state park ranger’s advice and following some empty rural roads to get back to our route.  It rained for about five minutes, and I (Anthony) had to fix a flat in my rear tire, but this morning’s ride was really nice.  We made it into Rhinebeck, NY that afternoon where we had a nice conversation with a Thai woman who offered to house us if we ever needed a place to stay in Bangkok (not on our route), and then we bought some yarn and relaxed in a coffee shop until going on to our campsite.

Alexa teaching yoga to a class of noncompliant pumpkins 

For the next two nights we stayed in M.L. Norrie State Park in NY which was on the Hudson River and close to the tiny village of Staatsburg.  It was Sunday, and we were taking the next day off in order to relax after riding every day since leaving Cambridge, MA.  We decided to go eat Indian food at a restaurant we passed getting to the park and that was a great meal.  The next day, we woke up to rain on our day off.  Alexa was up for just riding since there was not much to do in the rain at a campsite, but I subtly insisted that we take the day off and see if it stops raining.  It eventually stopped raining just in time for us to be quite hungry.  We had to bike back 5 miles to Rhinebeck in order to get to an open store because everything in Staatsburg was closed on Mondays.  We spent that day eating and at the library until later in the afternoon where we made the fateful decision to try and see a movie at the small theater in town.  This was an unfortunate decision.

Why?  The wasn’t going to start until a little after 6:00, and we had to bike around 5 miles back to our campground.  We made a foolish decision (based on our own visibility) that we would be fine riding home just after dark.  We saw 2 Days in Paris which was entertaining, bur stepped out to a dark night.  We put on our bright neon yellow jackets and turned on our rear, blinking red lights, but quickly realized that once we left the street lights of Rhinebeck, we wouldn’t be able to see anything ahead of our bikes.  It probably took us an hour to get back to the campsite.  Alexa panicked.  I tried to unpanic Alexa, but eventually we got back to our site, where we were grateful for our headlamps that we had not brought with us that day.  Moral of the story:  Don’t ride at night without making sure you can see just as well as be seen.  Anyways, it was more dramatic than the movie, and that’s quite a feat.

Next day, we woke up to rain again.  We stayed in our tents until it stopped and then rode for about ten miles before stopping for breakfast.  During our meal, it started raining… hard.  This rain continued for most of the day.  We rode in it for about twenty miles, through Poughkeepsie, (pukipsy) NY, taking a 45 minute break under an awning at one point before finally reaching a service station where we saw a beautiful sight, a fellow bicycle tourer.  We met Steve. 

 

Respite from the rain with a fellow long-distance bike rider 

This was the perfect break we needed.  It turned out that we had seen his bike that morning at the campground where we had stayed but he had left without us getting a chance to speak with him.  In the afternoon, after also riding through the same rain we had ridden through, he was escaping to the precious dryness of the gas station awning.  He, unfortunately, was ending his planned trip to Philadelphia due to the on and off rain of the last few days.  We talked for almost two hours and really enjoyed meeting this positive and warm person.

From here, we rode about 5 miles to a hotel, yes… a hotel.  We had decided that morning after these few days of rain that we needed to completely dry off.  We did laundry, ate a nice dinner, and slept in a nice, dry bed near New Paltz, NY.

Anthony, not a pumpkin 

Now, some of our journal entries from a day of rest in Philadelphia:

Alexa…….. With the tent hanging over the shower and all doors, we fell asleep with the positive weather report from the Weather Channel ringing in our ears.  The next day we slept in, we couldn’t draw ourselves out of the cozy bed until 8 o’clock, then we rode most of the day in perfect, sunny, chilly weather, stopping for pizza at lunchtime, fighting a smallish headwind, and arriving at the Oakland Valley Campground with a gorgeous site all to ourselves next to the sound of the running river with a dinner of Indian food and tofu.

Anthony….  the next day we rode for about 15 miles or so to the outskirts of Port Jervis, NY.  There, we ate a large breakfast and bought some groceries for the day.  It was fortunate that we bought some food because we quickly entered the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area where there was very little traffic, beautiful scenery, and almost no commercial business. 

 

The secluded Rails to Trails path along the Delaware River 

The only store was closed for the week because the bridge to PA was under repair at the time.  We refilled our water bottles at a home (thanks to a man washing his truck), and after saying goodbye to some very interested and curious NJ road workers, we kept going through the NJ wilderness.  It was here that we came to one of the steepest hills yet on our trip.  The route was changing from one valley to a parallel valley via a large hill.  We both walked up this hill and then descended the other side very quickly.  Very soon, we began riding next to the Delaware River and entered the Worthington State Forest (NJ).

It was Thursday, and we found a beautiful campsite next to the river in a fairly empty campground.  We had a chile and cheese dinner with pita bread and went to bed quietly. 

 

Sunset on the Delaware 

The next morning, we woke up really late (about 9) and took our time getting up and ready.  Friday was another planned day off.  We then discovered that an animal (likely a raccoon, probably not a black bear) had stolen our last piece of pita bread that was hanging from the hook next to the picnic table.  The sneaky rodent had stolen what was supposed to be our morning snack that would tide us over till breakfast.  We were both hungry, but first we had to register at the campsite since the office was closed when we arrived the day before.  When we went to the ofice, we were told that we had to switch campsites because the one we had chosen was reserved for Friday night.  We were getting hungrier, but we returned to the site and packed up our stuff, rolled up the tent with half our stuff still in it (and poking a hole in the bottom with a knitting needle left in the tent), and strapped the tent to Alexa’s bike and rode down the driveway to our new, mosquito ridden site.  By now, we were very hungry, so we started biking the four miles to the nearest town.

 

Moving the tent, in a lazy fashion 

In order to get to the town, we had to cross the river via I-80, on a sidewalk.  That was somewhat loud, and nerveracking, and quickly disturbed our calm, camping demeanors.  When we crossed, I (Anthony) proposed going left in pursuit of a diner that was reportedly (by the campground) located a few miles down the road.  After a few descents, Alexa was mad.  There was no diner, and we were riding away from all potential food.  Finally, we turned around and rode back to the town of Delaware Water Gap where we found the phantom diner and ate a massive breakfast, including chocolate chip pancakes.

At the end of breakfast, the staff informed us that our only options for acquiring food were a Wal-Mart four miles away or the service station a hundred yards away.  We went to the service station and stocked up on snacks and instant pasta.  Then we headed back to the campsite to enjoy our day off with some hiking.

The hiking was great.  We hiked along a section of the Appalachian Trail along pond that was secluded up in the New Jersey hills/mountains. 

 

Just trying to fit in on the trail 

Then we encountered a snake on the descent that hissed loudly at us as it hid under some low-growing ferns.  It woke us up and forced us to run down the path a little ways.  That was an angry snake.  At the end of the hike, we decided to make our dinner away from our buggy campsite, and then we went to bed.

The next morning we woke up fairly early and left the campground after seeing a large bald eagle high up in a pine tree.

Alexa…..  Not knowing if we would find a site at the next campground, we set out for he day and rode one of the most peaceful days yet.  Just following the Delaware River all day long, we saw very few cars or people.  Stopping for a late afternoon picnic lunch, the cashier at the local natural foods store remarked at how peaceful we seemed.  At first, I just thought – I don’t know about peaceful, tired and hungry may be more like it- but thinking about it a bit later, I realized that it was true.  I didn’t think when she said, “it must be so relaxing,” that she could be right, but just riding all day with the river on one side and trees on the other, with no steep hills, was indeed peaceful.  The last 8 miles of the trip followed the rails to trails on packed gravel, leading us into a beautiful state park on the Delaware River with plenty of sites for us to choose from.

The next morning it was hard to leave the warmth of our warm sleeping bags, but we rode through the chilly morning again on the rails to trails until we got to a small town where we had an argument about stopping for breakfast that lasted all day.  We didn’t speak till the afternoon where we stopped at a gas station market and an older man, picking up on our tension, approached us, asking if we had money troubles, while handing me a 20 dollar bill.  I (Alexa) tried to explain that we didn’t, but he just said, “It’s Sunday, and it’s my birthday; I got to give it to somebody.”  We later had tuna fish sandwiches in honor of him.

Anthony…..  We had the sandwiches at a little pizza/sandwich shop west of Norristown, PA.  They told us that we shouldn’t stay in Norristown, which had been our plan, but rather we should try to stay in one of the “many” hotels in Conshohocken, PA.  When we arrived in Conshohocken, we realized there were only a couple of choices, a Marriott ($160) and a Marriott Residence.  A few seconds later, a woman stopped and askes us about all our baggage.  Alexa began explaining our trip to her and her husband and they were very excited about our trip, and their own participation in an MS ride coming up.  They offered us luck on finding a hotel, and then rode on down the Schuykill trail towards Philadelphia.  We continued our search for another hotel by asking the woman at a small shop but finally decided to go see about the Marriott Residence, and possibly go back to a hotel closer to Norristown.  Just as we crossed the railroad tracks towards the Marriott, we saw the couple yelling for us as they were riding back down the trial they had just left on.

It was here when our luck continued to get better.  They had returned to offer us their extra bedroom in their house for the night.  We immediately accepted and then rode back down the trail several miles to their van.  They were fantastic.  They were extremely friendly and open to us and they packed their van with the 4 bikes and 4 people, and we drove the 30-45 minutes to their home 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia in Boyertown, PA.  Ironically, we were further from Philly than we had been that morning, but Lonnie and Deb spoiled us to the greatest extent.  They cooked a marvelous dinner of salmon, broccoli, homegrown beets, salad, and ice cream, and we talked for several hours.

There was another comical moment during our dinner when we heard the dog chewing loudly in the adjoining room.  Corey, the dog, had partially destroyed Alexa’s biking shoes, beyond repair.  The shoes were such a small thing compared to the overwhelming generosity of our new friends.

 

Corey, the dog, joining us for dinner

We slept comfortably in a warm, soft bed, and woke up to a concoction of supplements in liquid form and a breakfast of blueberry pancakes. 

 

Our new friends, Deb and Lonnie outside of Philadelphia 

A few hours later, they returned us to Norristown where we took the train into Philadelphia, or rather Merion Station, PA, and the home of Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Larry.  They made us a fantastic dinner and were so great to welcome us into their home.

Alexa…..  on tuesday, we had a wonderful day in Philadelphia. 

 

Logan Square, Philadelphia 

We had no goal, no destination, no need to do or see anything specific, so the day unfolded perfectly, and with a certain spaciousness that created a lighthearted feeling.  We took the train into downtown Philly, bought lunch at Trader Joe’s and ate at a beautiful fountain in the center of the city.  We followed signs and decided that we didn’t want to spend a beautiful day in a museum, but would rather explore the old city.

We went to the Carpenter’s Hall, an old building that was the site of one of the Constitutional Conventions, where we asked a museum guide what he would recommend as the highlights of the city.  He mapped out our whole day, as well as giving us background history about it all.  We explored Benjamin Franklin’s homesite, saw his original septic system (!), and carriage way.  There wasn’t a reconstruction of his house because they didn’t have enough written about it to be sure what it looked like which surprised both of us.  But it was neat to look into the past through the artifacts that were still there.  I (Alexa)  loved to imagine the men and women in their colonial coats and dresses walking through the streets, Benjamin courting his soon-to-be wife Deborah, working in the printing press, and hanging out in the tavern.

We visited Christ’s Church where George and Martha Washington, the Franklins, and many signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution attended services.  We arrived at the same time as a teacher’s association from Pittsburgh so we heard the full description from a museum guide.

We then walked down Elfreth’s Alley, the oldest continuous residential street in America.  Of course, people are still living there today, and we wondered how people could stand having so many tourists walking up and down their street, taking pictures, and looking into their windows.

 

 Elfreth’s Alley, Philadelphia

We then decided it was time for some coffee, and after viewing Ben Franklin’s gravesite, we spent an hour or so sipping our espresso drinks, knitting, writing, eating chocolate, and taking photos in a cool cafe on Market Street.

 

Downtime 

We got back to Carolyn and Larry’s , walked the dogs, and a had a wonderful Italian dinner, sitting outside on a warm, autumn night.  It was a wonderful day.

Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Larry with a lot of Italian food

 

We have been in Connecticut for the last couple of days, just left the state a moment ago, crossing the border into New York.  OH MY GOD!  I have never seen (or felt) hills like this in all my life (and I am not just being dramatic…)  It has been a physical challenge unlike anything I’ve experienced before on a bicycle.  This is also our first four consequtive day of riding with no break or soft cushy bed.  We are getting very strong.  We have also been enduring intense heat and sun with a promise of our first day of rain tommorro…but you never really know.  We have also been staying in some of the most interesting campgrounds either of us have ever seen.  It appears as though folks own thier RV sites and set up shop for the whole summer and it looks like a little competition for who can have the tackiest lawn ornaments (christmas lights and copius flags included).  But it is amazing.  All these campsites have “wilderness sites,” allowing us to camp among the tall pines and maples.  It has been so beautiful.  Connecticut is so beautiful.  Today we rode past the appalachian trail and talked to an angry Italian man at the health food store who seemed to hate America…but he lives here..  We met two other guys from Pennsylvania yesterday on recumbent bicycles who are making their way to Bar Harbor.  It was nice to see that we weren’t the only crazy ones out there, and to swap stories for a little while, even though they seemed a little shy…TOday we are only riding thirty miles, we have done most of our work for the day and are beating the heat at the library.  WE only get 30 minuetes on the computer, so we may not have time to post any pictures.  Okay, here are the pictures.

 

Alexa in her comfy clothes 

And here are some of our journal entries from the past week:

Anthony 9/5/07

THe last two days since we left Bonnie and PHillipe’s house in Cambridge have been good.  Wehave had ideal weather and we have averaged about 40 miles a day.  YEsterday, we made it to Ayer, MA and stayed in a campground that was a litttle pricey, but it was nice and we made a fire, played some music, and went to sleep as the night became somewhat cold.  During the day we rode out of cambridge and rode to the decordova sculpture musuem.  It was a great break and the art was fascinating. 

 

The Man listening to the Earth (eerily resembling the man painting the Ouellett’s house in Portsmouth.) 

Then we went to Walden pond and swam again and spoke to a man who had toured quite a bit himself.  It was inspiring to hear his stories and reap all the advice we could from him.  We went to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s houseand went to a cafe in Concord, MA where I knitted and Alexa sewed and we had come caffeine and a cookie.

Today we left Ayer and headed to a bike store in Westborough to see about the wobble in Alexa’s bike.  They didn’t have many suggestions aside from truing the rear tire. THe biggest concern of the last couple of days has been the wobble in Alexa’s bike, Lolly.  It has been happening since we made the repairs in Portsmouth.  It seems to shimmy most often when she is riding at a good speed, but it happens other times, as well.   I don’t think the bike is going to break, but I am worried about the handling of hte bike when its wobbling.  I don’t want Alexa to be so focused onthe wobble that she is not paying enough attention to the road.  It’s a confusing situation and I hope we can get to a point where it’s not constantly bothering us.

Alexa 9/6/07:

Whitman said, “now I see the secret to the making of hte best persons – it is to live in the open air, to eat and sleep with the Earth.”

‘Viewage’ in Connecticut

 

“What happens in a meadow at dawn?” 

We’ve now had three fulls days and nightsl iving entirely outside, sleeping under the moon and waking up looking at the underbellies of theh leaves on the undersides of the trees.  And we’ve been blessed with perfect riding weather and appreciating it, knowing it will change, as everything does.

And it seems like most things – everything would be perfect if one little thing were gone or different, or would change.  The wobble.  Lolly lobwobble.  Her new shimmy constantly makes me say in my mind, “if this was gone everything would be great, perfect, even.”  When I am riding slow or fast or just almost always, Lolly has taken to start shaking.  IT unnerves me, especially with traffic around, going up steep hills.  I just want it to be fixed.  But it can’t.  The mechanic doesn’t even know what causes it. – it will never be fixed.  I am to always – for the next 2,000 miles, ride a shaky bike, and it makes me feel  like a shaky person…but i just have to accept it because I have no choice.  I have come to the conclusion that Lolly’s wobble mirrors my own inner wobble.  So here I am riding lolly lobwobble and everything would be perfect if it was all different.

We’ve spent the last couple of days in Cambridge, MA visiting with some friends of ours, relaxing, and eating some really great food.  We plan on leaving Tuesday morning and heading southwest towards Philadelphia.  We have to be there by the 17th, so we are planning on taking our time and going at a slower pace than we have so far.

Our pace so far is definitely part of the reason why this respite with friends has been so perfect.  We have been averaging at least 50 miles a day, and at times have been biking 60 or more miles in order to ensure that we arrived at our intended destination.  We’ve been doing a little too much.  We arrived on Friday in Cambridge after going 60+ miles and the day before had travelled about 50-55 miles in very hot weather (for the northeast).

Thursday… was difficult.  We got off to a late start from Portsmouth and found ourselves biking in the heat of the midday immediately.  Not surprisingly, hours of biking in hot weather quickly drains you.  By the time we made it about 40 miles, we came to a road that had heavy traffic and very little shoulder.  This road drained the rest of the energy which the heat had not.  I (Anthony) was frustrated and trying to figure out options for cutting our day short, while Alexa was expressing her hatred for bicycling, cars, and hot weather.  We took a short break to rest, but on our way to get back on the road, Alexa’s bike fell over.. with her on top.  Well, after several minutes of gathering ourselves, we decided to just keep going and keep our eyes open for options.

As it often happens, we ran into the longest hill of the day very shortly after this, and then I began to ask people where the nearest campground may be.  At the beginning of the day, we (mainly me, Anthony) had hoped to get to a campground that was about 15 miles further on the map.  That was now impossible, so I thought the locals may be able to help us.  On my second try, we pulled over to a nursery (landscaping, not children) and asked if they knew of any campgrounds in the area.  Before we knew it, they were asking the owner if we would be able to camp on the property.  And, he said, “Of course.”  Then he let us take a shower in their spare bathroom, and just by chance, he also operated an ice cream stand adjoining the nursery.  We then had ice cream for dinner.  We were exhausted.

Thursday forced us to develop a different strategy, which we tried on Friday.  We woke up a little before sunrise, packed, ate a small breakfast, and then we were on the road by 6:00.  We rode for about 20 miles before stopping for a second breakfast at about 8:00.  We then rode another 25 miles or so to get to Walden Pond where we ate an early lunch and went for a swim in Thoreau’s old pondering grounds. 

Walden Pond

Anthony David Thoreau in his cabin writing

Henry David Alexa pondering the simplicity of life

The man himself in cast iron in front of the replica of his house

 This nice break made the last 18 miles to Cambridge fairly easy.  It was obvious we were back in the Boston area when we came to a five-way stop intersection.  We took it easy getting into Cambridge, and we were on a bike path for the last several miles.  Friday was the first day where the task of bicycling was secondary to the experience of travelling down new roads.  Our new strategy was helpful, but another large part was having a known destination.  Having a comfortable bed, friends or family, and good food awaiting your arrival always makes a day go smoother.  We will have to develop some strategies for the uncertainty that will usually arrive at the end of our days.

Phillipe and Bonnie and their bikes in front of their new Cambridge house before taking a bike ride through the city to go to Cambridge Insight Meditation Center for some moments of much needed meditation

Bonnie and Anthony and Phillipe riding through the city, Alexa taking pictures while riding…

Cambridge Insight Meditation Center

Buddha

Thank you so much to Bonnie and Phillipe and Melanie and Eric and John and Selena for such good company, conversation and friendship!