Can't Believe It's Really Over

I have to apologize for my delay in posting this final summary of my ride. I’ve felt a bit overwhelmed with trying to summarize the entire adventure in just one post. I have thought a lot about what to say, especially in my final few rides.

First of all, I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my immediate family at my sister’s place in Jersey City, NJ. Mike, my sister’s boyfriend, and his family joined us for the meal. It was a fantastic destination and final goal from my trip. I was so happy to see my family and have a relaxing holiday weekend. I ate sooo much on Thanksgiving and it was all delicious! Saturday we went into the city for the day. Here is a picture of me with my family in Times Square!

To start, I have a lot of thank yous. First of all, I have to thank God for giving me the strength and determination to complete the ride, not to mention keep me alive along the way. Next, I have to thank my family. They have been my biggest supporters. Following my blog and calling to check in along the way. Thanks Mom, Dad, and Trina. I need to give a huge thank you to all my followers. This includes all my extended family, friends, acquaintances , and even strangers. Knowing that I had the support and encouragement of all of you kept me going through the hard times. I heard directly from some, but knew there were many more. I could see the number of hits on the counter on the bottom of this blog. I also need to thank all my great hosts along the way. I spent 30 nights relying on the on the hospitality of others and every night was delightful. I met so many amazing people along the way and had so many wonderful experiences.

The trip was an amazing journey. I learned a lot about myself and the world around me. One of the greatest things I learned about myself is that I can do just about anything I put my mind to. I know, sounds kind of cliche, but it's true. I never doubted my ability to complete this ride, but it has opened my mind to other challenges I feel capable of pursuing. It just takes determination and persistence. I've already begun to brainstorm future challenging adventures.

A lesson I learned about the world around me was how hospitable and helpful complete strangers can be. Just about everyday of my journey I met new people who were friendly and willing to help. I think it's common to be careful trusting complete strangers, but I learned that the vast majority of people are well intentioned. Especially through using couchsurfing, I met many great people. Everyone was so happy to host me for the night and had many delicious meals provided for me. Much needed fuel to continue on my journey. I do realize and agree there are certainly times and places to be careful, but I think my experience has enlightened me to good in the world.

Not only have I used this blog to keep a record of my ride, I've kept a personal journal that I've written in each night. I've also completed a Bible study each day focusing on the ministry of Jesus. There is a section in the back of my travel Bible that has directed me to specific scriptures each day. After my daily reading I write a short reflection. I spent a lot of my time praying and getting closer to God and learning more about Jesus's ministry during his time on Earth. If you don't know Jesus, know that he knows you, and He loves you.

It's hard to summarize my entire experience and if you've only read part of my blog I encourage you to check the rest out. It's long, but there are some good stories. I've been encouraged by some to write a book to share my adventure. I never thought of myself as a writer, but it has crossed my mind over the course of the ride. It's a possibility. I would likely take my blog as a first draft and elaborate more on my experiences and thoughts along the way. I have enjoyed sharing my experiences, and hope my followers have enjoyed the stories.

Here is a map of my route from Fernandina Beach, FL to Jersey City, NJ.

Just a few statistics from the ride:

Miles biked: 1003

Miles in a car: about 125 (this includes various rides under certain circumstances)

Miles walked: about 3 (final 3 of the trip)

Days Riding: 23

Days Resting: 7

Most miles in a day: 72

Fewest miles in a day: 15

Total nights on the road: 30

Camping: 4

Hostels: 1

Friends/Family of Friends: 11

Family: 4

Couchsurfing: 7

Hotel: 1

Homeless Shelter: 1

Outward Bound Base: 1

Times I crashed/fell off my bike: 0

Times I was hit by a car: 1

Flat Tires: 5

1 on my front wheel

2 on my back wheel (back to back on my final day)

2 on my trailer wheel

Replacement parts: 3 (2 new back wheels and a new trailer)

Things lost: 1 water bottle

Nice people I met: too many to count

Mean people: 0 (That's right, not one mean person the entire time.)

Hitch hiked: 1 time (to get across a busy bridge)

Scriptures read: 56

Funds raised: $733 last I checked. You can check by clicking the link on the right side of the page.

Followers:????

Views of this blog: check the number at the bottom of this page

These are all the stats I can think of right now. Hope you found them interesting. If I think of more I'll add them later.

It's still not too late to donate to Camp Starfish. I'll probably close the donation page within the next couple weeks.

Thank you for all of your support and God Bless!!!

If anyone has any final questions or comments for my you can post them as a comment to this post.

Wet Cement

After a delicious breakfast, cooked by my cousin Linda, I was ready for my final ride. It seemed as though the rain may hold out, but right as I was getting on my bike it started. I figured I'd get into my rain gear right away, rather than wait and have to do it later. Riding through suburban Jersey was quite nice. I was only traveling about 30 miles total, but had over 100 directions to follow. This left me riding on many short neighborhood and back roads. As I got closer to the city it became more and more busy. Riding through Newark was actually quite exciting. I had so much energy as I got closer to my destination.

I was about five miles away from finishing my entire journey when I noticed I had a flat tire. I couldn't believe it. It was my first flat on the bike on the entire ride. Not including the flat I had as a result of the accident. I considered just walking the remaining five miles, but it was already about 4:00PM. I knew that walking the final five miles would leave me arriving much later than planned and in the dark. Plus, I wanted to gloriously arrive at my sister's place riding my bike. I quickly changed the tire and continued on.

About one mile later I was about to cross a large bridge over the Passaic River. Here is a picture of what I faced.

One more obstacle in my way. I wasn't sure what the plastic was for so I had to explore. After checking it out, I discovered it was wet cement. I confirmed it was wet by scuffing my shoe in it. After leaving my mark, I began to brainstorm my other options. The road to the left was a busy, multilane highway. The wet cement was only about 30 feet long, and there was a tall barrier between the road and the sidewalk. I decided my best option at this point was to walk my bike and gear along the side of the road and lift it over the barrier and continue down the sidewalk along the bridge. I had to disconnect my trailer from my bike and carry my gear separately. I had finally made it across and was ready to continue on when I realized my the tire I had just replaced was flat, again. It was nearly dark and I was crammed on the sidewalk of the bridge. I decided at this point, I would walk the remaining three miles. After finally walking across two giant bridges and along a few busy streets in Jersey City I had reached my sister's place. Trina and her boyfriend Mike came out to greet me. I had done it!!! I was so happy to be there. We brought my bike and gear upstairs and I got a bite to eat and a cold beer. My parents arrived shortly after and we all had dinner together. It hadn't, and still hasn't really sunk in that it's over. I'm going to enjoy Thanksgiving, and let reality that the journey is over sink in.

Within the next couple days I will post a summary of the trip. I'll include best and worst experiences and some interesting statistics. Be sure to check back for it.

Family, For the First Time

I rode ALL day yesterday in the rain. It started off as more of a drizzle, but picked up later in the day. The first part of my ride was through Princeton University. It was pretty dreary, and I didn't go straight through campus so there weren't too many picture oppertunities. However, I did pass these columns out in the middle of a field. They made me think of Mizzou (University of Missouri) where I went to graduate school. Mizzou is known for gigantic columns they have on campus. Here is a picture of the columns I passed. They were from some historic building. I can't remember the details.

About a third of my entire day was along this canal trail. You might think this sounds nice, but it wasn't. Getting onto the trail I had to hike up this muddy path. It was quite challenging, especially with the bags I had over my shoes.

These bags were helpful in keeping my feet try for the majority of the day. They ended up ripping toward the end. As my wheels and breaks get wet they become less effective. I sometimes need to use my shoes to help slow me down. I know this may make some people nervous, but you have to trust my judgment. I stay in control of the bike and stay safe. I even walk it when necessary.

The trail I rode on was quite nice, despite the riding conditions. It was a plateau between a creek and the canal. I learned that the canal was created because it has a consistent depth and width that was more manageable for boats or barges. There were overflow parts of the trail that allowed for the canal to flow into the creek if it got too high. Luckily that wasn't the case during my ride. Here is a picture of the trail with the canal on the right and the creek on the left.

I saw so many Mallard ducks on the canal. They would always fly away when I went to take a picture. Here is one I got as they were flying away. You can see them if you look close.

This is one of the overflow sections. It was extremely bumpy, if you can't tell by the big rocks. It would have been challenging on a mountain bike, let alone on my road bike, pulling my loaded trailer. I persevered and road all the way across.

When I had finally made it to the end of the trail my bike and trailer were covered in mud. Here is a picture.

I rewarded myself with an MRE for lunch. An MRE is a meal ready to eat. They are military issue and I was given a few from my friend, Phil, in Florida. Thanks Phil. I needed the calories after this strenuous trail ride, and still had about 10 miles to go.

I was recharged and ready to finish the next 10 miles of my ride. The rain picked up, but I kept on riding. After 30 miles in the rain, I finally made it to my cousin Linda's home in Edison, NJ. I met her and her husband, Mike for the first time. It was really nice getting to know them. They took me out for dinner and then Linda made chocolate chip cookies when we got home. What treatment! I woke up this morning and had a delicious breakfast. All ready to go for my final ride of the journey. Here is a picture of the three of us before I left. We're all big Buffalo Bills fans!!

I have roughly 30 miles to make it to my sister's place today in Jersey City, just outside of NYC. The forecast calls for rain, but I hope it holds out. I'm so excited to see my sister and parents! I will certainly be ready to eat tomorrow and relax to some football during the day.

If you've been meaning to donate, and haven't yet, this would be a great time. I'll finish today with just over 1000 miles and am currently a few hundred short of my fund raising goal. I'll keep it open for a while after I finish. I really appreciate your support, whether or not you can support financially.

Yo, Adrian

I had a great time visiting Philly, but it was time to continue on. Before I left, Nick and I went out for a cup of coffee. Here is a picture of the two of us before I left his place. As you can see, my beard is coming in quite nice.

Nick lives in West Philly and my route took me from his place through downtown and then north along the Delaware River. On my ride through the city I passed the Art Museum, more commonly known as, The Rocky Steps. I had to take the tourist opportunity. If your wondering if I ran up the steps, I sure did. Here is a picture of the steps.

They were setting up for something so there were a bunch of people around and some sort of ribbons on the steps. Here is a picture facing the Art Museum from the top of the steps.

And here is a shot from the top of the steps overlooking the city.

Once back to the bottom, I found the statue of Rocky himself. Here I am sitting with him.

After all the excitement with Rocky I needed to continue on. I had a late start as it was. There were so many cool murals and graffiti painted on buildings and trucks around the city. I saw this enormous one on the side of a building. I had to take two pictures it was so bit. I'm not sure how to put them side by side so here they are top and bottom.

I'm not exactly sure what's going on because I snapped these while waiting at a red light, but there is some theme related to bicycles. If you look closely at the top picture you can see a crank with a pedal, and in the bottom you can see a wheel. The parking meters give you an idea of how big it is. I passed another river walk brewery on my way out of Philly, but had to pass because I was already behind schedule.

So that's the end of my pictures from yesterday, but now it's story time. After finally making it through Philly and the outskirts of the city, I had a long stretch on a road that would lead me almost to Trenton, NJ. After a ways down this road I discovered that the road I needed was closed. Great. Time to make my own detour again. I ventured onto a different road that looked promising. I came to a point where I could pick up a trail that would lead me where I was going, rather than travel the busy road. I got started on the trail and soon met another biker who was coming from the opposite direction. I confirmed with him where the trail would take me. He explained that if I continue on I would see a hotel and the trail would end, and I could pick up the bridge that I needed to cross into NJ. Seemed promising.

Despite a very bumpy, gravel trail along the side of the tracks, I felt like this detour would work. The trail conditions became worse as it got darker and evidence of the trail seemed to disappear. I felt like I was just traveling down the side of the train tracks. Although I had some concerns, I trusted the mans directions to stay on the trail. At one point I heard a high pitch ringing sound, then soon realized that meant a train would follow. By this time it was completely dark, but I continued to press on with my blinking lights. I came up to an underpass where the trains traveled under a bridge. I didn't think much of it as I began to head through. I couldn't even ride my bike at this point because it was so bumpy. I was just pushing it. Then I heard the high pitch ringing sound. I knew what that meant. I froze. My gut instinct was to drop my bike and trailer and book it back to the opening. Full of adrenaline, I sprinted back to the opening. The train was honking its horn at me as it approached. Just as the train passed I reached the end of the tunnel and dove to the embankment to the side. I think I even got a boost from the air pressure from the train as it passed.

After getting up and thanking God for my life, AGAIN, I heard screeching sounds coming from the train. I wasn't sure if it was trying to stop or just the sounds from going around the next bend. I didn't know if someone would be on their way to see if I was okay, or to arrest me. I figured it'd just be best to get out of there. On my side of the tracks was about a 15 foot bank that led to another track. On the other side was about four more tracks and a fence. I decided to climb the bank. I had to disconnect my bike and trailer. I even had to take some gear out of my trailer to be able to make it up. After hauling everything up the bank and across the other tracks I checked my map again. I was now right next to the trail that I should have been on originally, however there was about 20 feet of thick woods between me and the trail. The tracks seemed to lead in the direction I needed, so I continued on. A bit further down I found a little passage way to the trail so I took it. Finally, I had made it to the hotel I heard about earlier.

My next challenge was to make it across a bridge and through Trenton, NJ in the dark. I had about 10 more miles before arriving at my destination. I finally made it to my couchsurfing host's place at around 7:00. After a quick shower, I helped Todd, my host, prepare dinner. We had some delicious chicken with potatoes and steamed vegetables. After dinner I could barley keep my eyes open.

After looking back on what I felt like at the time was a near death experience, I'm not so sure it was. I'm also not sure my gut told me to do the right thing. I think I may have been just fine standing flat up against the wall. There would have been enough clearance. My bike and trailer were just fine. I could have also just ran across the tracks to an empty space next to it. I may have never really been in a deadly situation. My gut told me to run, and thats what I did. May have reached my top speed on foot, who knows. Either way it was a scary, exciting event and makes for an interesting story. I know it's a long one, but hope you enjoyed.

The City-Wide Special

I decided to take a rest day in Philly since I'm a little ahead of schedule and hadn't been to the city before. Not to mention, it was the sabbath. I was thinking during one of my rides, I have taken a rest day each Sunday during my trip. I hadn't really planned to, but it seemed to work out that way. I was only able to catch a church service once while in DC with my friend Chris. It's hard sometimes when traveling and visiting.

Sunday morning in Philly my friend Nick was running in the Philadelphia Marathon. I didn't realize how big it was until I got there. I got up early to go cheer him on. There was a cheering section at one of the corners of the course. I met up with a few of his other friends there. We stood there for about a half hour until finally seeing him pass. It would have been a great picture, but he passed so quick. We were amazed how many runners there were, thousands! They just kept coming! We stood there for almost an hour and they were nonstop. Here is a video clip I took. Might be a little boring, but gives you an idea of what its like to cheer at a marathon. You can't see that well in the video, but it can actually be pretty good people watching.

I took this picture of the runners following a hydration point. Cups ALL over the road.

After seeing Nick pass at the cheering section, I rode my bike through Philly and to the finish line. It was a huge crowd, but I was able to find him. He had done the 1/2 marathon and had met his time goal. We celebrated with some tasty brunch.

Here is a picture of the city I took on my ride through the city.

After brunch we walked through the University of Penn campus to get back to Nick's. It's a real nice campus. Here is a picture of the walkway we took.

After getting back to his place so he could get a shower, we relaxed for a bit. After the great time I had at the Bills bar in DC I looked one up in Philly. I easily found one and we headed out to catch the second half. Here is a picture of the outside of the bar.

It's really fun going to Bills bars in other cities. The bars are always packed with Bills fans wearing jerseys and other Bills gear. At this one they played the "Shout" song when they scored. Too bad it was another terrible performance.

After the game I wanted to find a traditional Philly Cheese Steak! I can't remember the name of the shop, but it was recommended by Nick's friend, Jenny. I had to order it the traditional way, with onions and wiz. Wiz is cheese wiz. Don't ask me why that's the traditional cheese, but it is.

After our cheese steaks we went back to Nick's for another break. A little later that evening we went out to a Blues show just across the street from Nick's place. We walked through a restaurant looking place and up a staircase to a room the size of a typical living room. There was a small bar on the side and a few tables. There was a five-piece Blues band playing. The band consisted of a acoustic guitar, harmonica, flute, stand up bass, and washboard. They were really entertaining. I had been hearing all about the city-wide special. The city-wide special is a special at just about every bar in Philly. It's a shot of whiskey and a beer for $3-4. Had to get one while I was there.

What a great day in Philly!!

Not All Trails are so Sweet

Yesterday I rode from Wilmington, DE to Philadelphia, PA. It was a pretty quick 30 mile ride, however it may have been one of the least enjoyable. The ride out of Wilmington was actually really nice. Once getting on the road I passed this sign.

A girl walked past my bike as I was taking this picture and noticed the sign on the back of my trailer. She gave me a fist pump of encouragement. Right next to where the sign was I caught this short trail that led me through this park. It was quite nice.

Just a few more miles and I had reached the Delaware River. There was a beautiful river walk and I noticed a brewery. I figured I'd check it out. They had just opened, but were willing to serve me a beer. I tried the Sasquatch. It was a barlywine with American hops. Sooo tasty.

The river walk along the Delaware with Wilmington in the background.

The Sasquatch!

Afterwards, I continued northward. I saw this ECG sign and had high hopes. ECG stands for East Coast Greenway. These signs usually make me happy.

I thought it would be a pretty ride along the Delaware, but I was wrong. I don't know if I missed the greenway, or it just wasn't so green. Almost the entire way up to Philly there were huge industries and refineries. Not a pretty sight, nor did it smell very nice. This was my view.

This was the closest thing I saw for a welcome to PA sign.

After finally making through the industrial district, I was looking forward to taking a trail that my route had me on. By far, the worst trail I've been on, maybe even one of the worst experiences of the trip. Maybe a little extreme, but I was miserable. The trail was all gravel which was super bumpy. The spots that weren't gravel were either grass, or mud with puddles. Not to mention it was right next to a major highway which was quite loud. The scenery was also all dead and dried up. I think what really made it the worst was that it was like 5 miles long. I felt like it would never end. Here is a snapshot of part of the trail.

After finally finishing the trail I rode up through South Philly to my friends place in West Philly. After a relaxing evening, my friend Nick and I had dinner at his place with two of his other friends. After dinner we played a friendly game of Jenga then went to be a bit early. Nick had to get to bed because he was running a half marathon the next morning.

Short, Easy Day

Yesterday I rode from Elkton, MD to Wilmington, DE. A measly 16 miles. I slept in and then had some breakfast with Steffi, the friend of the guy I was couchsurfing with. We went out to IHOP. It was delicious. Afterwards I took my time getting ready and left a little later in the afternoon. I quickly crossed the DE border. Here is the welcome sign.

Shortly after passing that sign, I came across this one. I actually passed it at first, but went back because I was impressed by the "Bicycle Friendly Community" sign.

It was a nice ride through Newark. There was a nice paved trail that basically went around downtown and through part of the campus of University of Delaware. It was a nice campus, and definitely bike friendly. After getting through Newark, I traveled mostly on one road to get to Wilmington. Once I was close, I came to a big bridge that didn't seem to safe. Again there were no shoulders. My directions sent me on some strange side streets that took me under it. This is what I ended up having to cross. I'm getting used to hauling my bike and trailer through crazy off road trails and obstacles.

After only about an hour and a half ride I was at my destination in Wilmington. Again I couchsurfed and was hosted by Lunar and Andrew. They were great hosts and we watched some interesting films and had some good conversation during the evening.

Today I ride up to Philly where I'll be staying with a friend from Outward Bound. It's only about 30 miles. It's my first time in the city so I'm going to take a little time there. I'm going to take Sunday as a rest day, then continue on Monday. I only have two nights, three rides, and roughly 130 miles after that and I'll be at my destination. I'm looking forward to seeing my family and enjoying the Thanksgiving FEAST.