How Do I Spell Gratitude?

(Sprinting his way in the opposite direction of the deep fryer)

In NYC today (only a short bicycle jaunt from my hometown of Northport) they are holding the 13th Annual Cranksgiving Ride.  It's an event that I've always wanted to do but we have our annual holiday gathering at Mark and Laura's in Verona, NJ and its an amazing time for us all to be together and appreciate our amazing family.  So we're currently watching the parade on television and then we'll head out in the car for the great trek to the kingdom of New Jersey.  Yes, we do have to deal with the New Jersey traffic but at least this time I'm not doing it on a bicycle!

One of our traditions (which we in the Connor household have been doing on a daily basis for years) is to go around the tables and say one thing that we are grateful for in the last year.  To be honest, there are so many things I am grateful for this year that I can't limit it to just one so I decided to create this little acronym instead;

T - Three thousand, seven-hundred and thirteen miles without major mechanical issues and with only one minor accident.  The only mechanical was really just a flat tire (on one of the most grueling days of the ride) and the only accident was when Sarah ran into me on the way to Floyd, VA.  But there could have been so many instances where things could have gone horribly wrong but they didn't.  And for that I am grateful.
H - Healthy children.  Spending 44 days in the saddle this summer riding for children who are battling cancer made me so much more appreciative of the fact that my children are completely healthy and (I hope) happy.  Even when they annoy me, I am grateful for the fact that I do have them here TO annoy the @#$#@ out of me sometimes!  I am truly grateful that they are in my life.
A - All the people who supported us, sponsored us, followed us, and read this blog.  I truly could not have made it through all of those long difficult days without you.  Knowing you all believed in me and that you were pushing for me was sometimes the only thing that kept me from tossing my bike on the side of the road and calling it a day.
N - New experiences and memories that I have had over the last year with my family.  As difficult as it was to coexist in a small confined space (i.e., minivan, hotel rooms, Kozy Kabins, etc.) I really felt as if I grew closer to my family instead of away.  With them I traveled to places I have wanted to visit since I was a kid (The Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Colorado) and now I have these incredible memories of seeing my children and my wife discover the beauty that is this country.
K - Kozy Kabins, Kansans, Krispy Kreme Donuts and all other things that started with "K" that we got to experience this summer.  And yes, I know that I'm dwelling a lot over what happened this summer but it truly was a life changing experience not only for myself but for my children as well.  I think they really got the chance to see what this amazing country is all about and all the diversity that it holds.
S - Sunrises with Sarah, Sunsets with the family.  I think one of the things that I will remember the most about this summer was being with Sarah as she watched her very first sunrise.  We were on our bicycles heading to Pittsburgh, KS at something like 5:45 in the morning and I had the unbridled joy of watching her watch the sunrise from behind.  Her comments and little squeals of joy (in between the occasional puffing and heavy breathing) as she witnessed her first ever sunrise were magical.  And since this followed only about a week or so after the entire family had experienced the sunset over the Western rim of the Grand Canyon, we were in solar display heaven!  Memories like this are ones that I will take with me to my dying day and I hope they are ones the kids will remember forever.
G - Gas in the tank.  One of the hardest things about this summer's journey was the concern about gas prices.  We were very lucky in that we never hit the out-of-control gas prices that were originally forcast for the summer so we always had gas in the tank.  Well, except for that one brief period of time when Amy thought she would run out on the way to Charlottesville.  But more importantly, gas and oil prices have stayed low on Long Island which has been a big help as we are all struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  We recently started a gas rationing program here on the Island and it has helped alleviate the lines and the craziness.  People are actually beginning to be civil again to one another.  So this grateful is for gas!
I - In the moment.  One of the things that I was able to do this summer is live in the moment - something I've been striving to do for a very long time.  It was so much easier to do it when I was young but as I've grown oldere and have accumulated more responsibilites and cares (sort of like my mental and emotional saddlebags) I've forgotten to just live for the now and enjoy every moment.  This summer my children reminded me to do that.  As I experienced America through their eyes I saw how important it is for me to get back to the idea of just allowing myself to experience the here and now thoroughly.  I hope I can continue this important lesson.
V - Veni, Vidi, Vici  This summer I learned a lot about myself and I learned I CAN survive any challenge that I undertake.  It may not always have the ending that I dream about (*cough, cough* $50,000 raised for Sunrise) but I can do it.  This summer I came to some very desolate and inhospitable places in our country's landscape and I saw the challenges I had to face and yet I conquered them.  I am extremely grateful for the lessons this jounrey taught me.  Not only about myself but about my amazing wife and my incredible children.  I have always appreciated them and how blessed I am to have them in my life but because of what they helped me do and how they gave of themselves to help me reach this goal I appreciate them so much more.  I know that seems impossible but its true.  My greatest wish is to try to keep reminding myself every day of how they support me and love me, even when we make each other nuts.
I - Ice Cream!!!!!!! I know this seems like a silly thing to be grateful for but ice cream has tied our family together over the past year.  From making huge sundaes to celebrate the New Year (or the Connormonster we made when the power went out) to Amy's end of summer birthday party bash, ice cream bonds our family together.  Whether we're making our own or venturing down into Northport to see if they have any new flavors, we always enjoy it together.  And this summer the adventures we shared while looking for the perfect ice cream experience were numerous but to me, any time I could share the ice cream with my incredible family was the perfect ice cream experience.
N - New people who have come into our life and those with whom we've manage to reconnect with this year.  Our friends, old and new, have helped us weather some difficult times this year both emotionally and physically.  I am so incredibly grateful for all of these people who are in our lives and who have helped us maintain our sanity and our optimisim about the good of people in the world.
G - Gas in the tank.  One of the nicest things that has been said about me as a rider happened shortly after I came back from the summer.  I was riding with the AA crew of the Huntington Bicycle Club and I was having a good ride.  I was in shape I was pulling at times but I wasn't the fastest guy out there.  That's when my friend Michael Foresto said one of the nicest things that anyone has ever said about me, "He doesn't have a big engine but he's got a lot of gas in the tank!"  And that pretty much epitomizes my whole life.  I'm not flashy, I'm not the fastest, and I'm not necessarily the best.  But I can AND WILL keep going.  I found that to be true this summer and I think its been true my entire life.  I will keep going no matter what and I can keep going.  There are far too many people that I can help to give up now.

So the journey is done but the battle is not won.  I don't know yet what Connor's Army will do in the future but I know that it will be somehow related to helping the cancer community in any way that I can.  For to me, the best way to show my gratitude for the bounty that has been bestowed on me is to give back - in whatever way I can.

Stay well my friends, and I'll see you on the road!

Riding the (not so) Friendly Roads



(Welcome to Long Island - Now Get the Hell off MY Road!!!!!)

How do they do it?  How are people able to keep up a blog with everything else that goes on in their busy lives?  I guess it becomes a matter of priority and with the craziness that has been going on in the Tri State area I have allowed this blog to become the last thing on my mind.

The first thing of course is Hurricane Sandy which everyone around here has taken to calling "Superstorm Sandy".  My understanding is that the distinguishment (call it semantics) has something to do with insurance and FEMA assistance.  The Connor household was fortunately spared any damage to our home or property but those around us experienced plenty.  Some of my colleagues lost homes and some of my students as of this writing are still living with others or in hotels because they are still without power.  We lost power for about five days, got it back, lost it and then got it back again and we've been doing well every since - even surviving the Nor' Easter.

The second upheaval that has happened and has kept me off the blog trail has been the election.  No one can argue that this was the most contested and contentious election in many years and to tell the truth, when I was on the computer I was too drawn into reading all the articles about what was going on and being terribly afraid for the future of our country.  The election is over and President Obama won reelection (some have already started arguing that it was all because of Sandy - as if he can control the weather) but even that sense of stability will be taken from us as Republicans have already vowed to block him on everything they possibly can.

And the third event that has been keeping me away from these hallowed pages has been the Association of Creative Thespians' production of The 39 Steps which opens tomorrow here at SHS.  Because of the Superstorm, the Nor' Easter and the lack of gas to be had for buses or parents, we lost two weeks of rehearsal during that critical time when we traditionally clean and fix timing, finish the set and generally tech the show.  Last Friday, with less than a week before the opening of the show I put the question up to the cast and crew of the show - Do we continue?  I told them that I was willing to do either but it had to be a majority vote of the combined cast and crew.  If the majority voted to do it then I asked of them two things - 1) that we give it our very best shot and we put ALL of our effort into getting this show in the very best shape we possibly can, even if it means extra rehearsals and 2) that we use this as a fundraiser to help those in our own community and in other communities on Long Island who have been effected by the storms.  It wasn't unanimous, but they overwhelmingly agreed to go through with the show.  And despite all of the lost time, we are going to have an incredible show.  It won't be as clean as it could have been but it will be good - and we will raise funds to help others.  I couldn't be prouder of my kids.  They truly have shown what can happen when you choose to use your art for the good of others.

So with all of the craziness that has been happening in the last three weeks, I find that I haven't been riding, blogging or really doing much of anything.  

In terms of my riding, it's been far too long since I've done any meaningful miles and I have found myself falling into the trap of complacency that I guess all explorers fall into upon their return.  I haven't been riding as much and I haven't been able to get myself back into a disciplined groove.  I find that I just can't get myself as motivated to ride every day as I did over the summer.  Sometimes its just simply I didn't have a good night's sleep and I can't get up in the morning, nor can I force myself to get out of bed.  I'm not sure that I need to go to the extent of testosterone replacement therapy;

 



but I am finding that my get-up-and-go is not going as fast as it used to.  Now part of that may be the slow slouching towards 50 that I guess everyone finds themself doing at this age but I find myself in a state of almost constant mental flagellation (not to be confused with mental flatulation which just renders me stupid) trying to get myself motivated to do what I should be doing. 

So I ultimately feel like I'm letting down my family, my friends, my supporters, and especially the kids of Sunrise - which then starts the spiraling downward arc all over again and I find myself too disheartened to get my fat butt on the road.  Which has all led to the fact that I have gained back about seven pounds of all the weight I had lost over the summer - again, setting me up on a disheartened downward spiral.  I know all I need to do is get back to riding consistently but I just can't find the drive that I once had.

Now I don't know if I'm dealing with a sense of loss from the attainment of a goal.  Some who know me would argue that I've always been like this - never satisfied once I have what I have attained, that I'm constantly in need of a challenge.  Perhaps that's true but it does keep me moving and searching for a new challenge.  I guess that's what drove me to get my Master's in School District/Building Administration.  I'm now looking forward to the challenge of being a volunteer EMT in the Northport Fire Department.  It is my hope that I can eventually be a part of their bicycle EMS team that works all the events in Northport.  How cool would it be to combine my passion for riding with my desire to help my community.

I also believe there is another thing that has been influencing my lack of joy with riding on Long Island.  While I was riding across the country this summer I rode in a number of different scenarios and locales - from crowded highways with almost no shoulder (thank you so much Adventure Cycling Association), to twisting mountain roads in Kentucky alongside loaded coal trucks, to crowded urban roads (Baltimore, Camden, Newark, NYC) with busy traffic.  However, it wasn't until I got back to Long Island that I started feeling as if I were just a two-wheeled mobile target for some sort of traffic mishap game.  If you recall, the day I returned to LI, I almost was "right hooked" by a woman in Manhasset - 20 miles from the end of my journey.  It seems that once I crossed the East River cyclists once again become fair game in a motorists game of hit and run. 

For the longest time this has been bothering me.  As you may recall from previous posts, I actually do talks with the driver's ed classes at SHS about sharing the road with cyclists.  I work hard to make sure these young motorists know that cyclists legally have a right to be on the road and that it's pretty much illegal for us to be riding on the sidewalks (unless you're 12 or younger) as this video starring John Leguizamo so humorously demonstrates;



However, there are a great number of older motorists on Long Island that either don't know this or just don't give a damn.  So as a result they honk at us as they are right behind us, they "buzz" us, or sometimes they try (sometimes successfully as I am living testament to) to run into us to prove their point.

But that's not the worse part.  The worse part is the attitude of my fellow Long Island cyclists.  Now I realize that perhaps .05% of the riders on Long Island might actually be competitive cyclists who compete year round and who really train in a way to be more competitive.  I do occasionally get the chance to ride with some of these gusy in the AA group of the Huntington Bicycle Club.  But the majority of us are what I guess are called "enthusiasts" (which I think is a fancy way to say its our hobby) so we're really not training for the next national event, we're simply doing it to get/stay in shape and because we enjoy it.  I would say that 90% of the cyclists on Long Island probably fall within that category.  I include myself in there so don't think I'm being all high and mighty here.  Yes, I rode my bicycle across America but I am in no way a competetive cyclist.  Yes, I can ride for 12 hours a day at an average speed of 17 mph but again, I am not a competetive cyclist.  So I feel a certain kinship to those of my two wheeled brethren with whom I share these dangerous roads.  I feel their pain (literally in three different cases) and I truly get the focus you need when riding the roads of Long Island.

And yet, why the hell is it too much to ask you to wave back when you pass me on the road?!?!?  If you're not one of those .05% of riders who are training for a major cycling event then at least have the decency to acknowledge the existence of a fellow rider who is waving to you.  Are you really working that hard above your threshold level that you can't spare the wattage to lift your hand?  Really?

I met all sorts of fellow cyclists this summer from the super prepared, streamlined racers in Colorado training for an upcoming event (they left me in the dust but loaded down as I was I hung with them for a few miles), to young kids without helmets just bombing the neighborhood.  Almost without exception they always waved back, even the "enthusiasts" training in Washington, D.C. who seemed as if they were at least contemplating some serious wattage output.

The point is, we're under the same pressure and WE are the minority out here on the God given Island of Long and it would be nice if we could just acknowledge each others' existence.  It's not like we have to high-five as we pass each other (which would cause one of us to swerve into the other lane, thereby proving to motorists we're total jerks) or to even chest bump as we pass (which would be totally impressive since we're both going at 20+ mph in opposite directions - heeeeeeyyyyyy, there's a great math problem, if Gene is traveling north at 23 mph on his bicycle and Fred is traveling south at 22 mph on his bicycle and they both bunny hop in the air and chest bump, who will get the more severe concussion?  Solve for y).  But you know what WOULD be nice my fellow cyclists?  Just a slight raising of your hand or even the passing head nod, just to say, "I'm with you, man".

For those of you readers out there who don't bike commute on the deadly streets of Long Island, you probably don't have any idea what I'm talking about.  So I say to you, come on out, the road is fine!  And if you e-mail me or message me, I'll be glad to ride it with you!  For those of you who do bike commute on these thoroughfares of torment - just give a little wave!

Stay well, and I'll see you on the road!

Now What? Part Three - The Man in the Mirror

I wish I could, I just can't, no mater how hard I try.  Keep up with posting on a daily basis.  As it is I'm still trying to reconstruct blog entries I started while on the open road.  Invariably, after a long day of riding for 10 - 12 hours I would finally sit down to write only to find myself falling asleep at the keyboard after only a few paragraphs.  I would quickly jot down some notes from the day's events before falling into bed with the full intention of coming back a few days later and finish them.  Unfortunately, those days kept piling up more and more with the long days on the road until I have found myself with about fifteen blog entries that I'm trying go back and finish.

That fact, coupled with being back at work and sliding back into the old routine leaves me little time to write the way I want to.  Sooooooo, I end up not blogging for a week or so at a time.  I really don't know how people do it, how do they manage to write pages of blog entries every single day.  I wish I could be like the Bike Snob and either have an intern or a helper monkey named Vito to write down my every thought.  Or even a helper monkey named Steve who has a thought translater;

 

 But alas, its just me with my own thoughts and not enough time to always get them down in a timely fashion.

 

As many of you know (or if not, its new to you) I once was an English Literature major.  Now granted, my concentration was Medieval and Elizabethan English but I did occasionally delve into the more contemporary authors, especially when taking those granola crunchy poetry classes.  A body of work that never appealed to me in college was that of Walt Whitman.  I just didn't get him.  I guess my not being from Long Island stunted my appreciation of this artist much in the same way it has any appreciation at all of Billy Joel (Moving Out the musical notwithstanding, at least it had Twyla Tharp's choreography) - I just don't get where he's coming from.  So there you have it, I'm out of the closet - I DON'T LIKE BILLY JOEL!!!!! 

 

But back to Walt.  There was one of Whitman's poems that did seem to resonate with me and I found myself over the years appreciating more and more, his Song of the Open Road.  As I traversed this great wilderness that is our country I found myself on occasion reflecting on the words of Walt and I would occasionally go to the link above and reread his words.  And the ones that echoed time and again along with the cadence of my pounding pedals (when I wasn't listen to Foo Fighters, Green Day, AC/DC, Snow Patrol and others) was stanza 4;

The earth expanding right hand and left hand,
The picture alive, every part in its best light,
The music falling in where it is wanted, and stopping where it is not wanted,
The cheerful voice of the public road—the gay fresh sentiment of the road.
O highway I travel! O public road! do you say to me, Do not leave me?
Do you say, Venture not? If you leave me, you are lost?
Do you say, I am already prepared—I am well-beaten and undenied—adhere to me?
O public road! I say back, I am not afraid to leave you—yet I love you;
You express me better than I can express myself;
You shall be more to me than my poem.
I think heroic deeds were all conceiv’d in the open air, and all great poems also;
I think I could stop here myself, and do miracles;
(My judgments, thoughts, I henceforth try by the open air, the road;)
I think whatever I shall meet on the road I shall like, and whoever beholds me shall like me;
I think whoever I see must be happy.

And I had to admit that almost everyone I met on the road I did like.  It was rare that I met anyone along the road that I found obnoxious or ignorant.  Even the most uneducated people had a quiet and dignified wisdom about them and I found when I listened to them I learned much. 

Of the many people I met along the road there was one gentleman that I really became enamored with.  As I've written before, there were certain people that I kept running into along the way and I met many cyclists (mostly going West) that were taking on the cross country challenge for their own reason.  But I came across this one guy who I just thought was amazing.  He was funny, energetic, compassionate, patient, loving to his wife and children, and even though he occasionally lost his temper he had a positive outlook and optimism that was infectious.  He inspired others and shared his joy of cycling with all the cyclists he met on the road.  He stopped on the road in Kentucky to help a man push his car up a hill and stopped to help a woman who ran out of gas in Missouri.  He took time to listen to others, no matter what their story.

If you haven't guessed, that man is me.  I was freed up while on the road by the routine of waking up, riding, eating, blogging (mostly) then sleeping, only to wake up and start again the next day.  The daily dose of endorphines kept me happy and positive but it was more than that.  I found my family and my connection to them.  Every single day I was reminded of how much I love my wife and children and how lucky I was to have a family that loved me so much that they would hear the call of Allons! and join me on this Quixotic journey.  And yes, I rekindled my love of epic literature.

It was a bit disconcerting to hear people praise me and tell me how amazing I was, telling me that I was their hero (I kid you not).  That always left me struggling for words because that's really not why I was doing this.  I'm just a normal guy who has finally realized that I have been so incredibly blessed and it's time to take what I've been given and try to use it to help others.  I'm not a hero, I'm not exceptional.  Far from it, my wife would probably say I'm stubborn and hard headed.  And in my head I often have this song running through it;

 

No, I'm no superman but I am trying to continue to make a difference.  I've been put on this earth for a reason.  I don't think I've really figured out what that reason is yet.  Maybe I never will.  But I do know that I have to keep giving to others because life has been good to me and there are so many who (even on my worst of days) are far worse off than I am.  It's one of the reasons why I'll start EMT training in January - to give back because of the many blessings that have been heaped upon me.  If I'm going to make a difference in this world, I have to start with me.

But the trick is to keep this change in me, to hold on to the optimistic, energetic, loving guy I met on the road and not let him regress into the short tempered, irritable, pessimist that I was turning into.  As with any self help program its an uphill battle but one that I think is worth the battle.  The trick is to be the change that I want to see happen in the world and to be able to look at myself in the mirror every day and see that guy.   I guess the real sentiment has already been expressed extremely eloquently in the past and even though many have covered the song, it still sounds powerful when heard by the original artist;

I don't know if I can keep it but I promised the man in the mirror that I'll try to blog more often - wish me luck.

Stay well my friends and once I get myself back together I promise to see you on the road!


To get another perspective of our journey check out Amy's blog at www.crosscountrymama.blogspot.com
It's not too late to donate! Go to www.connorsarmy.org to find out how!

Now What? Part Deux

(I'm thinking....I'm thinking...I'm thinking)

It has now been two weeks since we returned from our Ride Across America and the big question I keep getting from people is "so, what are you going to do now?"  For almost two weeks I haven't really been able to contemplate that question as we are still busy trying to dig ourselves out of the mess left by our oh-so-accommodating house sitter.  It has really proven to be much more of a monumental task than what I reported last week as we're still trying to clean it all up.

But as I am able to start thinking about the answer to that question, the biggest worry to me is the feeling that we are already beginning to lose what we worked so hard to accomplish.  I'm not talking about the miles that were cycled.  Instead, its about the closeness that our family was able to experience as we traversed the length of America (twice!).  Although it got to be hectic and wearing at times, we did manage to live in a small coccoon of family togetherness where, aside from those we met in our journeys, we were the only ones who inhabited our little world.  Amy and I were able to see sides of our children we didn't know existed and yes, it was true that they did have a tendency to get on each others' nerves (and ours) out of shear boredom, we also found the times when they could be so loving and giving to each other (and to us) and we found times to really talk about things that were important to them and to us. 

But now that school is back in session our lives are slowly sliding into the old routine we had before we left.  Its frightening and saddening all at the same time.  Frightening because it means the summer truly is over and we have to get back to the daily grind of all the things that we normally do then getting up and starting it all over again.  Through it all, I'm smart (and metaccognative) enough to know that its just the nature of real life and that our summer on the road was a gift.

But the saddening part is losing that daily connection with the family.  The challenge now (and I guess the first "now what" answer) is to find ways to keep that connection.  How do we find the time to still make those "pit stops" we enjoyed (and which taught us so much) and be able to encourage the curiosity of our three little ones?  How do we still find the time to wonder at the world around us and take those moments to "smell the roses"?

My sister-in-law Laura was able to make the transition from performer to a very successful life coach and indeed was one of our sponsors for our cross country ride.  Indeed the title of one of her books and websites is "Now What Coaching" and the subtitle is "It's not WHAT you do, but WHO you get to be."  I didn't really understand that subtitle until we took our journey.

Yes, we did something that many cyclists only dream of.  We (and I mean that in the sense of my family and I) did that this summer.  Although my children (and Amy) didn't ride every mile of the route with me, they were just as instrumental in the journey as I was.  Without their support I could never had finished some of those 100+ mile days.  Days that were necessary just to be able to finish the ride on schedule.  There were days that just riding behind my children (especially Sarah) inspired me to keep on going and reminded me why I ride in the first place.  And without the love that I saw in my wife's eyes every time she stopped the van that she hates so much just to refuel me and make sure I was alright, I never would have had the spirit to finish what I started.  And the family that came up with our own little version of the Food Network show "Chopped" in which I give them all three or four random ingredients and they have to tell me what they will make with them and how - the family game that keeps on going!

So yes, we did this amazing thing but its who we have become as a family that is the most important.  The closeness (some might say enforced) that we attained is something I truly want to hold on to.  For in our journey I think we found our family again, who we are supposed to be.

So the answer to the question "now what" may simply be holding on to who we found along the journey.  The family that laughs together and shares rides together and plays our little version of "Chopped" together.  Despite the demands of school, shows, sports, music, etc., etc., etc., my goal is to keep this family, I like them and they have brought out the very best that is in me.

Did we raise $50,000?  No.  Did we even raise our revised goal of $25,000?  No.  Did we touch lives.  I like to think so.  Did we find something more precious and important than money?  Definitely.  My greatest hope is that we never lose that.  Sarah mentioned at one point that she would like to do this journey again.   I told her that maybe when she graduates college she and I can take this journey ourselves.  However, it will have to be self supported as Amy has made it abundantly clear she's not going!

But still I ride.  Every day I find more and more of my friends, family and colleagues who are fighting this horrible disease.  Connor's Army started as a way to help the cancer community using my passion for cycling.  I will continue that mission in any way I can.  So, if you're out there in cyberspace and you're reading this blog entry, drop me a line and tell me what's next.  I'm open for ideas!

But for now I want to share with you a song I heard by a country artist named Paul Brandt (crossing through middle America I listened to a lot of country) that really expressses what I'm feeling right now and what I hope I can continue to hold on to;



Stay well my friends, and I'll see you on the road!

To get another perspective of our journey check out Amy's blog at www.crosscountrymama.blogspot.com

It's not too late to still donate!  Go to www.connorsarmy.org to find out how!

No Good Deed.........

There is a philosphophy that you can be one of two kinds of people and there is no in-between.  You can be either an optimist and join groups like Optimist International while listening to songs like "Optimistic" by Radiohead;



or you can be a pessimist and move to Greece while spending your time listening to Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 while drowning your sorrows in pints of Guinness Ben and Jerry's.



Now it is well documented that I am fairly mostly Irish in my lineage and some would say demeanor.  As it so happens, I have a magnet on my refrigerator that states, "An Irishman has an abiding sense of tragedy which sustains him through temporary periods of joy" and my wife would pretty much agree.  In the past I have had a great tendency to look at the negative and always think the worse outcome possible is going to happen.  For instance, during much of the Ride Across America I was convinced I would either be hit by a truck/car/RV or be viciously attacked by some rabid (or at least REALLY angry) stray dog.  It would often preoccupy my thoughts so much that I would be physically exhausted and stressed by the end of the day.

I'm glad to say that neither happened.  I actually did have to spray a few dogs (read my previous posts) but I didn't get bitten and all was well.  And I didn't really have any close car/truck/RV calls until twenty miles from the end - when I reached Manhassat!

But while I rode for sometimes 10 and 12 hours a day on the bike this summer I had the chance to do a lot of contemplating of many different things and one of them was my outlook on life. 

I saw a lot of people who were going through hard times.  Coal miners who were out of work and not likely to get any in the near future.  Women in their 50's who had been laid off from their jobs and were now working in convenience stores because that was the only job available.  Farmers who had to make the choice between watering their crops or watering their livestock.  The town of Joplin, MO which is still struggling to recover after the tornadoes of last year.  A young couple in Southern Virginia who are stuggling to work multiple jobs and pay the medical bills to help their 8-year-old battle neuroblastoma.

It made me realize that no matter how things get here in Northport, I can't complain.  I have a good job that I love to do.  I have an amazing wife that loves me and supports me (even in my mad quixotic pursuits).  I have children who are healthy, bright and loving.  And I have a beautiful home that we love.  I have a lot to be grateful for and a lot to be optimistic about.

And herein lies the problem.  My family and I spent the summer trying to do something to make the world a little better for other - the children and their families.  One of the major hurdles we had to cross was to find someone to watch our cat Lily (you can read about her in Amy's Blog entry).  We finally found someone we could trust and we left for our journey secure in the knowledge that our home and cat would be well taken care of.  However, only a few days into her house sitting for us the young lady was bitten by something while sleeping in our bed.  She and her parents were very nervous (I guess with all the horror stories of bed bugs it's understandable) and she said she couldn't sleep over any more but she would be willing to come by during the day and take care of Lily.  Since we really needed someone here at night we starting sending out the word to find someone to replace her.

My mother-in-law had an acquaintance approach her and said her son was recently let go from his job and was going through a divorce and although he was staying with her, he stays up late at night and he's not loud but it keeps her awake and was wondering if maybe he could stay at our place for the summer and look after Lilly.  Joan met with him and said he seemed quiet and nice.  I think she said he might have been a little odd but okay.  We were relieved!  Thanks to Joan and her Mahjong Mafia we were able to get a replacement house sitter from 3,000 miles away.

The fact that we could never get in touch with him (he didn't have a phone or a computer or a job) should have been our first clue.  The only way we seemed to be able to get in touch with him was through Joan.  Since we couldn't get in touch with him we didn't get our mail when we needed it, we didn't really know how Lilly or the house were doing.  Every now and then we'd get an e-mail saying Lilly was doing okay.

So finally with a little more than a week to go we asked Joan to check in on things.  That's when she told us the house was a wreck.  Well, maybe not a wreck but it was filthy.  To make a VERY long story short, the garbage hadn't been taken out in weeks.  Well, it made it to the side of the house but not to the curb.  His children apparently had been staying at the house (children we knew nothing about, if we had we would have said, "Fine, but here are the things we would like them not to touch) and ALL of the beds and bedrooms were a mess.  The rugs were filthy and the kitchen was extremely dirty.  Aaaaaaannnndddd, apparently he had run out of garbage bags for the kitchen trash can but didn't buy any so he was just dumping it in the trash can and then dumping it outside.  When Joan went to throw something away fruit flies went everywhere!

So we were now officially freaked out!  We spent the last week of our journey not sleeping and worrying about what condition our home would be in.  Our house sitter - let's call him Joe A. - had told us that he was going on a week's vacation (a vacation that kept getting put off because his car was in the shop and he didn't have the money to get it out yet) and would be back the Monday before we returned home.  After discussing it with Joan we decided that we would tell him we were having the place cleaned and that others would look after the place when he returned so he didn't have to stay until we got home on Friday. 

Yes, we were getting the placed cleaned - by my in-laws.  They are truly saintly people and if ever we have been more grateful to anyone I can't remember when it possibly could have been.  So Joe A. gathered his things and our friends Carla and Rita took care of Lilly until Joan and Mort could take over.  My in-laws cleaned everything.  My father-in-law fixed the broken fans that he could (there was one beyond repair), scrubbed the kitchen trash can, took all the garbage out to the curb and took all the recycling to his recycling center.

My sainted mother-in-law did something she rarely does at home - cleaned!  Of course I'm kidding (since I know Joan will read this!), but she took care of getting as much of our home back in order as she could, making beds, cleaning floors, scrubbing, etc.  On top of that she slept in our home so Lilly would have company.  All above and beyond the call of duty!!!!

We rode in and finished our journey, had dinner and then we tried tackling some of the mess before we went to bed.  We didn't really get far and we decided to put it off until Saturday. 

And that's when the FUN began.

We knew we had a mess to clean up but we started discovering things.  Ground up candy in the floor, candy between the floorboards, crunched up potato chips in the seat and couch cushions, spilled jello shots in the freezer (yes, that's right - using our children's medecine cups)!  "Okay," we thought, "maybe he had a party and forgot about them".  And then we started noticing the odd things.

8 bags of frozen corn.  I love corn as much as the next person but 8 bags?????

ALLLLLLL of our food was gone.  Okay, not ALL but ALMOST every scrap of food we had left in the refrigerator, the freezer, and the pantry was gone.

Our neighbor Kathleen told us about the rats.  Apparently a problem that we have never had in the nine years we have lived here has surfaced - rats in the yard.  Our neighbor loves her bird feeder and told us Saturday morning that she hadn't been able to feed them because rats showed up about two weeks ago.  Her landlord put a rat trap out back but she wasn't sure it was working.

And then Amy saw a rat!  While she was in the kitchen she saw a rat run into the drainage pipe built into our retaining wall.  It came out and then ran into another pipe further down the wall.  Now we are used to the chipmunks doing that but rats are another thing.  So I immediately went down into the basement to look for signs of rats down there.  If they were in the house that would be VERY bad!

And I found the plastic bag.

Since the cedar closet was right next to where all the piles of trash had been I started my search there.  Right in the middle of the floor was a plastic bag.  "What the hell is this?????"  So I looked inside and I found and empty gallon container from a cheap brand of vodka.  Hmmmmmmm.  So I went upstairs and I asked Amy, "Were you saving this for some sort of project for the kids?"  Since she replied in the negative we could only assume one thing - Joe had been hiding empty alchohol bottles in the basement.  Back down I went to see if I could find any more.  No such luck.

Now when we had gotten home on Friday we had noticed an empty wine bottle in the recycling.  Apparently it had been on the counter so Joan or Mort put it in the recycling after Mort had already taken everything away.  But now we began to be curious so we looked in the area of the pantry where we kept our alchoholic beverages.  As far as we could tell the wine was all there but there we noticed the tequila bottle (which had been about half full, left over from the chili party last December) had only about an eighth of an inch left.  And then we noticed that two pint bottles of gin which were extra bottles I had left over after giving show gifts for Thoroughly Modern Millie were still on the shelf but empty!  And as we perused more of the shelf space we made a chilling discovery and we had to ask ourselves;



And then by simple deduction we started to put it all together from all the behavior and we thought we had the answer, perhaps Joe A. drinks a little - at least all of OUR stuff.  Its not that we are big consumers of hard alchohol but when we see five bottles of it gone plus an empty bottle in the basement and all the leftover jello shots (yes, we finally tasted a bit of one and it was VERY potent) we began to think that maybe he drinks A LOT.  It is sort of the only answer we can think of for all of the behaviorisms that were being reported to us.

And we cursed the spider that bit Claire!

So this week has been one of trying to clean up the mess that Joe has left us.  I spent all of Saturday cleaning the refrigerator (which was disgusting but made easier by the fact that it and the freezer were EMPTY) and the microwave (in which something was cooked and apparently exploded in a Mythbusters type experiment).  Amy, the kids and I spent the next two days cleaning floors (Sarah even got down on her hands and knees with a straightened out paper clip to clean non pariels out of the floor boards).  I spent an entire day on the bathrooms while Amy scoured the pantry and repapered (which once again was easy since there was no food).  I went to Home Depot and got plugs to block up the entrances of all the weep holes (the drains in our retaining wall).  Sadly, it would mean that the boys' sleepover would have to be indoors instead of in a tent as they so badly wanted.

We also had estimates from three exterminators who confirmed our suspicions that the rats were MOST likely drawn to our yard by the accumulation of garbage - a veritable smorgasborg right next to our house. We found out it would be about $750 to get rid of them by using bait traps for a year.  At least they confirmed my observation that there were no rats in the basement or the shed.

And we started tallying up the costs of our house sitter from hell.  Between food eaten, alchohol consumed, fans broken, trash cans needing to be replaced, light pulls needing to be replaced, various other broken items and the cost of the exterminating - a bit over $1500! 

And we began thinking, NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED, AND we cursed the spider that bit Claire!

But we had to count our blessings.  We were home and it was still standing and after some diligent extermination our rat issue will be gone!  Our fridge and freezer are cleaner than they have been in years and we've been able to do the spring cleaning that we forgot to do (in the spring).  Our family is healthy, we made it back in one piece, the van is still running and our cat is thriving and happy to see us.  Life is good.

One of the wonderful things about the summer was watching the summer Olympics on television (when we weren't watching Chopped, Cupcake Wars, or Food Star) and the closing ceremony allowed me to introduce my children to one of my favorite songs from a Monty Python movie.  However, instead of the version we all saw at the Olympic closing, I choose to share with you dear readers the original and remind us all to look at the glass half full and "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life";



And so we clean, I get to do some more riding this week and we get to spend a little more time bonding as a family before school begins again - and that is the glass being half full!

Stay well and I'll see you on the road!

Manhattan to Northport - Now What?

Total Miles Ridden Today - 60.77  Average Miles Per Hour - 15.7

The tears had been coming off and on since I started crossing the George Washington Bridge, and no it wasn't because I was heading East and the sun was in my eyes.  When I looked South and saw the Freedom Tower and the rest of the Manhattan skyline I knew I was only 60 miles away from a journey that started ten weeks and almost 3700 miles ago.  The realization that I might actually do this, the gratitude I was feeling for my family who suffered with me through this journey, and the knowledge that something that had consumed me for almost a year would soon be finished all rushed together to hit me with a Tsunami of emotion.  This tidal wave of emotion would ebb and flow all day long, sometimes hitting me harder than I ever imagined it would.

As I crossed the bridge my family drove slowly in the right hand lane with Sarah in the front seat filming my progress across the bridge for the documentary Phil will be putting together of our journey.  Of course, I don't think they captured the moment I missjudged one of the sharp little bends around the support girders and hit that steel beam.  Ouch!!!!  I have a really nice red gash on my back.  Not too deep but enough to remind me of the perils of not paying attention. 

Before I knew it I was on Broadway and 177th Street heading South!!!  IT WAS SO FREAKING COOL!!!!!!!!  You see, when I lived in Manhattan I never owned a bicycle.  I did rollerblade down Broadway on my way from midtown to Goldman Sachs in the mornings but its not quite the same as rolling through the streets at 20 mph and actually rolling through the red lights (ala Kevin Bacon in Quicksilver, or Joseph Gordon Levitt in Premium Rush), I felt like such a scofflaw. 

To be honest, I crossed the GWB at 6:30 because I thought it would take me an hour and a half to get down to the WPIX Channel 11 studios on east 42nd Street.  I made sure to take video at key stops along the way, Upper Manhattan, Barnard College, Columbus Circle, Times Square among others. 

Before I knew it I was at the studios and getting prepared to be the Friday Forecaster!!!!  My family joined me shortly after I arrived and the children immediately discovered in the Green Room an electronic Monopoly set - they set themselves right to the task of playing in their usual cutthroat style!

I was soon wired up and ushered in to meet Linda Church for my blocking and directions as Friday Forecaster.  We were sitting there all relaxed and prepared for to go on at 8:45 when we were told there was breaking news and we had to go on in two - good thing I can handle a little improv!!!  We were a little rushed for time but it came out great as you can see here.  It got the name of Sunrise Day Camp out on everyone's minds and hopefully it may have generated a donation or two.

And then it was time to hit the road for the final push into Long Island.  In my brain dead state (read yesterday's blog and you'll see why I was completlely groggy and bleary-eyed upon waking up this morning) I had forgotten my Garmin Edge in the hotel so Amy and the kids had to go back and get it after filming me crossing the bridge.  They then had left it down in the van which was on East 23rd so I had to go down and retrieve it before heading across the Queensborough Bridge.  By now we were into rush hour and the cycling commuter match race was on.  I'm sorry, I couldn't resist spanking a few of these commuters on their home turf as I breezed by them heading uptown - I was on a mission to get home and could not afford to take any prisoners!

Of course, once I crossed the QBB my Google Maps directions were useless as was my Garmin.  Too much detail to deal with and I was too brain dead.  So I hopped into a local bike shop and got a copy of the official NYC bike map.  That turned out to be a blessing since now I had a safe bike route through Queens and Flushing.  I connected with Northern Boulevard/25A and I knew I was on my way - 40 miles to go!!!!!  I managed to get through Douglaston unscathed into Nassau County - and here is where the fun began.

Now I have cycled across the country in all types of terrain and on all types of road surfaces with all types of traffic.  I was nervous and frightened in New Jersey but it was nothing compared with what faced me once I hit the Great Neck/Manhassat area.  It was as if I was wearing a sign on the back of my jersey that said "I DARE You To Hit Me!!!!" since I was closely buzzed (as in closer than THREE feet) about six times and almost right hooked once.  The only thought in my head was "really, I survive 3680 miles only to get killed now?!?".

Eventually I found the blessed relief I was looking for - Brookville Road!  I knew I was only 20 miles from Sunrise at this point and the tears began flowing again.  Suddenly I had new energy and the 3% steady inclined felt as if I were going downhill.  I KNOW THESE ROADS!!!!!  This is my turf now, roads I have ridden in the Gold Coast and with the Huntington Bicycle Club.  And then I made the left onto Muttontown Road - almost to Syosset!!!!  Before I knew it I was there on Cold Springs Harbor Road heading for Stillwell Lane.

And the tears continued to flow.  I was in familiar territory, roads I commuted and trained on so many, many times.  As I sped down Stillwell Lane I could barely see for the tears of joy and gratitude streaming down my face.  I was going to do it!!  After years of talking about it, soliciting sponsors, hoping and praying for donations, working so hard to try to help the kids of Sunrise, I was actually going to finish this!

I crossed over into Plainview and headed up Hartman Hill Road and once again I thought of Amy Hartman and how we always try to connect when she's in Manhattan and still have yet to do so.  I do so want to make that happen.

And then I was passing down Sweet Hollow Road, this was my uber long commute route and I knew every twist and turn coming up.  And during all of this time I'm constantly trying to ride and talk on my cell phone with my mother-in-law who had called earlier and told me the folks from Channel 12 News were trying to catch me so they could get some footage of me riding on the road.  It was only when I called Amy that I found out they were with her at our rendezvous point.  Now the time trialing began!  I had to get there, I was running late and people were waiting on me - I HATE to keep people waiting!

There was one last hill to conquer - the one that heads up Bagatelle Road to the LIE Service Road.  It's short, its steep and it has always been a pain in my butt when I train.  This time I cursed my way up the hill - cursing cancer the entire short, punchy way - "come on you BITCH, you want a piece of me?!?! - Take this, and THIS!!!"  and I punched my way up the hill and over the LIE!  I headed down the hill on the other side and there they were, my family!!!!!  And waiting with them were the crew from Channel 12 News!  I pulled over, put my bike away and started to cry again as I hugged my beautiful and long suffering wife.  My wife who made this entire thing possible.  Because of her all I had to do was focus on getting up and pedaling every day.  Because of her I wasn't slowly dessicating in a ditch in Arizona somewhere.  Becuase of her I still had some of my sanity left.

So after hugging her (and crying some more) I was wired up by the Channel 12 cameraman so he could get all the audio of me crossing the finish line.  The kids and I then lined up and the Channel 12 van rode in front of us to get footage as we rode the last two miles to the camp.  As usual I was herding cats on a bike, telling Sarah to speed up and William to slow down and sit down (for some reason he likes to ride standing up, even with the padded shorts) but as we neared the finish line Sarah told me to take the lead.  As I rounded the corner to where everyone was I started crying again and saw a banner stretched across the drive that said "Finish Line" (courtesy of my mother-in-law I think).  And what were the words that came out of my mouth that were captured on the Channel 12 broadcast?  "What happens if I crash?", ah words for posterity!

And then when I finally stopped my bike, turned around and saw who was there, you guessed it - I started crying even more.  Tears of joy, tears of gratitude, tears of exhaustion (mental, physical, emotional), and tears of sadness that this was over.  There were friends old and new, family, students (my ACT family - I love them), Sunrise staff, Sunrise Campers and parents, and media.  It was a bit overwhelming to say the least.

I was incredibly grateful that my sister-in-law Laura and brother-in-law Mark were there because I know how difficult it was arranging crazy schedules for them.  I was (and am still) so incredibly grateful and humbled that they believed enough in me to make this a priority in their busy lives.  I am so thankful to Amy, Leah, Emily and Deanna for not only being at the camp but also for making this little homecoming possible to be held at the campgrounds.  And I was overwhelmed by the love shown to me by my ACT family and friends.  After 3713 miles in the saddle, it was a blessing to have all of these people there.

After saying a few words of thanks and hugging everyone I could find, the media had questions and interviews for us.  Again, something I had to thank my wife for setting up.  She sent out press releases constantly and they finally fell on fruitful ground!  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not thankful of the publicity for my own sake.  I really didn't do any of this so that people would look at me or read about me and say, "what an amazing person he is, he is so wonderful, he is a great person" or any other such thing.  To me, and especially in this economy, its all about getting people aware and hoping that folks will step forward and make donations to Sunrise.  As of right now we're still $5,000 short of what we realistically hoped we could raise in this journey and we're really at a loss to figure out how to raise those funds.

Now I hate to be cynical but it seems that because its not one of my own children suffering from cancer we can't seem to get people to give.  My ACTers (past and present) raised so much through charity fundraisers, various groups at SHS also chipped in and many family and friends have donated but it just doesn't seem to be "sexy" enough for others to give.  We've met incredibly generous strangers on the road who have dipped into their pockets and handed us 20 or 30 dollars on the spot and said things like, "I just lost my father to cancer and I know what this is about, give this to the kids" and other similar comments.  Yet despite the press, the facebook posts and other social media people seem that they couldn't be bothered.  I know the economy is difficult but these kids (and their families) REALLY need this.  Its not a luxury, its a summer that can really mean THE difference to these families and their children.  I just wish I knew a way to appeal to the right audience.

And then there was Gina Mayer.  She was one of the campers that was there at the event.  At the end, after most of the interviews were done her mother Katherine brought her over and Gina handed me an envelope.  Katherine told me, "it was all Gina's idea".  I thanked and hugged her and honestly thought it was a thank you letter.  It wasn't until later on when I opened the envelope and discovered money inside that once again I lost it and the tears flowed down my face.  Here was a little girl who had been battling this disease, whose family was a recipient of the mission of this camp, and yet she felt that it was important for she herself to make a contribution.  If only the rest of the world who has read and seen my story could react the same way.

After we said our final goodbyes and loaded the kids' bikes back on the car, there was one final thing to do - I had to ride the water's edge at the end of Bergen Avenue in Babylon to dip my front wheel in the Atlantic ocean.  The journey started 64 days ago with us all dipping our rear wheels in the Pacific and with only eight miles to the ocean I couldn't walk away without doing it.  It wouldn't be coast to coast otherwise.

We arrived at what Google maps said was a clear access only to find there was no access to the water.  A restaurant near by had a floating dock so we started to take our bikes there when we were told it was a private dock and we needed to move our bikes.  We then explained what we had done (and the kids started handing out brochures) and that we just wanted to dip the front wheels in the Atlantic to finish the job.  They relented and were very supportive (an incredulous) about what we had done.  We dipped our wheels, chronicled it for Phil, thanked the folks and reloaded ALL the bikes onto the van for the very last time!

Time for food!  We drove back to Northport, still marveling at the surreal feel of it all and the odd sense of loss I think we all felt that this was now really over.  We enjoyed a great dinner at Sweet Mama's (one of our favorite restaurants) and headed home.  Only to be met with a nightmare of a mess.  We had been warned but the reality was something completely different.  But that will be fodder for another post!

For now, we are home, we are safe and we are grateful for everyone who has helped us make this possible!

And today's report;

FFR - 3 possums, 1 Beaver (On Long Island of All Places!), 10 birds of indeterminate species, 8 UFO's
RRL - Curiously, nothing out of the ordinary - I would have expected more from the middle of Manhattan.

Stay well and I'll see you on the road (this time on Long Island)!


For another perspective on our journey check out Amy's blog at http://www.crosscountrymama.blogspot.com//
To help us get the kids to Sunrise go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056
Check out our website at http://www.connorsarmy.org/





The Penultimate Ride - Fear and Leaving in Fort Lee!

 

Miles Ridden Today - 118.3  Average Miles Per Hour - 15.6

 

Last night I couldn't sleep.  I was dreading the ride that was to come today and what kept playing over and over in my mind is an image of my bicycle looking like the tangles mess above after my being hit by some crazed New Jersey motorist.  On the best of days driving in New Jersey makes me leery, now add in the fact that I was going to be amongst these semi-professional demoltion racers in an unarmored state made me feel a little like this;

 



(Is it just me, or is there a breeze in here?)



That's a naked armadillo for those of you not up on your zoology!  I also didn't want to become another statistic of my own Flattened Fauna Report.  At the very least, I felt I should wear a big sign on my back that simply said;

 



But in the end my sleeplessness and worry was for naught.  Except for the 15 miles through the Camden area (Philajersia to those of you who don't know your Geography of the Garden State) I didn't feel too threatened from the traffic.  It's funny in all the years Angela and Per have lived in Swedesboro I have always said, "I need to bring my bike and ride the roads down here" and now that I finally get to I ride in the area where I'm scared to death. 

 

Of course, added to the sheer terror of riding during morning rush hour in Camden, NJ on a twenty pound piece of metal was the fact that I had a serious mechanical malfunction in Cinnaminson, NJ.  The short version is the connecting link for my 9-speed chain popped off and the spare I had in my saddlebag didn't fit as it was for a 10-speed!  Oy Vey!!!!  Fortunately, Amy hadn't passed me yet so I called her, told her where I was (the Cinnaminson Animal Hospital Parking Lot) and sat down to wait.  My shining savior arrived, I put on one of the used ones from one of my chain replacements, dug out another spare (just to be sure) and got on my way.  Only to be met by the fact that my gears were now so misaligned that my chain got caught between the cassette and my spokes - a potential dangerous situation in traffic.  I pulled over and Amy just happened to pass me for the second time.  She pulled over, I put the bike up on the rack and made my adjustments.  Finally I was off again and it was the last time I would see the family until Fort Lee!

 

The rest of the ride until Newark was pretty much a blur - literally!  I looked down and realized that my average speed from Swedesboro to Newark was 17.0!!!  AFTER 86 MILES!!!!!  I'm sorry but that was pretty damn good!  And as I looked down I knew why.  Today I was riding for Talia, one of our cancers who is once again battling her neuroblastoma.  As I rode today I constantly saw her face in my mind's eye and it drove me to pedal faster and harder hoping that every pedal stroke would send out to the universe some positive energy that she so desperately needs!  So every time I felt as if I was flagging I would think of Talia and pedal harder! 

 

Eventually I arrived in Newark and once again I was frightened for my life but in a different way.  I have heard stories of the crime issues in Newark for years and here I was riding along some of the most neglected streets in the city - while wearing spandex!  I'm pretty sure I was the only lycra clad individual many of the residents have seen rolling through their fair domain and maybe the last.  I truly had no idea where I was so I stopped at a hot dog vending cart and bought a Diet Coke.  While drinking my Coke I asked the vendor for directions.  The nice man, his name is Paul, actually set me straight and told me the way I wanted to go would most likely see me smooshed.  He gave me directions, made sure I wrote them down and after a nice conversation about sports, the evils of diet soda, his nephew the cross country skier, road bikes, old Peugots, his son and a few other items I thanked him and headed off on my way.  Before I knew it I was indeed across the Passaic River and into Jersey City - only 20 miles to go!!!!!

 

I finally hit John F. Kennedy Boulevard and headed north.  My first real taste of urban cycling and IT WAS AWESOME!!!!  It makes me truly excited for tomorrow to ride across the GWB into Manhattan.  Along the way I saw some girls selling lemonade for Alex's Lemonade Stand and that made me stop.  I mean c'mon, you know how I am about fighting Childhood cancer and to support that and get some lemonade to boot?  And since my own daughter is such a lemonade mogul, I decided to sample the competition.  The three young ladies, Brianna, Brittany and Madison were being supported by Madison's mother Nacy (I hope I spelled that right) and as we chatted I shared with them my family's mission for Sunrise.  We exchanged information and talked about how its up to all of us to do what we can to help those who are the hardest hit by this disease - the children.  Once again, I thanked these folks for the conversation and the kind words and with Talia's face once more in my mind, I headed my bike north for the last ten miles.

 

And before you know it, I was here in Fort Lee!  I had spent some time in my youth living in Edgewater, NJ so I knew the environs well but I wasn't prepared for how much it had changed or how busy the traffic was when you're on a bicycle!  Getting around all of those shiny metal boxes rushing to be the first across the GWB I barely made it to the exit ramp unscathed.  God was surely with me!!!! 

 

I pulled into the parking lot of the Best Western (with a pursuing car hot on my tail at 32 mph) and gave it a once over - no mini van!!!  I had beaten the family to Fort Lee.  Now in all fairness, they had gone to Verona, NJ to visit my sister-in-law, niece and nephews but still - I WON!!!!

 

And that was my day of suvival on the roads of New Jersey.  Not as bad as I had feared but I think I still sprouted a few new grey hairs nonetheless.  And since the family down the hall was keeping me up I decided to write this blog instead.  I now have to try to get three and a half hours of sleep before we have to get up and cross the GWB before rush hour tomorrow since I have to be in midtown Manhattan by 8:00 in the morning.  Why God, why?  Because yours truly will be the guest weather person for WPIX Channel 11 News in the morning!!!!!!!!  It was all due to a connection made by my sister-in-law Laura and I cannot thank her enough for the opportunity to bring this message of Sunrise and all it does to the greater metropolitan area! 

 

I just hope they have something to cover the huge bags that will be under my eyes!!!!

 

 

And today's report;

FFR - 6 raccoons, 1 possums, 1 Beaver (I kid you not!), 10 birds of indeterminate species, 8 UFO's
RRL - 3 pairs of work gloves, a trowel for spreading on plaster, a CD with Aaron Copeland music on it (don't know if it works yet)

Stay well and I'll update more from the road!


For another perspective on our journey check out Amy's blog at http://www.crosscountrymama.blogspot.com//
To help us get the kids to Sunrise go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056
Check out our website at http://www.connorsarmy.org/



 

Nervous and Jittery - It's New Jersey!

(Notice!  Severe Lack of Official Cycling Roads!)

I haven't really been posting on my non-ride days during this journey mainly because I've been using those days to try and recover from some of the long rides I've been putting in.  In the last two weeks I've done way too many 100+ rides and my body has started rebelling.  I wake up in the morning and everything just hurts.  Not a sharp, jabbing "I WILL hurt you if you get on that bike" but rather a dull, throbbing "You ARE going to get on that bike but I'm going to make it hell for you" kind of pain.  Its all centered in my lower back and legs and it just serves to remind me that 3700 miles is a long way to go.

All this is just to say that I have a lot of partial and half finished blogs that I WILL at some point complete and post - most likely next week.  But for now I wanted to just give a synopsis of the last few days and share my fears about tomorrow.

The last few days have been glorious and brutal at the same time.  Some VERY long days in the saddle but it has all been in the name of trying to finish this quest in the time allotted.  We need to get home.  I can see in myself how I have become short tempered and prone to bouts of despondency, mostly off of the bike.  While on the bike all I can do is keep pedaling and pedaling.  There is no more zip left in my legs for climbing because they just ache all the time.  It seems every since the day of climbs from Damascus to Floyd my legs have just never recovered.  I somehow managed to get up the wall from Vesuvius - mainly because I had the images of my Sunrise Leadership/CIT and Staff in my head to give me strength.  But every since then I just can't power climb like I used to.  My body is just worn out.

But what really has had me irritable and sleepless for the last few nights is the prospect of riding 2/3 of the length of New Jersey in a single day.  At 6:00 tomorrow morning I will roll out from my sister's house in Swedesboro, NJ with the goal of reaching Fort Lee before it gets too dark for me to see anything!

Now I've ridden blind before (one of my yet to be completed blog entries talks about how I had to find my way to Fredericksburg) but never to this extent and for this long of a ride.  There was the section from Cameron, AZ to Four Corners where I was off the map but then once we hit Colorado I was good.  Now I'm trusting to the interpretations of Google Maps, the New Jersey DOT map and dumb luck to get me through some of the most congested roadways in the country if not the world.

I'm very nervous.  I've made it 3500 miles thus far unscathed (well, except for the accident I had where Sarah knocked me off my bike at 18 mph - again, part of another blog that has yet to be completed) and I would love to finish my last 200 miles that way.  I'm scheduled to be the guest weather person on WPIX Channel 11 News on Friday morning where I'll get to talk about Sunrise and the incredible work they've done there - I just hope I don't do it in a cast!

So, this is not a pity party for Connor - it's basically a plea to all of you out there who have been following my journey please say a prayer, offer sacrifices, send positive energy, chant a mantra  - whatever it is that you do in your own spiritual practice - that I will make it safe and unharmed over the 130 miles I must travel tomorrow.  If you tune in to Channel 11 on Friday at 8:45 in the morning and you see me there, you'll know your prayers were answered!

And if you haven't responded yet to our invitation to join us at Sunrise Day Camp between 12:00 and 2:00 on Friday (yes, after the broadcast) consider this another invite - please join us to celebrate a safe return and hopefully making a difference for the kids of Sunrise!!!!!

And one last piece of news that I would like to share.  Throughout this ride I have ridden for various Sunrise groups and for some individuals, including Elijah Dalton, the young man I met in Virginia.  However, tomorrow I will be riding for one very special young lady.  Talia is a young girl whose face has stuck with me throughout the years.  She is always bubbly and vivacious and always willing to embrace life.  She has been battling cancer since she was seven years old and although she had been winning her battle, I just found out that her cancer has come back rather aggressively.  She is an amazing young lady and tomorrow I will be riding for her.  Every turn of my pedals, every hill I have to go up, every scary descent and every mile I pound out will be in the hopes that she gets better - in the hopes that someone will read this post and donate so that children like Talia can have the joy of Sunrise Day Camp - in the hopes that together we can make a difference in their lives.

But for now I'm going to go for a ride with my son William.  Every since he wasn't able to do the extra four miles that Sarah and James did on the Mount Vernon Trail he has been upset that he wouldn't be able to finish his 100 miles.  So he and I are going to ride to Grandma and Grandpa Connor's new house here in Swedesboro, NJ and make sure that he gets his extra four miles to make him even with James.  He's a trooper and he wants to do his part for Sunrise.  With inspiration like that, maybe I CAN make it to Ft. Lee tomorrow after all - just remind myself that William would never want me to give up.

There is no daily report since I didn't really ride today but since this is New Jersey, I'm sure I'll have lots tomorrow!!!!!

Stay well and I will (hopefully) update more from the road!!!!!

For another perspective on our journey check out Amy's blog at http://www.crosscountrymama.blogspot.com//
To help us get the kids to Sunrise go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056
Check out our website at http://www.connorsarmy.org/

Battered and Bruised (But NOT Down and Out) to Bel Air

(Just Cruisin' Past the White House!)

Miles Ridden Today -      Average Speed -

 

Today was a day that we have anticipated for many, many days.  The kids are very anxious about completing their riding goals and with the finish line so close this was the day we had planned for them to complete a large chunk of their goals.  The plan was to ride at least 15 miles but perhaps more if we could.  As it turned out, due to all the thrills and spills fifteen was all we could handle. 

 

The day dawned somewhat inauspiciously in that there was wet and drizzle going on.  Now you have to understand, due to the nature of where we were staying for the last two nights in our little slice of Alexandria, all the bikes had been kept inside the hotel room.  Quite frankly, we didn't want them to get stolen.  When you go to retire to your room at the end of the day and people are just sitting outside of their rooms hanging out and you can catch a whiff of someone in the complex indulging in large quantities of the wacky weed, you get a little nervous for your personal property.  And we were extremely nervous.  Especially since we knew the phone didn't quite work as it should. 

 

To make a long story short, we had to get everyone up even earlier than usual in order to get everything reloaded onto the van - all five bikes, much of our clothing and all of the electronics (including the computer).  This took about 45 minutes and by the time we finished the drizzle had stopped so the kids would be able to ride with me.  The deal was (which the kids were NOT pleased about) was that if it was still raining when we got to the park where we would begin our ride, they wouldn't be able to ride with me that day.  So imagine the great cacophanous joy that sounded when we got to the park beside the Potomac and the clouds were clearing up.  It was still gray and dreary but no more rain.  We unloaded the bikes, pumped up the tires and headed North along the Potomac river along the Mount Vernon Trail; 

 

 

And the view was AMAZING!  It was early in the morning yet we had seen a fair number of cyclists on the path ahead of us.  Unfortunately, it was shortly after this video was taken that we got or first bruising of the day.  James was crossing a section of railroad track and as it was wet and the crossing had wooden sections his tire got caught in the track and he went down.  As it would happen William was following closely behind him and ran into him.  At first I was a bit frantic (and it came out a bit snappish at the boys) because I thought William had run over Jame's hand.  It turned out to be alright in the end but James had a nice bruise on his cheek and William had chain marks on his legs from where he went down.

 

Eventually we got back on our way and although we saw some lovely town houses with views of the river, nothing could compare to riding along the river and seeing our Nation's Capital from this angle; 

 

Before we knew it, we were crossing the Arlington Memorial bridge; 

 

 

 

And after negotiating some rather busy roads (it was rush hour in D.C.) we crossed over and managed to ride on the plaza in front of the Lincoln Memorial;

 

 

 

Now I'm sorry, but how many nine and thirteen-year-olds can say they've ridden their bikes in front of the Lincoln Memorial?  And then we (okay, I) proceeded to get lost as we tried to find the Rock Creek Park Trail.  As a subscriber to the Adventure Cycling Association maps, I for one wish they would mark the twists and turns to get across the Potomac and onto this section just a little more clear.  We wasted a good fifteen minutes before we finally asked a cyclist and a motorcycle policeman for directions.

 

Eventually we made it onto the Rock Creek Park Trail and as we were traversing this winding path we came across a motorcade speeding by;

 

 

 We never did find out who it was but we enjoyed a lot of time postulating who it might be.  And it was shortly after this filming that we had our second (and biggest) mishap of the day.  The paths we had been traveling were all wet from last night's rain storm but the kids had been (for the most part) fairly good at regulating their speed and keeping themselves in check.  However as the boys and I climbed and incline we heard a crash and a loud "Owwwww!" from Sarah up ahead.  As we got over the rise and headed down we saw her on the ground and she didn't look like she was in good spirits.  There was a small (but substantial) tree branch in the path and when she tried to brake to avoid it her tires had slid out from under her and she had gone down.  She had scraped up her leg and was in a bit of pain.  I felt sorry for my little road warrior who had had these great plans of trying to ride 25 miles with me today.  Unfortunately, we were in a dead spot and I had no cell phone service and there was nothing to do but press on for another five miles to reach the meeting place Amy and I had agreed on earlier that morning.  This didn't sit well with Sarah and I'm afraid I next snapped at her a bit letting her know that she HAD to go on because there was no other way.

 

So patched up, and at a significantly slower pace, we all got back on our bikes and slowly made our way to the park entrance where Amy was to meet us.  She got the kids all bandaged up, gave me food and my rain gear and she and the kids headed off to Bel Air North where my brother-in-law Per had booked us a room in the Hilton Suite there.  I was once more on my own.

 

After following the Adventure Cycling Maps for a while I got very bored and very tired of traversing the Rock Creek Trail so I decided to head off on one of my patented "off the grid" rides.  I'd been lucky so far so I figured it couldn't be too bad.  As it turned out, I was able to cut across a section of the route and knock off about ten miles of what was going to be a long day anyway.  I reached a place called Glenelg, MD on the Triadelphia Road (not really sure what that name means) where I stopped at a gas station for lunch (my usual modus operandi) when I noticed that I had shared my lunch spot with an unsuspecting guest;

 

 

 And then it was back on the road.  I was back on the Adventure Cycling Association maps and I would stay that way until Baltimore.  Riding through Baltimore was a bit surreal I have to admit.  It seemed like the southwestern part of the city was ringed with a very economically depressed area - lots of boarded up houses, lots of people sitting on their steps in the middle of the day, a sort of urban version of what I had seen in much of Kentucky and Western Virginia.  And to top it off, I was conspicuously conscious of the fact that I was the only white person around - and I was wearing spandex.  I'm sure many of the residents probably thought I was some rich white guy who was just sight seeing in Baltimore.  And to top it off, I missed my turn to get out of the downtown area once I finally got there (of course, it could have been becuase I was too busy ogling the concrete barriers and metal fencing that had been installed for the Grand Prix race which happens on Labor Day) so I ended up losing three of those hard won miles.

 

But eventually I found myself to US - 40 which was my route to get to Bel Air North, MD - it was already 5:00 in the evening and I still had a good 25-30 miles left to go.  And the clouds were starting to roll in.  Fortunately, US-40 is an official bike route and there were signs all over proclaiming it as such so I wasn't too concerned about the safety, just whether or not I would make it before I got rained on.  So I kept pushing and watching the clouds coming at me from the West. 

 

Suddenly, the sky turned dark and the wind picked up about five miles from the hotel - and the race was on.  Could I make it before the rain started pouring?  I kept at it and about half a mile from the hotel I realized it was going to be incredibly close - and lo and behold, the hotel was uphill!  This time I couldn't blame it on Amy and her penchant for booking us in accomodations that had me end in an uphill finish, this time it was due to the largesse of my brother-in-law.  It was a Hilton Suite and even riding up to the front of the hotel I could tell it was going to be an amazing place to stay!  While I was riding up to the van to put my bike up the day manager was just leaving but asked me if I was the one who was riding cross country.  I told him I was and he told me how amazed and in awe he was of what we were doing. 

 

I still really don't know what to say to people when they say things like that.  Despite the tiredness and the near dehydration (and the days like the one on the way to Larned) I don't really see it as being that unusual or that amazing.  I'm just trying to do something to help some folks that really need the help - families who can't afford any other way to take care of their children in the summers and children who so desperately need and deserve the type of experience Sunrise can afford them.  It's my hope that more folks like the day manager will feel inspired to give a little then it will all add up and maybe we can send another camper to Sunrise.

 

I made it in the hotel just as the rain started coming down and went upstairs to one of the most amazing rooms we have stayed in on our journey - THANK YOU UNCLE PER!!!!   But I didn't get to stay long as I needed to change so we could go and partake of "The Best Crab Cakes in Maryland" according to the manager.  They were huge - the size of baseballs!  And were they the best?  I'm not sure but they were pretty damn good and they hit the spot. 

 

Now it's time to hit the hay and get up to ride to Swedesboro, NJ tomorrow!  We're so very, very close and I can't wait to see my family (and have a day off!) and know that we'll only be two more rides from our own home!

And today's report;

FFR - 2 deer, 2 raccoons, 2 possums, 10 birds of indeterminate species, 1 cat, 6 UFO's
RRL - Oddly enough, nothing really to report here.  In such a huge urban journey I saw very little - weird!

Stay well and I'll update more from the road!


For another perspective on our journey check out Amy's blog at http://www.crosscountrymama.blogspot.com//
To help us get the kids to Sunrise go to https://www.wizevents.com/register/register_add.php?sessid=1809&id=1056
Check out our website at http://www.connorsarmy.org/