Distance: 34.1 mi, Climbing: 1,775 ft
Completed: 63.6 mi, 3,635 ft
Yesterday was a perfect day to start our big journey to Seattle. The weather was perfect. Today, was the perfect day to crawl into bed and binge watch a new show on Netflix. It was cold and foggy in the morning with rain starting mid-morning and lasting most of the day.
If it wasn’t the second day of our tour, Joanna and I probably would have called it a rest day and stayed in. We needed to go despite the weather. Today, we cross the Mario Cuomo Bridge and ride into New Jersey. To me, crossing the bridge feels like the real start of the tour as we leave the familiar confines of Westchester County and start journeying through areas of New Jersey of which I am less familiar.
The view from the bridge was non-existent. We were riding in the clouds. A bit surreal, but still exciting to be leaving Westchester. As we descended the bridge, it started to pour. We did not have full rain gear on yet (yeah, we should have known better). We found a gazebo shortly after arriving in Nyack to get out of the rain. We sat there for about an hour waiting for the hardest rain to pass. Eventually, we put on our full rain gear and headed back out into the rain. We were determined to complete the ride.
There were many great views of the Hudson River riding down Route 9W to Piermont, but it was wet and cold. It was 40 degrees when we headed out in the morning, and we did not pack warm enough for 40 degrees and rainy. We were cold.
We rode through Piermont right past Piermont Bicycle Connection. Yesterday, my biking shoes were not the best. They were probably good enough for the tour, but there was room for improvement. I had been considering getting new Lake cycling shoes as they are known for accommodating wide feet. I decided to stop by Piermont Bicycle Connection as I knew they carried them. The cardinal rule is never try anything new on a bike tour. I broke that rule on Day 2 and bought new shoes. I wore them all day and was pretty happy. I am going to travel with my old shoes in the bag for a few days before sending them home. I am hoping for happy feet. 🙂
After the bike store, things started to warm up a bit even though the rain continued. The next ten miles or so went pretty smoothly with our rain gear keeping us dry enough and a little bit of extra warmth in the air keeping us from getting cold. The hills were not quite as steep as yesterday, and we were cruising along.
We got a little too comfortable. Soon, we had a series of difficult hills, including an extended 13% grade that I could not quite make it up. I rode 75% of the way up but had to walk the last stretch. A bit humbling, but still pretty happy given its early in the tour. I will make it up the same hill in a few weeks.
Soon, the tough hills were behind us, and the rain stopped. It was still dreary, but we were comfortable and back to cruising along. We stopped for a quick snack at Dunkin’, which was the only place we could find open on Easter Sunday. We did not get back to the hotel until 7:30 PM, just before sunset. We were tired, everything was wet, and we needed to shower. Finally, time to rest.
