Alex

We were heading towards Philipsburg, NJ on the border of PA and climbing, what seemed like some pretty big rolling hills...bombing down one of them i saw a beautiful girl walking on our side of the road in the direction we were biking...So I took the opportunity and stopped to ask her for directions...we talked for a bit and after hearing about our trip and learning that we had nowhere to stay that night, she asked if we wanted to stay at her place for the night, which was right on our way west.
So, Dwight and I then climbed Schooley's Mountain, which owned all previous to it (we had to avoid a car muffler that had been stranded on the shoulder of the road). This one was massive. Alex, who lived with her sister Kim, brother-in-law Kenny and two nieces, fed us, made us beds and hung out with us all night by the fire, sharing stories. After a great night, we woke the next morning and she made us breakfast.
It's rare that you meet people like her that would be courageous enough to put up a couple of strangers for the night but even more rare to be introduced to a family of such good people.

STUD

forgot about this one...

FOOD

Schooley's mountain

Schooled me, today. Shamed me. I road maybe 10%, that's probably generous, the rest I walked. Ryan assures me that there are no such beasts in Pennsylvania that we're likely to cross, but he can't speak for the Rockies.

This morning while packing up to leave our "camp site" we were approached by the cemetery's supervisor, who told us that it was his lamentable duty to inform the authorities that some vagabonds had slept in the graveyard, and make sure that we didn't have criminal records or anything. What at first seemed an embarrassment turned out to be great fortune, as instead of trouble we got a friend and personal escort for the morning in Officer Tully. He was a real character.


We managed to make the obligatory stop in a Jersey diner for breakfast, this morning. Our waitress didn't believe that we were on our way to California. After going in circles a bit we made progress to Washington, NJ, where our lovely new friend, Alex, offered to put us up. We had the pleasure of meeting her sister and brother in law, and their outrageously adorable kids. Today was our best day biking (in spite of Schooley's mountain), a little over 70 miles.

The Graveyard!

So at the end of the day we were all sweaty and covered with dried sunblock, debris, bugs and chamoix cream. There weren't any residential or public pools to jump in or even a river, just a man made goose pond...So i was poking around town and most of the shops were closed except this one gym in the Wyckoff Shopping Center called Schuman and Vaccaro's Elite Training. I talked to this nice guy Brad at the front desk for a bit about the trip and he let Dwight and I use their shower and toilet. A big thanks goes out to Brad. There is nothing worse than working all day and climbing into a slimy sleeping bag to sleep. We then snuck into the town graveyard and went to sleep.

Three Hills

Three of New Jersey's hills humbled Dwight, on day three. They proved beyond his power, and he had to walk much of them. No problems for Ryan, naturally. Due to navigation problems getting out of the city, it was a slow day. We found our way thanks to Jay, The Bike Sage of Ft. Lee, New Jersey (that's where we met him, any way, after crossing the George Washington Bridge, in a Border's book store, in search of an atlas). I dropped my camera while riding and ran it over with both wheels. This is the last shot I took before the fatal spill. Few vital signs remain (the lens pops out when I turn it on, but not all the way). The end of day three found us in Wyckoff, NJ, about 25 miles from where we started in Manhattan.

Chez Mello

Day two we made it through another hot one from Norwalk, CT to New York, NY. We stopped at Colony Grill Pizza in Stamford for lunch. Mmm... Ryan went vegan with me on the pizza as dairy does not seem to be agreeing with his stomach on this journey. We didn't make it to the concert which had brought us to the city (our friends These Green Eyes), but Anna and Maria Mello saved the day for us by putting us up and giving us the absolute 5 Star treatment. Many, many thanks to them and their family for their enormous hospitality.