Grand Finale- Clinton to Lawrenceville NJ

The last day of the journey was spectacular. From the perfect weather (rivaling the early days of the trip), to the gorgeous roads chosen for our 48 mile ride from Clinton to the picnic in Hopewell, to the 10 mile procession and closing ceremony at Quakerbridge Mall. A perfect close to a perfect 500 mile journey. Cycling the local roads from Clinton to Hopewell made me realize just how beautiful our area is for cycling and how our local roads rival many of the cycling roads we loved in New York and Penna. One of the things that made this week so special was the fantastic support we received from the three teams of SAG volunteers and the rovers who traveled the road helping us out. Featured in a photograph is one of the SAG teams and one of the rovers. Helmets off to them!! Once again the Dutko family opened up their home for a fabulous picnic where we enjoyed their food, their pool, and their good cheer. At the picnic we got our t-shirts, and took group photos. Shown in one of the photos are 17 of the 18 riders from West Windsor (the most from any single town). What a great group! You can also see what it looks like from the bike as we made our way to the mall. We totally closed down the local roads we biked on, with a police escort all the way in. People were cheering us on and welcoming us home all along the route. A very powerful site to see and to experience. We heard at the mall that we had raised over $400,000!! Very exciting and very impactful for the kids at Anchor House. Thanks to all who supported us on our ride: sponsors, volunteers, family. Thanks the riders for their energy and comraderie. And lastly, thanks to our trusty bikes, who helped us travel 500 miles and are itching to do it again next year.

Day 6- Stroudsburg PA to Clinton, NJ

"It's gotta be the shoes" was the mantra of the day. My roomie Jack had been using borrowed biking shoes all week since he did what we all have done at one time or another- forgotten a vital part of his biking equipment. He finally got his own shoes this morning (sent via someone who drove up to Stroudsburg). Jack, his shoes, and the rest of the group left Stroudsburg in the early morning through lovely back roads, and we made our way to the Delaware Water Gap. As we were pedaling along the river, I was feeling my oats and took off, passing people as I went along. Someone was on my tail and soon passed me, and it was no other than Jack with the biggest grin on his face. As I fell in behind him, we passed our biking buddies, and Jack screamed out to each one "it's gotta be the shoes"!! It was the funniest part of the day and we were laughing about it all day long. Jack felt so much stronger in his own shoes all day. It was a gorgeous day of cycling as we explored lovely backroads of Pennsylvania that we had never seen before, with amazing views of the Blue Ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. Lots of short, steep climbs today.

As it turns out, there are many "Kens" on this ride. So many (6 in total) that we have begun to number them. The photo shows "Ken1" (Ken Gordon), "Ken2" (Ken Naglak) and "Ken3" (yours truly). We crossed into New Jersey at Belvidere, and powered along to Milford where we had a long anticipated lunch. From Milford, it was only 15 miles to Clinton, but they seemed to go by slowly as we cycled through molasses-like humidity and drizzle (but no pouring rain so my streak continues!). We finally got in to Clinton (after putting in 73 miles for the day) where the first thing I did after I showered was climb into bed (Jack and I did not want to get out of bed this morning and I couldn't wait to get back). Everyone is in good spirits, and there are no major injuries among us, short of tired riders (see "Ken2" napping at a SAG), sore quads and saddle sores (I'll spare you the details of mine). Tomorrow is a short day as we cycle 48 miles to our picnic in Hopewell, and then take the 10 mile processional to Quakerbridge Mall. See you at the mall (around 4PM).

Day 5- Clarks Summit to Stroudsburg PA

An interesting day- the morning began with hard rain, and we were doubting how wet we would get on what was going to be a hilly day (even the morning message board sounded ominous). The storm seemed to pass and we got on the road out of Clarks Summit with intermittent showers. As it turned out, that was it for the rain for the day (Ken's biking luck continues- in all my training this year I have yet to get caught in a downpour- of course the guys think this is now jinxed). Heat was a factor for the first time this week as the temperature approached the upper 80's, but luckily there was shade, the occasional head wind, and at mile 54, ice cream!!! A lot of climbing today through the Poconos, as we climbed 4.5 miles up Moosic Mountain (the western edge of the Poconos plateau according to our resident geologist, DJ). You can see all the tired bikes lying down in one of the photos. With the climbing, we conversely had lots of downhill descents (funny how that works out). Look at the photo with the mountain in the background- we came down from there before going up Moosic Mountain. Some of the descents were screaming, with speeds over 40 mph- much fun!! The route was gorgeous, and was exactly the same as last year's leg between Clark's Summit and Stroudsburg which no one seemed to mind. We were serenaded at a beautiful SAG stop by our videographers Tom and Doug and various guest singers. Tomorrow we bike along the Delaware Water Gap and then into Jersey to our last hotel night in Clinton.

Day Four- Owego to Clark's Summit

Greetings from Pennsylvania!! We left Owego early, on a foggy cold morning, as we biked along the Susquehana. The first 25 miles today was through the morning rush hour as we made our way to and through Binghampton. Not the most pleasant of riding. In fact, most of the day was spent getting us from Owego to Clark's Summit in a pretty straight shot, but actually on a marked bike route (Route 2) for the first half. Not much in the way of backroads today. A few of us had lunch at a great diner (the Conklin Diner) which had a great baseball theme (primarily a Yankees shrine with the Red Sox relegated to the bathroom- wrong in so many ways!). We crossed into PA at mile 32, and rolled along many hills. We did get a 22 mile "descent" but the headwind was so strong we really couldn't stop pedaling. Then a considerable amount of climbing to our destination in lovely Clarks Summit (1400 feet elevation). It was our hottest day yet, and luckily the "video boys" sprayed us with supersoakers near the top of the last climb. Ken had one more flat a half mile from the finish so he walked it in!!! We celebrated the week with the Anchor House banquet. Newell Benedict got an award for five year participation. We also learned that so far $360,000 was raised!! Tomorrow we climb Moosic Mountain (a 4 mile climb on our way to Stroudsburg). And now a good night to all!!!

Day Three- Ithaca to Owego NY

Hi everyone. Well day three began with a chilly start at 49F, apparently a record for these parts. One of the great things about biking 500 miles in a week is all the great food you get to eat, totally without guilt. We had a tasty breakfast at an Ithaca classic, The Ithaca diner (we also had a terrific dinner at the famous Moosewood restaurant- you know the one with all the cookbooks). We quickly warmed up with a 1 mile climb straight out of the box and enjoyed a beautiful ride through the northern Ithaca suburbs and countryside. We had every variety of wind as we headed north at first into a headwind, then came south with a nice tailwind as we headed below the Finger Lakes and biked along gorgeous roads with views of mountains on
either side. It has been encouraging to see so many apparently viable family farms. We had a 2 mile climb, that was truly two miles, and then a terrific 4+ mile descent through some of the most spectacular biking scenery imagineable. After 72 miles, we arrived in Owego, a really nice town, where we enjoyed pizza and home made wine (compliments of DJ's brother who lives in NY) along the Susquehana River. Getting set for day 4, which will be a long day of climbing as we bike through the Poconos on our way to Clarks Summit.

Day Two- Geneva to Ithaca NY

Day Two was another lovely, sunny day in upstate NY, with temperatures in the 70's once again. We left Geneva NY, after stopping for breakfast in a great local diner (some brave souls ordered "cheesy homefries"- a mixture of eggs, cheese, and homefries- yum!). We biked along lovely Lake Seneca one of the Finger Lakes, before tackling our first long climb- 4 miles to the top of a good size hill (it was falsely advertised as a 2 mile climb!). Lots of vineyards, cornfields along the way, and lovely rolled bales of hay. Only casualty of the day was a flat tire for Ken at the first sag (rest) stop which he fixed without incident. We biked through Podunk (!) and made it to our last sag stop of the day at Taughannock Falls (which we were told was the largest freestanding waterfall in the Northeast. It was impressive, and a lovely place to rest before the last ten miles into Ithaca along the shores of Lake Cayuga. 73 miles for the day, 150 miles for the week so far. Looking forward to Day 3!

Day One

The Anchor House Ride week is here, and there was much rejoicing! We were bussed up on Saturday to Oswego NY through thunderstorms (a little ominous, especially after all the storms we've lived through this spring), and arrived in Oswego to nice weather and a good forecast for the beginning of the ride. Day One had us biking along lovely Lake Ontario, where the wind whipped up ocean-like waves, seagulls flew overhead, and the air smelled oddly like the ocean. We headed south from Sodus Bay, through Clyde NY, passing lovely rolling waves of cornfields, apple orchards aplenty, an Amish horse and buggy (and attendant deposits) and made our way to Geneva on the top of Lake Seneca. This part of New York is truly lovely. Spectacular cycling weather today, in the low 70's, a fair amount of wind in all directions, and just glorious cycling. 77 miles down, 423 to go. May the week go slowly!!!