Day 2 - Philly!

Central Park was SOOO cool yesterday! we rode a lap around the park while we waited around in NYC. we reported in at 5 am, and didn't leave until 9:30 or so. I never knew that they closed off the roads for Central Park, except for rush hour. We were riding, along with every other biker in the city, in 2 full lanes and a bike lane. it was cool to see everyone, of all sorts, running, biking, walking, walking their dog, going about their daily lives....

We rode through Princeton, NJ this morning and it was beautiful. It did not set any kind of tone for the rest of the day though. We had a nice welcome sign of "Waste Management Welcomes You," riding with huge WM trucks kicking up dirt and grit on us. I rode with Jen for a little while, and it was pretty tight. She was super cool, and we rode at a very comfortable pace of around 15mph, by ourselves for quite a while. She's off to the North though, but you gotta holler at the peeps from Colorado! I keep wanting to call her "little Jen" b/c of the old CBU soccer days, where there were 3 Jens, and they were categorized to Jen, little Jen, and Jenny Kett! I only know 2 of those Jens though. ANYwho.

We navigated through some crappy towns. Followed some chalk left by the other riders and caught right up to them at the next turn. Then we started going through dirty areas and the outskirts of Philly, and when we could see the skyline, it was cool to see our sights getting closer. Eyes on the prize!!!

I feel at home in the city of Philadelphia. it's only 1.5 hours East of my current crib, so it was cool to recommend to the other riders where to go to for cheesesteaks and whatnot. Brianne was excited about seeing the bell and Independence Hall, which is only 2 blocks from our hotel, super close. Man, it feels like I've been gone for weeks or even a month already and it's only day 2, so many memories and good friends already! if you're ever in Philadelphia, make sure to check out ScoopDeville. it was an AWESOME ice cream place! and ice cream is highly desired when you've biked 140something miles in 2 days, and only eaten fruit and clif bars. which are delicious and all but I guess the taste buds kinda get dull.

Hmmmm, what happened today? well, everyone's bottom hurts from riding the unexpected 80 miles yesterday, so putting another 60 on today felt amazing! haha. Alexander (homeboy with the boombox!) had a little crash yesterday and his fork just completely failed today... picture to follow.

Brianne had a flat at the beginning of the ride, and I took that moment to teach Callie how to air up a tire! I noticed she was riding low in the back yesterday and she didn't air up this morning.

I hope I get to some lube and degreaser soon. The roads have been super gritty.

We split off into two groups of 21 tomorrow. Callie can no longer hang out with us cool Southern cats, she's off on her own to spread her wings! I'm sure we'll get texts, tweets, photos, e-mails, and the whole digital package from the Northerners throughout the trip.

Saw a fresh deer on the side of the road, straight off. Dominic is trying to capture the beauty in dead roadkill, and he's promised us an album by the end of the trip! can't wait to see that one! We have tons of great photographers on the trip. So maybe I will get some fame from all this!!! even though I'm under 25 :(

Well boys and girls, that's all my tired brain can think of for now! I think I'm gonna steal some of Blaise's pictures, they're pretty awesome. They're from Day 1, NYC. I'm off to sleep now. Apparently the roommates are already asleep. Bye for now!

FMAD out .....