On Friday morning I weighed in at 248 pounds, 24 pounds lighter than when I started. I was hoping to lose at least 30 pounds, but I intend to keep bicycling and losing more.
Christie W., an old, old friend (her father and mine were college roommates) came up as the winner: she guessed I would lose 25 pounds.
This will not be my last posting. I intend to post a few more, covering subjects such as animals seen on the trip, interesting road kill, biggest surprises about the trip, and probably a few other things. Plus, I still need to post the photos that go along with the last days of the ride.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Day 139 (10/2): Home to Coney Island, NY
Mileage: 8.0; 4,530 total
This morning Leslie joined Matt and me for our bicycling breakfast ritual: good food, and lots of it. We went to Tom's Restaurant, a local hotspot, where Matt had Huevos Rancheros and two strawberry pancakes, and I had three blueberry/mango/walnut pancakes, two eggs, and an English muffin. Leslie ate more moderately.
In the early afternoon Matt and I left for Coney Island and the Atlantic Ocean, on the last segment of our ride. We were soon joined by Steve Libby, who came from Jersey City to join us. We cruised through Prospect Park to Ocean Boulevard and the nation's oldest bike path, which leads directy to Coney Island. See photos.
Steve was soon joined by a preying mantis. See photo.
Although I love being back in New York City, Dan, whom I met on the boardwalk, reminded me of one of the downsides of living here. As you can see in the photo, below, he is carrying his front and rear bicycle wheels, which constitute all that is left of his bike. He had parked for several hours in Manhattan (51st and 5th Avenue), and had thought he had run his locking cable through both wheels and the frame. But alas, when he returned he realized that he had neglected to run the cable through the frame, because all that remained were his wheels.
We went to Di Faras pizza, the best in NYC, for a late lunch. Then we biked back to Blue Marble, a new ice cream place that opened, while I was traveling, right around the corner from my apartment. It was, hands down, the best ice cream I have had this year!
Tomorrow morning I will weigh myself and determine who came closest to guessing my weight loss. There are 19 entrants in the contest, with guesses ranging from a loss of 50 pounds to a gain of 30 pounds. The average (mean)guess is a loss of 29.8 pounds; the median is 35 pounds and the mode is 33 pounds. I do not yet know what the actual weight loss will be, but I suspect it will not be as much as most people have guessed.
Day 138 (10/1): Pleasantville to Brooklyn, NY
Mileage: 43.6; 4,522 total
Home! Sweet home!
It was great to arrive home for the first time in almost five months. Leslie was leading a little cheering section to greet me. In addition to her and Dan, Heather, and grandaughter Ariel, it was really nice to see that Ginny M. and Fern S. had joined the party, and were able to join us for a bit in our apartment. And fortunately, as I got off the elevator I bumped into Walt, Jo, Sasha and Katya, our neighbors at the end of our hallway, who were also able to join us for a while. In all the confusion, I am sorry to have missed the chance to get a photo of the gang.
Backtracking to the start of the day: In the morning, Melanie prepared a big breakfast for Steve and me. Then my friend Matt, with whom I had biked for a few days in Ontario, joined us. He is still on his cross-country trip from Seattle, but he had been visiting relatives for several days in the Albany area, and had arranged to meet up with me and Steve for our final trek into New York City. Mel's son Adam is very much into winter camping and ultra-light backpacking, and had a great time talking with Matt (who lives in Colorado and does a lot of mountaineering) about equipment and so forth. We were all having such a good time that it was probably close to 11 am before we took off. (Note: See picture of Melanie and Adam, below).
Soon we were on the South County Bike Trail out of Pleasantville which, except for some lousy sections on city streets, eventually took us to Van Courtland Park in the Bronx (see photo). We were getting closer and closer to home, and it felt good!
Soon we were having coffee and pastries at a little Hispanic bakery on Broadway in the Bronx, and then we crossed the Broadway Bridge into Manhattan, covering territory that I know well.
The sight of the Little Red Lighthouse under the G. W. Bridge (see photo) was almost a "welcome home" sign, and I knew I was getting close. While near the lighthouse we had fun talking to Molly and Mike (see photo). They are planning their first bike tour for next summer, intending to travel from Seattle to San Diego! It was pleasing to be able to talk with them about their upcoming trip, now that my current trip is drawing to a close.
We traveled down the West Side Bike Path pointing out, to Matt, various scenes along the Hudson. Steve had to depart to catch the Path Train in lower Manhattan, so we stopped for a quick celebratory beer at the North Cove (next to the former site of the World Trade Center). As we were being served, outside, it started pouring, but we each had our rain-gear with us and didn't mind getting a bit wet as we finished our drinks. We then made our way over to the Brooklyn Bridge, said goodbye to Steve, and Matt and I worked our way across the bridge and through the Brooklyn rush hour traffic and home.
Now, my coast-to-coast trip is almost complete. Tomorrow, Thursday, I will ride out to Coney Island and the Atlantic Ocean.
Home! Sweet home!
It was great to arrive home for the first time in almost five months. Leslie was leading a little cheering section to greet me. In addition to her and Dan, Heather, and grandaughter Ariel, it was really nice to see that Ginny M. and Fern S. had joined the party, and were able to join us for a bit in our apartment. And fortunately, as I got off the elevator I bumped into Walt, Jo, Sasha and Katya, our neighbors at the end of our hallway, who were also able to join us for a while. In all the confusion, I am sorry to have missed the chance to get a photo of the gang.
Backtracking to the start of the day: In the morning, Melanie prepared a big breakfast for Steve and me. Then my friend Matt, with whom I had biked for a few days in Ontario, joined us. He is still on his cross-country trip from Seattle, but he had been visiting relatives for several days in the Albany area, and had arranged to meet up with me and Steve for our final trek into New York City. Mel's son Adam is very much into winter camping and ultra-light backpacking, and had a great time talking with Matt (who lives in Colorado and does a lot of mountaineering) about equipment and so forth. We were all having such a good time that it was probably close to 11 am before we took off. (Note: See picture of Melanie and Adam, below).
Soon we were on the South County Bike Trail out of Pleasantville which, except for some lousy sections on city streets, eventually took us to Van Courtland Park in the Bronx (see photo). We were getting closer and closer to home, and it felt good!
Soon we were having coffee and pastries at a little Hispanic bakery on Broadway in the Bronx, and then we crossed the Broadway Bridge into Manhattan, covering territory that I know well.
The sight of the Little Red Lighthouse under the G. W. Bridge (see photo) was almost a "welcome home" sign, and I knew I was getting close. While near the lighthouse we had fun talking to Molly and Mike (see photo). They are planning their first bike tour for next summer, intending to travel from Seattle to San Diego! It was pleasing to be able to talk with them about their upcoming trip, now that my current trip is drawing to a close.
We traveled down the West Side Bike Path pointing out, to Matt, various scenes along the Hudson. Steve had to depart to catch the Path Train in lower Manhattan, so we stopped for a quick celebratory beer at the North Cove (next to the former site of the World Trade Center). As we were being served, outside, it started pouring, but we each had our rain-gear with us and didn't mind getting a bit wet as we finished our drinks. We then made our way over to the Brooklyn Bridge, said goodbye to Steve, and Matt and I worked our way across the bridge and through the Brooklyn rush hour traffic and home.
Now, my coast-to-coast trip is almost complete. Tomorrow, Thursday, I will ride out to Coney Island and the Atlantic Ocean.
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