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Gallery
- Pennsylvania through Connecticut
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Gallery | Oregon | ID and MT | WY and CO | KS and MO | IL through WV | PA through CT
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Pennsylvania
[journals]
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I’m not really sure who was responsible for designing the roadways in Pennsylvania, but I am sure that whoever it was should immediately be fired from their job. In my now expert opinion of mountain pass highways, I can not conceive of a reason for building a road that goes straight up one side of a mountain, then straight down the other, then straight up the next. This design strategy makes no sense to me, since in almost every circumstance, there seems to have been the possibility of building the road around the mountain. I can only surmise that the state of Pennsylvania has a vendetta against bicyclists, either that or the road builders, during the time of construction, were drunk.
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New Jersey/New York/Connecticut
[journals]
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It was 3:00 in the afternoon and Alex and I were riding through Peekskill, New York looking for a place to eat. I was 4,440 miles into my ride and 60 miles from home. We were so close to the end of my trip, that I could taste the salt in the air from the Atlantic Ocean. For three months, I had envisioned the final mile of my trip. I had visualized what I’d see, what I’d smell, and what I’d feel when I finally reached the end. I tried not to fantasize about it too often, because I wanted to enjoy where I was at, not where I was going. But at times it was hard. When I climbed Hoosier Pass, I basked in my accomplishment, when I crossed the Mississippi River I was awed by what I had achieved. But in each instance, I knew my feelings would pale in comparison to how I'd feel riding that final mile. As much as I tried not to, I kept replaying that final moment inside of my imagination.
Now that we were so close, Alex and I had to evaluate our situation. Did we want to try and reach my parent’s house that night or stop at the nearest motel and finish the ride the next day? We were going to discuss our options over lunch. While we were stopped at a traffic light, a taxi driver told me a deli was just past the next intersection. The light turned green and we headed towards the deli. When we reached the intersection, I looked to my right and saw the road was clear. As I rode through the intersection, Alex started to yell. I quickly looked back to my right and again saw it was clear, and then I looked to my left. A car was making a left-hand turn and was heading right at me. I sped up, but it was of no use. The car ran right into me, throwing me from my bike and into the bumper of an oncoming car. As I lay on the pavement and looked over to my bike lying in the middle of the intersection, I had one thought “My trip is over.”
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