Monday, May 21, 2007

Memorial Ride Day 2, Princeton NJ to Philadelphia PA... Tree

This was an absolutely beautiful day! The weather couldn't have been better -- around 75 degrees and sunny with a very calm wind (enough as a tailwind and not that noticeable as a headwind (others may beg to differ, especially those that I drafted off of)). The scenery through New Jersey and Pennsylvania was gorgeous! We even crossed the Delaware River! They did not allow bicycle riding over the bridge so unfortunately we had to walk them but we still crossed it! We hit Pennsylvania shortly before lunch. The total mileage today was about 65 miles. Yesterday we only did about 52 miles (was also supposed to be about 60 miles but the ride got lost...). The hills really started rolling today. The terrain gets hillier tomorrow into Maryland and well, you know what we're in for once we hit Virginia (more hills and nice mountain ranges).

Body parts are beginning to get very sore. All body parts. I could highlight a few but I bet you could guess. There is a team here from Maine that I think Susan is going to write about. Anyhow, they are a huge source of inspiration -- they're doing the ride on mountain bikes. Ya. They also have a cool trailer with their department bike team logo. We're taking photos to take back with us to Austin!! Today I even noticed they had their very own water bottles (with the department logo/bike team on it). Taking photos of that, too! Did I mention the trailer??!!

The student team from Minnesota helped us out today with driving Mark's truck so that our team could all ride. Yay, Minnesota!!

My friend Devon, from first grade, and her boyfriend Josh came and had dinner with us at the Collingdale FD station. They both live here in Philadelphia so it was cool to be able to see them this evening. The guys from the FD also gave/sold hats, patches, and most of all, beer mugs. Their homemade dinner and DESSERT was fabulous. Nothing like a great homecooked meal after a day of riding. One of the women their this evening lost her husband and he had been inducted into the Memorial. The Team gave her a pin and she mentioned she had heard of the team from Texas and thanked us for riding.

Riding through Philadelphia this afternoon was such a thrill. We had full police escorts and the honks and thumbs up and screams of encouragement from the public really pushed us on. Once the public sees the FDNY trucks and a bunch of people peddling, well, the encouragement just gushes. We even had a young rider off the sidewalk tag along for a bit.

I'm looking forward to Thursday when Vaughn and David will be here from Marble Falls. Eric's parents will be in Roanoke on Friday to see us all in, as well. Kyla and I have been corresponding over email since we left for the ride, her words of encouragment get me up some of those hills!! It really makes me smile when I have seen people in our department wearing the bike ride pins but it also makes me smile to see our fellow riders wear them -- something else that gets me up those hills. Yay, hills!

We're having a great time, miss everyone but we've made a lot of great friends here. Most are from Maine, New York, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts but there are others from Minnesota, Georgia, and Virginia.

We'll be able to post photos from today tomorrow -- there was some technical bike and shoe issues we had to deal with tonight that delayed the photo download... We have an early start tomorrow morning... Where's that tylenol????!!!

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