Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Day 1 - NYC to Niagara Falls

June 24, 2014

My wife Eiko, 13-year-old son Sho, 7-year-old daughter Saya, and I hopped on fully loaded bicycles this morning and pedaled out of New York City on Day 1 of our NYC to Niagara Falls (round trip) family adventure.  We'll cover about 900 miles total and expect the ride to take about 5 weeks.

Here's a pic as we were about to start riding from our home on 25th Street. 


And here's a pic and video as we made our way across Manhattan.  It's quite an experience to cycle on the crowded streets in NYC, and even more intense to do with a 7-year-old on a connected trailer cycle and a bike trailer behind that.  



After crossing Manhattan, we rode north along the Hudson River, eventually passing the George Washington Bridge, visible in the background:

We navigated Van Cortlandt Park, then followed the South County Trailway up to Ossining, covering about 45 miles.  We're spending the night at the home of Paul and Debra Descloux, good friends we've known for more than a decade who greeted us with Italian food and wine.  I was grateful for their hospitality and felt lucky to have such generous and loving friends.

My legs were shot by the end of the day -- it's no small task to pull so much weight, especially up the hills around Ossining.  Eiko and the kids were tired too, of course, but didn't complain.  We'll get stronger as the ride goes on and have a lot of fun in the process.

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