Pocomoke Realizations [news]

12/14/2009 | Comments: 0 | Categories:

Each experience I have had on this transcontinental journey stands out in my mind as its own single story; One lucid instance where the atmosphere and characters stand still just long enough for me to snap a mental photograph. They are defined by me as one profound moment. I collect and live for these moments.

Paul and I rolled into Pocomoke City, Maryland after a rainstorm and started our habitual search for 'ideal land'. Someplace dry and flat was all we needed, someplace relatively out of sight, someplace for us to call home as we rested. We were not in luck.

Amazed at the moisture and saturation in the ground we concluded we would just keep biking south. Eventually something would happen and we would be okay with that. After all, we were living for the adventure of the unexpected. We have a Rand McNally road atlas and only to that extent do we know what to expect around each bend. So we biked into the night. This was to be a thrill in itself. We entered Virginia that night on route 13.

When traveling south on route 13, you are surrounded by farmland and large well-lit billboards for the next best hamburger invention. Farmlands are bearable but signs that advertise these char-broiled creations only 25 miles away are not. Our moving average is ten miles an hour.

We were lucky to find a plot of land adjacent to a cemetery just off a side road. Walking past the dimly lit graves Paul first spotted something that irked us both to some degree. A glowing plastic cross was adorning a grave, but with a small baby doll pressed against it. The doll's head glowed with the translucent cross and because of the doll's painted eyes, they appeared black at night. We quickly walked a little further down the trail to pitch our tents. Within walking distance was a Royal Farms convenience center. I redressed my wound that I acquired in Georgetown, Delaware and went to bed.

Those collective paragraphs above summarize a typical memory of mine, all neatly wrapped up with some point of interest or novelty. I find enjoyment in these moments, whether monumental to the trip or not, and am incredibly eager to collect a diversity of them.

Half Full [news]

12/05/2009 | Comments: 0 | Categories:

Team Bowditch spent the day in Lewes, Delaware and were welcomed into the Half Full restaurant. We were advised to warm up and dry off. We stripped our foul weather gear and enjoyed being out of the rain. We were treated to a hand-stretched 'not your average' pepperoni pizza, made with roasted tomato sauce, extra mozzarella, and spicy sopressata. We met with the store owner and his friend and chatted for a little while. The ambience inside was perfect and we were allowed to stay for some time. The owner also owns two other small bistros, Kindle and Striper Bites. We were lucky to have stopped here and hope others enjoyed this shop as much as Paul and I.

Natural New Jersey [news]

12/05/2009 | Comments: 0 | Categories:

Leaving Staten Island we were lucky to get a ride over the Outer Bridge into New Jersey to avoid taking a longer detour risking heavy traffic. We said our goodbyes to Frank and Madeline (Staten Island) and the days we spent with them, back on the road for Team Bowditch. We plotted our course through New Jersey and set out. Our goal for the next few days would be the Cape May Lewes Ferry Terminal.

Traveling along the roads of New Jersey and finally following a coastal route, for us, was refreshing. There was a lot to get used to. The water tastes of sulpher, the ground is sand, all the trees are needle bearing, and Paul and I had our own seperate backpacking tents to sleep in. There are no hills where we are now traveling, just changes in elevation, but only in the slightest degree. Our only setbacks to long distances are constant driving headwinds and the rough resistance of an old road.

We passed by many cranberry bogs (most labeled for Ocean Spray), and scoffed at the amount of local sand that attached itself to the many moving parts of our bikes. We settled down off a sandy fire road and searched for a clearing in the brush. A quick meal of canned fish and Ramen Noodles were consumed that night. Right away we could feel the weather change, and suddenly we knew that it was going to rain. Paul and I slept through our first major storm. The torrents that drove against my rain fly spun down the seams in thick rivulets and were immediately lost in the sand. Neither of our tents leaked.

We started seeing more coastal features in the landscape. Marshes and dunes appeared in stretches along the road. Beach homes were appearing and so were their communities. Just as we pulled into the Cape May region the sun set beautiful colours along the estuaries of the coast. We stayed with a family that night and were taken out to Lucky Bones, a local restaurant down by the harbor. We traveled the short seven mile trip to the ferry the next morning and said goodbye to New Jersey and it's wilderness.

The Empire City [news]

12/01/2009 | Comments: 0 | Categories:

From the moment I drew the line through the Kancamagus highway through the White Mountains, it was a given that we had to balance out our tour by visiting the hub of America. Paul has biked NYC before and knew of all the tricks to get to Staten Island from upstate. We took a rail trail to Yonkers, and after an abrupt stop somewhere beyond Manhatten just short of where we had planned to end up, we decided to travel 'south' in hopes of just finding our way there. Eventually we met up with Riverdale and Broadway and followed the East Coast of the Hudson river, Manhatten's upper westside. There is a greenway that extends the length of Manhatten all the way to Battery Park, the Southern-most tip.

Technical directions aside we made it to the ferry. Once again we found oursleves with a family. I've been to NYC before but have seen so little of it that it's worth my visiting many times over. Frank Brockway of Staten Island took us in that first night and gave us a tour of the island. We visited some of the historical landmarks and learned of Staten Island's heritage. We visited ruined fortifications that were built for the safety of NYC during the second World War. We also visited a memorial built by a Japanese artist for the victims of the 9/11 tragedy that had lived on Staten Island at the time. The next day Paul and I had plans to visit Manhatten and explore it on bicycles.

We road north and into Central Park, a place I have never been to and have always wanted to bike. Many people had the very same idea that day. Paul and I decided upon meeting at the Reservoir in opposite directions to assure that we would find each other in such a massive park. We both split up and when it was time to find each other, we both traveled to different sections of the Reservoir path and sat down, waiting for the other. Come nightfall, we had both given up on finding each other. We had been invited to an Eagle Cermoney at seven o'clock and had intentions of being there. I spent my time biking to the ferry and just catching the 6:30pm. I was upset with myself for abandoning Paul in Manhatten and hoped that he also would find his way back assuming my safety.

I walked off the ferry and to my astonishment,  there was Paul and his bike walking off alongside me. The coincidence was both amazing and humorous, we had both given up on the other at the same time and missed each other by mere seconds.

We made good time back from the Empire City and arrived just in time just in time for Dominic Brockway's Eagle speech. Congratulations for his achievements.