Day 2 - Crossing into the Valley

Camping is one tough activity. Due to my job and my passion for solving the climate crisis, people always assume that I fit all the stereotypes of the enviro-hippie. Needless to say that people are always shocked to learn that I dread camping and that I have a harsh relationship with the natural world outside of the comforts of the city.

Throughout my first night, I repeatedly woke up hoping for the morning to come and warm up the air and clear the unbearable humidity. Finally the time came to get up and I felt more tired than when I had laid down, and all I wanted to do was to get on my bike and start riding to warm up. While waiting for some friends to get ready, I biked into the town of Princeton to look for a good breakfast place and found a delicious bakery that had an amazing focaccia!

Riding became a little more challenging, with some pretty good hills slowing my pace. Nonetheless, I managed to keep pace with some of the mid-pack riders. The first water-stop was at the bank of the Delaware river, right on the border between the Garden and Keystone States.

From Climate Ride 08!

As we ventured in Pennsylvania, the landscape started changing into a deeply agricultural one. The towns we crossed were very beautiful and seemed to be teeming with character. We had our lunch stop in Doylestown, a welcoming town where we saw plenty of Obama campaigners and friendly natives. We even received 24 fresh baked bagels for free because the owner of the bagel store liked our story!

The rest of the day was an intense bike ride, the hills were starting to get to me, yet the organizers insisted that the third day was going to be the hardest, so I kept pushing myself. My knees began to hurt halfway through the day, probably because my seat was too low. By the time we got to Valley Forge I was lagging behind and joined a group of slow riders that I had a much easier time keeping pace with despite the pain in my knees. When we finally reached the Freedom Foundation (a convention center in the middle of Valley Forge), I could hardly believe that I made it. I iced my knees, took some anti-inflamatory medicine and raised my seat, hoping to feel better the following morning.

Valley Forge is was an amazing place. As most of the kids I was with learned in school, Valley Forge was the winter camp-site for Washington's Army in 1776, when the revolutionary war officially started. During that dreadful and abnormally cold winter, Washington trained his militia and turned them into the Continental Army. It is a place that reeks patriotism and destiny. Washington's epic encampment became a metaphor for growth of the climate riders and the significance of our ride.

This was our first full day of biking and, despite some structural pain, I was feeling great. I could feel the purpose in my ride, and was feeding off of the amazing energy of my fellow climate warriors. I spent the night talking with other youth organizers about our plans to change the world, and everything seemed to make more sense than it had in ages.

At about 105 miles, we were 1/3 of the way through, but the hardest, hilliest days were still ahead of us!

Day 1 - From the City to the Gardens

Waking up wasn't easy on the first morning of my ride.

The previous night I arrived at the Climate Ride meet-up in the lower-east side after an arduous bike ride through NYC streets carrying a heavy duffel bag, my sleeping bag and a backpack. Might not have been the ideal time for a first ride through NYC, but I had a blast swirving through cars and learning this other city's bike habits.

The Climate Ride party was exciting at first, but got dull pretty soon. Bored and shocked by the $30 credit card minimum at the bar, I decided to meet up with my NYC host, Lisa, to get drinks in the upper-west side, launching me in my second improbable ride across Manhattan. Highlight of the night: they play Beer Pong in NY bars!!

Back to the morning in question. Not hearing my alarm, I woke up all of a sudden as Lisa screamed: "Tommaso, you are still here!" I jumped up and, without even thinking, started changing into my bike gear there and then. Within 30 seconds I was on my way out of the door, rushing to the meeting place some 8 miles away from where I was staying and already late.

All and all it was an exciting way to start a five day bike ride. Huffing and puffing, getting lost in queens, trying desperately to get a hold of rider friends to make sure they wouldn't leave without me, I made it back to the Lower-East Side with time to spare and pump my tires.

It was an amazing sight, to see 100 people trying to get ready before launching in an amazing adventure. Possibly due to the gust of adrenaline i got from thinking I was going to be missing the ferry out of the city, I wasn't too nervous. I was mostly anxious to get started, already missing having two wheels under my seat, I waited as everyone finished getting ready, and finally, people started clipping into their pedals.

From Climate Ride 08!

The ride had begun, an awkward spectacle of 100 bikers trying to move slowly through a crowded city, trying not to fall on one another as the clipping and unclipping of pedals grew more frequent.

By the time we arrived at the river, we had already established the need for common calls such as "Car-Back!" (there is a car behind us, stay single file) and "Slowing!" or "Stopping!" (let people know behind you that if they don't hit the breaks, they will most likely run into you).

The ferry dropped us off in New Jersey, and that is where we started our 300 mile journey to the heart of American politics. The first stretch of about 43 miles, from Atlantic Highlands to Princeton took us about 4 hours to complete, and had us cross through cute garden estates, manicured seemingly endless grass lawns, and beautiful forested land.

Every day we rode we had a couple of planned water lunch stops on the way. On the first day we stopped in a cute little town called Englishtown, which really did have an English look. Wish I had taken more pictures. Another place where I wish I had my camera out for was Princeton. Coming from a public Californian school built in the 70es, the architectural detail of Princeton buildings was fantastic.

The first night I passed out early, I was exhausted, but excited about the beginning of a wonderful trip.

Climate Ride '08 Welcome!

Hey!

Welcome to my Climate Ride '08 blog. I probably should have created this before the ride, but I didn't really understand the power of these new web tools until seeing them in action this week.

Many of my fellow riders were twittering updates, updating their blogs, sending pictures to share, all with their phones. Next time, I'll make sure to plan something like that ahead of time so you don't have to wait five days for any news from me.

This site will grow somewhat slowly, but I hope to have all my favorite pictures, reflections from the trip and videos.

Come back for more!