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.