NYC, NY to Hazleton, PA

So, the weatherman is calling for thunderstorms all day here in Eastern PA, and since visibility is about 10 ft I've decided to take a break this morning until it gets a bit clearer outside. Before getting into it, I've first got to list a few casualties:

1. Camera (fell out of the seatbag somewhere in PA)
2. Credit card (same as 1)
3. Lock (same as 1)
4. Banjo (Mailed back from Upper Mt. Bethel in PA; definitely wasn't a good idea to bring that along)
5. Outer chainring (Mailed back and has been replaced with lockwashers; that shaved a few ounches, haha)

Saturday before heading out (Saturday, September 6, 2008) - 0 miles:
I actually started a day later than planned. Since the hurricane (which one I can't remember) was scheduled to hit NY on Saturday, I decided to chill out for another before beginning. Plus, as I don't get up to NYC terribly often, I figured it would be a good chance to check some stuff out. I began with a quick ride on the Staten Island Ferry, "the only free thing in NYC" as I was told by some guys running the Ellis Island ferry. After about 30 minutes of riding around Staten Island and determining that it was about the last place I ever wanted to live I rode it back over to Manhattan. The rest of the day I spent at the Museum of Natural History--the place with all the cool dinosaur skeletons--and in China town, my personal favorite part of any trip to NYC.

Day 1 (Sunday, September 7, 2008) - Manhattan to Independence, NJ - 92 miles:
The first day began at the very southern tip of Manhattan's financial district. I got started around 7'ish and made a quick trip to Mcdonalds where I took advantage of the 2 for $4 sausage and egg english muffins (one for b'fast and one for lunch) before riding up various avenues through the city until somewhere around 100th street when I took a left and headed to the west coast trail, an absolutely amazing bike trail that traverses almost the entire west coast of manhattan. I rode it all the way to 180th street where I got off and, with the help of some local bikers, found my way to the George Washington Bridge, which I took across to New Jersey. That was creeepy; you'd think with 14 lanes of traffic they could have made the bike/walk path a little wider?
New Jersey was a complete mess. I got lost after like 5 miles and ended up going down almost all the way to Newark Int'l airport before getting back on course and ending up at some swank mall where I visited an Apple store for googlemap directions (I'll send Steve a postcard if I remember). After my forray South into Newark I headed west in the right direction with sweet thoughts of PA going through my mind. However, it wasn't meant to be. I had to stop about 15 miles short in Independence, NJ, where I slept on this giant field called the Field of Dreams. Even though I wasn't able to get to PA, I was able to try Smurf ice cream--a combination of cotton candy ice cream, chocolate, and marshmallows--for the first time. Delicious! It was recommended to me by a father who's visiting nephew, according to the father's 9 year old daughter, had proclaimed (without any knowledge of what Smurf ice cream was) that he wanted a flavor with cotton candy, marshmallows, and chocolate only to have his dreams instantaneously fulfilled by a huge waffle cone of smurf ice cream.

Day 2 - Independence, NJ to Hazleton, PA - 80 miles
Ok, so thus far I've fallen a little short of the 100 mile a day goal. But, all I'm going to say, is you try riding with a trailer behind you in Eastern PA; it's not easy. Now, since I've only been on the road two days, this probably isn't going to mean a lot, but this was my toughest day yet. There was a lot of up and down, and the up's were extremely unforgiving, especially for a bike with a rediculously high lowest gear (I should've splurged on the Duraace rear cassete with a much larger range). There were several hills that I would say I averaged ~4 mph, and one in particular which was about 2 miles long that I thought would be the end; I just kept thinking about how sweet the downhill would be.
So, I got up around 7'ish and headed out for PA, which I arrived at after a nice flat 15 mile ride on Hwy 46W. In Upper Mt Bethel I stopped at a car parts store where I took off my outer chain ring, which is probably about the same size as the one Lance used for time trials, and mailed it back with my banjo. Sidenote, I have no idea why I decided to bring my banjo, but it was not a good idea, haha. After that I rode until reaching Tony's pizza in Nazareth, or some other similarly named town where the only thing you can see above the trees is a church steeple, and ate at Tony's pizza, the only restaurant around. I would definitely give it a thumbs up if anyone is in the neighborhood. They sell really good pizza by the slice for only $1.50 a slice (that's cheaper than Ian's). After refueling, I rode, rode, rode to Hazleton, PA, intermittently stopping for directions, food, or a water refill. Last night I pitched my tent next to a walking path.


Day 3 - Hazleton, PA to ...
I abruptly awoke this morning to the sights and sounds of lightning and thunder. Luckily, I had the state of mind to get up, pack my crap, and get into town before the rain really started falling and all my stuff got soaked. I had an amazing omellette (the amore) at Amores diner as I continue the struggle of keeping calories in my body, and am now at a public library hoping the rain has let up a little. Until next time from Ohio.

Unfortunately, as my camera is laying on some road somewhere in PA, and I don't intend on buying a new one until the Thanksgiving day sales, there probably won't be many pictures until I get to Fort Collins and Fedor can take a few.