Interesting weekend. I traveled more than 900 miles in three days, never leaving the Northeast Corridor . . . mercifully, only a fraction of that on a bicycle. Here’s how it all unfolded.
While our intent was to do the Pumpkin Patch Pedal this weekend, the actual ride wasn’t until Sunday. And Jeff had to be in NYC on Saturday morning for a financial conference. So, we figured we’d go up on Friday, I’d knock around the Big Apple while Jeff did his thing, we’d have a nice dinner Saturday Night, then speed over to Jamesburg, NJ bright ‘n early Sunday for the ride.
And that’s what happened. Well, sort of.
What I wasn’t planning on was a major proposal on Saturday. In DC. A plum potential client, and a meeting that I really needed to be in on. I would really, really, really feel bad if I wasn’t there and we didn’t get the job. And Saturday was the day - we were one of four firms being interviewed.
So . . . I got to ride the train, at company expense. Twice: Acela from NYC to DC, and regular service from DC back to NYC. All on Saturday. I left NYC at 10 am, got back at 7:45 pm. Yes, I really did this. And in the process, got to catch up on all the shows I’d TiVo’d and downloaded this past week: Heroes, Bionic Woman, Biggest Loser. Even Amtrak’s coach cars have 120v plugs available. How cool is that? And Acela has lovely work tables with lots of leg room. Deluxe. All told, the round-trip was maybe 500 miles or so, give or take. Add those miles to the up-and-back to/from NYC, as well as the 50+ miles on a bike, and you come pretty close to 1,000. Last time I traveled 1,000 miles in the space of 3 days, I actually ended up in Florida, or something, not back in the same place . . .
But, that’s OK. I got to spend some quality time in NYC, despite my trainus interruptus interlude. We had a lovely dinner Friday evening at FR.OG (France Origine) . . . Vietnamese, Morrocan, and Lebanese-inspired French cuisine . . . And another, lighter repast Saturday night, at Sanctuary Tea, open only one month -- where most of the dishes (and cocktails, for that matter) involved tea as an ingredient, in one form or another.
We stayed in the Millenium Hilton, which was damaged on 9/11 when the WTC towers collapsed. The hotel was closed for a couple of years, and then was totally renovated and reopened in 2003. We stayed on the 34th floor, directly overlooking Ground Zero.
Here's a shot of Ground Zero, right after dawn. You can actually see the PATH tracks, upper left (kind of a backwards "C"):
You can learn more about restoration of the WTC site from Project Rebirth.
Here's a lovely sun-just-coming-up shot (marred by light from the open room door behind me, darnit):
I snapped that last edge-of-dawn picture this morning, right before we left for NJ and the PPP ride. We were so tired last night . . . lots and lots of walking (and a bit of travel weariness on my part, too) but we woke up this morning feeling OK. We hurriedly showered and packed, pulled the car out of valet parking purgatory, and (with a short stop at Starbucks), sped off for Jamesburg, and Thompson Park, where the ride was to start. The PPP is put on by the Staten Island Bicycling Association, and it’s a really fun event, featuring pie and (in past years, but sadly not this year) Halloween candy. We did the ride two years ago, but had to miss last year, owing to the holding of Mets/Nats tix. Good thing, too . . . we found out, from other riders, that last year’s ride sucked in a major way, weatherwise - cold and rainy.
But today . . . was absolutely perfect, just like two years ago. Cool temps, sunny skies. I was doing my A ride, too . . . I left poor Jeff behind for most of the ride, but periodically stopped and waited for him. (Hey, he used to do the same thing to me . . . I’ve just gotten so much faster these last two years.) I did do the first half too fast, though -- 15 mph average. But after the first rest stop, at the halfway point of the 50, we hit some hills and mild wind, and I started slowing down. I finished the ride at a 14.6 pace, and Jeff came in at 13.9. I was ready for the ride to end; we were both glad we didn’t opt for the metric. I had wanted to do at least one this year, but I guess it’s not in the cards. There are few organized rides left, and we’re not going to have time to do the Sea Gull. I start getting pretty busy this time of year, and my evenings and weekends are filled with work, not bike rides.
Ride start: Thompson Park in Jamesburg, NJ:
Finally. A street just for aggressive drivers:
NJ isn't just turnpikes . . .
There are ponds . . .
Farms . . .
Aaand . . . OK. Some abandoned buildings, too.
NJ has its horsey country, too. But, as usual, I also found COWS, and you know how I love cows:
(More on the NJ Farmlands Preservation Program . . . hey, why d'ya think they call it the Garden State, anyway? Flower patches in suburban back yards??)
Where I found the cows. What a wonderful dedication. Bet she was a sweet, sweet lady.
SIBA has a lot of fun with their PPP ride. The second rest stop was kinda scary:
Arrrr! We had a pirate directing traffic!
What happens when you don't eat and drink enough on a ride:
More sights: scenic bridges . . .
Ye Olde Yellow Meeting House, Monmouth County:
And, finally: nothing exceeds like excess . . .
I never saw the fun in these blow-up decorations, but to each his own, I guess. I can only presume they are well-staked in case of high winds.
* * * * *
Food is, of course, one of the reasons we ride, and today was no exception. After we finished up and reloaded the bikes, we went to a Super Stop ‘n Shop (no, not sexy, but hey, there wasn’t much else around close), and got snacks. They had passable fresh-made sushi, so I had that, an apple, and a mocha. We then beat it down to Philadelphia and the Standard Tap, in Northern Liberties, a gentrifying warehouse and loft area straight north of the downtown area. We first learned of it when we read an article on American gastropubs in Food and Wine a couple of years ago. It’s an informal joint; décor is Early Plumber (seriously, pipe is a major design element) and the menu is written in chalk on a blackboard above the bar, as is the beer list. The Tap serves mostly Pennsylvania beer, mostly microbrewed. Our choices tonight included Sly Fox, Stoudts, Yards, Yuengling, and Flying Fish. We selected Stoudt’s Scarlet Lady Ale, and squinted at the blackboard’s menu offerings. (I actually had to get off my stool and walk over to the bar; the print was tiny and my glasses are in need of a serious upgrade.)
What to have? There was lots to choose from: fried oysters to chickpea sandwiches to foie gras, as well as a selection of desserts. I wasn’t all that hungry, given it was only a couple of hours since our SnS stop, but I need to refuel at least a little more. 50 miles in 3.5 hours burns some serious calories. I opted for a bluefish plate, and Jeff eagerly pounced on (for the second time in two days) hangar steak and frites. Ahhh. My fish was perfect: crispy skin, tender and flaky meat. The home fries (with onion and bacon) were pretty swell, too.
Oh, yeah, speaking of bacon . . . I had it this morning, too, at breakfast at the Edison Diner. Bad, Deb, pretty bad. Please don’t tell my arteries . . .
Maybe Jeff and I should go veg the next few days, huh?
Recent Comments