How The Heck Did That Happen?

I type this from China Town,  New York City,  where I arrived yesterday and it all feels a wee bit surreal – have I really cycled all the way from the west Coast of America to very nearly the East Coast?   It doesn’t seem that long since I was battling with the wind on the Oregon Coast wondering if I had bitten off more than I could chew and even less time ago since I was roughly 1/2 way across the country,  thinking that was great  but how the heck can I do the same distance again?   But here we both are,  3 ferries,  one train ride and a heck of a lot of pedalling later and it hasn’t quite sunk in yet.

The train wasn’t part of the agenda – yesterday was going well – quite roads initially,  then busier roads but with a good shoulder to ride on,  followed by 15 miles on the Delaware and Raritan Canal Tow Path and this took me from Pennyslvania into New Jersey – this all took me to about 1/2 way of yesterdays cycling.   After this though navigation was going to be trickier – take a right at 10 yards,  a left at 1/2 a mile,  right,  left,  etc – as with most journeys probably not a difficult route if you knew it but this combined with a tight scheduled and as the train station happened to be just past the end of the canal this seemed to be the most sensible option,  although a little disappointing.

Getting myself and Bertie on the train was not altogether easy though – I hate machines and like to talk to someone but a machine it was and ticket was purchased but I did not even know if they would let Bertie on.   Then I had to get myself and Bertie to the correct platform which involved going down a flight of stairs,  under the railway line and up a flight of stairs – this involved unloading and then reloading Bertie – if I had waited I would have realised that it’s ok just to walk over the railway line to get to my platform – health and safety does not seem to have arrived in America yet.

It was fine taking Bertie on the train – apart from the 3 steps up and onto the train and luckily somebody helped me with this.

So I find myself outside Penn Station in New York – i’ts noisy,  busy and smelly – I’m only 3 miles from the apartment but not sure I’m brave enough to cycle this bit – but there are cycle lanes and I follow the cues from other cyclists,  which seem to be ignore the red lights and ignore the zebra crossing and if it’s safe keep going!   Well we made it and Bertie is off for some respite care and and I’m going to have a few days sightseeing with Dad.

So a couple of days off before heading off to my final (time permitting) end destination in Maine.