I have been putting off this blog entry for two days now. Partially because I did not want this whole little adventure to be over. For a week I got to be with my closest of friends. Sharing all different types of experiences. Extreme heat and torrential down pours, crappy continental breakfasts, the joy of coasting down a hill, or the misery of getting to the top of another, only to see bigger hill after that. Thirst, hunger and chaffing, were all apart of the daily routine. Now the little break from the day to day is over and Im upset.
The last day of the trip was a real blur, and I mean that literally. We all rushed to our final destination. The scenic route of the Boston Marathon is the perfect way of ending our personal marathon. Each mile was marked and my head was spinning with the thought of ending so early.
Getting to Fenway after all that is such a rewarding experience. Being someone who lacks any sort of physical talent, the end to this trip was the ultimate reward. I never had a game winning hit in Little League, or scored in PAL football. Never qualified for States or Nationals in crew, but I did this bike trip. Something that I will be able to hold on to for a long time.
Finding out about the similarities between Yankees fans and Red Sox fans does put a universal spin on baseball. When you boil it all down, it comes down to family. Our families teach us the most important lessons in life, and probably the single most important traits to have: faith and loyalty.
Players sign new multi million dollar contracts, and owners raise the prices to attend a game but the fans still show up. Teams causes us to curse, throw remotes, punch walls, or drown our sorrows but we still watch, buy, and cheer them on.
It is pretty incredible that a hat or a shirt can spark a heated debate, a dirty look, an assuring nod, or even a high five from a sailor on Hanover Street. Baseball has that ability to unite and divide.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
All done and ripe for the recapping
Another journey is done and more lessons learned. The last two days were about as different as any two over the whole week. Thursday was rainy, miserable, and had four flat tires (the most of any day. Friday, on the other hand, was sunny, hot but not overly so, and had no mechanical malfunctions greater than a chain coming off. We were also done with the day earlier than any other, getting to Fenway before 1pm with almost the same mileage. Needless to say it was the best way to end our journey.
While not really fair to this trip, I can't help but compare it to last year's (again). One thing that was similar to last year was what it was like to arrive at Fenway. The stadium sneaks up on you as a part of the city and before you know it you smell hot dogs and everyone is wearing red, grey and navy blue. We were again greeted by Lucias bearing Dunkin Donuts iced coffee and again we celebrated by touching the plaque of Tom Yawkey. Once again we were also met with a sense of anticlimax as few people around seemed to notice that, while they arrived by SUV, we arrived by way of physical exertion and mental determination.
As much as discussion regarding the rivalry, this trip was also a learning experience for me in other areas. I am now much more confident in my bike maintenance abilities. I'm hoping to build a road bike in the next year, so this was a good intro for that. While I am no expert by any means, it was cool to have the tools to adjust brakes and change tires when in the middle of nowhere. I also learned a great deal about no budget doc filming. Of course, most of it was what not to do, but c'est la vie. Working with my footage from this and last year will be a good exercise in editing, but I'm not sure yet what the end product will look like.
As far as the Rivalry, it's still extremely interesting to me. I can't just make myself a baseball guy in a week, but I never fail to enjoy the heated "discussions" that are generated by the love of these teams. Walking around Fenway yesterday and today I noticed several couples and families representing both sides. It might be like other situations involving different groups of people. Those who continue to champion the impression that "Yankee fans are a-holes" or "Boston fans are d-bags" are probably people who haven't really spent much time with the other. Once they do, it seems that mutual respect over loving the game overcomes the dominant prejudices.
Now that doesn't mean there's less trash talking. In fact, there's probably more because it doesn't get personal as much. Over this week John didn't hide his dislike for Pedroia just because Liz was around. It just stayed there. It wasn't about Boston or Boston fans sucking. The only moment of that this week was yesterday when the cashier at the liquor store was giving John a hard time for being a Yankee fan and talking sh*t about New Yorkers being whiney. I'm no Yankee fan, but the guy was being a douche. I'd bet that this guy hasn't ever watched a game with a Yankee fan or really hung out with one.
There's nothing wrong with good natured ball busting, but the best baseball fans I've ever known are the ones who understand that can appreciate other baseball fans. Just as I enjoy debating politics with people who vote opposite of me, a great debate over baseball seems to be one of the best things about being a real fan. The personal attacks should be saved for those who deserve it -- fairweather fans.
While not really fair to this trip, I can't help but compare it to last year's (again). One thing that was similar to last year was what it was like to arrive at Fenway. The stadium sneaks up on you as a part of the city and before you know it you smell hot dogs and everyone is wearing red, grey and navy blue. We were again greeted by Lucias bearing Dunkin Donuts iced coffee and again we celebrated by touching the plaque of Tom Yawkey. Once again we were also met with a sense of anticlimax as few people around seemed to notice that, while they arrived by SUV, we arrived by way of physical exertion and mental determination.
As much as discussion regarding the rivalry, this trip was also a learning experience for me in other areas. I am now much more confident in my bike maintenance abilities. I'm hoping to build a road bike in the next year, so this was a good intro for that. While I am no expert by any means, it was cool to have the tools to adjust brakes and change tires when in the middle of nowhere. I also learned a great deal about no budget doc filming. Of course, most of it was what not to do, but c'est la vie. Working with my footage from this and last year will be a good exercise in editing, but I'm not sure yet what the end product will look like.
As far as the Rivalry, it's still extremely interesting to me. I can't just make myself a baseball guy in a week, but I never fail to enjoy the heated "discussions" that are generated by the love of these teams. Walking around Fenway yesterday and today I noticed several couples and families representing both sides. It might be like other situations involving different groups of people. Those who continue to champion the impression that "Yankee fans are a-holes" or "Boston fans are d-bags" are probably people who haven't really spent much time with the other. Once they do, it seems that mutual respect over loving the game overcomes the dominant prejudices.
Now that doesn't mean there's less trash talking. In fact, there's probably more because it doesn't get personal as much. Over this week John didn't hide his dislike for Pedroia just because Liz was around. It just stayed there. It wasn't about Boston or Boston fans sucking. The only moment of that this week was yesterday when the cashier at the liquor store was giving John a hard time for being a Yankee fan and talking sh*t about New Yorkers being whiney. I'm no Yankee fan, but the guy was being a douche. I'd bet that this guy hasn't ever watched a game with a Yankee fan or really hung out with one.
There's nothing wrong with good natured ball busting, but the best baseball fans I've ever known are the ones who understand that can appreciate other baseball fans. Just as I enjoy debating politics with people who vote opposite of me, a great debate over baseball seems to be one of the best things about being a real fan. The personal attacks should be saved for those who deserve it -- fairweather fans.
The Perfect Ending
For all of the ups and downs that we endured during this trip, from the flat tires to the bad weather and the hills... we could not have possible had a better final day of our trip. We woke up in Worchester and knew we had about 43 miles to finish our trip. The weather was beautful, and I actually felt really really good considering all that we had been through.
John and B made a decision last year that the last 26 or so miles of the trip would be the Boston Marathon route. I loved this decision for a few reasons: 1) It was cool that we got to see the route that the runners run every year, another little tidbit that we picked up during this trip. 2) Every mile we covered was marked on the side of the road, so I was able to have a mental countdown in my head the closer and closer we got.
We covered ground in a hurry today... we only briefly stopped for a quick granola, bathroom break and another quick water fill stop. As we got closer and closer I got more and more excited.
The 1st time I really felt that we were close was as we were coming over the Boston University Bridge and John pointed out that you could see the lights of the stadium over the buildings... what an incredible feeling that was. Then the other noticible sights of Fenway came into play slowly, the Citgo sign, the Monster and Yawkee Way. Once we got there the 5 of us approached the wall and at the same time put our hands on Fenway Park. What an incredible feeling that was... to know where we started and what we went through. Liz's mom and aunts were there waiting for us which was pretty cool, they congratulated us and had drinks for us.
We got lunch ad the "best sports bar in America" and ran into Peter Gammonds of ESPN. we took a picture with him, but the guy taking the picture screwed up and it did not take, either that or the camera broke because Peter Gammonds was not looking too good when we ran into him.
Looking back on the trip it is really hard to put my thoughts into words. Its Satruday afternoon and we are sitting in Liz's apartment having a few drinks watching the game (we were not able to scalp tickets.. too expensive which was a bummer) and just talking a bit about what we did on the trip. Its hard to explain to anyone who was not on the trip just how much fun it was, and in such a weird way it was fun despite the fact that it was probably the hardest most grueling week of my life. I know there are absolutly some things that I will miss.
1) I will miss the silly converstions on the road, trying to pass the time, trying to get through the tougest parts of the trips, or just trying to make each other laugh. Sometimes its just a matter of someone saying one word and everyone else laughing: maybe out of delusion, or because its something we had been joking about but that is something I will miss.
2) Our pre-trip prayer/talk...this has not been talked about much by anyone I dont think, but every morning we would come together after we got our bags on our bikes, brng our hands in and Billy would lead us in prayer. It was usually along the lines of asing that God protect us and help us have the mental and physical strength to make it through the day. It was always a great way to start the day and it always ended with a word, usually our final destination
3) Ill miss the sence of accomplishment every time we made it up a hill, or reached our stop for the night. Some days were much tougher then others, but we made it and I will remember every step forever.
Looking back on what we did it would be impossible to write a post about the last day with our thanking the members of Team Shamrock (our team name) for the trip.
B- The leader of the pack... without Alex we would have not made it past the 1st day. From the helpful hints about riding to the ability to fix just about every problem that we had with our bikes he was the glue that held us together. He was our map and our guide and I am sure that there were times that he was frustrated with the fact that we were slow, or not as strong as he was, but he led us all the way. I hope the documentary is able to be put together and it is an honor that I was able to be part of it.
Liz- We voted her "most improved biker" yesterday at lunch and it was absolutly not meant to be a joke or a knock on her. Her desire and ability to finish the trip despite day 1 is something that i envy. She almost always was leadng the pack and digging as hard as she could to climb every hill. I am sure there were times when she was sick of being with 4 boys...but she was great and I am glad for her that she finished with us. She was a huge part of our group and it would not have been the same with out her
Billy- When my tire busted for the 3rd time he was the one that convinced me that quitting was not an option. He rode ahead of me for the 2 and a half miles and let me blow off some steam. He was always the one who would drop back in the pack to make sure noone was riding alone, trying to keep everyone moving and motivated. He contributed in so many different ways and was a huge part of why we were able to finish.
John- First off if it was not for John none of us would even be on the trip. I want to thank him for the offer, and for doing this trip again. A quick story about the kind of guy John is, yesterday after the trip we were walking towards the bank to get money for lunch and we passed a homeless man by the bridge, we both gave him change and then after we got our money John went into McDonalds and bought that man a Big Mac, fries and a soda. Thats just who John is, and more importantly he is probably embaressed that I am even putting this story in the blog. He does good things because he knows they are good. That is one of the things I will miss most about John next year at St. Anthony's. I can never thank him enough for doing this trip. I know he said last year that it was one of the greatest experiances of his life, and after doing it for myself I have no choices but to agree with him. It was an unbelievable experiances, he was the captain of the Shamrocks.
Another bit of thanks has to go to my family for all the encouragment even when I did not sound so good the pushed me to keep moving and working even though I know they thought i was out of my mind. Also to my cousins and friends who read the blog sent texts along the way and were quick to call, or send well wishes.
Also a huge thanks to everyone we stayed with along the way... The Bova family who provided us with a great meal and night sleep on day 1 when we needed it the most. The Letson family for showing us a good time. Aunt Deb and her family for a great pasta dinner, some great videos of the kids (which should be on YouTube they are so funny) and introducing us to So You Think you Can Dance. Without the kindness of these people this trip would have been much tougher.
A final thanks has to go to the nameless people that we met along the way who helped us out. Whether it was a place to refill our water, use the bathroom or somethign bigger like fixing a tire, giving us a tire, helping us with directions or just offering us encouragment when they heard about what we were doing. It is amazing the kindness of strangers and what a good feeling you get from it.
I dont know that ill ever do somethign like this again, or if ill ever want to do it again, but we did it once and that is waht is important. Thank you again to everyone who donated. If you still want to donate its not too late. ALL the money goes to cancer research, two great causes, and tons of people will benefit from it. I will probably post another time with a better reaction once I am a little more removed from the trip. So keep checking back to read everyone elses reactions.
John and B made a decision last year that the last 26 or so miles of the trip would be the Boston Marathon route. I loved this decision for a few reasons: 1) It was cool that we got to see the route that the runners run every year, another little tidbit that we picked up during this trip. 2) Every mile we covered was marked on the side of the road, so I was able to have a mental countdown in my head the closer and closer we got.
We covered ground in a hurry today... we only briefly stopped for a quick granola, bathroom break and another quick water fill stop. As we got closer and closer I got more and more excited.
The 1st time I really felt that we were close was as we were coming over the Boston University Bridge and John pointed out that you could see the lights of the stadium over the buildings... what an incredible feeling that was. Then the other noticible sights of Fenway came into play slowly, the Citgo sign, the Monster and Yawkee Way. Once we got there the 5 of us approached the wall and at the same time put our hands on Fenway Park. What an incredible feeling that was... to know where we started and what we went through. Liz's mom and aunts were there waiting for us which was pretty cool, they congratulated us and had drinks for us.
We got lunch ad the "best sports bar in America" and ran into Peter Gammonds of ESPN. we took a picture with him, but the guy taking the picture screwed up and it did not take, either that or the camera broke because Peter Gammonds was not looking too good when we ran into him.
Looking back on the trip it is really hard to put my thoughts into words. Its Satruday afternoon and we are sitting in Liz's apartment having a few drinks watching the game (we were not able to scalp tickets.. too expensive which was a bummer) and just talking a bit about what we did on the trip. Its hard to explain to anyone who was not on the trip just how much fun it was, and in such a weird way it was fun despite the fact that it was probably the hardest most grueling week of my life. I know there are absolutly some things that I will miss.
1) I will miss the silly converstions on the road, trying to pass the time, trying to get through the tougest parts of the trips, or just trying to make each other laugh. Sometimes its just a matter of someone saying one word and everyone else laughing: maybe out of delusion, or because its something we had been joking about but that is something I will miss.
2) Our pre-trip prayer/talk...this has not been talked about much by anyone I dont think, but every morning we would come together after we got our bags on our bikes, brng our hands in and Billy would lead us in prayer. It was usually along the lines of asing that God protect us and help us have the mental and physical strength to make it through the day. It was always a great way to start the day and it always ended with a word, usually our final destination
3) Ill miss the sence of accomplishment every time we made it up a hill, or reached our stop for the night. Some days were much tougher then others, but we made it and I will remember every step forever.
Looking back on what we did it would be impossible to write a post about the last day with our thanking the members of Team Shamrock (our team name) for the trip.
B- The leader of the pack... without Alex we would have not made it past the 1st day. From the helpful hints about riding to the ability to fix just about every problem that we had with our bikes he was the glue that held us together. He was our map and our guide and I am sure that there were times that he was frustrated with the fact that we were slow, or not as strong as he was, but he led us all the way. I hope the documentary is able to be put together and it is an honor that I was able to be part of it.
Liz- We voted her "most improved biker" yesterday at lunch and it was absolutly not meant to be a joke or a knock on her. Her desire and ability to finish the trip despite day 1 is something that i envy. She almost always was leadng the pack and digging as hard as she could to climb every hill. I am sure there were times when she was sick of being with 4 boys...but she was great and I am glad for her that she finished with us. She was a huge part of our group and it would not have been the same with out her
Billy- When my tire busted for the 3rd time he was the one that convinced me that quitting was not an option. He rode ahead of me for the 2 and a half miles and let me blow off some steam. He was always the one who would drop back in the pack to make sure noone was riding alone, trying to keep everyone moving and motivated. He contributed in so many different ways and was a huge part of why we were able to finish.
John- First off if it was not for John none of us would even be on the trip. I want to thank him for the offer, and for doing this trip again. A quick story about the kind of guy John is, yesterday after the trip we were walking towards the bank to get money for lunch and we passed a homeless man by the bridge, we both gave him change and then after we got our money John went into McDonalds and bought that man a Big Mac, fries and a soda. Thats just who John is, and more importantly he is probably embaressed that I am even putting this story in the blog. He does good things because he knows they are good. That is one of the things I will miss most about John next year at St. Anthony's. I can never thank him enough for doing this trip. I know he said last year that it was one of the greatest experiances of his life, and after doing it for myself I have no choices but to agree with him. It was an unbelievable experiances, he was the captain of the Shamrocks.
Another bit of thanks has to go to my family for all the encouragment even when I did not sound so good the pushed me to keep moving and working even though I know they thought i was out of my mind. Also to my cousins and friends who read the blog sent texts along the way and were quick to call, or send well wishes.
Also a huge thanks to everyone we stayed with along the way... The Bova family who provided us with a great meal and night sleep on day 1 when we needed it the most. The Letson family for showing us a good time. Aunt Deb and her family for a great pasta dinner, some great videos of the kids (which should be on YouTube they are so funny) and introducing us to So You Think you Can Dance. Without the kindness of these people this trip would have been much tougher.
A final thanks has to go to the nameless people that we met along the way who helped us out. Whether it was a place to refill our water, use the bathroom or somethign bigger like fixing a tire, giving us a tire, helping us with directions or just offering us encouragment when they heard about what we were doing. It is amazing the kindness of strangers and what a good feeling you get from it.
I dont know that ill ever do somethign like this again, or if ill ever want to do it again, but we did it once and that is waht is important. Thank you again to everyone who donated. If you still want to donate its not too late. ALL the money goes to cancer research, two great causes, and tons of people will benefit from it. I will probably post another time with a better reaction once I am a little more removed from the trip. So keep checking back to read everyone elses reactions.
Ya Sham Right a.k.a. The End of the Road a.k.a. What a long, strange journey it has been
I'm typing this on Saturday, the day after we finished. Yesterday was a very strange day in a very good way.
First, it was reminiscient of the first two days. It was hot, or at least hotter than Wednesday or Thursday. It was hilly. AND we didn't have any mechanical problems.
We awoke at 7 am in Worcester, were on the road by 8:30 and we reached Fenway by approximately 1 in the afternoon. We stopped twice along the way. We stopped once for a granola bar/refuel session and we stopped once to refill our water. At this point in our trip we were all so determined to get to Fenway that we just pressed on through our hunger AND I WAS STARVING. So hungry, in fact, I could've eaten a monkey bar. But, our resolve to finish was stronger than our hunger pangs.
When we reached Fenway Liz's mom and aunts were there waiting for us with Iced Coffees, my first coffee in over a week, pretty incredible stuff for a teacher. We grabbed a bite to eat at Game On! outside of Fenway, had a celebratory drink, texted those we knew to inform them we were alive and victorious, and returned to Liz's apartment (via bicycle) to shower and unwind...and like that...
it's over
Wow...
I'm not really sure how I feel about it, I still need some time to reflect and think about it. For now, let me just thank some people real quick.
To my fellow riders (in alpha order):
Alex: Thanks for being the leader. For keeping your head on straight and being as patient with us novice riders as you were. Without your organization and know-how we would probably have ended up in Oklahoma somewhere.
Billy: Thanks for being the encouraging spirit. While you obviously had some mechanical difficulties, when all was well you kept everyone going and kept everyone positive.
John: Thanks for your comic relief. You always kept things light on this ride. It was a difficult and trying experience and without your humor we'd have all been in big trouble. And of course, thanks for thinking this idiotic trip was worth taking again albeit by different means of transportation.
Liz: Thanks for not quitting on yourself and us. I think your presence kept us all motivated to wake up and go every morning. Your turn-around from Day 1 told me that no matter how hard this trip became we'd be okay, especially if you were around.
And everyone else:
Mom, Dad, Mary, Bill, Will, Katie, Kevin, DJ and Chrissy: Thanks for knowing this was a ridiculous idea and supporting me regardless...I guess that's how life with me goes, huh? You guys are the best!
Friends: Thanks for the texts of encouragement. And your feigned envy almost makes me want to do it again.
God: Yup, God too. Thanks for looking over all of us, keeping us safe, faithful, patient and humble. We looked to you before every ride and while it was never perfect, what in life is?
Love you all!
Only dissappointment...Not getting to go to a Sox games. Scalpers wanted $200 for a ticket..Oh well. I'll be back...eventually.
I probably have one more post-ride post...So check back...Who knows?
So it goes...
First, it was reminiscient of the first two days. It was hot, or at least hotter than Wednesday or Thursday. It was hilly. AND we didn't have any mechanical problems.
We awoke at 7 am in Worcester, were on the road by 8:30 and we reached Fenway by approximately 1 in the afternoon. We stopped twice along the way. We stopped once for a granola bar/refuel session and we stopped once to refill our water. At this point in our trip we were all so determined to get to Fenway that we just pressed on through our hunger AND I WAS STARVING. So hungry, in fact, I could've eaten a monkey bar. But, our resolve to finish was stronger than our hunger pangs.
When we reached Fenway Liz's mom and aunts were there waiting for us with Iced Coffees, my first coffee in over a week, pretty incredible stuff for a teacher. We grabbed a bite to eat at Game On! outside of Fenway, had a celebratory drink, texted those we knew to inform them we were alive and victorious, and returned to Liz's apartment (via bicycle) to shower and unwind...and like that...
it's over
Wow...
I'm not really sure how I feel about it, I still need some time to reflect and think about it. For now, let me just thank some people real quick.
To my fellow riders (in alpha order):
Alex: Thanks for being the leader. For keeping your head on straight and being as patient with us novice riders as you were. Without your organization and know-how we would probably have ended up in Oklahoma somewhere.
Billy: Thanks for being the encouraging spirit. While you obviously had some mechanical difficulties, when all was well you kept everyone going and kept everyone positive.
John: Thanks for your comic relief. You always kept things light on this ride. It was a difficult and trying experience and without your humor we'd have all been in big trouble. And of course, thanks for thinking this idiotic trip was worth taking again albeit by different means of transportation.
Liz: Thanks for not quitting on yourself and us. I think your presence kept us all motivated to wake up and go every morning. Your turn-around from Day 1 told me that no matter how hard this trip became we'd be okay, especially if you were around.
And everyone else:
Mom, Dad, Mary, Bill, Will, Katie, Kevin, DJ and Chrissy: Thanks for knowing this was a ridiculous idea and supporting me regardless...I guess that's how life with me goes, huh? You guys are the best!
Friends: Thanks for the texts of encouragement. And your feigned envy almost makes me want to do it again.
God: Yup, God too. Thanks for looking over all of us, keeping us safe, faithful, patient and humble. We looked to you before every ride and while it was never perfect, what in life is?
Love you all!
Only dissappointment...Not getting to go to a Sox games. Scalpers wanted $200 for a ticket..Oh well. I'll be back...eventually.
I probably have one more post-ride post...So check back...Who knows?
So it goes...
Patron Saint of Hopeless Cases
Jumping back to the second to last day..
My biggest concern withe the rain was braking. There are points when we ride that we are all pretty close to each other. Nothing quite as stylish as the Tour de France but still pretty compact. That tended to make me nervous if someone in front suddenly braked then I wouldnt be able to stop and before you know it legs are through tire spokes and my shammies are all in bunches.
Luckily that did not happen but it did get a couple of flat tires. After the first one I said it was simply my turn. It felt like the second half of my bike was not connected to the front half. I would turn left and feel the back half turn in the opposite direction. We were going downhill when I started to brake and did not know that Liz and Billy and Billy were right behind me. Liz nearly crashed into me as I stopped, and the two Billies avoided a collision as well. The roads were very slick and I feel that I am lucky to have been able to stop without gettng hurt or causing a pile up. As I walked up to tell Liz and Billy and Billy what happened I passed a statue of Saint Jude on the front lawn of the house I parked at. Collision avoided right in front of my patron Saint.
I bought a replacement tire in Spencer Ma that cost me $16. Now here is my new philosophy on bargan shopping. I bought a pair of $12 shoes at payless that I am using on the ride. Now when you buy a pair of $12 shoes your get $12 shoes. You buy a bike tire for $16, you get a $16 bike tire.
That baby went flat in less then 10 miles. Quinn walked about a mile with me in the rain before we met up with the rest of the group. It was decided that Liz and I would walk up to the Hotel and call different bike shops in the area.
We showered and then called a cab to take us to Barney's Bike Shop in Worcestor with my back tire in tow. The cabbie was glorious! A little old man who talked to us about his days of being a truck driver and his misadventures. He hated the troopers in Maine (why would people bother going back!!) Talked about the tickets he got for idling in Brooklyn, ($1,200). He was a hoot.
The guy at the Bike Store was really nice and not looking to make a buck. He told me that my tire was good and would probably be able to finish the trip but they dont carry that tire any more. I wanted nothing to do with that tire so I asked for a new one and hey gave me one with kevlar in it.
Called the cab company and waited a few minutes outside for it. After 20 minutes we got a bit nervous but sure enough a cab pulled up. It was our buddy!!! He told me that I have to read A Confederacy of Dunces. He said he read it in five hours and was upset when it was over. He then handed me a poem to read by a poet that he really enjoyed. He copied it down from the library and carried it with him in a little handbook, it was by Sylvia Plath. It was incredible that he carried that around with him.
He did not charge us as much for the ride back as he did for the ride there. He forgot to put meter on right away.
My biggest concern withe the rain was braking. There are points when we ride that we are all pretty close to each other. Nothing quite as stylish as the Tour de France but still pretty compact. That tended to make me nervous if someone in front suddenly braked then I wouldnt be able to stop and before you know it legs are through tire spokes and my shammies are all in bunches.
Luckily that did not happen but it did get a couple of flat tires. After the first one I said it was simply my turn. It felt like the second half of my bike was not connected to the front half. I would turn left and feel the back half turn in the opposite direction. We were going downhill when I started to brake and did not know that Liz and Billy and Billy were right behind me. Liz nearly crashed into me as I stopped, and the two Billies avoided a collision as well. The roads were very slick and I feel that I am lucky to have been able to stop without gettng hurt or causing a pile up. As I walked up to tell Liz and Billy and Billy what happened I passed a statue of Saint Jude on the front lawn of the house I parked at. Collision avoided right in front of my patron Saint.
I bought a replacement tire in Spencer Ma that cost me $16. Now here is my new philosophy on bargan shopping. I bought a pair of $12 shoes at payless that I am using on the ride. Now when you buy a pair of $12 shoes your get $12 shoes. You buy a bike tire for $16, you get a $16 bike tire.
That baby went flat in less then 10 miles. Quinn walked about a mile with me in the rain before we met up with the rest of the group. It was decided that Liz and I would walk up to the Hotel and call different bike shops in the area.
We showered and then called a cab to take us to Barney's Bike Shop in Worcestor with my back tire in tow. The cabbie was glorious! A little old man who talked to us about his days of being a truck driver and his misadventures. He hated the troopers in Maine (why would people bother going back!!) Talked about the tickets he got for idling in Brooklyn, ($1,200). He was a hoot.
The guy at the Bike Store was really nice and not looking to make a buck. He told me that my tire was good and would probably be able to finish the trip but they dont carry that tire any more. I wanted nothing to do with that tire so I asked for a new one and hey gave me one with kevlar in it.
Called the cab company and waited a few minutes outside for it. After 20 minutes we got a bit nervous but sure enough a cab pulled up. It was our buddy!!! He told me that I have to read A Confederacy of Dunces. He said he read it in five hours and was upset when it was over. He then handed me a poem to read by a poet that he really enjoyed. He copied it down from the library and carried it with him in a little handbook, it was by Sylvia Plath. It was incredible that he carried that around with him.
He did not charge us as much for the ride back as he did for the ride there. He forgot to put meter on right away.
Friday, July 25, 2008
When it pours.... we get soaked
2nd to last day... unfortunatly was one of the toughest day we had encountered so far. We suffered many set backs, most importantly the weather was a huge issue. It rained for the entire 48 miles that we rode.
The nice part about the rain is the fact that once it starts raining and you get wet you no longer care about how hard it is raining or how wet you are, you are just focused on finishing the trip and getting where you need to go. The other nice part is once you are soaked you think things are much funnier then you would when you are dry. John got his 2nd flat tire of the day and while we were changing it we had some difficulties with somethings, it was raining so hard that all we could do was just laugh it off and figure it out.
Today was hilly, but we were still able to ride strong and I dont think we had to get off the bike at any point and walk...we just kept moving and tried to stay as close together as possible. John tied me with flat tires by popping three tires in 1 day.
Worchester was not really as nice a city as I thought it would be. When i drive by it on the highway I see the college of the Holy Cross and it looks like a very nice quant city but it was not that nice when we rode through it. The hotel we stayed at also was not that nice which did not help its cause.
A quick back story...at Aunt Deb's her girls told us how great the show So you think you can dance is...we watched it with them while we were there and tonight we decided to wacth the results show to see what the outcome was. i was very upset to see that the two guys i thought were the best, Will and Twitch, were in the bottom 2. Will was voted off which I found sad because I thought he was the best guy on the show. This is why I do not have any faith in reality shows which give America the right to vote people off.
Tomorrow is the last day and I am very excited. The word from John and Alex is that we will ride the Boston Marathon route into Boston. I cant imagine what my emotions will be as we arrive into Boston and get a chance to see Fenway Park up close. I have been to Fenway before but not before such a long journey. This has been one of the more difficult things I have ever done athletically and emotonally and the final few pedals should make it all worth it. Today was rough be we are all hoping that tomorrow is a day that we will never forget.
Thank you agian to all of our family and friends for all of their support and encouragement. Knowing that they are all there for us makes this trip worth riding. The comments on the board and the text messages as we ride keep us motivated and pushing towards our goal and it has been so important to us.
The nice part about the rain is the fact that once it starts raining and you get wet you no longer care about how hard it is raining or how wet you are, you are just focused on finishing the trip and getting where you need to go. The other nice part is once you are soaked you think things are much funnier then you would when you are dry. John got his 2nd flat tire of the day and while we were changing it we had some difficulties with somethings, it was raining so hard that all we could do was just laugh it off and figure it out.
Today was hilly, but we were still able to ride strong and I dont think we had to get off the bike at any point and walk...we just kept moving and tried to stay as close together as possible. John tied me with flat tires by popping three tires in 1 day.
Worchester was not really as nice a city as I thought it would be. When i drive by it on the highway I see the college of the Holy Cross and it looks like a very nice quant city but it was not that nice when we rode through it. The hotel we stayed at also was not that nice which did not help its cause.
A quick back story...at Aunt Deb's her girls told us how great the show So you think you can dance is...we watched it with them while we were there and tonight we decided to wacth the results show to see what the outcome was. i was very upset to see that the two guys i thought were the best, Will and Twitch, were in the bottom 2. Will was voted off which I found sad because I thought he was the best guy on the show. This is why I do not have any faith in reality shows which give America the right to vote people off.
Tomorrow is the last day and I am very excited. The word from John and Alex is that we will ride the Boston Marathon route into Boston. I cant imagine what my emotions will be as we arrive into Boston and get a chance to see Fenway Park up close. I have been to Fenway before but not before such a long journey. This has been one of the more difficult things I have ever done athletically and emotonally and the final few pedals should make it all worth it. Today was rough be we are all hoping that tomorrow is a day that we will never forget.
Thank you agian to all of our family and friends for all of their support and encouragement. Knowing that they are all there for us makes this trip worth riding. The comments on the board and the text messages as we ride keep us motivated and pushing towards our goal and it has been so important to us.
Flashback...Worcester, I don't even know 'er!
The penultimate day as described by Liz prior to our embarkation from Aunt Deb's. In track, the penultimate step is the second to last step, one of the most important steps, especially in jumping events. Therefore, I thought this day would be one of the most important in our journey...Well, here's how our penultimate day went:
rainrainrainrainrainrainrainflattirerainrainrainrainfixbrakesrainflattirerainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainflattirerainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainflattire
That about sums it up.
Really bodes well for the end of the trip right?
Keeping things in perspective, it really couldn't have gone any better; and realistcally it could have gone much worse. The day before was slightly moist, extremely flat and ended at the home of a relative of one of the riders...it was a perfect day. So, it's without wonder that we had to struggle through this last day. Once again, these struggles reminded us of how much better things could be.
A few things I did think of while riding/or waiting while fixing a tire:
1) Every time I see a banana peel, I think of Woody Woodpecker. I envisioned my bike hitting one of these peels, going end over and and me landng in an awkward position with little woodpeckers dancing around my head while laughing only as Woody could. (All in cartoon fashion of course, otherwise it'd be too morbid to imagine).
2) Alex Bea is a bike afficionado. Without him we'd've been lost. Maybe for real, but at least struggling to get along.
3) The Quabbin Reservoir provided us with means for a fun word association game. It started with Batman and Quabbin and ended with Swiss Family Quabbinson (maybe). I'll miss these word association games now that John is living in MA.
4) Worcester is not an asthetically pleasing city. I'm glad to be through and done with it.
5) It's amazing how one person, namely a gas station attendant with the ability to deny or grant permission to empty ones bladder, can influence a person's outlook on mankind. One in particular, who was unwilling to search for a key for a bathroom initially, eventually came to his senses and did the right thing and for that Liz, Alex and I are VERY appreciate. Once again, "relying on the kindness of strangers" as Alex and Blanche Dubois like to say.
6) Can't wait for tomorrow...
It's almost as if I'm psychic, because I know what happens after we left Worcester, because I'm there right now. I'll be back. Word.
So it goes...
rainrainrainrainrainrainrainflattirerainrainrainrainfixbrakesrainflattirerainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainflattirerainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainrainflattire
That about sums it up.
Really bodes well for the end of the trip right?
Keeping things in perspective, it really couldn't have gone any better; and realistcally it could have gone much worse. The day before was slightly moist, extremely flat and ended at the home of a relative of one of the riders...it was a perfect day. So, it's without wonder that we had to struggle through this last day. Once again, these struggles reminded us of how much better things could be.
A few things I did think of while riding/or waiting while fixing a tire:
1) Every time I see a banana peel, I think of Woody Woodpecker. I envisioned my bike hitting one of these peels, going end over and and me landng in an awkward position with little woodpeckers dancing around my head while laughing only as Woody could. (All in cartoon fashion of course, otherwise it'd be too morbid to imagine).
2) Alex Bea is a bike afficionado. Without him we'd've been lost. Maybe for real, but at least struggling to get along.
3) The Quabbin Reservoir provided us with means for a fun word association game. It started with Batman and Quabbin and ended with Swiss Family Quabbinson (maybe). I'll miss these word association games now that John is living in MA.
4) Worcester is not an asthetically pleasing city. I'm glad to be through and done with it.
5) It's amazing how one person, namely a gas station attendant with the ability to deny or grant permission to empty ones bladder, can influence a person's outlook on mankind. One in particular, who was unwilling to search for a key for a bathroom initially, eventually came to his senses and did the right thing and for that Liz, Alex and I are VERY appreciate. Once again, "relying on the kindness of strangers" as Alex and Blanche Dubois like to say.
6) Can't wait for tomorrow...
It's almost as if I'm psychic, because I know what happens after we left Worcester, because I'm there right now. I'll be back. Word.
So it goes...
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
No they are not booing folks, they are saying, "Moose!"
I am very happy to be back with the group and could not wait to start the day.
Once again Mrs. Letson was a wonderful host and served up a terrific breakfast for us. Two years in a row she has been there for our crazy pilgrimage and she does not let down. Thanks Little Letson for the oatmeal cookies and Timy for taking us out to Plan B.
Maybe it was the day off but I had the best ride of the whole trip today. The views were great. I love passing the farms and the farm stands on these roads. Blueberries and corn seemed to be for sale at countless of these little stands.
The rain did not bother me at all. I enjoyed the sounds of the the bikes going through the puddles and the mist the trucks would create as they passed us. Being in the back I got a good amount of splash back from the rear tire of whomever was in front of me at that time. It was like water squirting out of one of those pool noodles every couple of seconds. Was not that bad but every now and then some dirt or gravel would kick up and hit me as well.
We stopped to eat lunch at a pizza place in Fairfield. I stayed outside with the Billies and tried to get all the bikes tied up together. By the time I got in Alex and Liz had been in for a few minutes and had already spoken too the pizza owner and the cop that was in there. The cop asked who was a red sox fan and asked who was a Yankee fan. When he asked who the Yankee fan was he started to reach for the gun. That made me laugh.
Billy Quinn chronicled the encounter with one of the construction workers who hated Long Island Yankee fans. It is always comforting to know that the place you are from has a negative connotation to it.
Another construction worker mentioned how he rode his bike across the country when he was younger. He only had a ten speed bike and would sleep on the side of the road at times. College towns he said were great because you could always find a place to stay in them. He also mentioned that he rode in cut off jean shorts and that gave me a pretty good visual that I will keep for the rest of the trip.
Alex got a flat and we stopped at Northampton for a quick fix. The people at the bike shop were very helpful and courteous to us. One of the guys from the shop, Seth was very informative on the rivalry. It was very nice to interview a fan who has knowledge of the rivalry and the team. It has seemed like a long time since we interviewed a true fan. We were very lucky to run into him.
We are at Amherst now and just finished eating dinner at Liz's Aunt Debbie. The food was great and it is nice to be in a home where we can rest up. Two days in a row now, its great.
New Day tomorrow and we are a day closer to out goal
Once again Mrs. Letson was a wonderful host and served up a terrific breakfast for us. Two years in a row she has been there for our crazy pilgrimage and she does not let down. Thanks Little Letson for the oatmeal cookies and Timy for taking us out to Plan B.
Maybe it was the day off but I had the best ride of the whole trip today. The views were great. I love passing the farms and the farm stands on these roads. Blueberries and corn seemed to be for sale at countless of these little stands.
The rain did not bother me at all. I enjoyed the sounds of the the bikes going through the puddles and the mist the trucks would create as they passed us. Being in the back I got a good amount of splash back from the rear tire of whomever was in front of me at that time. It was like water squirting out of one of those pool noodles every couple of seconds. Was not that bad but every now and then some dirt or gravel would kick up and hit me as well.
We stopped to eat lunch at a pizza place in Fairfield. I stayed outside with the Billies and tried to get all the bikes tied up together. By the time I got in Alex and Liz had been in for a few minutes and had already spoken too the pizza owner and the cop that was in there. The cop asked who was a red sox fan and asked who was a Yankee fan. When he asked who the Yankee fan was he started to reach for the gun. That made me laugh.
Billy Quinn chronicled the encounter with one of the construction workers who hated Long Island Yankee fans. It is always comforting to know that the place you are from has a negative connotation to it.
Another construction worker mentioned how he rode his bike across the country when he was younger. He only had a ten speed bike and would sleep on the side of the road at times. College towns he said were great because you could always find a place to stay in them. He also mentioned that he rode in cut off jean shorts and that gave me a pretty good visual that I will keep for the rest of the trip.
Alex got a flat and we stopped at Northampton for a quick fix. The people at the bike shop were very helpful and courteous to us. One of the guys from the shop, Seth was very informative on the rivalry. It was very nice to interview a fan who has knowledge of the rivalry and the team. It has seemed like a long time since we interviewed a true fan. We were very lucky to run into him.
We are at Amherst now and just finished eating dinner at Liz's Aunt Debbie. The food was great and it is nice to be in a home where we can rest up. Two days in a row now, its great.
New Day tomorrow and we are a day closer to out goal
When it rains....bikers get wet
So anyone who is reading this in the NorthEast knows that it rained today, and well...we got caught in it for a bit. BUT I DID NOT GET A FLAT TODAY!!!! It poured for about an hour, it was raining as we crossed the Connecticut Massachusets border (which was a huge step for us).
Its funny, but despite the rain the whole team seemed to be in high spirits. We had a great breakfast of pancakes and bacon, and the ride was pleasant. I think there are a few reasons as to why the rides are becoming more and more pleasant.
1) As we get closer to Boston, we move away from the mountain ranges and closer to sea level, which flattens out the roads on our trip.... you wont hear me complaining about that.
2) We are in better shape as we go along, our legs are getting a little stronger and we are able to keep up the pace a bit better with out worrying about the soreness that we suffered the 1st few days
3) and this one might be most important: we are learning how to work the shifters. We are becoming better bikers, learning how to shift, when to shift and what gears to use to help us get up the hill both faster and with less pain.
All three of these reasons lead to faster rides, and happier bikers...both make this trip more fun and lead to more energy and funny stories when we get to the places we are sleeping.... as I type John and Billy are discussing who is going to massage whose feet. Both is pretty disgusting.
One of the highlights of this trip happened after lunch today. We were in Westfield Mass and Liz was the last one out of the restaurant and said that a man with a gotee was talking trash about Yankee fans, in particular, Long Island Yankee fans. He said they were the worst kind. Billy was feeling strong and said that he was going to go in to the restaurant and give him a peice of his mind. As he said this... the man walked of the restaurant (John was holding the door for him as he walked out) and Billy realized that this man was a lot bigger then he thought and decided that it was not in his best interest to speak up while this man was so close. The conversation as the man walked out went something like this:
John (holding door): "I held the door for you even though I am from Long Island"
Man with gotee: -Nothing-..John claims he was afraid of him
Billy: "So long island yankee fans are the worst kind"
Man with gotee: "there are no words to describe yankee fans" with a toothless grimace on his face
We found our later that the man with the gotee threatened to bury us in a hole down the road. Needless to say, we got moving pretty quickly and never looked back.
We are not at the famous Aunt Deb's ready to enjoy a nice meal. We are in great spirits feeling good very excited that we have two days left. The closer we get the more exciting it gets.
Stay tuned for more updates and thank you very much again for donating for our cause
Its funny, but despite the rain the whole team seemed to be in high spirits. We had a great breakfast of pancakes and bacon, and the ride was pleasant. I think there are a few reasons as to why the rides are becoming more and more pleasant.
1) As we get closer to Boston, we move away from the mountain ranges and closer to sea level, which flattens out the roads on our trip.... you wont hear me complaining about that.
2) We are in better shape as we go along, our legs are getting a little stronger and we are able to keep up the pace a bit better with out worrying about the soreness that we suffered the 1st few days
3) and this one might be most important: we are learning how to work the shifters. We are becoming better bikers, learning how to shift, when to shift and what gears to use to help us get up the hill both faster and with less pain.
All three of these reasons lead to faster rides, and happier bikers...both make this trip more fun and lead to more energy and funny stories when we get to the places we are sleeping.... as I type John and Billy are discussing who is going to massage whose feet. Both is pretty disgusting.
One of the highlights of this trip happened after lunch today. We were in Westfield Mass and Liz was the last one out of the restaurant and said that a man with a gotee was talking trash about Yankee fans, in particular, Long Island Yankee fans. He said they were the worst kind. Billy was feeling strong and said that he was going to go in to the restaurant and give him a peice of his mind. As he said this... the man walked of the restaurant (John was holding the door for him as he walked out) and Billy realized that this man was a lot bigger then he thought and decided that it was not in his best interest to speak up while this man was so close. The conversation as the man walked out went something like this:
John (holding door): "I held the door for you even though I am from Long Island"
Man with gotee: -Nothing-..John claims he was afraid of him
Billy: "So long island yankee fans are the worst kind"
Man with gotee: "there are no words to describe yankee fans" with a toothless grimace on his face
We found our later that the man with the gotee threatened to bury us in a hole down the road. Needless to say, we got moving pretty quickly and never looked back.
We are not at the famous Aunt Deb's ready to enjoy a nice meal. We are in great spirits feeling good very excited that we have two days left. The closer we get the more exciting it gets.
Stay tuned for more updates and thank you very much again for donating for our cause
Favorite Yankee Memories
Here's another one...
2003 ALCS:
The Yankees were down 5-2 going into their half of the 8th when they knotted it up.
My dad was sitting in his leather chair in the den. I was sitting on the couch. 3 inning later the score was still tied. I had tried to go to the bathroom at one point during that stretch, but my dad was very quick to sit me back down.
We're a relatively superstitious family; it's strange.
Bottom of the 11th,
Tim Wakefield on the mound,
Aaron Boone at the plate.
First pitch
Home run...Left field...Game over!
The Yankees are American League Champions. In thrilling fashion...
So it goes...
2003 ALCS:
The Yankees were down 5-2 going into their half of the 8th when they knotted it up.
My dad was sitting in his leather chair in the den. I was sitting on the couch. 3 inning later the score was still tied. I had tried to go to the bathroom at one point during that stretch, but my dad was very quick to sit me back down.
We're a relatively superstitious family; it's strange.
Bottom of the 11th,
Tim Wakefield on the mound,
Aaron Boone at the plate.
First pitch
Home run...Left field...Game over!
The Yankees are American League Champions. In thrilling fashion...
So it goes...
Today was Shamtastic!
Today the Shamrocks kicked some butt! (The Shamrocks is our team name...ask Liz about the shammies). This blog will be sporadic and listy, try to stay with me.
God must have thought he was Lil Wayne today, because he was making it rain. It rained pretty heavy this morning in the beginning of our trip, but then it let up as the day wore one. Then it rained a tiny bit more as we left Northampton Bike Shop on our way to Aunt Deb's. All in all, not too shabby.
When we first left Timy's this morning Bea left his cell phone at the Letson's house. While we waited for the incredibly helpful Mrs. Letson (who also made us a delightful breakfast of pancakes and bacon) we played a game of "I'm going on a picnic" here's how it went:
A:Apricots
B:Blueberries
C:Chris Farley
D:Dandelions
E:Elephant Dung
G:Giraffes
H:Hot Dogs
I:Ice Cream
J:Jumper Cables
K:Kosher Gefelta Fish
L:Lactaid Pills (so John could eat the ice cream)
M:The munchies
N:Nectarines
O:Oxford Sweater
P:Picnic Table
Q:Queen Elizabeth I
R:A raging alcoholic
S:Spare Tire (just in case...how ironic we'd need it later.)
We didn't finish, but I'm sure we will.
When we stopped at a gas station they were playing Kenny Chesney "Better as a Memory" which led into Keith Urban's "You Look Good in my Shirt." This led me to sing to myself, but out loud for a good distance. I sang, "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy,"
"Down" by 311, "Pardon Me" by Incubus, "Moondance" by Van Morrison, "Handlebars" by The Flobots, "Ticks" by Brad Paisley, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cindy Lauper(?), "Love Me Dead" by Ludo, John sang "Tessie" by Dropkick Murphy's and later one we sang "Ain't no Mountain High" by The Temptations(?) as we climbed our final hill. It was pretty great.
I think today was the most fun we've had riding so far, probably because it was the least physically challenging day. We laughed a lot (Liz tried to Hula Hoop with a bike tire, then Quinn did the same...neither was successful), and we also performed some synchronized biking maneuvers (the diamond, the columnade, the five on a dice, a rocket ship, and then as we were riding down Aunt Debbie's block the boys performed the modified Yurgen Rotation, several times).
So here we are at Aunt Deb's blogging and feeling good. But, lest we forget, we did get a flat, it should serve as simple reminder to us to remain humble because as shamtastic as today was, who knows what tomorrow holds.
Keep praying for us! We're one day closer to our goal.
Go Yankees!
So it goes...
God must have thought he was Lil Wayne today, because he was making it rain. It rained pretty heavy this morning in the beginning of our trip, but then it let up as the day wore one. Then it rained a tiny bit more as we left Northampton Bike Shop on our way to Aunt Deb's. All in all, not too shabby.
When we first left Timy's this morning Bea left his cell phone at the Letson's house. While we waited for the incredibly helpful Mrs. Letson (who also made us a delightful breakfast of pancakes and bacon) we played a game of "I'm going on a picnic" here's how it went:
A:Apricots
B:Blueberries
C:Chris Farley
D:Dandelions
E:Elephant Dung
G:Giraffes
H:Hot Dogs
I:Ice Cream
J:Jumper Cables
K:Kosher Gefelta Fish
L:Lactaid Pills (so John could eat the ice cream)
M:The munchies
N:Nectarines
O:Oxford Sweater
P:Picnic Table
Q:Queen Elizabeth I
R:A raging alcoholic
S:Spare Tire (just in case...how ironic we'd need it later.)
We didn't finish, but I'm sure we will.
When we stopped at a gas station they were playing Kenny Chesney "Better as a Memory" which led into Keith Urban's "You Look Good in my Shirt." This led me to sing to myself, but out loud for a good distance. I sang, "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy,"
"Down" by 311, "Pardon Me" by Incubus, "Moondance" by Van Morrison, "Handlebars" by The Flobots, "Ticks" by Brad Paisley, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cindy Lauper(?), "Love Me Dead" by Ludo, John sang "Tessie" by Dropkick Murphy's and later one we sang "Ain't no Mountain High" by The Temptations(?) as we climbed our final hill. It was pretty great.
I think today was the most fun we've had riding so far, probably because it was the least physically challenging day. We laughed a lot (Liz tried to Hula Hoop with a bike tire, then Quinn did the same...neither was successful), and we also performed some synchronized biking maneuvers (the diamond, the columnade, the five on a dice, a rocket ship, and then as we were riding down Aunt Debbie's block the boys performed the modified Yurgen Rotation, several times).
So here we are at Aunt Deb's blogging and feeling good. But, lest we forget, we did get a flat, it should serve as simple reminder to us to remain humble because as shamtastic as today was, who knows what tomorrow holds.
Keep praying for us! We're one day closer to our goal.
Go Yankees!
So it goes...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
“There are two mistakes one can make along the road[...]not going all the way, and not starting.”
Day 4 is in the books.
Now here's how this whole journey started. First, it was supposed to be some sort of informational trip in which we gathered information via interviews with fans regarding the rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox to either turn into a book or video. So far, not going so well. Second, it is intended to raise money for charity. We're collecting money for Memorial Sloan Kettering and The Jimmy Fund, charities sponsored by the Yankees and Red Sox respectively. That aspect of the trip is going, but could be going better. Where does that leave us now? Geographically, in Simsbury, CT. But on another level, even though people refuse to be interviewed and that would seem to dampen our spirits, this trip (at least for me) has become something much bigger than the rivalry...Can you imagine that?
This journey has become more of a quest. It's a matter of achieving a goal which has been set. I'm not too great at following through with goals I set for myself, but I don't think I've ever taken on one of this magnitude. Therefore, not finishing is not an option. Each day it becomes a little more difficult to start, but a little bit easier to keep going. Also, at this point point in our journey the 5 of us have really developed a very good report. We've come to understand each other; when we're riding we know when to slow down, and we know when to pass. We know when to offer words of encouragement, and we know when to just shut our mouths and ride on. It's pretty cool when we're on the road, usually single file, and we've all kind of adopted our own roles. Alex is obviously the most experienced rider, our navigator and our self-proclaimed "task master" (speaking of which I have to hurry this along, Alex set the curfew for 9:30). He usually rides up front, not usually by choice but because he just rides better than us. Liz has become our pace-setter on the straight-aways and downhills. She blazes out in front of us, and keeps us moving. Johnny likes to be the anchor (when I let him). Billy is the pusher. He rides up on whoever seems to be struggling and just keeps them going, generally during an uphill battle. And me...well? I'm doing what I can to keep everyone together. I try not to say too much (probably because I got us lost the first day; once is enough), and I just ride. I do a little bit of everything. I prefer being the anchor and keeping the group together, but every now and then I find myself in the front pushing the pace. I do what needs to be done...It's just how I operate.
Well...babble babble babble...My apologies. As I mentioned yesterday, we have been saying a little prayer every morning before we get going. I think that a little faith goes a long way during difficult times. After all, if we didn't have the uphills to struggle through, would we really enjoy the downhills that much?
See you all tomorrow...
So it goes...
Now here's how this whole journey started. First, it was supposed to be some sort of informational trip in which we gathered information via interviews with fans regarding the rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox to either turn into a book or video. So far, not going so well. Second, it is intended to raise money for charity. We're collecting money for Memorial Sloan Kettering and The Jimmy Fund, charities sponsored by the Yankees and Red Sox respectively. That aspect of the trip is going, but could be going better. Where does that leave us now? Geographically, in Simsbury, CT. But on another level, even though people refuse to be interviewed and that would seem to dampen our spirits, this trip (at least for me) has become something much bigger than the rivalry...Can you imagine that?
This journey has become more of a quest. It's a matter of achieving a goal which has been set. I'm not too great at following through with goals I set for myself, but I don't think I've ever taken on one of this magnitude. Therefore, not finishing is not an option. Each day it becomes a little more difficult to start, but a little bit easier to keep going. Also, at this point point in our journey the 5 of us have really developed a very good report. We've come to understand each other; when we're riding we know when to slow down, and we know when to pass. We know when to offer words of encouragement, and we know when to just shut our mouths and ride on. It's pretty cool when we're on the road, usually single file, and we've all kind of adopted our own roles. Alex is obviously the most experienced rider, our navigator and our self-proclaimed "task master" (speaking of which I have to hurry this along, Alex set the curfew for 9:30). He usually rides up front, not usually by choice but because he just rides better than us. Liz has become our pace-setter on the straight-aways and downhills. She blazes out in front of us, and keeps us moving. Johnny likes to be the anchor (when I let him). Billy is the pusher. He rides up on whoever seems to be struggling and just keeps them going, generally during an uphill battle. And me...well? I'm doing what I can to keep everyone together. I try not to say too much (probably because I got us lost the first day; once is enough), and I just ride. I do a little bit of everything. I prefer being the anchor and keeping the group together, but every now and then I find myself in the front pushing the pace. I do what needs to be done...It's just how I operate.
Well...babble babble babble...My apologies. As I mentioned yesterday, we have been saying a little prayer every morning before we get going. I think that a little faith goes a long way during difficult times. After all, if we didn't have the uphills to struggle through, would we really enjoy the downhills that much?
See you all tomorrow...
So it goes...
Mass is getting NEAR!
We are seeing more sox signs and fans. It's nice to see them around. The liquor stores are also started to be called Package stores.
Today started out with a lovely breakfast and the temperature was cool. The 1st 10-15 miles were very hilly and I was not doing well mentally. Then Billy's the 3rd tire blew and it was not as easy to solve. We called out best bet for bike stores (20 miles away). Unfortunately they could not come to help up. They sent us to some "hardcore bikers" you worked 2 miles away from where we were. They were an amazing help with the tired and bent over backwards for us and told us the best news we'd heard since we started. He told us that we'd love the ride to Simsbury because it was all down hill. IT WAS FABU!
The ride ended on a high with a visit to the Benidorm Bike Shop who directed us to the "hardcore bikers." We Finally got to Timy's house in Simsbury greeted by his very accommodating mom. We showered, drank water and were served cheese and crackers.
Again my outlook is optimistic since I'm currently not biking.
Today started out with a lovely breakfast and the temperature was cool. The 1st 10-15 miles were very hilly and I was not doing well mentally. Then Billy's the 3rd tire blew and it was not as easy to solve. We called out best bet for bike stores (20 miles away). Unfortunately they could not come to help up. They sent us to some "hardcore bikers" you worked 2 miles away from where we were. They were an amazing help with the tired and bent over backwards for us and told us the best news we'd heard since we started. He told us that we'd love the ride to Simsbury because it was all down hill. IT WAS FABU!
The ride ended on a high with a visit to the Benidorm Bike Shop who directed us to the "hardcore bikers." We Finally got to Timy's house in Simsbury greeted by his very accommodating mom. We showered, drank water and were served cheese and crackers.
Again my outlook is optimistic since I'm currently not biking.
"Billy...you're flat again"
This is what I heard from B as I was peddling up a hill in Ct. Probably the 4 worst words I possibly could have heard this morning by far. For those of your scoring at home its Road- 4 Me- 0.
Normally I am not a very emotional person, you can ask my family, friends, and probably a few ex-girlfriends that would say that usually nothing bothers me...I am usually very relaxed and just go with the flow of things. That said after my tire blew I had about a 2 mile walk to where we were hoping I could get a new tire, during that walk I felt just about every possible human emotion in the following order: anger that my tired went flat for the 3rd day in a row, sadness that I was now holding the rest of the group up for the 2nd morning in a row, disappointment that if I could not get my bike fixed soon my trip may be over and I will not get to enjoy riding up to Fenway like I had planned, the final emotion occurred somewhere around the 1 mile mark I decided that for some reason these flat tires were happening and that under no circumstance could I allow this to stop me from making it all the way to Boston. I don't care if i have to walk, or how many times I have to get my tire changed I HAVE to finish. If I dont finish it would make all the miles done before hand useless, it would also ruin the fact that we are doing this for charity. So despite all the previous feeling of just wanting to pull over to the side of the road, throwing my bike in the woods, getting in a taxi, and going home I am now more determined then ever to finish this trip... and hope that one of these days will be incident free.
Luckily for the 2nd day in a row I had a guardian angel looking out for me. After the 2 mile walk we found what I think was a furniture, or some type of wood refinishing company that we were told we run by avid bikers. When Liz, B, and Billy told them what was going on they were very happy to lend a hand. They gave me a new tire and a pump in order to pump the tire up with. Once again I was given a new life. I can not thank these people enough, they were so kind and even offered us some advice on the rest of our route.
The rest of the day was great... most of the miles were flat or downhill...lunch was terrific..and we arrived at our destination around 2:30 despite the fact that we were slowed for almost 45 minutes because of my faulty tire. The group really seems to be feeling strong, moving along at a good pace and getting better at this whole biking thing. We are now past the half way point with 3 days left and we are all very excited about moving forward. We are saying with a college friend of John, B, and Liz and he is showing us a good time, its nice to be in a house with friends rather then secluded in a hotel again.
Tomorrow is another day, and for my sake hopefully a problem free day. We are hoping the weather holds up for us. We are happy to have John back in the group, he was very much missed today. We also found out that we have avoided a hill that has been giving John nightmares for over a year, so thats good news. Here's to hoping that tomorrow bring more downhill miles... and stronger tires
Normally I am not a very emotional person, you can ask my family, friends, and probably a few ex-girlfriends that would say that usually nothing bothers me...I am usually very relaxed and just go with the flow of things. That said after my tire blew I had about a 2 mile walk to where we were hoping I could get a new tire, during that walk I felt just about every possible human emotion in the following order: anger that my tired went flat for the 3rd day in a row, sadness that I was now holding the rest of the group up for the 2nd morning in a row, disappointment that if I could not get my bike fixed soon my trip may be over and I will not get to enjoy riding up to Fenway like I had planned, the final emotion occurred somewhere around the 1 mile mark I decided that for some reason these flat tires were happening and that under no circumstance could I allow this to stop me from making it all the way to Boston. I don't care if i have to walk, or how many times I have to get my tire changed I HAVE to finish. If I dont finish it would make all the miles done before hand useless, it would also ruin the fact that we are doing this for charity. So despite all the previous feeling of just wanting to pull over to the side of the road, throwing my bike in the woods, getting in a taxi, and going home I am now more determined then ever to finish this trip... and hope that one of these days will be incident free.
Luckily for the 2nd day in a row I had a guardian angel looking out for me. After the 2 mile walk we found what I think was a furniture, or some type of wood refinishing company that we were told we run by avid bikers. When Liz, B, and Billy told them what was going on they were very happy to lend a hand. They gave me a new tire and a pump in order to pump the tire up with. Once again I was given a new life. I can not thank these people enough, they were so kind and even offered us some advice on the rest of our route.
The rest of the day was great... most of the miles were flat or downhill...lunch was terrific..and we arrived at our destination around 2:30 despite the fact that we were slowed for almost 45 minutes because of my faulty tire. The group really seems to be feeling strong, moving along at a good pace and getting better at this whole biking thing. We are now past the half way point with 3 days left and we are all very excited about moving forward. We are saying with a college friend of John, B, and Liz and he is showing us a good time, its nice to be in a house with friends rather then secluded in a hotel again.
Tomorrow is another day, and for my sake hopefully a problem free day. We are hoping the weather holds up for us. We are happy to have John back in the group, he was very much missed today. We also found out that we have avoided a hill that has been giving John nightmares for over a year, so thats good news. Here's to hoping that tomorrow bring more downhill miles... and stronger tires
Irish Guilt
My luck:
Friday, the day before we leave Alex and I are at the train station waiting for Liz to arrive. My phone rings and it is an Assistant Principal at a high school I applied to. My rotten luck, they are doing interviews on Monday and Tuesday and would like me to come in.
I have been up in Mass for weeks now and the day of the interview im scheduled to be riding somewhere in CT. So some phone calls were made and it was arranged that Liz's mom would pick me up and take me to the interview from Lakeville and drive me to Simsbury the next day. What a wonderful person to do all that for me.
Today I woke up at 9 and realized that all my friends were out pedaling away while i enjoyed toast with Rasberry jelly. As I drove to get a haircut and pick up some food and a new camelback I heard Kanye's stronger on the radio and thought about them and prayed that they had a good day today.
The barbershop was really nice in Beverly, it is called Sportsmans Barbershop. My barber was a very sweaty, rather large bald man with some interesting tattoos. He talked about visiting some college friends in Rockville Center and how they gave him shit for being a Red Sox fan. He said that alot of people say Boston fans are obnoxious because the teams are doing so good. "We were always obnoxious, now people are just really noticing." I also enjoyed how he said that they had been knocked around for so long that they deserve to gloat.
On the way back I thought maybe I could go on a ride today to show some solidarity but felt that it would be an empty gesture. It would not be the same at all.
The interview went fine, it is really that same B.S. questions that every school asks you. The A.P joked that the three hour drive to get here would be for an interview that would last 45 minutes. Not really what I wanted to hear.
So now I plan on heading back with some supplies that I picked up for everyone. To finish a trip that I helped plan but will not complete.
I really hate when people say "Life Happens", but I guess it is true.
Friday, the day before we leave Alex and I are at the train station waiting for Liz to arrive. My phone rings and it is an Assistant Principal at a high school I applied to. My rotten luck, they are doing interviews on Monday and Tuesday and would like me to come in.
I have been up in Mass for weeks now and the day of the interview im scheduled to be riding somewhere in CT. So some phone calls were made and it was arranged that Liz's mom would pick me up and take me to the interview from Lakeville and drive me to Simsbury the next day. What a wonderful person to do all that for me.
Today I woke up at 9 and realized that all my friends were out pedaling away while i enjoyed toast with Rasberry jelly. As I drove to get a haircut and pick up some food and a new camelback I heard Kanye's stronger on the radio and thought about them and prayed that they had a good day today.
The barbershop was really nice in Beverly, it is called Sportsmans Barbershop. My barber was a very sweaty, rather large bald man with some interesting tattoos. He talked about visiting some college friends in Rockville Center and how they gave him shit for being a Red Sox fan. He said that alot of people say Boston fans are obnoxious because the teams are doing so good. "We were always obnoxious, now people are just really noticing." I also enjoyed how he said that they had been knocked around for so long that they deserve to gloat.
On the way back I thought maybe I could go on a ride today to show some solidarity but felt that it would be an empty gesture. It would not be the same at all.
The interview went fine, it is really that same B.S. questions that every school asks you. The A.P joked that the three hour drive to get here would be for an interview that would last 45 minutes. Not really what I wanted to hear.
So now I plan on heading back with some supplies that I picked up for everyone. To finish a trip that I helped plan but will not complete.
I really hate when people say "Life Happens", but I guess it is true.
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Hills Are Alive...but Im slowly dying or the Hills Have Eyes, and they saw me fall off my bike
I will say that today started out with me feeling better then the past two days. I was pretty well rested and looking forward to the day. Liz, Bea, and I ventured to Rhinebeck from Hyde Park planning on meeting Billy C and Billy Quinn up at the bike shop.
That ride was spectacular. It was still cool out and the hills were challenging but the downhills were great. I enjoyed the views of the River and the mountains. Got a great visual of an old man dusting a bird feeder outside. White V-Neck undershirt, suspenders, and kahki shorts. What a site. I waved at him and he yelled good morning. You gotta appreciate someone who takes pride in their bird feeders.
From Rhinebeck we went west towards Milan, Pine Plains, and Millerton. It was on that last stretch of the ride that the heat really got to me.
We were heading up a hill and I had been feeling worse then I have the whole trip. My Camelback holds much less then everyone on the trip and I had been meaning to get a new one. At the base of a hill I got a whiff of suntan spray and another much more unpleasent smell: road kill. That weird sour, bitter, hot smell of animal and asphalt.
At that point I couldnt control my bike (a rascal would have been moving faster than me at that point) and I just toppled over. My eyes shut, and I was on the grass. The shock of it all kind of woke me up. I jumped up as fast as I could and was greeted by a very concerned motorist. She offered me ice cold water and asked me what the hell I was doing in this heat. She insisted that I stay in the shade and sit down for awhile. I accepted the water then walked up the hill. I felt awful, like death.
I drank more water and took my helmet off and trudged up the hill with Liz. Two hills later I was dry heaving off the side of the road. I felt so nauseas and it came in waves.
Billy C offered me some Gu to help with my blood sugar. That is pronounces Goo, but I didnt write: I had some of Billy's goo and felt better. This is a family friendly blog after wall.
I was pretty embarrassed about the whole thing but just wanted the day to end. I got my second wind finally and was able to close out the day with my head up high. New camel back will be purchased though.
That ride was spectacular. It was still cool out and the hills were challenging but the downhills were great. I enjoyed the views of the River and the mountains. Got a great visual of an old man dusting a bird feeder outside. White V-Neck undershirt, suspenders, and kahki shorts. What a site. I waved at him and he yelled good morning. You gotta appreciate someone who takes pride in their bird feeders.
From Rhinebeck we went west towards Milan, Pine Plains, and Millerton. It was on that last stretch of the ride that the heat really got to me.
We were heading up a hill and I had been feeling worse then I have the whole trip. My Camelback holds much less then everyone on the trip and I had been meaning to get a new one. At the base of a hill I got a whiff of suntan spray and another much more unpleasent smell: road kill. That weird sour, bitter, hot smell of animal and asphalt.
At that point I couldnt control my bike (a rascal would have been moving faster than me at that point) and I just toppled over. My eyes shut, and I was on the grass. The shock of it all kind of woke me up. I jumped up as fast as I could and was greeted by a very concerned motorist. She offered me ice cold water and asked me what the hell I was doing in this heat. She insisted that I stay in the shade and sit down for awhile. I accepted the water then walked up the hill. I felt awful, like death.
I drank more water and took my helmet off and trudged up the hill with Liz. Two hills later I was dry heaving off the side of the road. I felt so nauseas and it came in waves.
Billy C offered me some Gu to help with my blood sugar. That is pronounces Goo, but I didnt write: I had some of Billy's goo and felt better. This is a family friendly blog after wall.
I was pretty embarrassed about the whole thing but just wanted the day to end. I got my second wind finally and was able to close out the day with my head up high. New camel back will be purchased though.
"It's all the same Earth...No really it is."
The title of this post is compliments of Liz, post ride. Didn't know where else to put it.
3 quick hit notes...Both enjoyable and haunting.
1) I close my eyes at night to go to sleep and, no joke, I hear the clicking of the bike chains.
2) The tip of my ring finger on my left hand is numb; has been for 2.5 days. I'm not sure why.
3) I'm working on a wicked tan line...or perhaps more appropriately, tan circle (2 of them). I'll keep you posted.
Anyway, today seemed as if it was going to be a great day. We started the day with a quick group huddle, gave some thanks to God, asked for his continued aid and went on our way. The downhills were long, the uphills were short and before we knew it...Billy Quinn's tire was flat...again. No worries, we called a taxi. Now, I'm not sure if you've ever heard the joke about the guy stranded on his rough top during a flood who continually refuses assistance and insists that God will help him. Well that's kind of what happened to Bill and I as we were waiting for our taxi. Granted it was only one ride, but it was the ideal ride. Two older women, in a mini-van, with the same pioneer spirit we have as evidence by their emphatic response of "We've taken trips like that before" after we briefly shouted across Route 9 that we were going from Yankee Stadium to Fenway Park. They offered to help us, but we were headed North, they were headed South (or so we thought). We thanked them very much, and sent them on their way, only to watch them pull a U-Turn and head back North. Too late...Ride lost. Thanks anyway God, I'll keep my eyes open wider next time.
After reuniting the group, the day went well for the most part. Lunch was fantastic, and we really cruised for the most part. I think my favorite part of the journey was riding behind John up one of the early hills and motivating him along by singing "You're the Best Around" by Joe Esposito. This song is great in and of itself, but I think for John and I (and Vinny Mullady, who's not on the trip) it holds a special place in our hearts thanks to Ronnie Rhodes (sorry for any misspellings). If you don't know the song, download it now; it's from the Karate Kid soundtrack and you won't want to workout without it, ever again.
Other than that, I still hate hills, but what can you do. I'm really developing quite the philosophy on life on this trip, but I'll expand on that at some other point. It's probably not original at all, but I'm going to pretend it is. It keeps me motivated.
Thanks for all the love from home! Especially you Pop! Love the text messages!
P.S. I miss my iPod (or music in general)
So it goes...
3 quick hit notes...Both enjoyable and haunting.
1) I close my eyes at night to go to sleep and, no joke, I hear the clicking of the bike chains.
2) The tip of my ring finger on my left hand is numb; has been for 2.5 days. I'm not sure why.
3) I'm working on a wicked tan line...or perhaps more appropriately, tan circle (2 of them). I'll keep you posted.
Anyway, today seemed as if it was going to be a great day. We started the day with a quick group huddle, gave some thanks to God, asked for his continued aid and went on our way. The downhills were long, the uphills were short and before we knew it...Billy Quinn's tire was flat...again. No worries, we called a taxi. Now, I'm not sure if you've ever heard the joke about the guy stranded on his rough top during a flood who continually refuses assistance and insists that God will help him. Well that's kind of what happened to Bill and I as we were waiting for our taxi. Granted it was only one ride, but it was the ideal ride. Two older women, in a mini-van, with the same pioneer spirit we have as evidence by their emphatic response of "We've taken trips like that before" after we briefly shouted across Route 9 that we were going from Yankee Stadium to Fenway Park. They offered to help us, but we were headed North, they were headed South (or so we thought). We thanked them very much, and sent them on their way, only to watch them pull a U-Turn and head back North. Too late...Ride lost. Thanks anyway God, I'll keep my eyes open wider next time.
After reuniting the group, the day went well for the most part. Lunch was fantastic, and we really cruised for the most part. I think my favorite part of the journey was riding behind John up one of the early hills and motivating him along by singing "You're the Best Around" by Joe Esposito. This song is great in and of itself, but I think for John and I (and Vinny Mullady, who's not on the trip) it holds a special place in our hearts thanks to Ronnie Rhodes (sorry for any misspellings). If you don't know the song, download it now; it's from the Karate Kid soundtrack and you won't want to workout without it, ever again.
Other than that, I still hate hills, but what can you do. I'm really developing quite the philosophy on life on this trip, but I'll expand on that at some other point. It's probably not original at all, but I'm going to pretend it is. It keeps me motivated.
Thanks for all the love from home! Especially you Pop! Love the text messages!
P.S. I miss my iPod (or music in general)
So it goes...
When you get to the Fork...
One of the coolest sites we have seen along the way occurred today about half way through our trip when we approached New Roc City. We approached a fork in the road both figuratively and literally. On the patch of grass where the fork was located there was a gigantic fork that stood at what seemed like 30 feet tall, needless to say we took some cool pictures in front of it.
On a more serious note I think the fact that I am Mets fan and I am riding this rivalry of the Yankees and red sox that I have upset the baseball gods. Day 1 I fell off my bike, day 2 I suffered what I thought was a busted inner tube in my tire, and to kick off Day 3 my tire blew out again forcing me to have to stop riding for a bit. Thanks to the patience of the rest of the crew we were able to find out that there was a bike shop in Rhinebeck, a ways up the road and while B, Liz, and John biked there way into town I was forced to take a taxi because there was no way I could ride with my tire. Billy C was generous enough to wait for me because the group refused to leave me behind to wait for the taxi, so thanks again Will. Hopefully the baseball gods will be kinder to me for the rest of the trip because I don't know if i can handle any more set backs. I promise I respect the rivalry and I don't mean any disrespect by riding it.
Today was tough, I feel that every day as a group we go further and further feeling strong and pushing a good pace and then the tail end of our trip always seems to be a severe struggle. Today we went probably 20 miles strong with no breaks just pumping up and down the troubling uphills and coasting downhill. The last 10 miles however seemed to be an endless run of uphill climbs which made us again contemplate why we are doing what we are doing. We did prevail and are looking forward to attacking the hump day of our trip tomorrow.
This is probably the most physically difficult, but somehow incredibly rewarding thing I have ever done. Every hill that we climb seems like a small victory, every time we reach our final destination it is just an unbelievable feeling. Its hard to call home and explain how good it feels to be done for the day to family or friends because they can hear the exhaustion in our voices, but the small moral victories and the great sites along the way make this trip so incredible awesome, despite all the pains and troubles.
I want to repeat Alex's thanks to the bike shop today who rescued me. Without them I do not know where I would be, and I mean that because if they were closed I would be in deep trouble.
We have finally left New York, and we are hopeful to see what Red Sox Nation brings to the table with this trip. We look forward to plugging along tomorrow one day closer to Fenway. I just want to send a quick thanks to my professor from Stony Brook who put the blog on the website, and a thanks to any of my classmates who may donate. We are enjoying our trip but the fact that we can do this and raise money makes it feel that much better. Thanks
On a more serious note I think the fact that I am Mets fan and I am riding this rivalry of the Yankees and red sox that I have upset the baseball gods. Day 1 I fell off my bike, day 2 I suffered what I thought was a busted inner tube in my tire, and to kick off Day 3 my tire blew out again forcing me to have to stop riding for a bit. Thanks to the patience of the rest of the crew we were able to find out that there was a bike shop in Rhinebeck, a ways up the road and while B, Liz, and John biked there way into town I was forced to take a taxi because there was no way I could ride with my tire. Billy C was generous enough to wait for me because the group refused to leave me behind to wait for the taxi, so thanks again Will. Hopefully the baseball gods will be kinder to me for the rest of the trip because I don't know if i can handle any more set backs. I promise I respect the rivalry and I don't mean any disrespect by riding it.
Today was tough, I feel that every day as a group we go further and further feeling strong and pushing a good pace and then the tail end of our trip always seems to be a severe struggle. Today we went probably 20 miles strong with no breaks just pumping up and down the troubling uphills and coasting downhill. The last 10 miles however seemed to be an endless run of uphill climbs which made us again contemplate why we are doing what we are doing. We did prevail and are looking forward to attacking the hump day of our trip tomorrow.
This is probably the most physically difficult, but somehow incredibly rewarding thing I have ever done. Every hill that we climb seems like a small victory, every time we reach our final destination it is just an unbelievable feeling. Its hard to call home and explain how good it feels to be done for the day to family or friends because they can hear the exhaustion in our voices, but the small moral victories and the great sites along the way make this trip so incredible awesome, despite all the pains and troubles.
I want to repeat Alex's thanks to the bike shop today who rescued me. Without them I do not know where I would be, and I mean that because if they were closed I would be in deep trouble.
We have finally left New York, and we are hopeful to see what Red Sox Nation brings to the table with this trip. We look forward to plugging along tomorrow one day closer to Fenway. I just want to send a quick thanks to my professor from Stony Brook who put the blog on the website, and a thanks to any of my classmates who may donate. We are enjoying our trip but the fact that we can do this and raise money makes it feel that much better. Thanks
3 down 4 to go
As Alex said today had a lot of ups and downs. Even though the lows were pretty low I still seem to always end up feeling great about the day (except for day 1). The place is beautiful and very accommodating. The ride today was scenic and the roads were very bike friendly. I had less weight in my packs and the appropriate air pressure so I was a whole new woman.
I've especially enjoyed knowing where I was and reminiscing on my days at Marist. It also made me thing of some monumental Sox moments I experience while living in NY.
One of the worst being my decision to go out the night in 2004 when the Yanks beat the Sox 19-8 (or something awful like that). There was one very stereotypical NY college Joe who went in to detail how he hated Boston, would blow up the whole city, etc etc. Let me tell you, my Irish was up. I don't know what I would have done/said if I was sitting on the outside of that booth, but I also didn't have much to back it up, with given the circumstances of that playoffs/last 86 years. But he was a lucky man that someone in my HERD didn't let me out of that booth. Another low was obviously '03 but I wasn't technically at Marist for that game and we all know how it ended.
The high was, again obvious, '04. The high was almost more the last game against the Yanks, than the actual World Series win. I was watching it in MY living room of MY house with some Yankee fans and my one Sox comrade, Merissa Brooke Kleimola. Towards the end of the game we were actually SHUNNED to my bedroom to see the end and celebrate. I'm glad I had her with me. It would be kinda depressing for my life if I didn't have anyone to jump on my bed and scream along to the WOOOO WHOOOO song.
So I digress, but I have used up my space and time allotted. I am still glad I am doing this even though I go through considerable pain each day.
Miss everyone!
I've especially enjoyed knowing where I was and reminiscing on my days at Marist. It also made me thing of some monumental Sox moments I experience while living in NY.
One of the worst being my decision to go out the night in 2004 when the Yanks beat the Sox 19-8 (or something awful like that). There was one very stereotypical NY college Joe who went in to detail how he hated Boston, would blow up the whole city, etc etc. Let me tell you, my Irish was up. I don't know what I would have done/said if I was sitting on the outside of that booth, but I also didn't have much to back it up, with given the circumstances of that playoffs/last 86 years. But he was a lucky man that someone in my HERD didn't let me out of that booth. Another low was obviously '03 but I wasn't technically at Marist for that game and we all know how it ended.
The high was, again obvious, '04. The high was almost more the last game against the Yanks, than the actual World Series win. I was watching it in MY living room of MY house with some Yankee fans and my one Sox comrade, Merissa Brooke Kleimola. Towards the end of the game we were actually SHUNNED to my bedroom to see the end and celebrate. I'm glad I had her with me. It would be kinda depressing for my life if I didn't have anyone to jump on my bed and scream along to the WOOOO WHOOOO song.
So I digress, but I have used up my space and time allotted. I am still glad I am doing this even though I go through considerable pain each day.
Miss everyone!
Day 3 Where we leave the NY, enter the CT, and clear the 100 mile mark
I'm writing now from the wonderful Wake Robin Inn. It is in Lakeville, CT (the same town we stayed in last year) though it is much better than the craptastic Inn at Iron Masters where we stayed last time. First of all, the staff is uncomparably nicer, the rooms a bit smaller but, as you can see on their homepage, the place is beautiful. I'm thinking the breakfast offerred will be suprior as well.
But that's enough about tonight's housing. Today's ride had many ups and downs, both literally and figuratively. Leaving Hyde Park was not that hilly, but once we got on 199 (after some bike trouble which Billy Q will probably write about) it started getting a little hairy. It was especially mountainy when we got passed Milan, NY (aka Rock City) and there was a decent amount of stopping involved. Nevertheless we made it here in one piece and had a nice dinner delivered (thank god) which we ate on the inn's porch. A nice way to end the day.
On the filming front, I approached several people to talk to about interviewing for the potential doc, but no one wanted to take part. Most of them said they weren't big baseball fans. Maybe what Billy Q said the other day is right - people in the mid-Hudson Valley just aren't as passionate about their baseball. We'll see how CT feels about it. I'm definitely preferring the preplanned interview style of doc right now. Even with some trouble getting interviews I can see a decent 30-60 minute doc coming out of this.
One cool part about being in CT for this trip is that it is the focal point of a frequent question of ours. Most people think that Connecticut is divided across the middle between the teams, although some say that it's more Yankees. We'll do our best to crack that mystery.
Well I'm on the inn's computer, so I'll let Lizzie on next. Have a good day, please pass this on to friend and encourage them to donate with the button on the right, and I'll see you tomorrow (hopefully with pictures on here).
Some thanks for today: The guy at the Rhinebeck Bicycle Shop for some discounts and replacing Billy Q's tire, the woman who helped John rehydrate mid-way, the people at the Wake Robin Inn for giving us a bit of a deal (and being nicer than the other inn staff in town), the delivery guy for not making us ride for food, and to my good buddy Erik for some communication assistance for tomorrow's housing. Adios.
But that's enough about tonight's housing. Today's ride had many ups and downs, both literally and figuratively. Leaving Hyde Park was not that hilly, but once we got on 199 (after some bike trouble which Billy Q will probably write about) it started getting a little hairy. It was especially mountainy when we got passed Milan, NY (aka Rock City) and there was a decent amount of stopping involved. Nevertheless we made it here in one piece and had a nice dinner delivered (thank god) which we ate on the inn's porch. A nice way to end the day.
On the filming front, I approached several people to talk to about interviewing for the potential doc, but no one wanted to take part. Most of them said they weren't big baseball fans. Maybe what Billy Q said the other day is right - people in the mid-Hudson Valley just aren't as passionate about their baseball. We'll see how CT feels about it. I'm definitely preferring the preplanned interview style of doc right now. Even with some trouble getting interviews I can see a decent 30-60 minute doc coming out of this.
One cool part about being in CT for this trip is that it is the focal point of a frequent question of ours. Most people think that Connecticut is divided across the middle between the teams, although some say that it's more Yankees. We'll do our best to crack that mystery.
Well I'm on the inn's computer, so I'll let Lizzie on next. Have a good day, please pass this on to friend and encourage them to donate with the button on the right, and I'll see you tomorrow (hopefully with pictures on here).
Some thanks for today: The guy at the Rhinebeck Bicycle Shop for some discounts and replacing Billy Q's tire, the woman who helped John rehydrate mid-way, the people at the Wake Robin Inn for giving us a bit of a deal (and being nicer than the other inn staff in town), the delivery guy for not making us ride for food, and to my good buddy Erik for some communication assistance for tomorrow's housing. Adios.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Favorite Yankees Moments
Two posts in 20 minutes...Awesome.
Granted it was a loss, but one of my favorite Yankee's memories is Andy Hawkins throwing a no hitter and still losing 4-0 to the White Sox. How does one do that? Errors...Lots of errors.
So it goes...
Granted it was a loss, but one of my favorite Yankee's memories is Andy Hawkins throwing a no hitter and still losing 4-0 to the White Sox. How does one do that? Errors...Lots of errors.
So it goes...
Roads where were going we dont need roads
Actually, we do. Well a Bike Lane or a road with a shoulder would be ideal.
I will be guilty of comparing this trip to the last one, and I will try not to do it often. However,
After Day One
Last Year: It rained like hell on the first day and I felt like Andy Dufrain after he got taken care of by the thugs in the laundry room.
This Year:
Pretty sure I had heat exhaustian and after going over the rumble strip a couple of times Im pretty sure Im sterile.
That being said, I feel very fortunate and lucky to have great people along for the trip. I am not typing that because they are in the same room as me. I am lucky. We all bring something to the trip and the group is well rounded. If this was Legends of the Hidden Temple, our team The Blue Barracudas would be bringing home the grand prize. I think it used to be Space Camp.. what evere.
I feel kind of beat so I will let you enjoy the recaps done from my fellow riders.
Sorry for the Cop Out
I will be guilty of comparing this trip to the last one, and I will try not to do it often. However,
After Day One
Last Year: It rained like hell on the first day and I felt like Andy Dufrain after he got taken care of by the thugs in the laundry room.
This Year:
Pretty sure I had heat exhaustian and after going over the rumble strip a couple of times Im pretty sure Im sterile.
That being said, I feel very fortunate and lucky to have great people along for the trip. I am not typing that because they are in the same room as me. I am lucky. We all bring something to the trip and the group is well rounded. If this was Legends of the Hidden Temple, our team The Blue Barracudas would be bringing home the grand prize. I think it used to be Space Camp.. what evere.
I feel kind of beat so I will let you enjoy the recaps done from my fellow riders.
Sorry for the Cop Out
What a difference a day makes
Hello sports fans, coming to you live from the Marist College computer lab using a password that we borrowed from an alum(none of the 3 alumni on the trip know their password) its billy, the mets fan, I am happy to report that we are about 90% of the way done with day 2.
Since we missed blogging yesterday due to lack of a computer lets try to catch you up on some of the action. Yesterday started off they way we all would have like it to start off with myself and the other billy on the 630 train into the city, and John Liz and B not on the 630 train heading to the city. We met up around 9 with ideas of dominating the ride (well at least I did), how hard could it be to bike 45 miles a day, I think I'm an athletic person? Little did I know it was much much harder then I anticipated I fell/got knocked off my bike somewhere in the Bronx on a street corner, got dominated by a few hills, cramped up multiple times in my leg on a few occasions and felt like a pile of flesh at the end of the trip. Up hill climbs may be the absolute worst thing possible and there were multiple occasions on the trip where I though to myself, what the hell am I thinking? I'm a Mets fan. Luckily we were put up by amazing hosts last night, Billy C's best friends in-laws who cooked us a delicious meal, gave us a great place to sleep and even got us to laugh a little bit. I can not speak for everyone but I think last night when we went to bed everyone was thinking to themselves "what did we get ourselves into".
Today is a completly different day, we woke up and made a group decision that we were going to finish this thing no matter how badly we were hurting, we got a good stretch in, and left for our ride at about 8:30. Everyone seemed to be doing much better today, figuring out how to attack the uphills, and how to use the downhills to rest. The best thing I can say about the other people I am riding with is they are "wicked" encouraging (Liz says wicked every now and then and I think its funny so i figured i'd throw it in.) Noone fell off their bike today, and aside from the flat tire I suffered about 20 minutes ago we have had very few set backs.
As far as the rivalry goes we are saddened to report that we are yet to run into a die hard yankee or red sox fan outside of the Bronx. Seems people upstate just do not like baseball that much, or maybe they are to busy building unbelievably steep hills to tourment people on.
We have seen some great sights, Sleepy Hollow was nice, as was Cold Spring today (Heather Stoja's hometown...i promised her i would throw that in.) We have also seen some unbareable sights most notably the road leading up to the Bear Mountain Bridge where a man actually rode up beside us and said, "you guys ever do the goose trail before" and then when we said no he said, "I dont know if you can do it on a bicycle" That was a such a great way to end our day yesterday.
I dont want to go into too much, the other 4 are fevorishly blogging as we speak so you are going to have some reading to do. I just want to pass along that we are doing well, feeling optomistic and with every mile that passes we know we are one mile closer to our goal.
Since we missed blogging yesterday due to lack of a computer lets try to catch you up on some of the action. Yesterday started off they way we all would have like it to start off with myself and the other billy on the 630 train into the city, and John Liz and B not on the 630 train heading to the city. We met up around 9 with ideas of dominating the ride (well at least I did), how hard could it be to bike 45 miles a day, I think I'm an athletic person? Little did I know it was much much harder then I anticipated I fell/got knocked off my bike somewhere in the Bronx on a street corner, got dominated by a few hills, cramped up multiple times in my leg on a few occasions and felt like a pile of flesh at the end of the trip. Up hill climbs may be the absolute worst thing possible and there were multiple occasions on the trip where I though to myself, what the hell am I thinking? I'm a Mets fan. Luckily we were put up by amazing hosts last night, Billy C's best friends in-laws who cooked us a delicious meal, gave us a great place to sleep and even got us to laugh a little bit. I can not speak for everyone but I think last night when we went to bed everyone was thinking to themselves "what did we get ourselves into".
Today is a completly different day, we woke up and made a group decision that we were going to finish this thing no matter how badly we were hurting, we got a good stretch in, and left for our ride at about 8:30. Everyone seemed to be doing much better today, figuring out how to attack the uphills, and how to use the downhills to rest. The best thing I can say about the other people I am riding with is they are "wicked" encouraging (Liz says wicked every now and then and I think its funny so i figured i'd throw it in.) Noone fell off their bike today, and aside from the flat tire I suffered about 20 minutes ago we have had very few set backs.
As far as the rivalry goes we are saddened to report that we are yet to run into a die hard yankee or red sox fan outside of the Bronx. Seems people upstate just do not like baseball that much, or maybe they are to busy building unbelievably steep hills to tourment people on.
We have seen some great sights, Sleepy Hollow was nice, as was Cold Spring today (Heather Stoja's hometown...i promised her i would throw that in.) We have also seen some unbareable sights most notably the road leading up to the Bear Mountain Bridge where a man actually rode up beside us and said, "you guys ever do the goose trail before" and then when we said no he said, "I dont know if you can do it on a bicycle" That was a such a great way to end our day yesterday.
I dont want to go into too much, the other 4 are fevorishly blogging as we speak so you are going to have some reading to do. I just want to pass along that we are doing well, feeling optomistic and with every mile that passes we know we are one mile closer to our goal.
Sweaty
Here is my 1st entry, there is too much to say to introduce myself and recap the last few days but I will do my best to keep it short.
Hello. My name is Liz and I am a Red Sox fan, the best kind there is. I grew up 30 miles north of Fenway and have fallen in love. I don't have a magical story of remembering the 1st time I went but I do get a magical feeling each and every time I go back. The Sox to me is something that is tied very closely to my family and a few specific friends. Being a part of your family and friends makes it more than "just a game."
Not to sound annoying but the beginning of this season I was not great at watching the games. The Celts simply took up most my time and emotion. That was a fabulous season. My dad had a part in season tickets and I was able to go to one game, he usually brought my mom which was fair. My brother on the other hand.... I won't go in to details, but he saw a few important games.
My preparation for this was fair. Physically I tried to continue my gym routine as usual. I was trying to get some spinning in at least once a week. The part of my training that was very very poor was my road experience and my hills. I tried to add hills in to the stationary bike training but there is NOTHING that can compare to what I have gone through in the last few days.
I have been challenge physically many times in my life but this is grueling, mentally and physically. I am inclinded to say this is the most I've ever put my body through. Only comparable to when I 1st started distance track.
The 1st day I was feeling good till the last 10-20 miles. The road was not safe, I had less than nothing left, and I didn't have faith in our directions. When trying to follow road signs we found ourselves climbing a legit mountain ridge.
That is were I would say I lost all my dignity. I defiantly walked up a good amount, swore a lot (more than just saying s or h or f), and maybe I might have cried (only in front of John). Once we got to the bottom I was enraged and before we crossed the fricken Hudson I demanded we checked with our host. Soooo we were way off and most all of us were collapsed and I refused to move. John went in to action looking for a cab to pick us up with 5 bikes. With Alex's legs and a few calls, a giant bearded man showed up to bring us home. I no longer had any social graces at that point, sorry hosts, I showered and changed with very few words to anyone else. I also seriously contemplated quitting.
I didn't even want to admit that I wanted to bail because I knew I wouldn't feel as bad the next day, but I was that broken. I am a very mentally tough person so it was a lot for me to admit it, however I thought I would injure myself or hold up the rest of the people.
Today was much better, some serious hills in the beginning, but the route was much nicer and we ended at Marist. We had a few great stretches of riding and a good lunch. Tonight we will be staying at the Roosevelt Inn, coming highly recommend by my parents. I am looking forward to a good shower, din din in Pough-town and SLEEP!
Happy Riding!
Hello. My name is Liz and I am a Red Sox fan, the best kind there is. I grew up 30 miles north of Fenway and have fallen in love. I don't have a magical story of remembering the 1st time I went but I do get a magical feeling each and every time I go back. The Sox to me is something that is tied very closely to my family and a few specific friends. Being a part of your family and friends makes it more than "just a game."
Not to sound annoying but the beginning of this season I was not great at watching the games. The Celts simply took up most my time and emotion. That was a fabulous season. My dad had a part in season tickets and I was able to go to one game, he usually brought my mom which was fair. My brother on the other hand.... I won't go in to details, but he saw a few important games.
My preparation for this was fair. Physically I tried to continue my gym routine as usual. I was trying to get some spinning in at least once a week. The part of my training that was very very poor was my road experience and my hills. I tried to add hills in to the stationary bike training but there is NOTHING that can compare to what I have gone through in the last few days.
I have been challenge physically many times in my life but this is grueling, mentally and physically. I am inclinded to say this is the most I've ever put my body through. Only comparable to when I 1st started distance track.
The 1st day I was feeling good till the last 10-20 miles. The road was not safe, I had less than nothing left, and I didn't have faith in our directions. When trying to follow road signs we found ourselves climbing a legit mountain ridge.
That is were I would say I lost all my dignity. I defiantly walked up a good amount, swore a lot (more than just saying s or h or f), and maybe I might have cried (only in front of John). Once we got to the bottom I was enraged and before we crossed the fricken Hudson I demanded we checked with our host. Soooo we were way off and most all of us were collapsed and I refused to move. John went in to action looking for a cab to pick us up with 5 bikes. With Alex's legs and a few calls, a giant bearded man showed up to bring us home. I no longer had any social graces at that point, sorry hosts, I showered and changed with very few words to anyone else. I also seriously contemplated quitting.
I didn't even want to admit that I wanted to bail because I knew I wouldn't feel as bad the next day, but I was that broken. I am a very mentally tough person so it was a lot for me to admit it, however I thought I would injure myself or hold up the rest of the people.
Today was much better, some serious hills in the beginning, but the route was much nicer and we ended at Marist. We had a few great stretches of riding and a good lunch. Tonight we will be staying at the Roosevelt Inn, coming highly recommend by my parents. I am looking forward to a good shower, din din in Pough-town and SLEEP!
Happy Riding!
What the Hill?
I'm posting during Day 2, but let me just catch you up (briefly) on Day 1.
Prior to the trip, we were warned by the veterans of this journey that there was a hill in Connecticut that was to be feared. At this point in the trip, I'm not sure I'll have the ability to make it to the top of that hill based on the hills we've seen that were not to be feared. We've pushed through some tough ones, we walked our bikes up some even tougher ones, and most importanly, I got us lost with about 10 miles to go in our day. (P.S. I'm an idiot). Granted the signs were a little deceiving, but still, it turned into a huge mistake that found us climbing Bear Mountain with very little left in our proverbial gas tanks. Once we reached Bear Mt. Bridge, I called Mr. Bova to make sure we were headed in the right direction only to find out that we weren't. Therefore, our options were to double back or die on Bear Mt. Bridge...ok, our third option was try to call a taxi which we did. We made our way to the Bova's exhausted, demoralized and seemingly defeated. But it's amazing what shower, a nice dinner and a good night sleep will do for one's psyche.
(Note: HUGE thank you to Mr. Bova, Kat, and Jimmy for their hospitality. Staying in a hotel just wouldn't have refreshed our spirits the way a home cooked meal and conversation with other people did...So again...THANK YOU!)
Day 2 has been up and down, literally and metaphorically, with some tough stretches that have wreaked havoc on my back and some incredible stretches where the view was breathtaking and the downhills were so long, we easily coasted over the uphills. At this point, it's not even a matter of finding a way to sit on the bike that is most comfortable, I think we're all just content finding the position that is the least uncomfortable.
So far I've only fallen off my bike once. It was while riding around in a circle in a diner parking lot. Fortunately, I fell into a bed of wood chips, so I'm A.O.K.
I'm sure the others will report something similar, but from what I've experienced so far this is going to be the worst, the best and one of the most memorable experiences of my life to date. Beyond the phyicallity, the mental toughness necessary to complete this journey will come to pay huge dividends in the future.
In Closing:
While driving, please slow down.
Don't honk your horn or flip the bird to people on bikes.
And don't throw trash out the window.
We're 1/3 of the way there...
So it goes.
Prior to the trip, we were warned by the veterans of this journey that there was a hill in Connecticut that was to be feared. At this point in the trip, I'm not sure I'll have the ability to make it to the top of that hill based on the hills we've seen that were not to be feared. We've pushed through some tough ones, we walked our bikes up some even tougher ones, and most importanly, I got us lost with about 10 miles to go in our day. (P.S. I'm an idiot). Granted the signs were a little deceiving, but still, it turned into a huge mistake that found us climbing Bear Mountain with very little left in our proverbial gas tanks. Once we reached Bear Mt. Bridge, I called Mr. Bova to make sure we were headed in the right direction only to find out that we weren't. Therefore, our options were to double back or die on Bear Mt. Bridge...ok, our third option was try to call a taxi which we did. We made our way to the Bova's exhausted, demoralized and seemingly defeated. But it's amazing what shower, a nice dinner and a good night sleep will do for one's psyche.
(Note: HUGE thank you to Mr. Bova, Kat, and Jimmy for their hospitality. Staying in a hotel just wouldn't have refreshed our spirits the way a home cooked meal and conversation with other people did...So again...THANK YOU!)
Day 2 has been up and down, literally and metaphorically, with some tough stretches that have wreaked havoc on my back and some incredible stretches where the view was breathtaking and the downhills were so long, we easily coasted over the uphills. At this point, it's not even a matter of finding a way to sit on the bike that is most comfortable, I think we're all just content finding the position that is the least uncomfortable.
So far I've only fallen off my bike once. It was while riding around in a circle in a diner parking lot. Fortunately, I fell into a bed of wood chips, so I'm A.O.K.
I'm sure the others will report something similar, but from what I've experienced so far this is going to be the worst, the best and one of the most memorable experiences of my life to date. Beyond the phyicallity, the mental toughness necessary to complete this journey will come to pay huge dividends in the future.
In Closing:
While driving, please slow down.
Don't honk your horn or flip the bird to people on bikes.
And don't throw trash out the window.
We're 1/3 of the way there...
So it goes.
Day 1-2 It begins, stops, then begins again.
For those who followed us on the blog last year, this trip has been very different, though, in some ways, the same. We're still tired at the end of the day, getting too much sun at times, eating a lot of granola bars, and occasionally peeing on the great outdoors. Also the route is very similar, though not exactly the same. At the moment there are four of us blogging here in the Donnelly Hall computer lab at Marist College (three of our alma mater), so I'll focus mostly on my stuff with the filming.
As I may or may not have mentioned last time around, I made a documentary in my senior year here at Marist with a few other students. That, along with a short fictional film, a promotional video for a summer camp, and some minor personal projects, is the extent of my filmmaking experience. Last time John and I did this walk we didn't get as much interviewing done as we'd have liked and at the time we chalked this up to being totally exhausted.
The difference this time is that we have done more interviews, but still not as many as I might have liked. When I look back at the projects that I've done successfully I notice that they all had preplanned interviews which were scheduled and organized around deadlines (and also all for credit or money). This time around I have no such planned interviews or deadlines (or upcoming paychecks) so going about the filming is different. I don't typically like just going up to people randomly, interrupting their day. We did get some really good ones so far though.
To name a few: there was the group of girls in the parking lot for Yankee Stadium before Friday's game who had some choice words for Boston fans (and were starting some kind of fashion business called Gruvie), Bald Vinny of the Bleacher Creatures (which was a huge get), and three guys (one in Red Sox gear and two in Yankees) outside Yankee Stadium the day we left who had a great argument about the team for the camera.
I'm also excited to look back at the riding footage I've taken. [MOM - DON'T READ THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH] My new camera is small enough to fit in my pocket, so I'm able to pull it out a film the other four while I'm riding behind them. I'm still not sure how this will all fit together, but that stuff cut together should look pretty cool. It'll probably become a short YouTube video to go along with whatever is done more formally with all this.
We're almost done with Day 2 and will be ending in Hyde Park, NY soon. The housing situation is not as nailed down as it was last year, but we're doing alright so far. Last night was crazy trying to get to the place, but you can read the others' entries for that. We still need to figure out where we're staying in Worcester, so if you know someone please email me (alex.bea@gmail.com).
That's it for now.
As I may or may not have mentioned last time around, I made a documentary in my senior year here at Marist with a few other students. That, along with a short fictional film, a promotional video for a summer camp, and some minor personal projects, is the extent of my filmmaking experience. Last time John and I did this walk we didn't get as much interviewing done as we'd have liked and at the time we chalked this up to being totally exhausted.
The difference this time is that we have done more interviews, but still not as many as I might have liked. When I look back at the projects that I've done successfully I notice that they all had preplanned interviews which were scheduled and organized around deadlines (and also all for credit or money). This time around I have no such planned interviews or deadlines (or upcoming paychecks) so going about the filming is different. I don't typically like just going up to people randomly, interrupting their day. We did get some really good ones so far though.
To name a few: there was the group of girls in the parking lot for Yankee Stadium before Friday's game who had some choice words for Boston fans (and were starting some kind of fashion business called Gruvie), Bald Vinny of the Bleacher Creatures (which was a huge get), and three guys (one in Red Sox gear and two in Yankees) outside Yankee Stadium the day we left who had a great argument about the team for the camera.
I'm also excited to look back at the riding footage I've taken. [MOM - DON'T READ THE REST OF THIS PARAGRAPH] My new camera is small enough to fit in my pocket, so I'm able to pull it out a film the other four while I'm riding behind them. I'm still not sure how this will all fit together, but that stuff cut together should look pretty cool. It'll probably become a short YouTube video to go along with whatever is done more formally with all this.
We're almost done with Day 2 and will be ending in Hyde Park, NY soon. The housing situation is not as nailed down as it was last year, but we're doing alright so far. Last night was crazy trying to get to the place, but you can read the others' entries for that. We still need to figure out where we're staying in Worcester, so if you know someone please email me (alex.bea@gmail.com).
That's it for now.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Tomorrow...Tomorrow...I love you, Tomorrow...etc., etc.
The excursion begins tomorrow and I promised a "juicy confession" in my last post, so I'll give you two.
1) I was in a middle school production of Annie I was a member of the President's cabinet and had about 3 lines which I don't remember. I was also an extra, or whatever you call it in play terms.
That's not even the good one...This one is...
2) My earliest memories of baseball (circa 1985-1986) are as follows:
- Sitting in outfield bleachers listening to my cousin Erin yell "Lenny D!", over and over again ad nauseum.
- Waiting outside of the bullpen area with another relative ( I can't remember who exactly, I'm not trying to slight anyone...it could very well have been my mother...and I actually think it was) trying to get Frank Viola's autograph.
AND...
- Lying in bed, hearing my mother, a few of her sisters and her friends screaming like banshees downstairs in a celebratory manner. The only word I could discern was "Mookie"
That's right...I was raised a Mets fan.
"Huh?" You ask yourself as you scratch your head, befuddled.
I know, it confuses me too, although, I guess it makes sense because I spent the first 5 years of my life in Queens with the Mets right around the corner, but the question is, why didn't it stick? My only real hypothesis is that with two older sisters, baseball was NOT a big deal in my house when I was that young. I did what they wanted to do, or I played alone. I hadn't attended school yet (except for a debacle of day in pre-school...let's just say I dropped out the day of a Halloween party), so I didn't have any friends my age. When Katie wanted to pretend the G.I. Joe's were neighbors, I played along. When Mary wanted to play Alvin and the Chipmunks, I played along. We played Stoop Ball, Hop Scotch, Freeze Tag, T.V. Tag, Hide and Seek, and various other outdoor games...but never baseball; I don't think we even played running bases while we lived in Queens. Lack of grass will do that to you.
So we moved out to Long Island, where the green grass grows, and in the midst of the move I came across a framed Yankees collage of my dad's. I don't remember which team it was, and the only player I clearly remember is Lou Piniella. Well, the collage led to some questions and a brief history of the Yankees (Dad, I promise I was listening, but don't remember a word), From there, we started watching games together, and I was learning more about the current team at the time. Needless to say my love of the Yankees was the real deal because they were NOT good when i started following them. They were borderline awful at times, but guys like Steve Sax, Mike Pagliarulo (sp?), Jesse Barfield, Alvaro Espinosa, Mel Hall, Dave Righetti, Andy Hawkins and of course, Donnie Baseball kept me interested.
So, here we are...26 years old and ready to embark on this journey to explore the rivalry between the Yanks and Sox. How odd that I have an earlier memory of the Sox (albeit indirectly), than the Yanks.
So it goes.
1) I was in a middle school production of Annie I was a member of the President's cabinet and had about 3 lines which I don't remember. I was also an extra, or whatever you call it in play terms.
That's not even the good one...This one is...
2) My earliest memories of baseball (circa 1985-1986) are as follows:
- Sitting in outfield bleachers listening to my cousin Erin yell "Lenny D!", over and over again ad nauseum.
- Waiting outside of the bullpen area with another relative ( I can't remember who exactly, I'm not trying to slight anyone...it could very well have been my mother...and I actually think it was) trying to get Frank Viola's autograph.
AND...
- Lying in bed, hearing my mother, a few of her sisters and her friends screaming like banshees downstairs in a celebratory manner. The only word I could discern was "Mookie"
That's right...I was raised a Mets fan.
"Huh?" You ask yourself as you scratch your head, befuddled.
I know, it confuses me too, although, I guess it makes sense because I spent the first 5 years of my life in Queens with the Mets right around the corner, but the question is, why didn't it stick? My only real hypothesis is that with two older sisters, baseball was NOT a big deal in my house when I was that young. I did what they wanted to do, or I played alone. I hadn't attended school yet (except for a debacle of day in pre-school...let's just say I dropped out the day of a Halloween party), so I didn't have any friends my age. When Katie wanted to pretend the G.I. Joe's were neighbors, I played along. When Mary wanted to play Alvin and the Chipmunks, I played along. We played Stoop Ball, Hop Scotch, Freeze Tag, T.V. Tag, Hide and Seek, and various other outdoor games...but never baseball; I don't think we even played running bases while we lived in Queens. Lack of grass will do that to you.
So we moved out to Long Island, where the green grass grows, and in the midst of the move I came across a framed Yankees collage of my dad's. I don't remember which team it was, and the only player I clearly remember is Lou Piniella. Well, the collage led to some questions and a brief history of the Yankees (Dad, I promise I was listening, but don't remember a word), From there, we started watching games together, and I was learning more about the current team at the time. Needless to say my love of the Yankees was the real deal because they were NOT good when i started following them. They were borderline awful at times, but guys like Steve Sax, Mike Pagliarulo (sp?), Jesse Barfield, Alvaro Espinosa, Mel Hall, Dave Righetti, Andy Hawkins and of course, Donnie Baseball kept me interested.
So, here we are...26 years old and ready to embark on this journey to explore the rivalry between the Yanks and Sox. How odd that I have an earlier memory of the Sox (albeit indirectly), than the Yanks.
So it goes.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
I (hate) 95
The plan was to drive down to the Island and go to Adams to get a quick tune up before the ride. I left at a decent hour (11:15 ish) hoping to drop the bike off and have it ready sometime Friday. The drive from Boston to NY is not that bad and I figured I would be missing the normal traffic scenarios.
Not to be the case.
Listening to 99.1's blue plate special. Hey I enjoy the oldies, it is brought to my attention that a Tractor Trailer jackknifed on 95 around Milford. Yes there is a town called Milford, God Bless America. Not knowing how that impacted my life I go on enjoying Derek and the Dominos and wondering what a jack knife was. I know there was a dive called a jack knife, no wait, that was the can opener. And man if you landed on the wrong angles holy testicles in traction. So as I wondered what that meant the reports kept coming in. All the lanes are closed for two exits... And now Billy Joel's Stranger.... Rubber necking delays heading north...Elton John's Tiny Dancer.
Panic sets in. Oh, for those that enjoy a visual. The A/C is non existent and I am glistening like a thoroughbred. Shirt is off, Aviators are on and I got a tooth pick in the mouth. I think I turned a cabrio full of colege girls lesbo outside Hamden CT.
By the time I got to 95 the accident was over an hour long and most of it cleaned up. For an hour I sat in stop and go traffic wondering what my life would be like if I got that Vespa. I got a dirty look from a soccer mom as I sang along to "I Kissed a Girl" She probably told her kids "Thats why I check your candy at Halloween"
5 plus hours to get home..but I got Super Duper Weanie.
how you doin
Not to be the case.
Listening to 99.1's blue plate special. Hey I enjoy the oldies, it is brought to my attention that a Tractor Trailer jackknifed on 95 around Milford. Yes there is a town called Milford, God Bless America. Not knowing how that impacted my life I go on enjoying Derek and the Dominos and wondering what a jack knife was. I know there was a dive called a jack knife, no wait, that was the can opener. And man if you landed on the wrong angles holy testicles in traction. So as I wondered what that meant the reports kept coming in. All the lanes are closed for two exits... And now Billy Joel's Stranger.... Rubber necking delays heading north...Elton John's Tiny Dancer.
Panic sets in. Oh, for those that enjoy a visual. The A/C is non existent and I am glistening like a thoroughbred. Shirt is off, Aviators are on and I got a tooth pick in the mouth. I think I turned a cabrio full of colege girls lesbo outside Hamden CT.
By the time I got to 95 the accident was over an hour long and most of it cleaned up. For an hour I sat in stop and go traffic wondering what my life would be like if I got that Vespa. I got a dirty look from a soccer mom as I sang along to "I Kissed a Girl" She probably told her kids "Thats why I check your candy at Halloween"
5 plus hours to get home..but I got Super Duper Weanie.
how you doin
Monday, July 14, 2008
Allow me to re-introduce myeslf
My name is billy...and I am the impratial member of this bike tour based on the fact that I am a die hard fan of the New York Mets. Many of you are probably asking yourself, why a Mets fan would be allowed/want to go on a bike ride that celebrates the rivalry of Yankees Sox. I can understand your confusion and i will answer your question with a few simple points:
1) I am a huge fan of baseball, always have been. I was raised in a house where my dad is a die-hard Mets fan, and a big fan of baseball history. I have played baseball my entire life from little league, to travel ball, to high school. I love baseball and it is a big part of who I am. When John 1st talked about walking last year I thought he was crazy, then after reading some of his blogs last year i was very jelous that i didnt make the tip. When he came back this year, and said he was doing it again as a baseball fan, i could not pass it up again.
2) I respect the rivalry, Yankees - Sox is just one of those things. The evil emipire, 26- championships, the history, the house that Ruth built, as much as it makes me sick, they are still the Yankees vs. Red Sox Nation, 2 championships in the last 4 years, Fenway Park, Manny being Manny....they also make me sick, but what can you do its a great rivalry.
3) I hate both teams... and it really boils down to the fact that I hate there fan bases. Not the die hards or the full time fans (like Billy, John, Liz, and Alex) but the pink hat wearing, there when the teams are good, refer to themselves as part of the team fans. I really do think it is because of those people that I hate the yanks and sox and even from time to time my own Mets. That and the fact that my Mets have not won a championship that I can remember, and that bothers me.
4) Its great exercise, and more importantly its a phenomenal charity..... and i will do just about anything for a good charity.
Well that about sums it up.... I will try to be the level head during the trip and try to provide an un-biased view of the rivalry as we ride through it.
Id like to thank everyone for reading...and more importantly for donating, its a great cause and we are just happy that our fun little journey can raise some money for cancer research.
1) I am a huge fan of baseball, always have been. I was raised in a house where my dad is a die-hard Mets fan, and a big fan of baseball history. I have played baseball my entire life from little league, to travel ball, to high school. I love baseball and it is a big part of who I am. When John 1st talked about walking last year I thought he was crazy, then after reading some of his blogs last year i was very jelous that i didnt make the tip. When he came back this year, and said he was doing it again as a baseball fan, i could not pass it up again.
2) I respect the rivalry, Yankees - Sox is just one of those things. The evil emipire, 26- championships, the history, the house that Ruth built, as much as it makes me sick, they are still the Yankees vs. Red Sox Nation, 2 championships in the last 4 years, Fenway Park, Manny being Manny....they also make me sick, but what can you do its a great rivalry.
3) I hate both teams... and it really boils down to the fact that I hate there fan bases. Not the die hards or the full time fans (like Billy, John, Liz, and Alex) but the pink hat wearing, there when the teams are good, refer to themselves as part of the team fans. I really do think it is because of those people that I hate the yanks and sox and even from time to time my own Mets. That and the fact that my Mets have not won a championship that I can remember, and that bothers me.
4) Its great exercise, and more importantly its a phenomenal charity..... and i will do just about anything for a good charity.
Well that about sums it up.... I will try to be the level head during the trip and try to provide an un-biased view of the rivalry as we ride through it.
Id like to thank everyone for reading...and more importantly for donating, its a great cause and we are just happy that our fun little journey can raise some money for cancer research.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Why don't you cry about it saddlebags?
Today, Sunday, I took some time to gear up (literally) for the ride.
At Alex's behest I purchased some equipment that was deemed necessary or that, at the very least, would make my life more comfortable over our 7 day expedition. I bought:
1) A CamelBack (20% off at Sports Authority)...This is one of those backpacks with a water bottle in it. Appropriately named because you appear to have a hump on your back while wearing, therefore resembling a camel. FYI
2) A pair of riding gloves...I almost bought these creepy looking mesh ones that made me look like either a bodybuilder or a pop-star from the 80's. Unfortunately, they did not come with the muscles of said body builder or the mullet of said pop-star, so I opted against them.
3) A lock...To lock my bike up when we stop. Duh.
4) 2 pairs of Bike shorts...aka Shammies ::*cue Liz making an awkward cupping motion with her hand)
5) Panniers...A fancy word for saddlebags (hence, the Ace Ventura quote as my title).
Other than that, I think I just need some tubes, which is short for inner tubes, for those of you unversed in bicycle lingo. And some tire, which is short for the thing that covers the inner tube. Those are just precautionary in case we get a flat along the way. NOTE: Bill from ADAM'S CYCLERY will be providing me with a very brief lesson in how to change a flat tire at some point this week. The guys at ADAM'S CYCLERY have been fantastic to us so far. They're located at 270 Larkfield Rd. in E. Northport, NY. Go there. Tell them you know us. (Not that it will matter, but we'll feel cool.)
(**Bike Trivia: What do you call the gizmo that changes your gears?)
Anyway, this has been senseless rambling and for that I apologize. I just wanted to post a few more times this week to lead into the ride. Before I go, if you haven't closed this already, here's just some brief background about my love of the Yankees.
My favorite player is/was Don Mattingly. I played first base all through Little League, and wore number 23 whenever I could. If I wasn't 23, I was 7 for Mickey Mantle.
Side note: I do enjoy the fact that as a child growing up and playing sports, when it came to numbers, it didn't matter that there were 20 something other baseball teams, when I asked "Who was number 9?" It was understood that I meant "Who was number 9 for the Yankees?" As a child, that's what your life was about...The other teams only mattered when the Yankees were playing against them.
Sorry, for the tangent...I think the reason I liked Mattingly so much, and the reason why he remains my favorite Yankee, is because he wasn't flashy and he wasn't cocky, although he certainly had reason to be. He wasn't your stereotypical "superstar" by any means, he did his job, and he did it well. Unfortunately for Donnie Baseball, he never won a World Series which is what many people remember most about him. I admire him in spite of that, and in fact, I might admire him more for that. It's pretty impressive to have played for the Yankees and to have not won a World Series, they have won it 26 times. Oh, one more Mattingly fact...He had an incredible mustache. He's probably Giambi's inspiration.
Well, that's all for now...My next post will include a juicy confession! oooooh...
So it goes.
*: If you want to see Liz make the awkward cupping motion come to the Riding the Rivalry After Party July 27th up in Wenham, MA. Click here for details http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=2490356863
**: It's called a gear changer...Nothing fancy about that!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
A new, but familiar journey
I'm stoked about The Ride this summer. It's going to be different from The Walk that John and I did last summer in some ways, but the same in others.
I came to the realization that no amount of reading books on the teams (which I've been doing some of) is going to make me a baseball guy, and that's fine. That doesn't diminish my curiosity regarding the Rivalry and the people on either side. People who are passionate about anything interest me, and I don't know if there's a better example of populations who are passionate about something than those on both sides of this debate.
Recommendation: check out The Rooters. It's a documentary about the Boston fans, from the original Royal Rooters to today. It's pretty impressive what they had going from the beginning. I got The New York Yankees: Team of the Century from Netflix today. I'll let you know how that goes.
Correction: One of the Billys is a Mets fan, not a Yankees fan. It's good to have an impartial guy on the crew who actually knows something about baseball. Final count: Red Sox 1, Yankees 2, Doesn't like either 1, Idiot who doesn't even know who's riding with him 1 (that one is me)
- Different: There are 5 of us. John, myself (Alex), a Liz, and two Billys
- Same: Still mostly guys (be prepared for more mentions of peeing outside - #1 & #2)
- Different: 40-ish miles a day rather than 20
- Same: Generally the same route. Some towns will be good to see again and some not as much.
- Different: no more getting picked up by people. 5 bikes makes that difficult, so we'll be rolling deep up to their front doors.
- Same: just like Blanche DuBois, we're going to be relying on the kindness of strangers. Okay, not strangers, but the reference doesn't work with "friends."
- Same: representing both sides of the rivalry in our group
- Different: Yankee fans are definitely in the majority. I'm leaving it up to Liz to represent for the Sox since she's much more qualified. I'm still a fan, but not enough to live up to the responsibility. So Yanks 3, Sox 1, Loser who doesn't follow baseball much 1
- Same: still trying to film for a potential project later on
- Different: biking will allow for more time and energy to do so
I came to the realization that no amount of reading books on the teams (which I've been doing some of) is going to make me a baseball guy, and that's fine. That doesn't diminish my curiosity regarding the Rivalry and the people on either side. People who are passionate about anything interest me, and I don't know if there's a better example of populations who are passionate about something than those on both sides of this debate.
Recommendation: check out The Rooters. It's a documentary about the Boston fans, from the original Royal Rooters to today. It's pretty impressive what they had going from the beginning. I got The New York Yankees: Team of the Century from Netflix today. I'll let you know how that goes.
Correction: One of the Billys is a Mets fan, not a Yankees fan. It's good to have an impartial guy on the crew who actually knows something about baseball. Final count: Red Sox 1, Yankees 2, Doesn't like either 1, Idiot who doesn't even know who's riding with him 1 (that one is me)
No YES, yes NESN
If there is ever a highlight reel of my life this summer might be left on the cutting room floor. Being a 25 year old unemployed social studies teacher who works at a day camp and lives in the upstairs floor of his girlfriend's parent's house is nothing to brag about.
Regardless, I am living in Red Sox nation as they say and adjusting. Here are some observations that I have noticed over the past week.
1. Fluffernutter. I have heard of it before but had no idea that it is a part of the food pyramtid for these kids. Peanut butter and fake marshmellow? marshmallow? Whatever it is, these little kids eat it up. According to wikepdia the fluffernutter might become the official sandwich of Massachusetts.
2. Drivers
When I am riding my bike they are courteous and patient. That is such a blessing. But seeing a car make a left from a parking lot is a wonder. Some lady driving a volvo wagon her husband bought her will start driving out of the lot regardless of the flow of traffic. She either A.) wants the car to get smashed so she can upgrade to the Lexus SUV or B. Knows that the other drivers will have to stop. So patience for cyclists struggling uphill, maybe its pity, but no way will they wait two minutes to turn.
3. Apparently I'm not funny
Well that's bullshit. I know I'm funny. However the people I work with dont really laugh at my stuff. It takes them awhile to get my humor. Very discouraging
4. What the hell are they saying?
Scallops, apparently pronounced Scal Lopps. I say it wrong and have been corected. Bubbler: a water fountain. Im sorry there are no bubbles coming from that thing. In dodge ball I hurt a kid's ahm, and later he was wicked thirsty.
5. Campers sing along
On the bus to a movie theater the kids asked to put the radio on. These kids are in third or fourth grade. Little guys and gals all ready to see the movie Wall E. The radio is on and I got a show.
I wondered if the parents of these kids would enjoy them singing along to I Kissed a Girl, Pussy Cat dolls or Flo Rida's Apple Bottom Jeans song. I asked a kid singing "Why is shorty getten low on the floor?" He just looked right at me then belted out "shorty got low low low.." I pray to God these kids dont grow up and have groupies.
Regardless, I am living in Red Sox nation as they say and adjusting. Here are some observations that I have noticed over the past week.
1. Fluffernutter. I have heard of it before but had no idea that it is a part of the food pyramtid for these kids. Peanut butter and fake marshmellow? marshmallow? Whatever it is, these little kids eat it up. According to wikepdia the fluffernutter might become the official sandwich of Massachusetts.
2. Drivers
When I am riding my bike they are courteous and patient. That is such a blessing. But seeing a car make a left from a parking lot is a wonder. Some lady driving a volvo wagon her husband bought her will start driving out of the lot regardless of the flow of traffic. She either A.) wants the car to get smashed so she can upgrade to the Lexus SUV or B. Knows that the other drivers will have to stop. So patience for cyclists struggling uphill, maybe its pity, but no way will they wait two minutes to turn.
3. Apparently I'm not funny
Well that's bullshit. I know I'm funny. However the people I work with dont really laugh at my stuff. It takes them awhile to get my humor. Very discouraging
4. What the hell are they saying?
Scallops, apparently pronounced Scal Lopps. I say it wrong and have been corected. Bubbler: a water fountain. Im sorry there are no bubbles coming from that thing. In dodge ball I hurt a kid's ahm, and later he was wicked thirsty.
5. Campers sing along
On the bus to a movie theater the kids asked to put the radio on. These kids are in third or fourth grade. Little guys and gals all ready to see the movie Wall E. The radio is on and I got a show.
I wondered if the parents of these kids would enjoy them singing along to I Kissed a Girl, Pussy Cat dolls or Flo Rida's Apple Bottom Jeans song. I asked a kid singing "Why is shorty getten low on the floor?" He just looked right at me then belted out "shorty got low low low.." I pray to God these kids dont grow up and have groupies.
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