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