48 Hours 

Newark, New Jersey – The Bronx – Harriman State Park, New York

Back in my college days – when Diana’s parents still lived in Queens – I would occasionally fly into New York City on my way out to school. It was always a big discussion – which airport would I use. 

“JFK – okay, we can probably pick you up.” 

“LaGuardia – not as good, but still fine.” 

“Newark? You crazy? Too difficult. You will need to take the bus.” The very idea that I might consider flying into this horrible place put my intelligence into some question. 

I didn’t really understand the issue, but I got the hint, so I generally tried to find flights that would avoid the whole conversation. 

Alas, traveling doesn’t always work out the way we want. I don’t recall the specifics – but I think it was nasty weather that caused my flight to be re-routed to Newark. We landed at like 1 in the morning – and then they piled us into vans for transport to Manhattan. I remember that much. 

There were no cell phones back then, so I had to use a pay phone to call Diana at her parents’ house in Queens. I’ve blocked out the details, but I think Diana met me at Grand Central Station, and we took a subway back – arriving at 3 a.m. or so. 

Not a great introduction to New Jersey. 

So I was excited that we would be biking from the airport to the Bronx. After all, both the Mapy and Google Maps apps showed bike routes of around 30 miles from Newark to Fordham – and generally if there are bike routes things are okay . . . 

The first few miles were pretty smooth. 

After all the drama with the clothes and the plastic wrap in London, the bike boxes arrived mostly unscathed. Better yet, we were able to put our Humpty Dumpties (bikes) back together with a minimum of late-night, jet-lagged bickering. And the ride to the Holiday Inn was pretty uneventful – no tunnels, no subways, and not much traffic. 

So that was good.

It’s amazing what the cover of night can do for an industrial wasteland. 

But that’s what we woke up to. 

The first ten miles of our back-in-the-U.S.-final-leg-of-the-tour were not pretty. Railroad tracks. Huge highways. Heavy industry. Heavy trucks. Road construction. Pretty sure that there was a desolate Great Gatsby scene that was inspired by this stretch of road; I think it was where he talked about the tattered billboard with the eyes staring down. 

Oh, and it was all made worse by our own deprivations. Sleep. Food. Coffee. 

We might as well have stayed in one of Mexico’s love motels with the hourly rates because, with our jet lag, we only slept about four hours. We finally gave up around 5 a.m., and we were on the road by 7. And then we figured we were riding through one of the more populated parts of the world so we would grab breakfast along the way. Nope. The closest we came to coffee was the black exhaust from the semis.

So our judgement of New Jersey might be colored a bit, but I don’t feel like I’m going too far out on a limb in saying this was one of the worst stretches of riding on our whole trip . . . 

Still, we did make it to the Hudson River,

took a quick ferry into Manhattan –

and had a beautiful ride up the west side of the island before we crossed the Harlem River into the Bronx. 

Then, 48 hours of family, fun, and the City. Let’s see . . .

• We rode to younger daughter Lauren’s apartment by Fordham – where we connected with Lauren, big sister, Ellie, and Ellie’s boyfriend, Jacob.
• We had dinner with that gang, along with one of Diana’s California cousins: Vivian – who also lives in New York.
• The next morning, Ellie and Jacob dragged me out for a run in Central Park. Super fun to chat with them as we went – but let me just say that a ninety minute run after more than a year off is maybe not the best idea. So sore today . . .
• Then we headed to Flushing in Queens, and had dim sum with the gang, along with six of Lauren’s Fordham friends (the Wasian Invasion), and another California cousin, Jason, who happened to be visiting the Big Apple from Pittsburgh, where he’s studying artificial intelligence at Carnegie Mellon. I love dim sum. The food, obviously. But also the opportunity to gather with family and friends and just enjoy each other’s company in the middle of the day. It’s like a holiday in a box. 
• Afterwards we wandered around Astoria, Queens in order to check it out because Ellie and Jacob are considering moving to New York and this is a possible neighborhood for them. We played basketball at a big park along the East River, we stopped at a pool hall, and we enjoyed a food truck gyro. Love Queens. I guess it’s the most diverse place on the planet – with at least 145 countries represented.
• Next stop: dinner with Lauren’s new boyfriend, Matt. First off, like most parents, we are on a need-to-know basis with Lauren’s love-life – which mostly means we hear absolutely nothing. The fact that she told us about this guy, and arranged for us to meet him – well, seems like maybe they like each other. Our impression: Polite, kind, smart, and tall – though darts may not be his specialty . . .

How’s that for packing in some serious activity?

Oh, and then we re-started in earnest today. 

Alright, so after biking around a little bit this past year and then coming back, I guess I’m starting to draw some conclusions. Love biking in this part of the world. Kind of the whole region from Minneapolis east. Forests. Greenery. Rivers and streams. Lakes. Campgrounds with fire grates. Deer. Enough people that there are amenities around. Just an all-around good day.

Our friend, Jon F from Brooklyn joined us today – and will be with us for at least a week or so. Really nice to have him chatting and bringing his positive outlook.

The good thing is that I think both of us were a little nervous about this phase of our journey. Ireland and England were just so rainy – and kind of cold. And we were kind of under-the-weather the whole time. I think it’s fair to say that this combination had us feeling a little less excited than we have been. 

But I’m happy to report that after rejuvenating in the City the last few days, and enjoying a beautiful – and dry – day of biking today – we are pretty excited for the trip to Minneapolis.