Day 7- Bridgewater to Lawrenceville NJ: The Big Finish with a Splash

Day 7 is usually the easiest day of the Anchor House Ride, largely on familiar roads- just 53 miles overall. We got to sleep in til 7AM- woo-hoo!!  And we were on the road (after a Starbuck's breakfast) by a lazy 8:45 AM. Day 7 is also a day we remind ourselves that the ride is not yet over and to keep ourselves focused on getting home safe- we've had some bad crashes on this last day as riders overly relax as we get close to home.

Creative luggage transit by our friend Martin

A thank you message to the riders at the ride start

We rolled through lovely Somerset county, criss-crossing the North and South branches of the Raritan river and rolling past lovely horse farms.

Ken and Ben

Soon we were on the very familiar and lovely roads of Hunterdon and Mercer Counties, coming up and over the Sourland Mountains. It was a day to enjoy the last of this Anchor House adventure, and to say good bye to good friends

Some of our favorite riders on the Anchor House looking very stylish:
Dee-Dee, Rebecca, Chrissie and Joan

One of my favorite meadows on Saddle Shop Road in the Sourlands

DJ and Newell

Creative mailbox with bike pump for public use on Snydertown Road
 in the Sourlands 

Adam and Ben with Erin Drulis, one of the "Yout" riders from
last year and one of our favorite people!

About 8 miles out

Bringing it in 

The scene at the Dutkos picnic

Ten miles out we have our traditional picnic stop at the Dutkos, a family with long ties to the Anchor House. They serve us lunch, ice cream and a chance to take a dip in their pool. Perfect on a hot day.

A happy DJ at the Dutkos picnics. Some miles down the ride I heard:
"I shouldn't have had that 2nd ice cream"

We then did a ten mile processional  ride with a police escort to the big finish at Quakerbridge Mall. We had great luck with rain for the whole week, but we got absolutely drenched in a thunderstorm on the way. With teeth almost chattering from the rain and the wind the rain stopped about five minutes from the mall, allowing us to dry out a little before walking our bikes into the mall. During the final ceremony, we learned that the new total raised by the ride is $501,000. We're hoping that amount edges towards $600,000 as more donations make their way in,

Lining up for the ride to the mall

Damp Youts, waiting outside the mall

DJ, Ken and Newell during the end ceremony at the Mall

Post-ride logisitcs: Ken's best laid plans of renting a minivan to drive Adam and myself back home fell through when the rental car location was closed by the time we got there. Luckily our friends Silvia and Clive were clear-headed and quick-thinking. They knew the NJ Transit schedule so we were able to get Adam on a 4:30 train to NYC so he could make it to a 6PM dinner party (we had ten minutes to pull this off). Adam pulled off a quick change in the car, got his ticket and made his train!

A slightly stressed out Adam at the train station parking lot

Adam with his NJ Transit ticket, with Silvia and Clive cheering him on

I was able to get in a quick shower at Jack's house, catch up with Jack and check-in on his recovery from his surgery (so far so good), and grab a 5:48 PM Amtrak out of Trenton, with great logistical help from Gabe. Taking the train home was actually nice, and it allowed me to reflect back on quite a week. From my solo bike trip to Manchester NH, to being re-united with my Anchor House friends, to Jack's unfortunate crash, to spending a great week with my boy, and to enjoying the sights, sounds and great comraderie of the Anchor House Ride. And for getting (almost) all of us back safe and sound. And knowing that our efforts this week will literally help keep the doors open for the amazing kids of Anchor House who are so deserving of our love and support. Thanks to everyone for following along and to those who contributed. 

I dedicate this ride to my good friend Jack Hayon, who constant smile and good cheer transcends any physical pain or injury, and who I know will be back on next year's ride as determined and cheerful as ever.

Day 6 - Matamoras PA to Bridgewater, NJ

Our longest day may have been the best day. But by day 6 of the ride, everyone is fully trained so an 85-mile day was just right. And once again this week, the weather really cooperated. What was supposed to be a day in the 90's stayed somewhere in the 80's with high cloud cover most of the day. 

Crossing the Delaware from Matamoras to Port Jervis in the morning

We biked through 3 states today, with most of the day in NJ. The biking in northern NJ was beautiful as we biked from Newton to Bridgewater,  Biking on Route 206 is never our favorite part, but it gets the job done.

 We climbed a lot today, 4200 feet in total, and had the single toughest climb of the week. It was a long grind up a quiet road. Some of the descents were pretty gnarly and steep, with pretty uneven and rough pavement. As a mountain biker, I l kinda loved it, but not everyone agreed.

Here's Gabe about to descend a pretty steep section with a nasty hairpin turn that dropped elevation during the turn. We burned up some brake pads today!

One thing that  made today pretty special was that our larger cycling group stayed together for most of the day. Here we are in Hackettstown after a great lunch. I'm going to miss biking with this great bunch of guys!

One interesting story line from the week were the bear sightings along the route. Three cubs and a Mama bear came right out on the rail trail just outside of Adams, MA. Ben was mistakenly identified as the person who saw the bears - it wasn't him but a the son of another rider. But as it turned out, Ben did wind up seeing a bear today as he was racing to catch up to the group this morning after leaving his glasses behind at the hotel.

Bears on the rail trail, er bear trail on Monday

That's Ben approaching the bear. He didn't know there was a bear
sighting and kept riding by

Ben without any bears nearby :)

Some other photos from the day:

DJ and Ken imbibing special nourishment after the ride

Day 5- Kingston NY to Matamoras PA- Play misty for me

On a day with a predicted 70% chance of thunderstorms and predicted temps in the 90's, we escaped with just a very humid day with temps in the low 80's. We were lucky today.

The morning air was very heavy, resulting in a fair amount of mist and wet sunglasses. We started out at 160 feet and over the day climbed to 1300 feet before dropping precipitously at the end. A 70 mile day, with 3200 feet of climbing. An average Anchor House ride day.

We left Kingston and biked through the outskirts of New Paltz.  Maybe it was the mist, but today was not as scenic as yesterday but the riding was great. The usual highlight, the Shawangunk mountains, were obscured by mist.

Horse farm with the Shawangunks in the misty background

Renoir like hay roll

A true highlight was a SAG stop at an ice cream stand. Nothing makes cyclists happier than ice cream! Well, maybe beer.

Happy boys!

Da boys

Adam in motion....

Ken's typical view looking down at his handlebars

 Some pretty scenes from today...

I'll leave with a few words from the banquet dinner and awards ceremony.  An award was given to an amazing young man who was homeless three years ago and is now in his second year at Montclair State University with a 3.8 GPA. His life was totally turned around by the support he received from Anchor House. He is why we ride. So far we have raised $482,000. We are on track for a record breaking year.  If you'd like to contribute, click HERE

Here are some photos from the banquet/ceremony:

A happy Ken with Adam and long time great friend DJ

Da boys- Ben and Gabe Hayon and Adam

My two buddies got awards tonight- Joan with a ten year award and Eric
 with a five year award