Touring is harder than it looks!

Summer has finally reached the Northeast!

So much has happened in the past month that it defies imagination to be posted here in full, so to sum up: I’ve been riding my bike with full packs to get used to the load. A steel frame bike with 40-50 pounds of gear is a heavy beast to manage, especially in the mean streets of New York City! These streets is cold son! The first trip I took with my buddy Phil. We wound up in Nyack. I was totally beat, but still had another 30 miles to go back to Brooklyn. Needless to say, I appreciate Phil’s patience as I had to make around 300 stops on the way back!
The second trip I completed last week, my first overnight camping excursion with all my gear. I went up to Harriman State Park, around 50 miles up the Hudson from New York in an area called Bear Mountain. I was jamming out to my Ipod, paying scant attention to the trucks whizzing past me with horns blaring and waves of encouragement/derision as I pedaled up highway 9W above Nyack, through Haverstraw, and made the left turn to go up into the hills above the river.
Apparently I left logic behind in New Jersey when I realized that I had not saved enough energy in my bones for the 5 mile uphill trek into the park, just below an area known as Bear Mountain. Needless to say, while I didn’t see any bears, I definitely felt like I was going up a mountain on empty! I bonked so hard at the top, that I ended up the “closest” spot to the ranger station, which ended up being in a swamp next to the restroom building under a set of majestic power lines. Of course, I didn’t realize this until I came to laying flat on my back on the picnic table staring up into the trees. Too tired to even care, I passed out and woke up early the next morning.
Heading down was way way way way easier than up and I was back in Haverstraw after only 30 minutes on the road. What had been a two-hour uphill struggle the night before was a breeze. Freaking gravity man! In other news, research on the project has also been ongoing. I have now isolated a route of attack through the continent. I plan on traveling to London on or around the 5th of September. I’ll ride down to the ferry at Portsmouth, cross the channel to Cherbourg, and ride the invasion beaches at Normandy. From there, I’ll board a train to Meijel, Holland, and ride through the remainders of that that forgotten battlefield where Grandpa first tasted combat.
After this, it’s back to northern France to attend a monument dedication in Sillengry on September 19th. From there, it’s into the Ardennes Forest to ride through the area around St. Vith, Belgium where Grandpa helped to stop the German attack known as the Battle of the Bulge in later winter 1944. After this, it’s east and across the Rhine near Remagen, Germany where the allies held the first successful crossing of the river in March 1945.
I’ll probably have enough riding of bikes to last a while after this trek through hilly terrain, and my father may join me for the last phase of the trip by train to Frankfurt and that big plane back home to New York. All in all, it will be around 1000 miles covered by train and bike, mostly by the latter in approximately 30 days.
This trip will open up my view of what Grandpa went through, the type of ground he was fighting in, and the people he ran into while there. I’ll be keeping the blog updated daily during this time, it’s my hope that it will become the outline of the book!
Again, I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the cause! Without you, this trip wouldn’t be happening. Thanks to all for the kind thoughts and words as I proceed down this path, and I want to extend a personal thanks once again to Sid’s Bikes for sponsoring me. The best bike shop in NYC!
Please enjoy the pics from my latest trips below! Also, check out our Sid’s Bikes repair tent at the Five Borough Bike Tour start! 30k people biking through the city makes for some flats that need changing!
Also, as always, please feel free to click on the donate button and … you know… donate a small contribution if you want to. Any little bit helps even a dollar could be the difference between starving and not.

Thanks to all, and see you out there riding this summer!

Gavin