And we're off! They will be letting groups of 50 riders at a time cross the Bear Mountain Bridge to start off at the opening ceremonies at 6:25 a.m.. With over 3100 riders registered, that should take us a while, even if a few don't actually make it to the Ride!
e-mail me during the Ride! or Sign my Guestbook
After the opening ceremonies, we were off. They let us go in small packs, which allowed the automobile traffic to have opportunities (although I overheard some guy in a pick-up truck talking on a cel phone about these "damned bicycles"! The reception from other people on the road was much more positive: kids hanging out on their little bicycles in front of their houses, waving -- and one group even organized enough to hand up styrofoam cups of wateras we rode past, and had a place for us to toss them further down the lawn. Some kids stretched out their hands to get hand-slaps from us as we rode by. There were several *very* long hills, miles in length. And who thought that last half-mile 8% climb toget to lunch was a good idea...?I didn't walk up any, but I did stop and get refreshed -- catch my breath and take a few swigs of water -- part way up. It seemed like I ended up traveling in a pack of the same faces -- sometimes lagged behind, other times surging ahead, but mainly staying with them from pit stop to pit stop. It felt like today was mostly getting familiar with one another. Recognizing faces. Who has a neat jersey. Who has cool stuff tied to the top of their helmet. And does that tandem recumbent *really* have a high-heeled shoe on the back, a la "Pricilla, Queen of the Desert"? Yes! I wore my Brian Andreas designed jersey, which elicited a lot of nice comments, and brought the Iowans out of the woodwork, where Andreas is from. (I'm wearing it in the article Jana Brown wrote about me for the SPS Times) I met a man named EJ who had posted a message to the e-mail list for the Ride a week or so ago -- he had said to look for him in a helmet with a lighthouse on top, so when I saw one, I asked him if he was indeed EJ. His story, in a nutshell, is that when he came down with HIV/AIDS, his partner took really good care of him and supported him when he couldn't work any more, and made sure he took his meds on time. Well, EJ's health improved, so much so that he was finally able to work again, but there was going to be a two-week window when he wouldn't be covered for his very expensive medication. He said he called Fenway, one of the benefiting agencies, and they supplied him with the 2 weeks of medication until his new coverage could kick in. His partner, however, died just two weeks ago, and he put the lighthouse on his helmet in his memory, because his partner had loved lighthouses. More tomorrow.
Wake-up call at 4 AM -- I confess I woke up at quarter of on my own. The weather? It's still dark so I can't really tell! I am all suited up, packed up, and ready to head down for the shuttle bus. Marilyn is almost reayd, so I have a few minutes. We have no idea if anyone else from the Ride is staying at this hotel -- it's a little far from Bear Mountain, but I picked it because of its proximity to my friends Bill & Deb, who fed us linguine with white clam sauce & salad last night, (Thank you!) I've got my camera with me in my bike gear, so I hope to take some good pictures. We'll be riding over the Bear Mountain Bridge -- that alone should be a good photo op!