Day 71
48 miles
Ramblin’ outa the wild West,
Leavin’ the towns I love the best.
Thought I’d seen some ups and down,
Til I come into New York town.
People goin’ down to the ground,
Buildings goin’ up to the sky.
Bob Dylan ‘Talkin New York Blues’
So here we are 71 days, around 4000 miles,a lot of sweat, the odd tear and an incredible sense of achievement.
We left Denville this morning at about 0730 having packed up our wet tent for the last time.
Out of the woods and on to highway 46 for the last 30 miles or so to Manhattan. 46 was nuts and when our pal Ken met us about 1200 we talked a bit and decided to come off the craziness of the main highway. This meant losing the efficiency but probably gaining years of productive life!
We rode steadily towards the George Washington Bridge which would be our entry point to the city. Through Clinton, Hackensack and on we went. Finally there it was the ‘GW’and our first view of the city.
It’s difficult to express the emotions I felt at completing something that started as a plan three years ago. It’s taken that long to plan, save the money and carry out the journey.
We still had about 10-15 miles to cycle to get to the Doctors Without Borders office so we pressed on. We did stop briefly to touch the Hudson River and put some water on the bikes as we did near the Golden Gate Bridge 4000 miles or so to the west.
We navigated to the office via the Hudson greenway which allowed us to cycle the length of Manhattan off the heaving busy roads.
We were welcomed at the office by Elen and then met the lovely Leila from Fundraising whom you see in the photo. We talked about the ride and some of our experiences and the remarkable people we met. I handed over the money that was given to us en route for Doctors Without Borders and then we left. Nice people in the office and meeting them was a great way to finish the ride.
After this we found our hotel before heading to JFK to meet our friends Andy & Helen who have come to New York to be with us at this special time and to have a holiday in this remarkable city.
I will be stopping my daily blogs here but I will be posting my insights and observations from the ride over the next few weeks.
May I end by thanking everyone in the USA, UK and many other places for all the support we have received. We have met many truly lovely people and seen the donations roll in both here and back home. I know some beautiful people.
Thank you, ALL of you.
Love, Andy