The Day Before...

...We leave tomorrow morning, early. We have done a lot today, we now have a "Patsy" tent - the 2 man MSR Hubba Bubba, weighing in at 2.3kgs. It is named "Patsy" after its generous benefactor. There was a lot of thought that went into buying the tent, which is why we ended up buying it the day before we left - procrastination of the hardest tasks seems necessary. We are thankful to EMS for their generous donation.

We had to choose between 2 man and 3 man tents - 2 man tents fit just that, and 3 men tents could fit our kit as well. We went for the lighter option of a large 2 man tent with large vestibules on the outside for kit storage, resulting in 1kg less pain for each of the 5000kms.

This is the last night staying with my cousin's in New York, and we are very thankful to both Jamie and Nicky for putting up with us for such a long time. It has been crucial to have a base in New York, without which we would have spent half of our budget already.

We also had our bikes fitted, which was very useful for me - less useful for Alex - his bike fits him well already. My fitting was more difficult - the Large bike I went for is not Large enough, but the Xtra-Large was too big, so Kurt from Bicycle Habitat did well to make the large bike feel bigger. We flipped the handlebars (ask if confused!) and moved the seat up and forwards as well as other more minor adjustments.

We tried to get sim cards for our iPhone's, but failed on this front - America is remarkably backwards in the phone markets, and the only options were $80 a month for unlimited text, calls and internet (which they weren't sure would work). This seemed a bit excessive - we would only be using them for sporadic texting and maps, so we will instead use one cheap phone sparingly (supplied with the help of Nicky and Jamie), and old fashioned but dependable paper maps.

SIGHT-SEEING: We went to the "Top of the Rock" as well as the Brooklyn Bridge, for Alex to have a whistle-stop tour of New York, and to take some photographs. The "Top of the Rock" is 70 stories high, at the top of the Rockefeller Centre - offering great views of Manhattan Island. We will put up pictures to the picasa site as soon as we can.

Tomorrow, to Princeton, the next day to Philadelphia.

Setting off into the unknown is unnerving, but we've been looking forward to it for a long while - so off we go!

Update

Alex is through security, I have found a place to get a bike fitting tomorrow, and the weather is nice!

We leave New York on Saturday.

No Mate, ready to get going yes, bored no. Played footy in the park with the sun going down, then pints and a kebab afterwards....perfect afternoon!
See you tomorrow!

Waiting

The original plan was to leave tomorrow. But plans change, and volcanoes erupt. This particular volcano means that Alex is stuck in London, getting more and more agitated and more and more bored. I am having a good time in New York and had a great time in Washington, but am raring to get started. The last few months have been a lot of talk and not much action, and now the time has come for action, we have been stopped. It is tough for both of us – each day we lose now, means more riding per day when we do get going.

I have been familiarising myself with the Adventure cycling association maps that we are planning on using; these maps are widely touted as the best available, but at first glance, they are incredibly confusing. It seems that the toughest part of the ride – in terms of picking the right route, will be the New Jersey section. It is a maze of complex roads through a very urban region (which as we know from getting lost in Bath and Bristol, are the tough bits). So, tomorrow, I am off on my bike to have a look round and see which way is a good way to go.

America is Huge!

I fear this title could be a recurring one.

On Friday, I took a 5 hour bus trip from New York to the American capital – Washington DC.

And one of the things that dawned on me is that America is Huge! I will put up a map with the comparisons on it – I travelled 233miles, a tiny percentage of the American coastline, but equivalent to half the way across Kenya, and all the way across England and Wales. We have our work cut out!

The Capital is an interesting place – with an absurd number of American flags – it seems that patriotism is measured by the size and quantity of them – round the Washington monument, there is a flag every 3 metres. I walked with my cousin around the Washington mall – from the White house to the Houses of Congress to Abe Lincoln’s memorial throne. The other thing that sprung out at me was the size of the war memorials. The Americans love their armed forces (and get in quite a few wars). This love for the forces was confirmed at a baseball match that we accidentally ended up at today.

We were on our way down to the Potomac River to see some ships, when we saw crowds headed to a baseball game. On the off chance of some cheap tickets, we popped in and got lucky!
The baseball was interesting – I’d love to play. The underdogs and home team won 8-0 in a massive shock victory, but the biggest cheer and a very moving standing ovation was saved for some returning soldiers getting drunk in the VIP box.

Back to New York tomorrow, to await Alex’s arrival.

New York

New York is a great place, which I thoroughly recommend. I have walked many miles, seen many things – from an awesome acrobatic street group, to the skyscrapers in the business district. I had a great time playing Frisbee in Central Park, and met a very kind attendant on the Staten Island Ferry who gave $10 to me when he heard about the trip.

I have been on the subway and seen Times Sq, as well as found a good tent. I will go down to Washington DC tomorrow – by bus, making the most of the time before pedal power takes over and one day jaunts are 80miles, not 400.

Donations are coming thick and fast – we have raised 5400 pounds, with lots more in the pipeline. Themed bonus donations are much appreciated – if you are feeling inventive – 5 pounds extra donation for every puncture is one idea [thank you to the Mortons]; and every entertaining idea makes our pedaling faster, and our fundraising easier.

America!

I am now in safely in New York. The flight was a good one, and the bike, which was in a thin cardboard box surrounded by bubble wrap and kikoi's, survived! I was full of nervous excitement on the plane, and although I didn't get upgraded (despite a lot of talking to the check-in lady) and wasn't allowed to have them raise money for me on the flight - Virgin have their own charity, it was a good flight. The security and baggage collection at the other end were a breeze - despite my fears of being questioned at length about my Kenyan residency and dodgy looking huge box.

I will be doing a lot of sightseeing, before visiting Washington for the weekend. We start our ride next week, and blogs will be intermittent until then. If anyone knows any must see things in New York - just write a comment.