Tyler and Mike here reporting from Princeton, New Jersey where the academia is ubiquitous and the jazz causes visceral revulsion (there's a jazz festival going on outside). The good news is, we finished our first day without any problems and arrived at camp in one of the first groups. But lets start with a little about last night and our arrival in New York city.
After parking the car in New Haven, CT, we ran the metro north train making it on 2 minutes before it departed. On the train we met up with good friends Sarah and Dana, as they too were on their way into New York for the weekend. After this hour and half ride, we got off the Metro North train in Central Station and made our way through the crowds (equipped with two backpacks each and bikes) onto the subway. This was a relatively stressful beginning to our New York experience as we were quickly reminded of how hurried and fast-paced people are in New York when we were scolded by an impatient MTA worker for holding up the line with all our stuff.
Anywho, we made it to event check-in safe in sound in Soho after a quick stop to chat with our main sponsor, and Tyler's former employer, Collins. The check-in took place at a bar on Bowery St. All the climate-riders, ride organizers, professors and other members of the public attended the event. There were a few speeches to kick off the night, some delicious hors d'oeuvres and a silent auction. Mike bid on a sweet camel back/US atlas combo and won the bid at $40. Good deal if you ask us :)
Afterwards, we met up with friends Jesse and Zach who live in New York, went out to a bar near their apartment in Brooklyn and retired for the night to get some much needed rest for the beginning of our ride.
So this morning we got up mad-early and took the subway back to where we registered last night. We got on our bikes from here and rode down to Pier 17 where there was a "Bike for a Day" festival that we chilled at, and then down to Pier 11 where we had our own climateride ferry waiting for us. We took the ferry to New Jersey, and finally started biking fo' real. Check out our route here.
Although New Jersey wasn't the industrial complex we had seen from the Turnpike, we saw a new side: the McMansion dystopia that resembled the set from the Truman Show. We took a quick detour from the route to bike through one of these neighborhoods and found it to be deserted. The combination of the lack of activity and neatly permed and trimmed lawns and bushes created a slightly spooky vibe. We took some pictures to document this interesting example of a new type of upper middle-class American neighborhood. However, the state of New Jersey wasn't all like this: we passed a lot of nice farm land, and the town of Princeton is beautiful. We forgot to bring the camera cord to the café today, but stay posted for pictures from the road.
Diner time here, so over and out and thanks for following us! more to come tomorrow!
-Mike & Tyler
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