After the videos and saying goodbye to Scott and Elizabeth I set out on North Lake Ave. I was now riding the section of road that I dreamed of riding as a little boy. I remember my first bike with training wheels. I remember my first ride on Broadview Ct. that ended up with me falling over on to the gravel of Broadview Ct. After learning to ride without crashing I remember the desire to leave Broadview Ct. for the next street over. I can't remember if that happened before we moved to Orlando, FL. Needless to say, it was happening today. I rode down North Lake Ave. and cut through the Park I use to go snow sledding in. If I told you this was not an emotional start to the ride I would be lying.
After navigating my way through downtown Troy I headed into Albany. This was nice. I've never spent much time in Albany so cycling through downtown was good. I like statues so I stopped to take a picture with a former Mayor and his dog.
In the midst of the morning traffic I couldn't find my way to the bike trail that ran along the river. By the time I realized I was past it it was too late. This meant that I was going to have to ride through a not so nice Industrial area. Once I got through this area though the ride became more scenic.
When I got to Coeymans, NY I first met up with my cousin Doug who was on his way to Albany for a job interview. We took a few moments to chat then I had prayer for him before the interview. A few miles down the road I then met up with Sue (Doug's wife) and the kids. We had a great visit then I set off for an afternoon of riding along the Hudson River.
There were some nice ups and downs along the river but nothing drastic. I was riding down the west side of the river; it wouldn't be till Catskill that I would cross over to the east side. Before Catskill though I was excited to reach Coxsackie. I started out without a water bottle and now that I had been riding for several hours and the temperature was warming up a bit I was ready for a drink. I found a small convenience store that fulfilled this need. A little later on I had to shed my throw over and my long sleeve shirt. By this time I was starting to think about lunch but that wasn't going to be till I crossed over to the east side of the Hudson.
I finally crossed over and headed to Germantown, NY. It was there I found a Stewart's! I love Stewart's Root beer so I stopped in for a Chili Dog, Root beer and Ice Cream cone. What a treat! Especially since this was a later than normal lunch. After lunch it was on to Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. In preparation for the trip I had spent time on Google Earth so I was familiar with many of the sights before and around Marist and Poughkeepsie. Once I began to see them I was excited that my first day of riding was about to be done and I was going to be introduced to some new Campus Ministry friends at Marist.
I arrived on campus and asked a student how to get to the Campus Ministry building. She gave me campus landmarks to look for so I set off across campus looking for the landmarks and the building. I found the CM building and immediately met Brother Frank and Jill. These were the two I had been corresponding with for several months. They were very gracious and very glad that I had arrived. We spent some time visiting and refreshing then Brother Frank had me follow him to Brother Richard's house on campus. That is where I would be staying for the night. Brother Richard was busy with end of the semester activities so Brother Frank got me situated at the house. I moved my stuff in and got cleaned up. Brother Richard stopped in for a few minutes so I got to meet him. We determined that we would have breakfast at 6 the next morning before I set out. Before he left for his dinner meeting he threw my riding clothes in the washer, what a blessing! My plan was to only use one set of riding clothes for the trip since most nights I would have access to a washer and dryer. After some organizing of my gear and reading I fell right asleep. It was a great first day and I was thankful to God for all the blessings of the day and even the time leading up to the ride. Tomorrow I will ride through Connecticut to Bridgeport where I will catch a Ferry to Stony Brook, NY.
STATS - Mileage Today 85.4, Pace 11.5, Riding Time 7:21
Total GTD cumulative miles: 85.4
