Day 1: NY, NY to Raritan, NJ
May 17, 2011

We awoke to thunderous rain this morning and briefly considered squatting in our empty apartment for an extra night. Fortunately, we have some awesome friends who braved the rain of biblical proportions to send us off. A HUGE thank you to Julia, Ari, Sumit, Andrea, and Matan for hanging out with us while we finished packing and giving us a gentle push down Broadway. It really boosted morale. After an equally fun goodbye from our super Rudy, we set off across the GW Bridge for the most depressing NYC skyline ever and headed vaguely West / Southwest. In addition to torrential rains, highlights of the day included validation that our gear is pretty waterproof and the best chicken soup money can buy at Maple Kosher in Vauxhall, NJ. Our biking maps didn’t really start until 30 miles outside of the city so we did a lot of Google mapping on the way. All in all, a successful first day.

  • Starting point: NYC
  • Ending point: Raritan, NJ
  • Slept: motel
  • Miles: 57.25
  • Average speed: 10.7
  • Notes: stopped a lot to consult Google. Saw a woodchuck!