the B I G update! - May 13, 2007 -

The last three days have been really interesting, a huge variety off terrain and landscape, just incredible.... day two and on the road. we left the town of Orangeville and started to make the trek to the northwest. after a few miles we were off the main roads and cruising through rolling hills and the holiday homes of the Manhattan elite. where New York City was a vertical Lego stack of steel and glass, these were expansive masterpieces of over indulgent egotistical architecture surrounded with landscaping befitting an English lord. the mountainous roads would twist and turn around through the trees and by every corner there was a new mansion to peer into. we stopped for lunch at a children's camp for the spawn of the rich and famous. looking more like a university campus then a playground it was the final indication that there was a fair few zeros following most people pay checks in this neck of the woods.

by late afternoon we crossed through a national park and climbed a hill that was a good first test for our climbing legs. cresting the mountain we sped down the other side, passing over bridged rivers and beside circular lakes, cut into the treed valleys. by early evening we were ready to cal it a day, and right on cue we arrived into a little town called Greenwood Lake.

A quaint little town situated in the valley between two mountains we found a little hotel and rode on in. like everywhere we have been on this trip the owner was beyond accommodating, he gave us a second room for free to store our bikes for the night and regaled Andrew with stories about flying choppers in the Vietnam War.

New Yorkers have a reputation, a stereotype built on Robert DeNiro films, episodes of The Soprano's and pushy tourists visiting the beautiful places of the world. but this couldn't be further from the truth. I haven't met mobsters, but I've met so many generous, helpful and happy people. every day people stop in their cars to make sure that we don't need directions, and the times that we have needed geographic help, everyone has been so eager to help us out and are really excited about our journey. no one is cynical, or jaded, there is a generosity and a genuine feel to when they come up to us and start a conversation.

a great example was today when a guy shouted to me from the other side of the road asking how far I'd ridden so far today, when I told him 20 miles, he gave me the big thumbs up and flashed me a big smile, wished me luck and went on with his day. when was the last time you had that happen to you in New Zealand, in Canada or in Australia, three stereotypically "friendly" countries?

yesterday we got off to our usual leisurely start and climbed a steep hill on our way to the town of Warwick. just past the town both Andrew and I found something that we had both been secretly looking for - mascots. it's funny everyone does it, you search for something that will help to define you to the drivers that pass you by, a companion for the road. some people have flags, or patches, feathers or signs. but within a km both of us had our new friends. now attached to the back of Andrews bike is a perfectly hideous, children's, learn to do hair and make-up plastic doll, complete with platinum blonde hair and ready-for-her-manicure hands. it looks like some sort of pre pubescent beauty queen hitching a ride on his bike rack. as for me I found a small teddy bear that had obviously been tossed from the window of a speeding car and came to rest in the ditch - and based on the town where he became my friend, he was instantly christened, Warwick.

the remainder of the day was through rolling farmland, like something described in a Bruce Springsteen song, the sort of land that Tom Joad would have longed to find. soil as black as coal with the first shoots of green grass poking through. happy people enjoying the simple life sat on their porches, sipping lemonade waved to us as we passed by - it was the real America, the America that I thought had been killed off by the fear of terror and the loathing of George Bush, but to my pleasant surprise it was alive and well.

as the day wore on and the sun began to sink into the western horizon the land began to change again, becoming more rugged and less worked as we got closer to the Pennsylvania State line. Pulling into Port Jervis it was like arriving in the town where the Deer Hunter was based. blue collar, rural, tough, industry based and rough around the edges. sitting in the pub having a meal we watched a wedding reception in the building next door through the adjacent windows. seeing the happy people dancing, silently through the two glass barriers, one couldn't help but think that their lives paralleled the film even more than simply the look of the town. with West Point Military Academy only 50 miles away, the numerous half masted flags were a constant reminder that this generations Vietnam is happening as we speak.

today was another great day, we started late and felt the warming sun on our backs as we peddled out of Port Jervis. following the Delaware River as it snaked along the Pennsylvania - New York border. fun rolling terrain with grinding hills and exhilarating downhill's filled our day. once again the weather has been stellar, with barely a breath of wind and warm, but not too hot temperatures. on average we have been riding about 65km per day during this initial stage of the ride, soon we will bump that total upwards, but for now, it was plenty. this was our forth day riding in a row and we were looking to take tomorrow off as a rest day, but the big decision was where would we stop. this corner of New York state was quickly running out of towns and the idea of spending a day or two in some of the one gas station and that's it places we had seen was less than appealing. so we hatched a plan. Andrew has a good friend who lives in Ithaca New York, a town of about 40 000 people about 150 km from where we would finish a logical day of riding. So Sabrina picked us up on the highway, drove us to Ithaca tonight and we will spend a day or two here before returning to our stop point and continuing the ride. pretty clever eh! so here I sit, in a house for the fist time in over a week and tomorrow I am going to do very little and I can't wait!

it's been a great adventure so far, and I'm already excited for what's destined to happen next! until then, have fun out there and thanks for reading!

~Scott