2016-06-04 - Longest Day and Cape May
That moment when you realize you don't need to apply sunscreen because the sun wouldn't be up for another two hours, priceless. Let me back up. The plan was to sleep by 8 PM and wake up at 2:30 AM after 6.5 hours of sleep. Well I ended up going to sleep around 9 PM and woke up 4 times between then and 2 AM when I finally got up off the bed. People were yelling outside due to the water issues at the hotel. I found out later that almost everyone left the hotel and the police came to close it off. My dad also drank too much tea and stayed up all night moving around with the light on. Needless to say, that was the worst night's sleep I've had this year so far.
Anyway I ate a large amount of food and was on the road by 3:30 AM. It was pitch black outside and I was using the Garmin 520 routing for the first time. I had purchased the 520 for this ride, no way was I going to rely on paper directions for such a long ride, 210 miles from the northernmost point in New Jersey to the southernmost, Port Jervis, NY to Cape May, NJ. With my bike lights on, I took off and soon saw the state sign of New Jersey reassuring me that I was headed the right direction.
Anyway I ate a large amount of food and was on the road by 3:30 AM. It was pitch black outside and I was using the Garmin 520 routing for the first time. I had purchased the 520 for this ride, no way was I going to rely on paper directions for such a long ride, 210 miles from the northernmost point in New Jersey to the southernmost, Port Jervis, NY to Cape May, NJ. With my bike lights on, I took off and soon saw the state sign of New Jersey reassuring me that I was headed the right direction.
Cycling downhill on the local highways when you could barely see any distance ahead of you is scary. I took over the entire road in those cases. Occasionally the rays of an incoming headlight would brighten the landscape long before the car would pass me. During these rare moments in between my long periods of solitude, I felt like they infringed upon my road. The black sky turned indigo and then dark blue, the same color as the waters below. The hoot of owls turned into the crow of roosters and soon a symphony of birdsong filled the air, reminiscent of El Yunque rain forest in Puerto Rico.
As the sky brightened, cars grew more frequent but it was safer to ride in the shoulders. I made occasional stops to rest the body and take photos of the scenery. I stopped in Chester about 50 miles in at one of the preferred vendors to grab a bagel for breakfast. So far, I had seen no other cyclists on the road.
As the sky brightened, cars grew more frequent but it was safer to ride in the shoulders. I made occasional stops to rest the body and take photos of the scenery. I stopped in Chester about 50 miles in at one of the preferred vendors to grab a bagel for breakfast. So far, I had seen no other cyclists on the road.
After a nice overall 30-minute breakfast break, I hopped on my bike to continue the ride. Soon, another cyclist named Chris caught up to me. He had started at 5 AM rode in 6 hours what took me 7.5 hours to cover. His plan is to reach the brewery in Cape May in time to have a couple of drinks before finishing at the lighthouse. Chris was a very friendly cyclist and we rode together for about 16 miles or so overall. He gave me an extra CO2 cartridge which I needed and stopped for a while to see his girlfriend before catching up to me at the first SAG stop.
At the SAG stop I met Kevin and his wife who organized and set up the route for this year. They were super friendly and had plenty of free snacks for us to refuel. Kevin was suffering from leg cramps and would quit the ride at the rest stop after 75 miles of riding. He had finished it the past two years. I fell behind from Chris soon after. Riding with him had actually propelled me ahead of schedule but I was tiring and in a good deal of discomfort. I stopped for another quick food break around mile 95, ice cream and gatorade to carb up. My average speed was terribly slow by this point and I finally called it quits around mile 112. I had wanted to make it to the second rest stop but at my average speed which was slower than I could run, it was no longer fun nor worthwhile to suffer on for no reason. Skin was rubbing off my feet and my butt was injured by the saddle.
I realized that I needed proper cycling shoes and pedals for such a long ride and my current saddle that I could tolerate on shorter rides just would not do. I would be better prepared during my second chance in July for the STP ride 205 miles from Seattle to Portland, which is actually a flatter and easier ride. I laid down on a park bench in front of a church and phased in and out of consciousness as my parents drove from the second SAG stop where they were waiting to come pick me up. I badly need to sleep.
At the SAG stop I met Kevin and his wife who organized and set up the route for this year. They were super friendly and had plenty of free snacks for us to refuel. Kevin was suffering from leg cramps and would quit the ride at the rest stop after 75 miles of riding. He had finished it the past two years. I fell behind from Chris soon after. Riding with him had actually propelled me ahead of schedule but I was tiring and in a good deal of discomfort. I stopped for another quick food break around mile 95, ice cream and gatorade to carb up. My average speed was terribly slow by this point and I finally called it quits around mile 112. I had wanted to make it to the second rest stop but at my average speed which was slower than I could run, it was no longer fun nor worthwhile to suffer on for no reason. Skin was rubbing off my feet and my butt was injured by the saddle.
I realized that I needed proper cycling shoes and pedals for such a long ride and my current saddle that I could tolerate on shorter rides just would not do. I would be better prepared during my second chance in July for the STP ride 205 miles from Seattle to Portland, which is actually a flatter and easier ride. I laid down on a park bench in front of a church and phased in and out of consciousness as my parents drove from the second SAG stop where they were waiting to come pick me up. I badly need to sleep.
We drove the rest of the way to Cape May, our first time there. It was absolutely beautiful. The historic lighthouse is one of 11 that grace and protect the state and the Lower Cape May Meadows Project which was completed in 2007 is a huge success. It was is "for the purposes of ecosystem restoration, hurricane and coastal storm damage reduction and navigation mitigation is approximately 350 acres in area containing Cape May Point State Park and the Nature Conservancy’s Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge" (http://www.nap.usace.army.mil/Missions/Factsheets/FactSheetArticleView/tabid/4694/Article/490785/new-jersey-shore-protection-lower-cape-may-meadows-cape-may-point-nj.aspx). Due to this work, Hurricane Sandy only caused 1% of the damage of an earlier storm with the same windspeed and 1/15th the amount of rainfall, and tourism dollars have increased by many millions. The only future we have as a people is to rebuild our environment. As evident from this example, disappearing nature around the world is causing us far more than what it would take to conserve it.
Chris and his brother soon showed up. His brother had cycled the last 50 miles with him. Chris's girlfriend and older sister were both there to greet them. It felt great to see them and be able to wish each other the best before heading off. We stopped briefly nearby to look at the wonderful flowers planted to attract the butterflies, moths, and other animals back to the area. There were also quite a few hares hopping around the area.
La Mer was a perfect hotel to stay at and one of the more expensive ones I've stayed at. The rooms were huge and had splendid views. The next morning, we walked around town and made sure to visit the little town center filled with stores fueled by tourism dollars. I learned that they are busy all throughout the year except in January and February. Music festivals, Christmas lights, and other events attract visitors during the colder months.
We also walked through the historic Hughes Street on our way back to the hotel, bordered by stands to tie your horse carriage to. After packing up, we drove to the Emlen Physick Estate. Arriving more than 5 minutes late, we missed the tour I booked but the staff managed to move us to an 1 PM slot instead. We hurried to grab a quick lunch at a nearby Wawa before returning for the tour. The estate from the Victorian era was mainly inhabited by Emlen Physick and his mother. His grandfather was considered the father of American surgery and Emlen himself studied medicine. The moment he got his medical degree, however, he also got his inheritance and retired. Never working a day in his life nor ever getting married, Emlen Physick lived the life of a wealthy bachelor in Cape May. The tour was great and well loved by my mother.
We ended our adventures in Cape May by visiting the World War II tower. A cylindrical building, the tower was used to scout and measure the distance of enemy vessels to help triangulate their location for cannons hidden near the lighthouse. Built to guard the Delaware River and Delaware Bay, towers and cannons like these served to protect important towns and cities including Philadelphia from enemies like Gernman Uboats. The telescope at the top of the tower was pointed at the shipwreck of a concrete ship. At one point the ship sank during a storm and caused its investors to lose everything.
We drove back to Jersey City and arrived just in time to drop me off at Grove Street to grab dinner with two friends from my high school. What a full weekend it was. I slept really well both nights.
