Greasing the Skids

This morning, we were met outside the American Legion Hall in Hudson, NY, by the New York State Police. They rotated crews, keeping a car in front of us and a car behind us as we zoomed down the east side of the Hudson River along both rural roads and freeways! If you don't know the countryside along the Hudson, it is hilly, but full of wonderful history. Not only are there numerous pre-revolution buildings, but also we went through Hyde Park, passing right past Franklin Delano Roosevelt's home, past the Vanderbilt estate, and past the second drive-in movie we've seen on our journey. Jonathan assures me that there are only five drive-in movies in the US, and that makes two that we've seen during our bike ride! Only trouble is, they don't operate during daylight hours, and there's nowhere on a bicycle to hang the speaker, even if they were operating! Oh, well, guess that will have wait for another trip. We then went past the Culinary Institute of America, but didn't even stop for lunch. We went flying right on by!

Anyway, today's segment was not necessarily about the ride. It was fairly straightforward ride, albeit a bit physically demanding -- mostly because all the teen-aged legs in front of me insisted on trying to keep up with the police cruiser in front of us, regardless of my aching legs. Right now, I'm reading "The Boys in the Boat," and found that we were cycling right past where the national rowing championships took place, in the Poughkeepsie yacht club to Hyde Park area, giving new life to the book.

When we arrived in Fishkill, our destination for the day, the State Troopers were joined by a sheriff on a motorcycle, so we had a motorcade tooling along the turnpike. The sheriff would block intersections, and the troopers kept cars out of our lane. And since we were on the TV news the night before, and in the local newspapers, a lot of people driving past recognized us, so we were constantly having to wave or otherwise respond to honking cars. Then we turned off the main highway, and shortly thereafter, we heard cheers and applause, and looked towards the left to see a large marquee tent and a crowd of people, a camera pointed at us, and large American flags waving in the breeze! The American Legion, the local politicians, the local media, the Hyatt Hotel and Cracker Barrel Restaurant, all were waiting to greet us. As we pulled into the Hyatt parking lot, the applause got louder. We were celebrities!

An event was awaiting us, and we were center stage. We received proclamations from the local US congressman, from the State Assembly, from the Duchess County council, and speeches from the American Legion and others. We received gift bags, and most important, further donations for Operation Comfort Warriors. After a rousing rendition of God Bless America, the boys were ferried to Cracker Barrel in a vintage Army jeep, and I got a ride from one of the event speakers, Janice Ragazzo.

We are staying in suites donated by the Hyatt, and had a chauffeur-driven limousine (the limo driver was a local councilman and funeral director) to the best restaurant in town. Everything was donated.

So how do we follow up a day like that? Well, I can guess. We have a police escort all the way to the World Trade Center. We have other cyclists joining us. We have a crowd awaiting us at One World Trade Center.

I regret two things about tomorrow. After the ride, we will be done with the bike riding phase of Bike Trip America, and I've been so enjoying myself and the ride. And after the ceremonies at WTC, Pat will be leaving to start the long drive back to Oregon with her friend Ruth Anne. We will miss Pat. She is one of the key links on our team. When she is gone, and when the kids are joined by their families, and I begin my own trip homeward, a joyful episode of my life will be over. It will be time to revise my bucket list and start setting new goals.