Day Ten End of New England and Beyond!

The mantra of the first week: "It will be better next week" has come to pass. Now, I simply enjoy the riding. I think to myself, I will never make this ride this way again. If I see it again there will be glass between me and it. My New England has been absolutely perfect to me. It is behaves like a child with good judgement when an old bachelor or old maid aunt comes for a rare visit. It is on best behavior: there are no hurricanes, blizzards, ice storms, or sizzling heat. Natives remark that this is one long stretch of great weather for cycling or anything.

To see a place from a bicycle seat is special. Here I see people who love, protect and preserve their places and local history. The Boston Strong campaign evolving out of the marathon massacre represents healthy people living in this strong and healthy place.

I peddled into Kent, Conn.. along the Housatonic River. Kent Academy students were sculling along this ideal pastoral river sitting. Even though the earliest settlers had serious differences with their homeland, when you see this place there can be no question why it was called "New England". It is said that no one comes to New England ever for a first time because they have seen it on calendars and post cards and read of it and its heroes from the time of childhood.

A highly polished Rolls Royce, roof down and no owner in sight, created a sub-story of a Connecticut style of New England with a Rodeo Drive twist. The antique shops are no longer barns; they are galleries with special lighting and French names painted in gold on clean plate windows. There are comfortable seating areas outside for bored husbands. The eateries offer gourmet, vegan, vegetarian, and fusion choices. Al fresco dining with black or white starched table cloths. It feels different here. It isn't crowded here but there is less open or personal space with every mile.

I wish it were possible to ride through New York City but I decide I will take a bus to Atlantic City and begin again there. I have ridden twice before north to Massachusetts in the last thirty years and I want a new route. I have also ridden the cycle ride around New York City at an annual event held in early May. In the future, distance cyclists will ride on a greenway through the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan right onto the Staten Island ferry and across the great bridges into New Jersey. That will be some wonderful day in  the (hopefully) not-too-distant future.

42nd St. New York Port Authority and the up escalator is broken. I need to transfer to another building.... Hundreds, maybe thousands of people and this all happens and I'm in my seat, seat bike and bags under the bus with 30 seconds to spare for a total transfer time of less than ten minutes.

Gamblers leave NYC for Atlantic City about every thirty minutes. What could be imagined as a nightmare went rather smoothly. I was sailing down the NJ Turnpike with a Sopranos landscape outside the window.

"Peter Pan" bus for a boomer sworn to never grow old. How fitting.

Whatever irritated the bus driver didn't get my attention but twice he pulled over and threatened to put the folks in the seat in front of me off. As a general rule, nothing good happens after the third seat back from the driver. Just like in school, mischief still happens in the back of the bus. If you use a bus like this and have time and $5 you can purchase a priority boarding pass which generally will get you up front.

I ended the day in Atlantic City and found my way quickly out of town to a small motel with a nice rear window view of marshland full of long legged birds. Relaxing.