Cycling Across America #5
Part 5 of the series following my planned solo cycle trip across America exactly ten years ago. You may want to read from the start in Boston.
Today’s excerpt is yet another from the audio taped sections of the journal. Ten years ago today, on August 6, 1996, many hours after leaving New York City, I said this into a microphone:
Tuesday after eight sometime. Philadelphia. In a bath. In a place called Ardmore. A little Irish community. Just down the road from Bryn Mawr, a little Welsh community.Today was always going to be the hardest day I think. In the sense of the area being very built up - in order to manage. And it’s proven to be. Ended up on a couple of big roads that I shouldn’t've been. It’s very hard. When it’s so built up the maps can’t be too accurate ’cause they have to pick and choose roads to show and it’s very hard for me to get each of them.
Out on schedule around 5am and taxi through the tunnel to Jersey. The driver didn’t charge me much because he said he pitied me.
In the dark I asked somebody to point to where Manhattan is so I could get my sense of direction. After first directing me how to get there by road, he understood and pointed. And I then cycled south.
It’s built up all the way as expected. At first New Jersey was fine and I liked it. JFK Boulevard. But eventually by the time I got to Newark and Elizabeth, it was just too much and I lost the road a few times.
I was on New Jersey Route 27 and somehow lost it. Took me ages to find it again, and when I did I came to a graveyard containing one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. Saw the biggest grave in the entire graveyard, an obelisk-shaped one, and my name written all over it. But I didn’t go in ’cause I’d been lost. I just had to get some miles behind me as I’d made so little ground all day.
So then I just hammered on the 27, which is basically a busy dual-carriageway most of the way, occasionally single carriageway, not always with a hard shoulder. I can’t remember it being nice at all. I pretty much met nobody. All the way to Trenton.Missed a turn when first I went over Newark Bay but I still had a nice view as the sun came up through the hazy clouds and you could see the silhouetted soft graded trucks going over some other bridge that I wasn’t allowed across.
Trenton was the highlight of the trip today ’cause I’d convinced myself it was going to be a gorgeous town, beautiful State buildings, official ones. Then I overshot them and missed them completely. Anyway I was sweeping down a hill through what was a slum, looking back up at a reservoir. As I went down this hill, the far side of the road inset on the corner was a man, a black man, selling watermelons. I was whizzin’, free-wheeling. He just roared at me, did I want some cold water?
Those magic words. That was exactly what I wanted. I’d virtually no water left and what I had was warm. And I shouted over, Sorry? because I didn’t believe he’d said it.
-Do you want some cold water?
-Yes pleaseHe filled up my water bottle from his flask. And he then took out his water melons - he’d loads of them on display and he cut huge big strips off them and gave me a couple to eat which I promptly did. And they were gorgeous. He gave me a couple of bananas. I ate one there, took one with me. He gave me one of those packs that you freeze to keep things cold, after putting it on my neck. It was great.
He was retired. An ex-serviceman. He showed me the letters to his Pensions. Aged sixty two. He used to live in Philadelphia. Twelve, thirteen years ago he moved to Trenton. And was it a nice area?
-It’s like everywhere - there’s good, there’s bad, there’s everything.I stayed with him for half an hour. He gave me more water - he gave me all his water basically - he said his honey would come around later and give him some more. He was alright, plus he had some cold beer. His honey wasn’t his wife. His wife’s dead a while now.
-You’re Irish
-Yes
-I know, I can tell from your languageI’m yawning. An hour ago I left a phone message in Maryland and said I’d do my utmost, try with all my heart to get there for seven o’clock tomorrow but I did tell them I was very, very tired. I really could do with taking a day’s break at this stage.
Called my Irish friend here this evening from 61st Street and Lancaster. Sure enough Ardmore is on Lancaster but it’s five miles away. Basically I was just shot, fatigued. It’s a shame really ’cause when I got into Philadelphia that was at five o’clock and yet it was over two hours later when I rang him. Just going through the one city and I never even got as far as the downtown.
Just the one side of it was amazing. It’s a big place. I said those White slums were quite something. He said I was mistaken, and that they were Black, but I said everybody in them was White. He checked with his housemate and she said,
-Oh yeah, white trash down along…,
and she named the street and I remembered it. Uglier than anything I saw in New York.And now it’s just about, just coming up to nine o’clock. I’ve had a couple of bottles of beer and no food. So I’m feeling very knackered, fatigued, and giddy. I do talk a lot of gibberish when I get off the bike ’cause I’m still on a high.
Where are we going to go now? Just go out to the local, grab a few beers. And then I have to get up at five again and do it all over again tomorrow. I think I have to study the maths ’cause I don’t know what to do. Finesse Conditioner - I don’t want that. Finesse Soft Body Revitalising Shampoo for permed or colour-treated hair - is not me.
My face. My face looks black. It was really hot this morning at ten or eleven o’clock, but come lunch time I thought it was fairly okay. I managed water okay - obviously had to because it’s so dangerous. Some of it went a bit warm but I think I spread it out okay so I wasn’t in danger of getting dehydrated. Forced myself to drink when I wasn’t thirsty but certainly for a long stage I was very thirsty.
I can see people again not wearing motorcycle helmets. I found out that it’s not actually law in some States to wear a helmet if you’re a motorcyclist. At all. And that’s why there’s so many not wearing them. It suits them. I’ve certainly worn mine all day, on a bicycle.
You’re so much in danger of getting knocked down I felt - it was so built up. So little room on the road. Getting beeped at so many times. Roads I shouldn’t be on, roads I should be on - but they don’t want me there. Trucks by and large are very good - they do try to give me as much room as possible. They move right over. Cars don’t. Trucks, I think that they know that they’re big murderous machines - they’re enormous. I’m grateful to them.
Taxi drivers have been good to me as well. Even in New York. They’ve even been courteous and waved - waved me on.
I might call it a day here ’cause I’m going to try and see a little bit of Philadelphia and I’m thinking of this crab and shrimp dinner 90 miles away tomorrow. Let’s see what happens.
110 miles cycled today.
Read the next stage of the cycle across America
Read from the beginning of the Cycle Across America
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