Simple-Tour

New York is…a lot. Riding in its suburbs is an adrenalin bomb, so you can imagine how it feels within the city limits. You can forget the videos and photos while on the bike. Scanning the surroundings and making sure no one hits you and you don’t hit anyone is a little more important. But I did walk through the Central Park, and enjoy the little bit of what New York can provide. That is a weird mix of everything. I mean everything. While I was navigating through the avenues and streets I found myself in front of the building of the Colbert Show. I was on Broadway!! Yes, sometimes I just go without really knowing where I am exactly. This was only a reconnaissance, as I’ll discover more with Eilish on the 16th and 17th of August.   As a good start of the day, the ferry I was planning to take (and would have taken 25min to get to Manhattan) had staff shortage and wasn’t recommended to take (and only run in every hours or even less frequently, they had to pause it yesterday night), unl...

Laundry, repacking, relaxing. This was my whole day. Mostly the last one, since a good rest day should mostly comprise no other real activity. I repacked my belongings, because it turns out I have lost a few little things last week despite my meticulous inspection of my luggage prior to departing every location. And I don’t have a lot. A few riding clothes, items for camping, making a tea, and food. I could have packed even lighter, but this is touring, after all and not a speed race.  I also planned the next few days. I’m going to New York tomorrow, essentially exploring a little bit, probably also sitting in a coffee shop and drinking…tea! Then head south, and I’m aiming to reach Washington D.C. in a few days. Based on my observation, “little town America” overall is the best place for a bike traveller in the US, so I planned a route to avoid large cities. Well, except New York tomorrow! Oh yes, and the photo from today demonstrate the laundry, when you only have a few items to w...

I ’m getting really close to New York. I saw some of the skyline from the distance today! Although that wasn’t a usual thing, I mean looking around a lot. Most of the time today I was trying to navigate through the suburbs, then through small towns, centres of New Jersey, with rather colourful neighbourhoods. I even got compliments when a few (approximately 5) teenagers, sitting on a small staircase in front of a townhouse and smoking, made obvious compliments about my bike shouting “I like your bike dude”. Since I was pedalling, I didn’t hear anything else and based on my visual observation of the neighbourhood I probably shouldn’t have stopped anyway. This experience sort of mirrored in the area I found an accommodation for today and tomorrow night. I’m in Elizabeth, and although it is a beautiful name, that doesn’t seem to reflect on the streets. Hopefully this is a temporary state and the city will have more to come!  I’m taking tomorrow off, and will be probably biking to New ...

This morning, around 9-10am I was riding through a small town, Easton. When I ride in cities, I generally listen to the GPS directions through one earphone in my right ear, so I can hear the traffic with my left one. I find it easier then constantly looking at a screen, and in cities and towns the best route is usually way more complex, then with a car. I have to avoid certain roads, and there are occasional bike paths that are preferred anyway. Small roads are also preferred. Due to this complexity, listening to the directions have been proven to be the safest and most convenient way to get through a city. So I was riding through Easton, Monday morning, I crossed one bridge, I found myself in a road construction, then in heavy traffic, and I crossed another bridge, navigating through cars, occasionally broken asphalt, sunk manhole covers and debris. Just when I crossed it and I turned right (after listening to the direction) all the sudden I hear “Welcome to New Jersey”. My GPS welcom...