I knew going into today, my last real day of the trip that it was going to be a tough day. But I promised myself that regardless I would enjoy the moment. I slept in planning on going short today with about 60 miles to put myself in position to finish with about an Equal distance on Sunday. So after my morning stop @ McDonalds I mapped out the very technical route that I would have to get through the remainder of Pa & through NJ. The route out Rt6 to the NJ border is made up of small but steep climbs on some good road & some not so good. I didn’t make great time but made it into NJ about 11:00. Right after crossing the Delaware River you are faced with some very long & steep climbs until you join onto Rt 23. But after I reached Rt23 the roads flattened out & I made up some good time. I stopped @ a convenece store in Pa close to the border & the owner was intrigued with my ride. I think he that he thought I was the only guy who ever did this? He wanted to do a short interview with me so using his phone we did the interview. Real nice guy.
After I got going on Rt23 I decided to push on as far as I could & get closer to NYC so Sunday’s ride would be a short hop to Central Park. I ended up with 111 miles and made it to 7 miles from the city @ 6:30 . I am setting in my room right now looking @ NYC. It’s kinda strange being able to look at the finish line.
Garth & Glenda made it into the city this afternoon & will meet me @ the finish tomo morning.
On another note today brought what had to be one of the most surreal moments of the trip. As I was making my way off of Rt23 & making my way through the town of Butler NJ. I sat @ an intersection looking @ my map & a jeep pulled up along side with the window down. The guy looked @ me and asked if I wanted a ride? It was none other than the legendary Northeast Bradford High School X country/ track coach/ marathoner/ biker Coach Mike Murphy! It took me a while to process this. Turns out he was in town to do a bike ride event tomo! What are the odds of this encounter? It was priceless & made my day. We talked for a while & I took off for the remainder of the ride.
Remembering the quote from once a runner ran through my mind as I sat in my room looking a the city where I will finish in about 17 miles tomo……… “The runner wants to know how much of his coin he has spent & how much longer he will be asked to pay” – I now know the answer to that question & I now know I have enough coin left in my pocket. And that is a good feeling as I set here tonight.
Frank's Coast to Coast Ride for Justin 