Day 16 – July 14, 2003

Intense New York Freeways

Ride from Warwick, Rhode Island to Parsippany, New York

We delayed our start this morning so that I could do some minor modifications to Karen’s bike to eliminate a vibration she was getting. Then we decided to stop by Southstream while they were open. We got an opportunity to visit with many of the employees and get some pictures. Put a face to the name so to speak. Then we headed toward Connecticut. It seems that I had taken care of her issue, but now I was hearing a sound coming from mine that I didn’t like. So we stopped at a station and I checked the oil. We were both low, so I added a quart to hers, then to mine. We thanked the attendant who went out of his way to get the right oil and provide a funnel and towels. He even gave us some very large plastic ties that we can use for almost anything. Then I started my engine and got the surprise of my life. Oil started squirting all over me, my cloths, the seat, handlebars, mirrors, handle grip, engine, etc. This all took about 2 seconds before I turned off the engine. It seems I had forgotten to put the oil cap back on in my eagerness to return the funnel. So now we had to seek out a car wash and spend the next hour cleaning the bikes. When we finished it was around 2 pm, so we decide to use the freeways to get to New Jersey instead of taking the byways. We made up most of the time as we rode through New York City. Boy, once you get on the freeway, it gets a little intense, and this coming from someone who rides the LA freeways on a bike every day. At one point we were doing over 80, it was posted at 55, and the traffic was passing us on all sides. We were both cut off at least twice. I have never seen so many drivers in such a hurry. One thing about it though, we made up most of the time we’d lost. Still, I think I’ll do my best to stick to the byways from here out.

We crossed the New Jersey border as we crossed one of those bridges in freeway freeze, so no pictures of the border. We’ll try to get some on the way out. We stopped for gas again in a place called Parsippany and when we realized how late it was and that we had to do laundry, we decided to call it a day. Tomorrow we will try again to make up some time, but Philly may get a bypass and I’ll see you on the byways……