Day 7: Bethlehem PA to Lawrenceville NJ- Heat, what heat?

Sorry for the late post. It's Sunday evening, and I write this from the comfort of a soft couch (ah...) after finishing the ride, driving back to Massachusetts to my honey, and catching up on weekend chores in both Somerville and Rockport.  Now for a quick reflection on Saturday, the last day of the Anchor House Ride for the Runaways...

We kept getting these pesky weather alerts on our Garmin bike computers. Heat, what heat? We were happy to be on our bikes, creating our own breeze, riding the final 65 miles of our 500 mile ride, all while raising money for a worthy cause. 

We rode out of Bethlehem at 7 AM and before long we were crossing the Delaware River back to NJ, at Phillipsburg. Sure, it was getting toasty and certainly humid, but it was still early in the day. 

Who are these professional looking riders?? Photo by Jeanne Imbrigiotta

We rode through familiar roads along the Delaware River, through lovely river towns: Riegelsville, Milford, Stockton. The road along the river is lovely, with plenty of tree shade. We very carefully crossed over a tricky railroad crossing where Jack had a nasty spill in 2015 (concussion, separated shoulder). No issues this time. In fact, this was a very safe ride with no serious injuries the whole week. Always a relief!

By late morning, it was well into the 90's and yes, it was getting a little warm. We were on home turf in Mercer County north of Princeton, and before we knew it, we were 10 miles out of the finish in Pennington, where we had our end of the ride picnic. And yes, there was ice cream! At the picnic, awards were given and we were happy to hear that our riding buddy, Charles, won the best new rider award. We had a blast riding with you Charles!

Charles- best new rider

At the picnic, we we also got t t-shirts commemorating the ride, and prepared for the final 10 mile processional ride to the finish at Quakerbridge Mall.

Photo credit Jeanne Imbriogiotta

Me and my awesome room mate Jack, who has put up with me for many years...
(thanks Armen for the photo)

We rode the last ten miles to the mall at a slow,  parade pace, led by a Lawrenceville Police car. This was definitely the hottest part of the ride- the temp was up around 96F, and we were biking a bit too slow to generate a decent breeze. We were pretty sweaty by the time we arrived! But we were happy to be back, especially once we got into the air-conditioned mall.

Photo credit Jeanne Imbiogiotta

Our friend, Armen being greeted by family

At the mall, we heard that we had raised $494, 000. We expect in the coming weeks to far surpass $500,000. Amazing considering there were only 130 riders. Thanks to my generous donors, I was able to raise $4600. Thank you! And while we're saying thank you, a big thanks to this guy below, my buddy DJ, for being the first of our group of friends to do the Anchor House Ride (on a heavy steel bike no less). DJ greeted us at the mall, and he and his lovely wife Janet, gave us a lift back to Jack's house).

So ends a great week of beautiful riding, challenging hills, some challenging weather conditions at times, companionship, common purpose, and most importantly, hope for a better future for the amazing kids and young adults of Anchor House. Thanks for following along on our journey!

Stay tuned for a continuation of this blog as I start riding in the Pan Mass Challenge (to help fight cancer) in a little under two weeks. Rest up legs!!