This blog is being hijacked once again by Clyde. Like the last trip, we will have gravel and limestone as well as some road. So we have left the frou-frou Edwina at home.
Seems like a no-brainer to get to Chicago, eh? But, I tell you, back in August it looked like we weren’t going to get here for this trip at all. There was much noise in the garage as Edwina and I debated who was going to get to go on this trip. For a while it looked like Amtrak was not going be able to get me to Chicago. Aging equipment meant that the Hiawatha was no longer transporting bicycles. Not a day went by that Edwina didn’t tease, “Hey, Clyde, still think they’re going to let you go? It is going to be lonely here in the garage when they pack me in my box and fly me to New York. Too bad Amtrak’s baggage cars are broken, it sounds like a fun trip you’ll miss” etc. etc. She can be so very annoying.
But we made it. And it is Edwina who has been left behind. Poor Edwina…not. It is about time some of the rest of us get to take trips. Now that the human doesn’t ride into work every day, I need my exercise, too. And this trip to the East Coast sounds right up my alley.
Tonight the long distance train will take us to New York. From there we will follow the East Coast Greenway to Raleigh, North Carolina. The Greenway is a combination of trail (paved, gravel and limestone) as well as road sections. With my hefty tires, I’m ready for the trails and as a former commuter bike, I’m ready for the roads. Egads, I can still hear Edwina taunts in my headset, “But I’ve ridden on the freeways, have you? Do you know how to handle yourself on the exit ramps? Hmmm??” Seriously, she was so annoying this last month.
But, we’re here in Chicago and the worst hurdle is behind us. I’m chilling with the other bikes waiting for the next train. Penn Station, here we come!
Travels With Edwina 