Wrenching in New Jersey

The flight and the transfer to the hotel was pretty uneventful. Did have an interesting ride in what we dubbed the 'clown car.' A 9 passenger van into which we packed 11 people, 5 bike boxes and lots of luggage. Still not as bad as the epic the riders from California had. It took almost as long to drive to the hotel from LaGuardia as it did to fly from California.


Of course a bus load of riders also meant a bunch of bikes to put together.


A small crew of volunteer bike mechanics were assembling bikes when I got in. Following a quick bite to eat at a dinner sponsored by the Mayor of Florham Park, I ended up helping by unpacking bikes and pumping up tires. The mechanics were only supposed to stay until midnight, but ended up leaving after 1 a.m. Most of the bikes are assembled and only one will need some more serious repair work following a shipping mishap.

Special thanks to Sal, the owner of the Madison Bicycle Shop, who's come through, not only in wrenching late on a Sunday night, but also for having a well stocked shop to help those who forgot to bring a few things, like shoes... (no, not me)