Riding North Day 1

We made it! We actually got started on our bicycle trip to Maine at 937am East Stroudsburg time. Michael and Richard actually got started about an hour earlier as they left Tannersville via bike to ride down Route 611 to our house.Finished getting packed to go last night as we all met at the Olive Garden for carbo loading and actually met Richard for the 1st time. Richard and his wife Brianna are friends of Michael and Jessica's from Maine. He had his bike shipped via UPS to Michaels' house and then he and Brianna took Amtrak down from Maine since he'll be riding North with us and his wife will probably ride home w/Michaels sister who is visiting also from NH as well. Our route the first day went from our home on Braesida Avenue,to Marshall's Creek,then across to DWG/Delaware Water Gap where we rode across the pedestrian lane of the I-80 bridge then immediately headed north through Worthington State Forest on the Old Mine Road.This is always awesome riding due to the rolling hills as well as the scenery. Signs of springtime/May in the woods were everywhere! We saw flocks of turkey, flowering dogwood in bloom, skunk cabbage and Mayapple plants covering all the low-lying swampy areas, forsythia blooming though nearly past its' peak and lots of dente-de-lion, the typical dandelion. Also saw and heard multiple pileated woodpeckers(one of my all-time favorite birds), kingfishers, small warblers and the usual suspects aka deer,ducks,geese and lots of Homo Sapiens in the water trout fishing. We rode up the Old Mine and we climbed up and over near the Delaware View House General Store which is only open on weekends this early in the season.Richard was encountering some significant knee discomfort/pain which may have been related to his also breaking Cardinal Rule #1, Do Not Change Anything Right Before a ride. Just before starting out he switched out from sneakers to a Cabela catalog cycling shoe which was bigger and bulkier, thus changing his foot position on the pedals and aggravating an underlying knee issue. We stopped at about the 30 mile point in Laytons' Corners at their General Store for a late lunch where we met the wives and the FJ which they had used to portage our Bob Trailers from home to there. We ate lunch and hitched up the wagons for the last 15-20 miles to High Point New Jersey and then Matamoras, PA, our final destination for the first day. With Richards sore knees and the overloaded trailers we opted to stop at The Inn at Hunts' Landing, A Best Western hotel along the Delaware, which was where everyone decided to stop for the day. However, upon rest and inability to relax, I dropped my BOB trailer in the room and took off for High Point alone due to Richards sore knee needing the rest.
Totals for my day can be found via my link to GarminConnect.com and pictures galore on Picassa photo albums. Sorry for the rambling report but it's 1030pm and I finished riding at 830pm with the return from High Point. Michael and Richard went to bed earlier about 9pm while I wanted to post.