Day 4 Lincoln U. to Philly

Before we started the last day, we had the last night. Lincoln University is a special place, full of history. Established in 1854, it is the country's first degree granting historically black university. Langston Hughes and Thurgood Marshall are among its graduates.
We were treated to another awesome John and Dawn Petty meal; this time a BBQ with burgers, dogs, veggie burgers with all the fixings. Unfortunately, the dorm rooms were not so awesome.  Don't get me wrong, I totally appreciated having hot showers and a bed and a place for my stuff.  The only problem was the heat. The dorm isn't air conditioned, which makes sense since there aren't any students there in the summer. But after trying to sleep for 2 hours, I took another tack.
While the dorm wing had no AC, the adjacent conference center did. I broke out my sleeping pad, bag and my eye mask and found myself a perfect little nook on the floor. Slept right up til the 6 am alarm. Perfect! I love my Thermarest.
After packing up, I filled my tank with breakfast, my bottles with water and my tires with air. At 54 miles, this was the shortest route of the 4. Everyone took a leisurely pace and we stayed together as a group more than we had been able to do the other days.  Because of this, I got to ride with a few other riders I hadn't earlier. Somewhere, Taylor found a creek and the whole team stopped to take a cooling dip before lunch.
After lunch at Ridley Creek State Park, another cake to celebrate 3 birthdays for John, Russ and Lorraine. Back on the road for the final 20 ish miles.
We regrouped at a swim club in Yeadon, about 6 miles out and rode in to the finish as together as possible. We arrived back at NBW around 4 ish to cheers from friends and families.
What a fantastic experience!  NBW is an great organization and the proof is in the youth I met this week. Smart, talented and dedicated to cycling because of their involvement with Neighborhood Bike Works. I hope I can do this again next year.
Finally, some unique or special things about the ride:

• 4 days in a row of cycling
• Meeting the youth from NBW
• Hanging with Laura
• Having to stop while farmers took a herd of cows across the road 
• Passing a horse and buggy by bike
• Seeing a pony pull a small buggy of kids driven by the older sister
• Got pooped on my arm by a bird mid ride
• 4 days, 4 different experiences; Intros, flying, hills, leisure
• Being pulled by the race team youth at 20+mph
• Pulling the race team youth for a few miles at 20+mph

Bye for now. See you on the road.
Steve

Day 3 Hershey to Lincoln University

Day 3 Hershey to Lincoln University
Hump day. It's been a long time since I've ridden 3 long ride days in a row. Felt it today. 65 miles with 4000 ft of elevations. Over a mile an hr. slower average today with a few long tough climbs. Still very pretty along the way. Passing an Amish buggy by bike is a weird feeling. BBQ tonight. Tomorrow we ride home into Philadelphia to complete this great tour.

Day 2 from Kutztown to Hershey

Day 2 from Kutztown to Hershey. This goes down as one of the best days I've ever had on a bike. 64 miles spent talking to my teammates and getting to know the youth from NBW. The day began just a touch of fresh cool air and got better from there. Some serious pace lining at some pretty good speeds. Beautiful vistas along the way around. Mt. Gretna. Finished the day with a long straight very fast decent into Kutztown. And to cap off the evening, I got to meet up with Sebastian in between his cases in Hershey. What a great day!

Day 1 Philly to Kutztown U.

Day 1 is done. 70 miles, the longest distance of all 4 days. After a briefing, we rode out from West Philly into Montgomery County, eventually coming into Manayunk and then onto the Schuylkill River Trail. The hills came after lunch, but none too severe at all.
After. 1 mile climb towards the end, we rewarded ourselves with some local ice cream. The last 5 miles into Kutztown were easy. Pretty much downhill on a well paved straight road. YAHOO!!!
I can't post the ride until I get home. I'll post some pics from today.

Hello & good evening.  Bags are packed, the bike is cleaned.  Routes are uploaded.  Tomorrow morning begins the 2014 Ride of Dreams.  I'll be riding 250 miles over 4 days from Philadelphia to Hershey, PA and back to support Neighborhood Bike Works.

Neighborhood Bike Works works to serve underserved youth in Philadelphia through a variety of cycling-centered activities.  This fundraising ride has been been occurring annually for several years now.  I'm proud and excited to be able to participate this year.

This years group includes about 30-40 adult riders, NBW youth riders, staff & volunteers.  Here's our jersey:

Here's the routes for each day:
Day 1 July 10, Day 2, July 11, Day 3, July 12, & Day 4, July 13.

I hope to be able to post at least a little each day.  I hope you'll follow us on our trip.

Thank you to all those who have donated to support my ride and this great organization.

Steve