Day 7- the finale, Bethlehem PA to Lawrenceville NJ

On the 7th Day (Saturday), the Anchor House riders did not rest, but they were able to take it a little easier. Only 65 miles today, and 10 of those were the traditional parade-like processional through Hopewell and Lawrenceville to get to our finish at Quakerbridge Mall. We still had over 4000 feet of climbing, but we had cloud cover and cooler temps in the morning and we were done with the hard riding by 1 pm. Here we are assembled for some group shots at the start of the ride.

We climbed our way out of Bethlehem and soon were cycling through lovely country roads with names like Peppermint Road, Winding Rd and Creamery Rd. These were primo cycling roads and conditions as we headed steadily southwards. What a change from yesterday!

We quickly made our way to northern Bucks county, one of my favorite places to bike and home of many covered (and some uncovered) bridges.

Our first Sag stop was the picaresque Lake Noxamixon.

Soon after, Jerry "ice cream!" Foster spotted what he wanted and soon we were enjoying ice cream at Owow Cow in Ottsville at a new record early time of day, 10:10 AM! As Jerry said, 1010 wins (a ref for all you NY area folks).

Our dilly- dallying caused us to put pedal to the metal as were supposed to be at the traditional Anchor House picnic by 1 pm. We crossed the Delaware for the last time at New Hope- Lambertville and climbed our way through Hunterdon County to arrive in Hopewell NJ just in time.

 

The picnic is traditonally held at the home of the Dutko's, a very generous family that opens up their home for a picnic of yummy food, ice cream, and swimming! We assemble for a group photo, and awards were given out for outstanding participants and support staff. This year my dear friend Kathy Sonnenfeld- Squires received the award for outstanding veteran support staff. Very well deserved- all the volunteers work so hard during the week!

We then assembled for the traditonal 10 mile processional to the mall, with roads closed to cars and a police escort. We are quite the scene cycling two abreast with people cheering us on through local streets.

 

We arrived at the mall where we assembled for the big finale, where we learned that we had raised over $560,000 to date for the kids at Anchor House.

My friend Jack said a young woman came up to him and thanked him for what he and the riders just accomplished. She said she came to Anchor House when she was 13 years old when her Mom couldn't take care of her anymore. She is now in her 20's, married with a young child and doing well. A very powerful statement as to why we do this ride.

I am home now, relaxing with Barbara on a lovely (and cool!) Sunday morning. Thanks everyone for following along, and thanks to my many sponsors. Stay tuned to this blog in a few weeks as I'll be riding in the Pan Mass Challenge to raise money for another worthy cause- cancer research. Across Massachusetts from the NY state border to the tip of Cape Cod in three days. Looking forward to it! Enjoy this cooler weather all!

 

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