Day 23

October 26, 2021:

I looked out the rain-streaked window. Large puddles of water sat atop the grass of the front lawn and neighbor’s yards. It still rained heavily, though not as hard as last night. I yawned, checking the radar and forecast. The storm would pass by mid-morning, after which I’d have a good window to make progress before the next storm would come late in the evening.

I made my way downstairs where I found Casey working on breakfast. We ate bagels, as well as Greek yogurt served with fruit and homemade granola. The granola had pecans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and … dried fruit? mixed in. It was fantastic. I’ll have to ask her for the recipe.

After breakfast, I sat on a rocking chair in the dining room and worked to catch up on my blog posts while I waited for the storm to pass. Casey was kind enough to let me stay until the storm had passed, and even offered that I could stay with them another evening if the roads proved too flooded. She also offered to drive me to the local bicycle shop for spare inner tubes, but I declined since it would be on my way anyway.

At around noon, I packed up my things, thanked them profusely, and went on my way. Casey gave me two turkey sandwiches to take with me for the ride. I did stop at Jay’s Cycle center for two more spare tubes, then left, following roads north towards New York. I crossed the Goethals Bridge, stopping for a picture at the stateline. I shared the photo with friends and family. It’s an important milestone, because it signals the “end” of phase one of my trip. I watched planes take off from Newark airport, and hoped my planning would work out accordingly and that I’d be on one by Sunday. The bridge crosses the Arthur Kill channel to Staten Island. I passed a large container shipyard, and watched as cranes lifted containers off of a gigantic ship. Trucks came and went continuously. I wondered if they represented local traffic, and if trains would transport freight further inland. I followed Forest and Morningstar to the Bayonne Bridge, somewhat ironically taking me back into New Jersey.

The Bayonne Bridge gave me a view of New York city itself, as well as the main runways of Newark. After crossing Kill Van Kull, I followed Avenue A through Bayonne to Jersey City. I had arranged for a Warmshowers host to have me over that evening and wanted to find his address so I’d have a point of reference. The host – Hunor – had told me he’d be home from work around 6:00 pm, so I could meet him outside his apartment then. I was a bit distracted while looking for the right side street, and ended up missing it by over a mile, instead passing through Journal Square and headed north. I stopped when I saw a Chase bank and pulled my to the side to go in. I leaned the bike against a column outside the bank, deciding to make it quick. The bank had security cameras and a security guard outside, but I nevertheless didn’t trust that the bike wouldn’t end up stolen.

I walked inside and found someone to speak to. I wanted to inform them that I’d be traveling, so as not to cause disruption to banking services while abroad. I had also noticed that my credit card was missing (lost somewhere over a week ago), and wanted to cancel the existing card and have a new one delivered. My idea was to request the new card be sent to that bank location, and that I could return to pick it up, explaining that I didn’t really have an address in the city given my travels, but that I could prove my identity with an ID in the physical bank location. They said this wasn’t an option, instead directing me to the Chase app, where I can lock the card in the meantime. I suppose this isn’t the end of the world, since locking my card will prevent fraudulent transactions, credit cards aren’t used often in Europe anyway, and I’ve memorized all the card info in case I do need to use it. This way, I don’t lose all the Amazon points I have saved up either. I think I lost the card somewhere in southwestern PA. It was a while ago. While speaking with the agent, I mentioned my bike outside, and she let me wheel it in so it wouldn’t get stolen. 

When I left, someone held the door so I could walk my bike out more easily. I checked the map and saw I had gone far past Hunor’s apartment. I went back in that direction, waiting at a café called Crema on Bergen St. The café had outdoor seating, so I leaned my bike against a tree, secured my bike gloves, got out my wallet, and went in. I ordered a slice of cheesecake topped with defrosted raspberries and a brownie. The brownie was especially scrumptious. I spoke with who I assumed was the owner of the shop and his son about my trip. He didn’t believe me until he saw my bike with his own eyes.

As dusk came, I put my dishes inside and left. I arrived at Hunor’s place as it was still a little light and waited outside. I leaned uncomfortably up against a railing and checked messages on my phone while I waited. Hunor sent me a few updates that he was on his way. He came about twenty minutes later. I saw a guy with curly hair approach on a black scooter, stop in front of the apartment, and look at me. “Are you Hunor?” “Yes…. And you must be Benjamin.” “Indeed I am.” Hunor punched in a combination which buzzed open the front door, revealing a brick stairwell. “I’m on the third floor. You can store your bike in my apartment, but…” He waved his hand at the stairs. “...it may be a bit challenging. Let me know if you need help.” “No, I think I’m alright. I’ve done this before. There was a hotel in Pennsylvania as well.” I gripped the handlebars tightly, positioning my forearms diagonally under them in order to power the bike up the stairs. It was hard work, but I got it done pretty quickly. The bike is really heavy… maybe 70 lbs when it’s all packed up.

Hunor unlocked his door, then held it open for me to wheel my bike in. He moved one of his own bikes, instructing me to lean mine against the wall by the entrance. I saw some of the scuff marks against the wall and made a mental note to be careful. I placed my reflective orange jacket over the handlebar that would lean against the wall, providing some buffer. Hunor gave me the choice of an air mattress or couch that I could sleep on, and I took the couch. It was surprisingly long, so my feet wouldn’t have to hang off the end, looked comfortable, and it would have been a real pain to move the air mattress. I made myself comfortable, and he offered me a glass of orange juice.

He had just gotten home from work and was pretty tired after a long day out. I was also weirdly tired, even though I’d only done a short 20 or so mile hop from New Jersey. We decided to order food via delivery. Hunor is vegan, so I told him to order from a place he likes so I could try it out. I got a spinach salad, topped with avocado and grilled onion and served with a chorizo tofu. It was tasty. We talked over dinner, first about work and commute, then about future plans, about cool things to see in the city/good restaurants to try, as well as my trip. Hunor is a Hungarian immigrant to the US and works in IT with the cinematography industry for a company over in Brooklyn. That’s a pretty long commute to make through the city. He also told me about a place called Renegades of Sunset over in Brooklyn that sells the BEST cinnamon rolls on Fridays, so I figure I’ll go check those out.

While we spoke, it started raining heavily. I remembered to get out my GPS device to message Mama about my location. I placed it on the window sill so it could get better reception. Mama was disappointed that I was spending the evening indoors – IN NEW YORK?! I told her I was just checking in, but I did not in fact go out again. My exhaustion plus the rain plus Hunor’s work hours would have made doing so difficult. One thing you’ve got to understand about Warmshowers hosts is that while they will save you a fortune in hotel expenses, they are real working people, with real schedules and they need to be asleep by a certain point in order to get up for their commute the next day. I am incredibly thankful for their kindness, but it means you have to operate within their parameters. Anything else would be rude and disrespectful. We spent much of the evening talking, but we both ended up going to bed early. I did get out my computer for a bit to search Warmshowers and make additional requests, but didn’t have the energy to work on my blog.