October 4th, 2010
Total Distance for Day: approx. 21 miles
Total Distance for Trip: approx. 21 miles
(I was counting days from when I left Michigan, but let’s keep it simple and call the actual start of the skate “Day 1.”)
Today marked the official start of my 3000 mile skate across America for freedom! I started out the day with a quick visit to Good Morning America. I met a really cool camera guy who totally got my message and wanted to help me out, so he had me skate in front of the street cam at exactly the right time. I know I was on, but I’m not sure how long.
Following that, Dillon and I headed to the Statue of Liberty, so he could get some shots for the documentary. It was… COLD. I was wearing my typical garb: biker shirt, shorts, cape, flag, skates, and helmet, but I warmed up once I started skating. After one last stop at Cavallo’s Pizzeria to get some lunch and say good by to my friend, Salvatore, I headed up 6th Avenue. Once I reached Times Square, I hopped on to 8th Avenue and headed toward the George Washington Bridge. It was strange seeing the city for the last time as I crossed the bridge. I never intended to be in the NYC area for so long (we arrived on Labor Day), but it started to feel a little like home.
The skating was rough today, as the weather was cold, windy, and worst of all, rainy. I ended up taking a slight spill on some random patch of “slow down bumps” after crossing over into Jersey. I’m happy to report no injuries, other than some minor road-rash. All things considered, it was a pretty solid day, and a good start to the Freedom Skate.
Here’s the basic route I took today (more or less):
