Log for NJ2NY50 - The Big Walk - May 21, 2011

After a week of steady rain we were owed one clear sunny day. And it looked like we had it, as we gathered in front of Metopark Station at 6:00 a.m. for what we hoped would be a repeat of last year’s “The Big Walk”. The sun was rising and there didn’t appear to be a cloud in the sky.

The crowd reminded me of last year but this time there were many familiar faces. Most important for me was our trusty SAG captain, Mike Kruimer, NJ East Coast Greenway Coordinator was there and ready for us with Boxes of Joe from Dunkin Donuts. Mike and his team play a key role of supporting us in many ways all day long. It seemed that everything was clicking, especially with the experience of knowing what lay ahead. At least that’s the way it seemed.

It wasn’t long before our single large group started to spread out, which is to be expected. We don’t even try to have everyone walk together because of the different personalities and objectives of everyone. We promote personal enjoyment and motivation which means just designing a framework for the event. The walkers do the rest on their own and together.

I was struck this year by the diversity of the walkers. You have a lot of time to talk, yet ironically, it never seems boring and time passes quickly probably because you are on a schedule and every walk in a sense is about time and passing places. My guess is that most people who have not walked a long distance would think that it would be difficult to hold their interest and they would be bored. That’s just not how it works.

Before you know it we’ve been through a couple towns and into Rahway. Preoccupied in conversation with Sam over mid-east politics, I suddenly realized that we were at out first official stop, the Rahway Train Station where I met Saida, while others had continued walking. Soon we met up with Dave who had stopped by his hotel and rejoined us near Rahway Park.

Just to give you a flavor of what can  happen on a walk, I learned about the Egyptian viewpoint on their revolution from Sam, a little about Morocco and Metuchen from Saida and got to talk urban planning with Dave, a regional planner from Boston. While my little group of Saida, Dave and I continued toward Cranford I got a call from Sam who said they were back on track a couple miles behind us (1/2 hour) after they had made a wrong turn. So, from us sweeping up the rear, we suddenly found ourselves leading all groups into Cranford, on schedule at around 9:30 a.m. We were twelve miles into our total objective of 50.

Maybe this turn of events was the first sign that things weren’t what they appeared to be this day. Normally, even I followed the “wisdom of the crowd” when walking, choosing to follow those in sight ahead. Today, all bets were off. It was back to self-reliance and instinct.

Beth Brody, a Trustee of the East Coast Greenway had single-handily arranged a welcoming party with Union County Freeholder BJ Kowalski and Cranford township committee member Ed O’Malley in Cranford at the train station, complete with coffee, bagels and donuts. Meanwhile, Al Faella and Ron Zuber from the UC Parks Department provided a few signs at the station and along the way formally welcoming us. To me, these little detail signaled that “The Big Walk” had really made a big impact.

Our crack SAG team joined us with Ann in the maroon van and daughter Kathy Roe with her husband Tom and kids, Mackenzie and Kelly. Mackenzie and I are old walking buddies who walk the walk and talk the talk along the way. At seven years old, Mackenzie is an inspiration to all of us. Today, she would walk 6 miles keeping pace with her Mom and Dad. Kelly who is four years old likes cycling more. We have some formidable future trail blazers here for sure.

As we headed out to Nomahegan Park, Kenilworth, then Union it was still a beautiful day but clouds were appearing on the horizon. I had learned a week or so  earlier that during the construction of a new trail segment in Lenape Park a worker had a fatal accident a couple of weeks ago. This had no affect on our walk but that trail will become part of a re-routed Greenway route next year. I thought it would be nice if there is some marker then in memory of his effort to make the park and our trail a better place.

On the way to our lunch stop at the Boston Market in Union, Ken Koch and I are talking while he spots a car with a decal for a Jeep fan club. If you’ve ever talked with Ken, you know that the next most thing after his family are his Jeep(s). Ken hung around talking cars while Claudia and I headed to the Boston Market for lunch. By the way, if you are looking for a dedicated walker, I’d probably point to her first having taken a taxi from her home in Paterson to Newark before dawn several times to catch the first train and be part of our walks. I am in awe of her determination.

We FreeWalkers formed a nice crowd both in and outside on the lawn of Boston Market. We spread the good cheer around as other diners wondered what the heck was going on. Always shocked about what we were doing, they nevertheless offer us plenty of good wishes.

It was at the Boston Market, just six hours and 18 miles from the start, that three walkers experienced the first blister casualties. If I remember correctly, this seemed to be the breaking point for several last year too. It was onward toward Hillside and Newark next. Claudia and I hooked up with Karen Kelly who was feeling the early stages of a blister. She considered the options and went back to the market to get a lift to the train station. Too bad, Karen and I had overcome some tough conditions last October during the LENAPE34 and it was a shame her day got unexpectedly cut short.

At this point we are around 2:00-3:00 p.m. and working our way to Weequahic Park. Mike Krumier had just rejoined us after helping coordinate the Tour of Trenton bike ride. A few of us formed smaller groups traveling at various speeds and we all headed for a major break at Weequahic Park where Mike and Ann would be waiting in the SAG wagon for us. Nancy chose to walk with Risa who was feeling some knee pain and David and I charged ahead. I chose to wait for Nancy and Risa as the next section after Weequahic Park was one I would not usually recommend walking alone.

Nancy and I moved swiftly out of the park but the rain clouds were fast approaching. We ducked into a nice Dunkin Donuts on Elizabeth Street while the rain started coming down. Mostly were able to get cover during the rain and avoided getting too wet. Others were not so lucky and their walks would be doomed, having gotten soaked

By now Nancy and I were at the rear but moving fast toward Penn Station with the rain subsiding. Most of us were able to regroup here but many decided that cold and wet they had had enough, even some of our most formidable walkers like Randi, Ian, Maurice and Lynn called it quits. Sometimes its just a matter of luck (or bad luck) that determines the outcome.

We organized into a couple of groups to head into probably the most difficult section, Intersection Hell – the extreme intersection under the Pulaski Skyway and at the intersections of Route 1, Raymond Boulevard and Ferry Street in Newark. This is truly no-man’s land, with a  mixture of grime, guardrail, highways, overhead roads and no sidewalks to guide or protect us. This was truly built for the post-pedestrian era.

Fortunately, I remembered how to navigate this area and we made short work of this tough spot. Our next challenge was to walk across the two steel bridges straddling the Passaic and the Hackensack Rivers. Through the work of the East Coast Greenway some of the difficult area to walk between Newark and Jersey City has been improved with new sidewalks and a clearer line of site for walking. They tell me that our walks help demonstrate the need for converting these desolate areas into walkable ones. And, so retrograde progress happens, turning industrial areas back to somewhat hospitable ones.

But with the good progress came some bad news. Rain clouds were again fast approaching. As we made it over the rivers and headed into Lincoln Park in Jersey City the clouds opened up with a drenching rain. Our group of 4 or 5 was fairly well prepared for the rain and we soldiered on. A larger group hunkered down under shelter in the tennis court area and our group moved ahead toward Journal Square.

Here I was able connect with my daughter Alison and her husband John. as well as may son Justin and his wife Megan. But to my surprise Justin & Megan brought their 4 month old twins Charlotte and Anna with them and it seemed we were all ecstatic to see each other. Seeing my two grandaughters just gave me the adrenalin rush I needed to finish whatever was ahead.

Soon we all made our way to the Harsimus Embankment where Maureen and her Embankment organization made us feel at home with their hospitality, an oasis in the middle of Jersey City. As an elevated walkway, the Embankment project is similar to the NYC High Line but may have the potential to be wider and a grander space. Right now it is suffering some problems with the developers that control the rights to the space. This organization, with its grand goal, deserves our support.

It was straight for Liberty State Park next as darkness was falling. We chose to limit our walk to the old Ferry House because by now we were an hour or so late and the park was closing. Our loop took us to the waterfrount and a grand view of New York City as we made our way back to the park entrance. The area was dark and we seemed to unwillingly splt into a couple of groups. My cell phone had just died around 6 p.m. It was unnerving not knowing how to contact the other groups, but also simplified my role in just getting us to NYC and up to 34^th street.

While heading out of the park we accidently bumped into my sister Carolyn, Ralph, Jeff and Alan in the pitch black. This was pure luck asI was not able to reach her with my dead cell phone. We then headed toward the Exchange Place PATH train where we met Patricia, Pat, Loredana, Kurt, Mike, and Steve all headed toward NYC for the final leg. When we arrived at WTC we did a quick check for everyone and Michael had disappeared. We werent quite sure of his physical condition and thought he might have just fell asleep on the train. By the time we discussed what to do, the train had pulled out anyway. We had no choice but to continue on.

We took a quick look at a map app and decided on a path to get us asap to Broadway where we would hopefully have the shortest and fastest route to midtown. While we walked on some dimly-lit streets to Broadway, Patricia and I were talking and she tripped on some uneven part of the sidewalk. With her arms, stretched out before her, she was able to only slightly break the fall and did a face-plant right on the sidewalk. As we helped her up she realized that she had chipped her two top front teeth and scraped her lip. We all gasped in sympathy for her. Bleeding, she put a handkerchief to her mouth and said something like "...I wonder what just got in my mouth." She not only got up right away but started walking just as fast, leading us all the way to the Tick Tock Diner on 34th Street. This is the stuff of FreeWalker legends.

At the diner, we were the first to arrive. Within a few minutes the rest of walkers converged. We did a time check and made some quick decisions on whether to make the next train around midnight or catch the last train out. Having made it all the way, I was in no rush to continue too soon so several of us stayed and had a very early breakfast. 

I caught the last train to Morristown (the so-called "party train" ) at 1:20 and arrived in Morristown at 2:30 a.m. After 23 hours, numerous experiences, plenty of conversation and many miles covered the second "Big Walk" was completed. While this was a repeat of our walk last year, there were plenty of surprises. I think I'll wait awhile before thinking about next year....