DAY 19 (24 total) OF THE JOURNEY NORTH-SOUTH (Southern Leg)

DAY 19 (24 total)   June 01, 2026

THE LAST DAY OF THE JOURNEY NORTH-SOUTH 2026

The last leg of the Journey leads from Cumberland, MD to New York City, NY.
This last leg is 310 miles.  The traffic will be much denser in the last half of the trip.  It's Monday, normal working day.  Hopefully I will be traveling in the opposite direction to the most of Commuters:  during the Afternoon Rush Hours to the City, not out of it.

In normal situation I would not use the Tunnels, but ride to The George Washington Bridge which became my favorite Hudson crossing.  However a week before I started the Journey some concrete beam fell on a roadway of the lower deck of the bridge.  No one knew why it dislodged from the structure... The repairs will take probably half a year or longer.
And during this time, when only Upper Deck of the GWB is operational, the delays are massive.  So, I will try to use the Holland Tunnel.  I will post update, when I get Home.

It looks like, at the end of the day 19 (total 24) my JOURNEY NORTH-SOUTH AND BACK
will have been completed, with the total milage on the trip of 4515 miles (what for 'metric' people means 7228 km).  

But for now - 310 miles to go...

A beautiful day, Sunny, not too hot (kind of chilly now in fact) - 55 F at 9 AM and it will hit 75 F at the peak of the ride.  

Next post from New York City...

_________________

The last leg of the 'Journey North-South and Back' was again a perfect riding experience.

The weather couldn't have been better - all Sunny, and 74 F.  I wear a mesh-jacket, which doesn't stop wind, so on top of it I usually wear a rain-jacket.  The combination works great. 

Although on the last 60 miles stretch when at a 'pit stop' The Sun made me really hot. I decided to drop the rain gear.  MISTAKE.  It was only filling hot when I was standing.  Riding at 75mph made me regret the fast decision.  But I decided to 'tough it out', and when I had the NYC in my visor, I was already shaking from cold... 

I consider myself LUCKY.  All 315 miles from Cumberland, MD to NYC, NY I managed riding with NO TRAFFIC.  Even entering the city through the Holland Tunnel was painless.  

A very good culmination of a 24 days long Journey (for some reason, there was no traffic on 3rd Ave Uptown - weird and wonderful... (I don't know what order - it was equally weird and wonderful).

After 5 and half hours of riding (with two stops - gas and food), I arrived to New York City.

IT'S OFFICIAL:  I CROSSED AMERICA 'WIDTH-WISE' AND 'LONG-WISE'

Long-wise - 3 years ago.

Width-wise - finished today.

It never gets old... When I see the Manhattan skyline coming from NJ side - it 'blows my mind'.

4515 miles (what for 'metric' people means 7228 km).
A day After:  It's weird not to be on the road... 
I know, the feeling will subside soon, but for now - it feels UN-NATURAL.

***** I have just counted my milage and I have to revise the total milage on the trip NYC-Niagara-Key West-NYC

THE TOTAL MILAGE ON THE JOURNEY NORTH-SOUTH AND BACK IS 4905 MILES
(for metric people it equals to: 7872 km)

The revision is related to the local miles at the places I stayed - counted when planning the 'legs' of the trip.