Day 2 – Manhattan
The first job today was to go to Customs and have our paperwork stamped before we could collect the bikes.
We started early but found that the Uber App on my phone didn’t work correctly and each time I tried to order a cab the pickup was cancelled. Not sure why – perhaps they didn’t want to collect from Queens for such a short trip to the airport – who knows? So after several phone calls to local cab firms we finally managed to get a lift. A little behind schedule but still on track.
James Cargo had given us specific instructions about getting our paperwork stamped and had warned us that several of their customers had experienced problems getting this done at JFK over the previous few months.
The Customs building was empty, there was no queue and so we were seen straight away but Officer Arrucci.
We were also joined by Doris of this parish, who was just starting a road trip with his wife. They’d also used James Cargo to ship their bike.
Doris in the background in discussion with Customs.
To cut a long story short, US Customs at JFK have no idea what the rules are for importing bikes. We were asked to fill out forms which were unnecessary and then told as much when we took them back to the Window. They were basically making it up as they went along. In the end, we called James Cargo, who called their contact and a supervisor came down to the front desk and provided instructions to the Agents. It then took 20 minutes to get everything sorted – were 3 hours in. Still it’s all part of the fun.
Next stop was Delta Cargo, a decent cab ride around the sprawling JFK complex. Luckily, we shared a cab with Doris who’s Uber App was working.
Delta were very efficient and our bikes were brought around on fork lift trucks within a few minutes of our paperwork being checked. The guys there helped us un-crate the bikes and removed all of the packaging.
Then we were off! First stop fuel – then over the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan and onto Times Square.
We stopped a couple of times along the route to take in the atmosphere and to let the 690 cool down. It started stalling and back firing when it got really hot.
Eventually we left Manhattan via the Holland Tunnel into New Jersey and headed to Liberty State Park where Jay was waiting for us.
Looking back across the river from Liberty Park.
The next job was to dip the bikes in the Atlantic. We couldn't find a beach but Jay had found a slipway for us to use.
We then picked up the start of the trail which took us West on i78 until we lost the light and dived into a hotel.
152 miles completed today.