Day 3 - Crossing the Delaware River and ending up at MS Wellness Center

Arrival at MS Wellness Center, Freehold, NJ

The weather was threatening rain and we were making contingencies to have our truck transport us if it became a downpour. This never materialized, however we did encounter some light rain several times. Our route called for crossing the Delaware River at Washington Crossing.  We arrived at the bridge only to find it was closed due to construction. We then rerouted to New Hope further north and added about 10 miles to our journey. We were treated to lunch by David Johnston, our fellow cyclist at Wawa where he is the Chief Operating Officer. Those riders not familiar with Wawa were impressed with capability to personalize your order on a computer terminal, the speed of receiving your sandwich and the great smoothies!! We then crossed the Delaware River and were required to walk over the grated bridge to Lambertville, NJ. We then ascended the steepest hill of the ride for almost a mile and then many more hills. Tough to do after lunch!

After 85 miles we arrived at CentraState Medical Center's MS Wellness Center in Freehold, NJ with Dene O’Connor leading the way into his home chapter . We rode through an MS arch with cheering folks from the NJ Metro Chapter of the MS Society, workers and volunteers at the Center. We had chills to receive such a warm welcome. There was a small ceremony where Joe Revello spoke about  how much the Wellness Center had helped live with MS. We were awarded with medals and a plaque and likewise presented a plaque to the Wellness Center for their excellent work. We then took a tour of the center facilities, which include a pool for strength training and facilities for yoga, Tai Chi and nutrition classes. It most interesting to see this holistic approach to helping people deal with MS and lead better lives. Please see article that appeared in Asbury Park Press http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20108120356