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October 2, 2016

We arrived at the RV drop off point at 9ish, the lads had been up all morning cleaning and the RV was spotless. I hadn’t stayed up the night before, I was tired and I slept pretty well.

After paying the obscene amount at the RV place for the crash, I set out on my final ride, a short 44 miles into NYC. The plan was for the lads to get a taxi and head to my works office, where they would meet me on my arrival.

The roads were, white frankly, abysmal. It was outrageously dangerous and had I been on any other day throughout the ride I would have asked them to come pic me up in the van. But now we were van-less and I had to reach that city on my own! There was no cycle path and I was basically on a dual carriageway, a very busy one. I wasn’t really sure if I should have been on there, but several police drove past and didn’t stop me, so I carried on. I was right near the airport so huge trucks were coming past me, leaving a very small amount of room. I was thinking how lucky I will be to survive this!

I had a map which was set to stick to the roads, but avoid any motorways. As I approached Manhattan I got a message from Rob saying how I wouldn’t get through the tunnel I was heading to, and that I should try get a boat. I read these messages but in typical Shane fashion, I believed I could get through the Holland tunnel. I approached the entrance and it’s like a toll thing, where cars pay to enter. I found a gap and shot round the barrier and cycled around 50 meters, before I started to notice the cars slowing on my left, where I enter. I looked to my right and two police officers were chasing me, I slammed the brakes on and pulled over, I wasn’t going to get through this tunnel!

I honestly hadn’t seen a “No cycle” sign, so I thought I would be alright going through. One was quite aggressive and took me to the side, asking me to produce some ID. I had absolutely nothing on me and explained that I had just cycled from SF, he looked at me in dismay and probably thought I was lying. They just took my details and let me go. He refused to tell me how to get over the bridge!

I set about asking some people how to get into Manhattan and ended up on the tube to the World Trade Center. I text Rob to let him know I was around 2 miles from the office and he asked me to slow down. I pull up to the side and suddenly became really nervous, I knew there might be a lot of people and I wasn’t sure how to react. I stood in NY sticking out like a sore thumb in my cycling kit and waited for the signal to proceed.

On the way to the office I seen a fellow colleague, she was on her way to the office so I waited a bit longer so she was there. I was really nervous and when I turned the corner and seen perhaps 50 people holding banners and such I was completely overwhelmed. I thought I might cry, or shout, or celebrate but – probably for the first time in my life – I was speechless.

I probably wouldn’t remember much from the end unless I had this video. It’s definitely a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life!

We did it!

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I want to raise as much money and awareness as possible and I can't do that without your donations and help. Any amount - large or small - will contribute to helping children with deafness or cancer. Feel free to share, follow, tweet and please tell your friends and family about Ride For The Child. Whatever you can afford, it’s a small price to pay to improve these children’s lives.

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