SIDE SALAD - Everything crunchy is good.

"THE MOST AMAZING THING JUST HAPPENED"

Time: 4:35 a.m.
Place: George Washington Bridge, Fort Lee, N.J.

I'm on the George Washington Bridge, and the most amazing thing just happened.

I was told that the sidwalk gate would be closed until 6 a.m. I just walked right through the front of the gate and on literaly on cue a New York/New Jersey Port Authority truck pulls up and and some guy gets out, walks up and opens the sidewalk gate. It was unbelievable.

So I'm on the bridge and looking at the New York skyline and it's absolutely beautiful. There's a glow above the northeast horizon. As I speak, I'm looking down the length of Manhattan Island. I can see the Empire State Building. I used to be able to see the Twin Towers from here back in 2000 when I used to work at FoxSports.com. The skyline looks beautiful, although it's not as lit up as I thought it would be.

I'm riding around the base of one of the two towers of the bridge. There's a path that curls around both of the towers. Now I'm heading toward New York City. The sun is supposed to come up at 5:21 a.m.

The official name of the ride that I'm wearing on the back of my yellow jersey is the 2005 Hudson Valley Summer Solstice Bike Ride in memory of Bill Fox. And as I go into the New York side of the bridge, I can officially call it the ride from New York City to Albany.

Editor's note: The Empire State Building offers a schedule on it's site detailing what the colors at the top of the building will be at night. Right now it's just your basic "ESB Building" white, but on June 24-26, it will be Lavender/Lavender/White in honor of the Stonewall Anniversary. And from July 8-10, it will be Blue/White/Blue to comemmorate Argentina's independence.