The day began with heavy rain from Hurricane Henri, but the downpour had abated and the sky was clearing by the time Sal and Jeff returned to Independence Hall in Philadelphia for the formal start of today’s 36-mile ride.
Sal began bicycling south at Independence Hall (to the left of Jeff’s head), where on September 4, 1781, the French and Continental troops passed in review before the Confederation Congress.
30 miles later, at Brandywine Village Plaza in Wilmington DE, Sal passed murals showing the diversity of the Continental Army, whose ranks included Lenape scouts.
Fifteen young cyclists arrived at noon.
Bill Conley, chair of W3R®-DE, discussed the diversity of the army that passed this site in 1781 (going south) and 1782 (returning north).
Sal led the young cyclists on a 45-minute ride around the Village.
After which the youth received blue W3R® tee-shirts!
Sal then bicycled to the Hale-Byrnes House in Stanton DE. Here in 1777, shortly before the nearby Battle of Cooch’s Bridge, Lafayette (then an aide de camp to General Washington) had his 19th birthday. Behind the house former W3R®-US Chair Kim Burdick hosted a dinner for 30 people.
Sal and Jeff spoke about the 240th Anniversary Tour and its significance in highlighting little-known stories of the 1781 Allied March to Yorktown.