October 20, 2019
Day 0: New YorkATHON
While Im not a huge fan of uncertainty, I seem to operate fairly well within its confines. Today, as Gus and I scurried from one link of our logistics chain to the next, I felt that all-too-familiar feeling of not necessarily knowing how we were going to pull all this off.
And by â??allâ??, I mean the long list of steps that we needed to take just to place gear, equipment along our route, purchase and organize food, un box and assemble our Trek 520 bikes, drop bikes off at random garage in the middle of the wilderness (to be picked up in 6 days), tie a two person Old Town Kayak onto our rental minivan (yes I said minivan, you have a problem with that?), make a few random stops at stores for additional supplies, meet a campground host in darkness to find tent site (literally the only clear spot in the middle of roughly 40 campers parked side by side) take rental car back to Plattsburgh Airport, find a Taxi to take us back to our deceptively comfortable flat spot of grass in the campground (really abandoned trailer park)... and so on...
We had a somewhat interesting conversation with our taxi driver who, and as a huge aside, we found out had served 10 months in prison at some point in the 80â??s and just that very day (which was why he was telling us the story) had just given a ride to one of his block mates - someone he hadnâ??t seen in 30 years. He changed subjects quickly however and then began to tell us how regularly he drives from the airport to the Canadian border as there is a loophole in the current immigration policy that allows refugees to enter the US and be directly transported to Canada where they enter illegally, get arrested but get released with a Canadian passport a few days later.
One young woman our driver told us. Said she was scared and didnâ??t want to go. â??You have to go,â?? he replied.
I, personally, had no idea that any of this was going on. Politics aside, to our driver, it was good big business opportunity. And while I donâ??t want to delve into the deeper issues here in this short blog, I couldnâ??t help but think about that woman traveling toward such an uncertain outcome. It puts my anxiety about kayaks and bikes into stark perspective.
Quiet in our own thoughts while we ate in the tent later, Gus tried to add some levity to the conversation.
â??It seems that youâ??re more familiar with Antarctica than you are New York.â?
Which, is true. I have never been to this area before. Driving North, I was impressed by the heavily wooded hills which eventually grew into full-fledged mountains. The fall colors were spectacular as well even if they are a bit past peek.
Tomorrow, we will begin the first stage of or New YorkATHON adventure by paddling south down Lake Champlain toward Westport.
Before signing off, a huge Thank You to Matt Strickland, an area sales rep for Vert Outdoors. We shipped bikes and the kayak to his house then took over the driveway while we repacked and assembled.
Lastly, giving back is also a primary goal of this adventure. Please help raise $5,000 to support NYC ICO adventures. Donations will go directly to their programming and can be made through the online fundraising page: https://www.classy.org/campaign/new-yorkathon-supporting-nyc-inspiring-connections-outdoors/c252861
Image: Driving the kayak around New York
And by â??allâ??, I mean the long list of steps that we needed to take just to place gear, equipment along our route, purchase and organize food, un box and assemble our Trek 520 bikes, drop bikes off at random garage in the middle of the wilderness (to be picked up in 6 days), tie a two person Old Town Kayak onto our rental minivan (yes I said minivan, you have a problem with that?), make a few random stops at stores for additional supplies, meet a campground host in darkness to find tent site (literally the only clear spot in the middle of roughly 40 campers parked side by side) take rental car back to Plattsburgh Airport, find a Taxi to take us back to our deceptively comfortable flat spot of grass in the campground (really abandoned trailer park)... and so on...
We had a somewhat interesting conversation with our taxi driver who, and as a huge aside, we found out had served 10 months in prison at some point in the 80â??s and just that very day (which was why he was telling us the story) had just given a ride to one of his block mates - someone he hadnâ??t seen in 30 years. He changed subjects quickly however and then began to tell us how regularly he drives from the airport to the Canadian border as there is a loophole in the current immigration policy that allows refugees to enter the US and be directly transported to Canada where they enter illegally, get arrested but get released with a Canadian passport a few days later.
One young woman our driver told us. Said she was scared and didnâ??t want to go. â??You have to go,â?? he replied.
I, personally, had no idea that any of this was going on. Politics aside, to our driver, it was good big business opportunity. And while I donâ??t want to delve into the deeper issues here in this short blog, I couldnâ??t help but think about that woman traveling toward such an uncertain outcome. It puts my anxiety about kayaks and bikes into stark perspective.
Quiet in our own thoughts while we ate in the tent later, Gus tried to add some levity to the conversation.
â??It seems that youâ??re more familiar with Antarctica than you are New York.â?
Which, is true. I have never been to this area before. Driving North, I was impressed by the heavily wooded hills which eventually grew into full-fledged mountains. The fall colors were spectacular as well even if they are a bit past peek.
Tomorrow, we will begin the first stage of or New YorkATHON adventure by paddling south down Lake Champlain toward Westport.
Before signing off, a huge Thank You to Matt Strickland, an area sales rep for Vert Outdoors. We shipped bikes and the kayak to his house then took over the driveway while we repacked and assembled.
Lastly, giving back is also a primary goal of this adventure. Please help raise $5,000 to support NYC ICO adventures. Donations will go directly to their programming and can be made through the online fundraising page: https://www.classy.org/campaign/new-yorkathon-supporting-nyc-inspiring-connections-outdoors/c252861
Image: Driving the kayak around New York