Montréal, Quebec to North River, NY, USA.
Leaving my work was intentionally lined up perfectly with my friends bachelor party in the wonderful city of Montréal. The summer heat was brutal during the day but perfect for long nights out and our great group of guys took it all on such as several International Jazz festival events, super dope clubs, famous eateries and historic sights. When in new places I like getting on a bike to explore more efficiently and Montréal has bridges and bike routes everywhere that had me going all over the place but I fell in love with the Mile End part of town. True community, just regular folk having their day smoking a cig on their mini porches watering plants and parks every few blocks; one that even had a pretty legit pick up soccer game. I’ll never forget one night that turned to morning the bachelor & I not being able to sleep trekked to the Mile End for some of Montrilll’s famous bagels. At 6am, there was already a line and I firmly believe their bagel style is the truth.
Ended up staying in this part of town an extra two days after the bach party left so I could just take it in and comfortably stage for the looming adventure. I would strongly recommend staying out there & summertime if ever visiting the city.
So sounds pretty vacationy but now I’m about to ride this bike across the border.
Montréal to Philly was the plan lol My guys thought I was crazy that someone would willingly just… go on a bike tour. Riding wise it had been a while since I’d even had an above average commuting day not to mention some gear options lol. In advance of the trip I coordinated with this lovely Velo Shoppe, Bikurious, to get me the touring bike I wanted for this adventure. This was a definite “treat yo-self” moment as the All-City Gorilla Monsoon ain’t no slouch. The reason I chose this bike is because it has essentially the same geometry as my commuter, the Nature Boy, but built much tougher to handle cargo & still offer great control when shredding thy gnar.
Day One took so long to get going because I had to figure out how to tie everything down and maneuver this freaking vessel of a bike. Heading East out of Montréal there were many stops to re-position gear and improve the war rig but getting lost a bunch with wrong turns in the heat did not help. Only once I reached the Richelieu River I started to head directly south and pick up some serious momentum thanks to dedicated bike paths and way less options to get lost. The Adirondack Wine trail put me on an absolutely beautiful straight path all the way to the border and man was I glad the guy let me back in without taking the whole bike apart. Definitely wouldn’t have made it to my destination that night if I had to unpack and repack everything so there is another reason why its always good to smile and have a goal.
There were so many times that I wanted to just pull over and set up camp on the side of the road but I had a goal, 80 miles to Plattsburgh for day 1. Bike tours are only successful if you have goals. A setback could ruin the whole plan or make planned easy days difficult. Therefore it’s SO crucial to be realistic about how far you can go, how far you can push yourself past hunger, cramps, the heat and what looks like a good hiding place to camp. Get to the goal… it’ll be worth it. Now was it worth it when I got to my goal campsite to set up camp in the dark? Getting attacked by mosquitoes while all my back muscles lock up from dehydration? While my legs feel like mush trying to remember how to stand up after spinning all day? All to the soundtrack of the neighbor camp kids complain about how wack camping is?… Yes. It was 100 % worth it to make my goal. I ate cold spaghetti, drank a soda and melted into a blow-up sleeping pad. Fun right? Now do it for 10 days haha.
At this point I’ll spare you with overly written descriptions since essentially everyday was the same but oh, so, so different. You kinda had to be there lol Wake up. Breakdown camp. Set up & improve the war rig. Hit the nearest town for coffee & snacks. Ride up hills, down hills, through meadows and mountains. Stop for lunch and a beer. Occasional breaks for snacks & stretching and of course, documentation. A little bluetooth speaker pushing me & a 100lb bike roughly 40-60 miles a day to meet the next goal. Live. Lie Down. Repeat.
- Montreal to Plattsburgh, NY – Camped at Cumberland St. Park
- Plattsburgh to Wilmington – 2 Days at North Pole Campground to rest & avoid rain. Wilmington easily the highlight of the trip!
- Adirondack Wildlife Preserve
- High Falls Gorge
- Mountain Bike Trails Galore
- SUPER Friendly locals that convinced me to rest here and not Placid.
- Wilmington through Lake Placid to Saranac Lake – Lodged at Saranac Inn
- Saranac Lake to Long Lake – Camped at Lake Eaton
- Tupper Lake Wild Walk
- Sheared through the P-clamps of the front rack – duct tape saved the mission.
- Long Lake to North River – Adirondack River Outfitters Lodge
- Shared a hostel with the most rambunctious group of 60+ year old New Jersey men slamming Keystone lights, chain-smoking cigarettes, Crown Royal shooters & serious ball breaking of “why the heck would you ride a bike that far?!”
- River rafting down the Hudson River with ARO
After the river trip I got to make friends with all the guides and had a blast learning about how they embody what I was feeling. Enjoy everyday, break out of the main stream says we should do to just do what you love & makes you happy.
There was bad news that day though because I had found out I could not Amtrak my way to NYC anymore since I couldn’t bring the bike on board. It was about to rain for the next three days and that is how long it would take me to get to NYC. Faith be it may that one of the river guides overhead my dilemma and informed me he was driving to Albany the next day! I packed my bike and gear in his Prius the next morning and got dropped off at an Avis to rent a car that I would drive to Philly. I took notice on the drive down that there was significantly less bike sideline to work with and with all the rain I was so glad that I took the option that presented itself. I thank the folks at ARO again and for friends that live in the city they should definitely go and get on the river with these guys for a day out in the heat with instant cold river access. That’s it, that’s the end of Adventure Uno 😉
An AlTRNTative Perspective 