@Ripitz what did our German friend end up doing? Was he able to visit the city and continue on his way?
He made it to Croton Point from my house and camped there for two days. From there he was on his way into the city to stay at a hostel and then looking to hook up with a friend. After he got out of my local range, I stopped helicoptering him. Last we talked he had this route planned to the city.
Croton Point ended up being a good choice for him. It was about 35 miles from my house which was a manageable distance. He‘s not a highmiler since he’s longhauling. After a warm shower, coffee, breakfast and 500 questions, my mom loaded him up with some scones for the road. He flew his drone around and did some filming before he left which was pretty cool.
I sent him to Beacon and down Route 9D through the fjord for the views. Route 9 has a bigger shoulder but the trucks and other traffic can be unsettling and the scenery is rather banal. He may have been cursing me out though on his descent from the Bear Mountain Bridge to Peekskill, as there is no shoulder. But, that was the route I would have taken.
He took two rest days at the campground which was much needed. He was the only one there when he arrived and was completely alone the entire first day. Said the squirrels, rabbits, groundhogs and deer came right up to him and the sunset was magical. One other person stayed in the campground the second day.
He talked about meeting some cool people in Central NY using some couch surfing apps. Apparently there is one called Warm Showers which is more geared to bike touring. Went to a private bluegrass party with 30 people where everyone was playing an instrument. That was the first time he had heard that music. Rode through some Amish communities and tried speaking some German with them. It was a surprise to him that there are people who shun cars outside of the cities. Riding along the Erie Canal and having these experiences are not what most people think of when they think of NY. An experience made even more foreign when you are a foreigner.
After NYC he’s biking across PA to Chicago to hopefully visit another friend. From there he is planning on taking a train to Portland. His thinking is that camping would be much easier on the West Coast. I did my best to educate him on keeping a bearproof camp. We talked about personal safety from people too but I wasn’t much worried about that since he has a big can of bear spray in his cockpit and one of his hobbies is Taiwanese kickboxing.
We talked about being prepared for losing things or even the possibility of having everything stolen. He said he lost all of his trip pictures once on a lost phone in India. I also warned him of cold at elevation in areas that you think would be warm, like the desert. He said he experienced that before on a previous trip to Mexico. I mentioned having to deal with the wind in places without trees. He said he had learned those lessons in the Sahara. After I heard that I stopped worrying about our friend.
He spent a whole year planning this trip. Said he plans on taking two, maybe three years to complete it. Might chill at a beach in South America for a bit. Right now he’s keeping a journal and taking pics and video. When he gets to Mexico he said he will rent a place for a while with Wi-Fi to sort through the content. Plans on starting a YouTube channel with a series of longer videos instead of doing dailies or one long one.
I wish him well. It must be quite something to be out there just blowing in the wind…
