Iâ??ve often said that I prefer 30 below to 30 above and in my hierarchy of least favorite conditions, snowing and near freezing is the worst. After that rain and 40. Today it was 41 and it rained... All. Day. Long.

We delayed our 7 am departure by two hours in the hopes that the heaviest downpour would pass but we soon realized that we would just have to bite the bullet and start riding.

Surprisingly, once we got warmed up conditions werenâ??t that bad. Not to mention the fact that I seem to enjoy more challenging situations than less.

In Colorado, we had a support vehicle filming our adventure nearly the entire 600 miles. In Wisconsin (my home state) my mom drove to the hiking to bike transition and bike to kayak switch with the appropriate gear. Here, weâ??ve had to rely on a lot of prior effort (placing gear at strategic points) and carrying additional gear along different â??legsâ??. Yesterday, we rode with our Trek Bikes loaded in bike packing mode, but we also had our hiking shoes, Osprey packs and a few other items that we wouldnâ??t need on the bikes. The Osprey Aether is nice because you can remove the hip pockets and lid to make it more streamlined. Needless to say, my goal was to ship the packs home from somewhere along the route and it took nearly a half day of biking in the miserable rain before I found an open FedEx.

We road South finally reaching a sign that said â??Leaving Adirondack Parkâ?? and instantly the topography flattened out (slightly) and the amount of civilization and infrastructure increased. As I rode, I was reminded of Nepal of all things. Not the people, culture or landscape but rather the scale of physical change that takes place in a small distance. In Nepal, the southernmost region is tropical and rolling to the tallest mountain in the world in just 120 miles. In New York, we are going from a remote wilderness to one of the the bustling metropolis of New York City in roughly three times the distance or less if you calculate from the edge of the â??parkâ??. I would guess there is as much diversity and differences in perspectives of the human population as well.

Thoughts on the bike. Miles toll by. Rain. Smiling. Itâ??s been a fun adventure.

Please remember, 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: Gus in one of our many river crossing.