{"id":225973,"date":"2026-05-09T22:46:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T22:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/225973\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T22:46:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T22:46:16","slug":"no-sleep-till-brooklyn-biking-from-montreal-to-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/225973\/","title":{"rendered":"No sleep till Brooklyn: Biking from Montreal to New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

The journey began in a rental car in Plattsburgh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The chilly September air and lack of an available campsite made for a difficult first night, and a stiff morning from sleeping in the car, as Max Cline, 24, and Hunter Bolesky, 25, shouldered their 70-pound packs filled with camping gear, provisions and bike repair kits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As crossing the Canadian border in a U.S. rental car proved not to be an option, they biked north to the starting point of their voyage, passing through Rouses Point and into Quebec.<\/p>\n

After a quick poutine breakfast 40 miles outside Montreal, they began their journey in earnest, riding south. Over the next six days, Max and Hunter would experience a new side of rural America, extreme highs and lows, and pedal nearly 450 miles to Max\u2019s apartment in Brooklyn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PlattsburghThe riders\u2019 campsite in Plattsburgh. Photo by Max Cline.<\/p>\n

Day 1: 73 miles<\/p>\n

Rural Quebec was hardly distinguishable from northern New York, though there were a few differences. Riding past expansive farmland, Hunter was surprised to see a rural family of four drive past in an American muscle car, all speaking French.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two riders got on the Empire State Trail<\/a>, and with little other traffic, they arrived back at a campsite in Plattsburgh, where they had stowed their tent, just as the sun was setting. From their campsite on Lake Champlain, they watched the sky turn from blue to pink to red.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were completely exhausted,\u201d Max said. \u201cAnd we were recognizing that this was going to be a long journey ahead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Day 2: 51 miles<\/p>\n

The plan was to do the journey over 12 days, covering around 50 miles each day. Unfortunately, the plan quickly changed as life re-entered the picture and obligations required them to return home sooner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After carbo-loading at a diner in Plattsburgh, Max and Hunter headed down to Westport. With sporadic rain, progressively steeper hills and views of Ausable Chasm, it made for a memorable second day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Twenty miles outside of Westport, Max and Hunter saw a group of farm workers harvesting produce. They were greeted warmly and invited to tour the facility. Upon leaving, they were given 20 pounds of corn to take with them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"HunterHunter Bolesky at the beginning of the ride. Photo by Max Cline.<\/p>\n

They arrived at a friend\u2019s family member\u2019s cabin for the night. They cooled off from the day\u2019s ride with a dip in Lake Champlain. In the frigid, early fall water, they howled at the evening sky as they reconnected with nature. Their host, Uncle Ron, as he was affectionately known, prepared a hearty dinner of spaghetti and\u2014you guessed it\u2014a plate of corn.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone that we met was super helpful, super nice,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re doing stuff like this, people come around you and support you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Day 3: 63 miles<\/p>\n

Endorphins were firing as they left Westport. Hills were getting larger and rain was inclement, but the kindness they had been shown from the locals felt encouraging.<\/p>\n

They shouldered their packs, mounted their bikes, pedaled to the end of the road, and Max\u2019s bike broke. Specifically, his derailleur went into the spokes of his back wheel. After feeling so strong at the start of their day, it was hard to see it end before it even began.<\/p>\n

A repair kit wasn\u2019t going to cut it. Tensions between the two friends mounted, but they made a plan and forged ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The closest, open bike shop that day was in Middlebury, Vermont. Uncle Ron agreed to drive them over the Lake Champlain Bridge at Crown Point to the shop, which, thankfully, was able to fix the bike and get the riders back on the road within the hour.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AusableThe riders passed by Ausable Chasm. Photo by Hunter Bolesky.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, getting back to the Empire State Trail proved to be a significant challenge. After crossing through a handful of Vermont trails, they were forced onto a state highway, a road with little-to-no shoulder. Max and Hunter thought back to a story they saw that morning as Uncle Ron and his husband fixed them breakfast and watched the news of two brothers \u2014 cyclists \u2014 killed in a head-on collision with a semi truck.<\/p>\n

Hours passed of white knuckling their handlebars, climbing steep hills and staying as close to the guardrail as possible. Max felt tears in his eyes as frustration set in. This was not the adventure he had planned for.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a grueling afternoon, they made for a motel in Granville. They arrived outside the motel as the sun set. No vacancies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just as they were considering pitching a tent on the first patch of open ground they could find, a man walked up, seemingly out of the woods, an IPA in one hand. He offered them a place to stay for the night. The customary alarm bells that would normally go off when approached by a stranger in an unfamiliar area at night were quieted by Max and Hunter\u2019s exhaustion from the day. They accepted, and he led them to his house nearby.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Troy, a Navy veteran, introduced them to his son and offered them beers. After a quick dinner at a nearby diner, where they were assured, somewhat, by the waitress, that Troy was a trustworthy guy, they returned to his house and slept.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were beginning to feel at this point that we might be in a little over our head,\u201d Hunter chuckled. \u201cWe still had about 300 miles to go and this was getting tough. How\u2019re we going to make it to Brooklyn?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BikerHunter Bolesky on an early morning. Photo by Max Cline.<\/p>\n

Day 4: 107 miles<\/p>\n

Max and Hunter woke up with the sun, hoping to go as far as they could while it was daylight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To get back on the Empire State Trail, they would have to ride up multiple large hills. By the end of the day, they had climbed 3,500 feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Around lunchtime, 40 miles in, they decided to go for it: Today was the day they would go 100 miles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It proved to be the hardest day yet. In addition to the mileage, their discomfort with their heavy packs led to tension between the two friends. They switched packs in the early afternoon, Max shouldering Hunter\u2019s significantly heavier load, and pushed through, opting to stay in a hotel in Hudson that night, rather than camp.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we landed in Hudson, I probably ate around 4,000 calories,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n

\"HunterHunter Bolesky said he ate around 4,000 calories after riding more than 100 miles in one day. Photo by Max Cline.<\/p>\n

Day 5: 80 miles<\/p>\n

The race to preserve the last few days of summer began as they continued south. As they got closer to the city, the weather warmed, making for more pleasant riding conditions, with the Capitol Region providing beautiful scenery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After being physically and mentally tested the previous day, morale was low as they passed through Red Hook. Nevertheless, they enjoyed expansive views from a pedestrian bridge over the Hudson River outside Kingston.<\/p>\n

They met Laurel, a college student working on a farm for the summer, in Cold Springs. She picked them up in a farm utility truck, brought them to the farm house where she was staying, and fed them a meal of fresh produce and meat from an animal which she may or may not have butchered herself.<\/p>\n

\"HunterHunter Bolesky takes a break on the road beside a farm. Photo by Max Cline.<\/p>\n

Day 6: 70 miles<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the final fight of the ride to try to get us to quit,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n

Upon starting their final day, Max and Hunter were met with the most brutal hills they had faced the entire ride. They fought against exhaustion, mental fortitude and occasionally, each other, but they persevered. Finally, they arrived at a greenway, a smooth trail which took them down toward the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though they made it to the city, the Empire State Trail was closed in certain areas. Hills in Harlem and the climb up to the Brooklyn Bridge threw one final fight at the riders as they neared their destination.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"MaxMax Cline poses while unloading his bike. Photo by Hunter Bolesky.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis journey really made me feel at home and gave me an intimate connection with New York State,\u201d Max reflected. \u201cMy memories were harsh and rough around the edges because it was such a tough journey. Then, a few months later, I took the train from Montreal to New York City. It passed along the same path that Hunter and I took the whole way and I saw how it was so beautiful and we were so lucky, to ever so slightly, become meshed into the energy of the land.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world is so much kinder than we think it is,\u201d Hunter said. \u201cIt was one of those life-changing moments where you\u2019re able to conquer something. Forever I look back at it as a turning point in my life. Choosing the harder thing and working through it allows you to reap all of life\u2019s greatest rewards.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The journey began in a rental car in Plattsburgh.\u00a0 The chilly September air and lack of an available…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":225974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7183,10585,9,24,11,10],"class_list":["post-225973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-adirondack-almanack","tag-canada","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}