Road Update 3

Well, I made it to New York City. The last week didn’t go exactly as planned. After my last update, things got worse for my feet and shins and I dropped from 12-15 mile days to 7-10. Ultimately, to get to my destinations each night I started hopping on the SEPTA and then NJ Transit to finish my daily routes. I haven’t done the total calculations, but I think I walked 200 miles of my 275 route on foot.

I can’t lie, I’m a little disappointed. On the one hand, this was a longer trip than the Richmond Run by almost 85 miles and took over two weeks. On the other hand, my pace was slower and I think I hit my physical limits. I’ve made adjustments to shoes, pack size, and things about my gait, but my current conclusion is that I’m simply still too heavy myself to do these multiple-hundred-mile journeys at any kind of reasonable speed. As a result, in defiance of the natural order of things, I will try and cut more weight this Winter so whatever we come up with for spring plods can be more ambitious.

On the final day, walking across most of Staten Island and then hopping on the SIF, I did a time-lapse recording of the whole thing. It’s very shaky, there’s rain and it didn’t look as cool as I’d hoped. I did however clip this one portion where the Manhattan skyline emerges from the clouds on the ferry. The whole ferry ride, seeing New York after 17 days on the road was pretty emotional.

In terms of what will appear here in the coming weeks, I will put up at least one post a week chronicling some section of the walk. As I’ve mentioned, I wanted to do some of this writing in dialogue with Neil King Jr.’s American Ramble. I had actually made attempts to get in touch with Neil so we could record a podcast or some other kind of interview. You may have seen in the news that Neil died on September 17th. Rest In Peace to a plodder.

I’m in New York City through this weekend. Let me know if you’re around.