The Adirondack Trail Ride #TATR Virtual Challenge

TATR is a 585 mile, solo, self-supported bikepacking adventure through the Adirondack Mountains of New York State.  The annual grand depart is the second Friday of September, or riders can tour the route at any time.  (https://theadirondacktrailride.com/ )

The Start + Finish

The ride starts and finishes in the Village of Northville at Waterfront Park.  Northville is a small and scenic town at the southern tip of the Adirondack mountains with a grocery store, hardware store, gas station, and a few places to stay and eat.

A classic start.  Northville also marks the start of the Northville-Placid Trail, a 133-mile hiking route through the Adirondack Park. Home to long-distance adventure, the village is poised at the southern entrance to the Adirondacks and surrounded by lakes and low mountains.  Located off of historic rt. 30, the Adirondack Trail, the village has all the necessary ingredients to kick off a classic ride.

The Adirondack Park was created in 1892 by the state of New York. Containing six-million acres, the Park is the largest park in the contiguous United States. It covers one-fifth of New York State, is equal in size to neighboring Vermont, and is nearly three times the size of Yellowstone National Park!        

The Adirondack Park is best known for its expansive pristine forests, lakes, rivers, and outdoor recreation opportunities. Unlike a national park, the Adirondack Park has no entrance and no entry fee, as it not only contains public land, but private lands as well where people live year-round.

The Adirondack Park is unique in that it's a mix of private and state-owned land. This strategic model has allowed New York State to protect our beautiful forests while residents live and work in the Park and visitors enjoy exploring the Park’s lands and waters and experiencing its rural communities.

More than half of the Adirondack Park is private land, devoted principally  to105 towns and villages, farms, working forests, businesses, and communities. The Park is also home130,000 permanent and 200,000 seasonal residents and hosts 12.4 million visitors yearly. The remaining 45 percent of the Park is a publicly-owned Forest Preserve, protected as “Forever Wild” by the NYS Constitution since 1894. These lands are one of only two constitutionally protected landscapes in the world.  

One-million acres of these public lands are protected as Wilderness, where non-mechanized recreation may be enjoyed. The majority of the public land (more than 1.3 million acres) is Wild Forest, where motorized uses are permitted on designated waters, roads, and trails

(Source : https://www.adirondackcouncil.org )

A handful of years ago, a woman named Jody Dixon pedaled through our summer camp location with a bike loaded with gear. She looked like she needed a hand. So after a few minutes of chatting, we adopted her as one of our own.  We supplied her with "Trail Magic" in the form of lodging, clean water, and a good meal. She was on her way the next morning and she turned us all into #TATR enthusiasts.  Now every year we keep an eye out for her and other riders. We leave out snacks, water jugs, and directions on where to get more. 

When deciding on what new Virtual Challenge to offer our state-wide community, we naturally thought of the #TATR. With 585 miles to travel, its the perfect spring, summer, and autumn challenge. By supporting this challenge, you are helping us get through the roughest year we have had in 20 years. When COVID struck, we lost 80% of our yearly revenue. Imagine running a summer camp and then having it canceled 6 weeks before it starts! 

The Oswegatchie Educational Center in Croghan, New York is nestled on 1200 acres of wooded land within the Adirondack Park. Oswegatchie is owned and operated by the New York FFA Leadership Training Foundation, Inc. The center operates as a youth camp during the summer months and is open throughout the year as an educational and recreational retreat center. Our Mission is to provide both youth and adults with meaningful experiences in leadership training, environmental education, and outdoor recreation. Oswegatchie is open to all groups and organizations. Affiliation to the FFA is not required.

Thank you in Advance for your support!

Logging miles is soooo easy in the Run SignUp Infrastructure! You do not need any fancy watch or GPS system, you just need to figure out how far you travel in any one event. Most smartphones have a built-in app to help with that. 

Oswegatchie is creating a group for Oswegatchie Enthusiasts who would also like virtual race challenges. As we finish creating our first race challenge, we will invite competitors into this group. It's all about movement, so if you want to clock miles walking, running, jumping, skiing, biking, or hiking, this is for you.
Since we can not run together, we run apart. Just don't drink the pond water or the "runs" will have you!