Tour de Maine: The End

Well, we did it! I'm back at Mom's house safe and sound. I feel quite lucky to have air conditioning, cable TV, and a nice bed.

We rode from Wiscasset to Freeport, and stayed at a campsite for two nights at the Desert of Maine. The Desert is this weird sand dune in the middle of the forest where they have a cheesy little museum and give guided tours.

On Wednesday, we rode into Freeport, about three miles from the campsite and did a little shopping and site seeing. The biggest attraction in Freeport is the L.L. Bean "campus":

It's a Mecca of outdoor activities. They have a whole building dedicated to fishing and hunting, another building dedicated to bikes and kayaking, etc. It's HUGE. They have created it as not just a store, but a destination, where they do concerts in the park. It seems a little weird to me to build an "experience"around a product, but whatever. (I bought a pair of shorts).

The reason I had to buy some stuff was that we finally left some stuff behind somewhere. With packing and unpacking almost every day, keeping track of our stuff was no small task. We finally left a compression bag of cycling clothes behind somewhere. Disappointing, but not a big deal.

Overall, I think the trip was a little more challenging than I thought- not physically, but psychologically. I was out of my element, and it is difficult to persevere in something you are not competent in. But I'm glad to have done it, and I'm sure after some time, I will do another one.

I'll have some final thoughts about the whole thing a little late after reflection, but for now, resting and catching up.

Tour De Maine: What Day Is It?

On Saturday we were still camped at Camden Hills State Park, and that night it rained. And rained until midnight. And huge gusts of wind from another hurricane blew until about 3AM. But I have to say our Hilleberg tent is friggin' awesome. You could use this thing at the South Pole. I have to admit I was a little uneasy and had a hard time sleeping with the noise, but we were warm and dry.

On Sunday we only rode about 20 miles and stayed at Moody's Diner & Motel. This place is great in a weird, rustic, old-timey kind of way. The motel consists of little cabins that have had running water and electricity put in them, and the diner is full of locals that enjoy cheap and good eats. The place is still family-run.

We are getting pretty close to Portland and we don't want to be too early, so today we stopped in Wiscasset, which is another in a long line of charming little coastal towns. We are in another little hotel that is run by a woman who runs back and forth between the office and the Chinese restaurant in front.

My body is holding up pretty well, except for my hands, which are still a little worse for wear. I'm not going to return to CA any lighter, being too tempted by lobster rolls, fried fisherman's dinners, and whoopie pies. A whoopie pie is two chocolate cake-type cookies with a frosting between them:

Tomorrow we are off to Freeport, I think, where we might spend two days before riding to Portland. Southward ho!

Tour de Maine: The difference Between Fearless and Courageous

I'm not fearless. I'm afraid of a lot of things. I'm afraid of going downhill too fast, of riding too far on the right side of the road, getting off balance with loaded panniers. But one doesn't have to be fearless to have courage; you just have to face your fears. I'm giving myself credit for being courageous enough to ride on despite my fears. It's been worth it.

After the hostel, we rode and camped on Mount Desert Island the next two days. The weather and scenery were great. I had a problem with my brakes, so we spent one day walking around Southwest Harbor while the nice guys at the bike shop fixed them. They adjusted my gears a bit as well.

On Wednesday, we rode off the island 30 miles and got a hotel room in Ellsworth. Did all our laundry, took long showers, etc. The hotel was a bit depressing. A lot of people with not much going on in their lives. Ellsworth is a place to get to other places.

On Thursday we rode 40 miles to Searsport and found a great private campsite next to the water. 40 miles was tough. With our bikes loaded, we do an average of 10 miles per hour, so it took us four hours riding time. The campsite had hot showers and laundry, however, which made us much more comfortable.

Yesterday we rode about 25 miles to Camden. After the hard day the day before, we were pretty tired. We knew there was a storm coming, so we rode into town for something to eat, bought some food and a couple of books, and hunkered down for the night in the tent at the state park. The rain started at about 3:30 in the AM, and still pours as I write at 1:30 PM the next day.

The tent held up fantastically, and we were warm and dry all night; but the thought of spending a whole day in the tent was too much, so we took a taxi in to town for breakfast, and are now at the public library catching up with the world.

My bike handling is getting much better. I still need to go downhill slowly so that I don't get off-balance. Rob usually ends up way ahead of me going downhill since he is carrying most of the load, and I catch up going uphill. We've each had our moments of getting frustrated at ourselves and each other, but we've had a lot of laughs as well. I'm glad to have a day off of riding, and I think Rob is, too. The last two days were tough.

Mainers are friendly, taciturn, and sporty. Lots of boots and ball caps. I don't see a lot of women dolled up unless they are rich. People here are tough. You have to be to survive the winters. The land and the weather are very important. People live on the lobster, blueberry, and forest industries. They are laid back as well. We haven't been honked at once. People in cars just slow down and calmly drive around us.

I hope the rain will stop soon. One more night at the state park, and tomorrow we keep heading south.

Tour De Maine: The Blueberry Adventure Day 3

It rained all night lst night. Good thing we were in the hostel. Hostels are weird places. Rob stayed up talking to someone really interesting, but he said the funniest quote was, "Wait! I haven't shown you all my knives yet!"

The day started not so well. We dropped off the rental car and started back to the island on our bikes fully loaded, but I was not very good at keeping my bike balanced. I think my bags were unevenly packed, and my front end would waver as I went downhill. So I got all panicky and didn't have a very good time. I felt a bit discouraged, the way I felt when I first started riding and found that bike handling is difficult for me. After we got to camp and set up, we rode a little without the panniers, which went a little better.

Our campsite is just off a fjord- I can't recall the name just now- but the view from the waterline is gorgeous. We went out onto the dock at the end of the day and just "wasted time" in the sun with our feet in the water, surrounded by puffy clouds and a pine-lined shore. It made the day more bearable, and despite thinking that bicycle touring might be a failure, I feel like I am able to persevere tomorrow.

Right now we just finished eating a dinner of canned chili, and Rob is building a fire. There is an open wireless network, so we are checking our email and the news of the day a bit before we wind down and go to sleep.

Tomorrow will be better. The only thing I regret right now is forgetting to pack soap. :(

Tour De Maine: The Blueberry Adventure Day 2

The shack where Rob used to work as a teenager

Portland to Bar Harbor (Bah-ha-bah)

Today we took the rental car and drove up to Bar Harbor. On the way, we stopped at Bucksport and Rob reminisced about some of his childhood memories. Just outside the town we stopped at the shack where he used to work as a teenager cutting up frozen chickens and deep frying seafood for a little over $2.00 an hour.

The drive was gorgeous and relaxing- everyone drives so slowly there is nothing to get stressed out about- and we spent the day looking at trees and water.

We continued up to Bar Harbor, and walked around the little town. We thought the weather would be terrible due to the hurricane off the coast, but it was beautiful. However, there were some very high waves in the afternoon that swept some people into the ocean, which was the talk of Bar Harbor today everywhere we went. We had a lobster dinner (of course) and are staying the night in the Bar Harbor Hostel. As I speak, the rain just started, so it's a good thing we are spending the night inside. We thought we would use the tent platforms behind the hostel, but they are too small for our tent, so perhaps that was fortuitous.

The hostel suits our needs- it's halfway between "roughing it" and staying in a hotel. We are not the oldest ones here, as we feared. There is a couple in their 30's (perhaps we are older than them, but I'm not sure) and there is only one weird guy who seems off-kilter. The rest of the guests are travelers from all over the globe in their 20's. The Swiss girls are getting flirted with.

We thought we would spend four nights in Bar Harbor before moving on, but the town was so crowded and touristy, we are anxious to get on the bikes and into nature, so tomorrow we will bike back onto the island from returning the rental car and go to a campsite, weather permitting. If it's pouring down rain tomorrow, our plans might change.

So tonight maybe we will venture out for a nightcap and try to get a good night's sleep in separate dorms. Then onward into the wilderness.