The End of the Road

We finished our adventure in Bucksport, the final miles over smooth pavement and views of the Penobscot River as it becomes a bay flowing into the Atlantic. We climbed out of Camden in the morning that was delightfully cool. Pedaling through a rock notch, we descended to ride briefly along a very pretty lake. Then it was back to climbing in the hinterlands until we got back to the coast at Belfast. Speaking of climbing (which I have done a lot) I noticed two climbers on the face on the right. They both appeared to be moving so maybe they were connected to a fixed rope as opposed to one belaying and one climbing.

There are climbers on this face.

Look for a white speck mid-way on far right slab.

Belfast was hopping at the lunch hour and Rick found a great spot down by the shipyards where we could get a lobster roll. We watched three young workers and an experienced crane operator lift and set a mast on a sailboat. We also met a couple from outside Atlanta who were on the first days of a several month journey by tandem. They were riding the Northern Tier east to west to Chicago and then continuing on the Rte 66 route to California.

Downtown Belgrade with a cool little bank on the point.

Hysterical- one of the books there “The Donner Dinner Party”

I was so looking forward to a lobster roll, the crane lifting the mast is in the background.

Lora and Jim Woodward heading west.

We traded stories of rides and places and I mentioned that neither Rick nor I has had a flat in the combined 8,000 miles. Thirty minutes later, I had one in Searsport. Fortunately, I had clear space in the shade of a antique store to make my rear tire repair.

Leaving Belfast on the pedestrian causeway over Belfast Bay.

See the windows on the left hand tower?

Entering Bucksport there is a spectacular cable suspension bridge that has an observation area in the top of one of the vertical supports. One first rides across this bridge onto Verona Island and then across another bridge to reach Bucksport. Tomorrow, Rick will hitch a ride with Robin, the great aunt of our waitress, to the airport in Bangor to rent a van to return home.

Bucksport at the mouth of the Penobscot River.

It’s a Steamer and I Don’t Mean a Clam

I am sure it has been hot everywhere, and Maine is no exception. The last two days have taken us from Bridgton to Brunswick and then to Camden. Hot and humid with 6428 ft. of climbing! We had no idea how up and down Maine would be, but it has been more climbing than the mountain states. Roads are highly variable surfaces with winter taking its toll. Riding is hard work here with a few stretches where you can get a rhythm. I think if we had gone east to west on the Northern Tier we would have quit in Maine.

This is the town of Naples on another Long Lake, and one of the most touristy places we have seen.

I told Rick he needs one of these at the Bay so he never stops cycling.

The ride into Brunswick might have been the hardest of the trip. Many small roads and changes of direction and, despite riding along the Androscoggin River for a portion, without much scenery.

This was the one view on the ride. Lovely old house that looked to be abandoned.

Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College and our stay at the Relax Inn was comfortable. Rick had called a couple of motels and was sold by the receptionist at the Relax. Her name is Aura. She did not want me to take her picture, but allowed me the shot of her hand which brought up references to Seinfeld episode with the “hand model”. She was a real character and very kind to us.

The ride from Brunswick to Bath where we crossed the Kennebec River was industrial in scenery, including the DDG 1000 stealth destroyer being built at the Bath Iron Works shipyard. (Rick knows these things from Technomics)

The DDG is the grey angular form to the left of the cranes.

We rolled into Camden late in the evening to the Cedar Crest motel and walked to the Drouthy Bear Irish Pub for dinner. It was still hot and humid and the place had no AC. Rick ordered a spicy chicken dish that had him sweating even more.

That is his dinner napkin.

We awoke to entirely different conditions, cool, breezy with no humidity. This is perfect for our last day of riding.

King of the Mountains

In the Tour de France the King of the Mountains jersey (polka dot) is worn by the rider who earns the most climbing bonuses. Climbers are essential team members who pull others up the mountains by pacing and allowing less strong climbers to ride in the draft. Rick is King on these mountain stages with a climbing style that has him “dancing on the pedals” ie standing, which is tough on a loaded bike. I sit for nearly all climbing turning very small gears at very slow speeds.

We left our campground on the Connecticut River to climb over Black Mountain along the Wild Ammonoosuc River and cross the Appalachian Trail. During the early part of the ride out of North Haverhill we separately encountered a German fellow, Eric, going the other way. He pulled across the road to talk to me and to shake hands and related he was doing the Northern Tier route in stages. I did not realize it, but Rick told me later he was the same guy we met two years ago in the middle of North Dakota. Completely unreal to run into him.

Eric from Germany

After a long and very fast descent (40 mph), we made our way across the Pemigewasset River and into White Mountain National Forest. We camped in our first National Forest site called Big Rock, which I assume was left over from glacier activity. I think they are referred to as glacial erratics.

King of the Mountain minus the dots

For the past three days we have climbed our longest mountains and the single highest pass, Kancamagus 2,855 feet. Ironically, Rick and I agreed it was the easiest pass we have ever ridden as the grade remained the same and more modest than many of the other climbs on this trip.

We broke up 3 climbs into 3 different days which helped us recover or stay in a constant state of weary. The routes followed river corridors which makes sense given the natural road construction.

Our lunch spot along the Swift River

We utilized the down hill from the pass to make 62 miles to Bridgton. Our motel, the Highland Lake Resort is quite comfortable with a cafe and a view of Highland Lake. The owner lent us her car so we could go into town for dinner. Afterwards, we had ice cream where Rick recreated a picture from his first ever visit to a Dairy Queen along the route in Minnesota two years ago.

From Sammy’s Scoops Bridgton, ME 2019

From the ride in 2017 in Windsor MN

In the past four days riding from Vermont to Maine we have climbed 11,020 feet. Ouch.

It Ain’t Easy Being Green

We took the cable ferry across Lake Champlain to Vermont in warm and steamy conditions. $2 for a bike. Initially, we rode calmly through dairy farms and orchards. As we descended into a valley we could see ahead to the fact that we would indeed climb back every inch and at steep grades. We intended to lay up in Middlebury due to a forecast that included many hours of thunderstorms. We got the last room at the Middlebury Inn and it did not rain. I stopped by the Admission Office at Middlebury College to see if our regional reader was there – she was on vacation. There was live music on the green and it was a good lay over.

First band a Cuban influence

Protect that hearing

Leaving Middlebury we climbed aggressively into Green Mountain National Forest on our way to Breadloaf. This was a long climb and mostly good roads and followed the Middlebury River. It was hard to appreciate as the nose was to the pedal. The descent was wild into Hancock where we met a couple from Alabama, Rene and Bob, who were on a three week trip on their Harley. We tend to meet a fair number of motorcyclists on our routes and they are universally friendly and interested in what we are up to.

Rick keeping cadence going by Breadloaf Campus of Middlebury College renowned for English andd foreign language Masters programs

Our new friends from Alabama

At Hancock we followed the White River downstream for the rest of the day, which allowed one to take in the scenery. I kept looking for the change in drainage which would mean climb instead of descend, but it did not come.

We have hit a number of places where repaving is taking place. As a biker you end up with the flag man/woman and they hold you to the end and nobody follows you. They are always ready to chat since they flip a sign between “slow” and “stop” all day long. I have a couple of ready jokes: like slow is the only speed I have and I’m an official product tester when there is new pavement.

We had a destination in mind Worthy Burger and a campground that was off the grid along the White River that Rick stayed in two years ago. Worthy burger is in South Royalton and would be more typical of foodie locales. They have a limited menu of farm to table foods and a great selection of beer on tap.

The campground was quiet except for the traffic on rte 14 across the river.

We set off today leg weary and not sure how we would approach riding into New Hampshire and the impending climb through the White Mountains – our tallest pass. Turns out the first 10 miles were a climb almost the same as Breadloaf. Yesterday we rode 50 miles with 2,890 feet of climbing and today we rode 46 miles with 2950 feet of climbing. There was a ride for cancer that we engaged crossing the Connecticut River, they are of course unloaded and breezing along.

The White River, which we left for the Connecticut River drainage

Just a home along Tucker Hill Road.

We settled into a campground on the Connecticut River. This is very will maintained and set up for RV. We will ride over a small pass and hope to get close to the Kancamagus Pass climb 2,855 feet.

What does this mean?

A little bit of Skyline Drive

We have tended to do some straight ahead riding the last several days, by that I mean we ride without long stops to get to the destination. Yesterday we did manage a lunch stop and today we had a snack near mid-day, but otherwise we rode in order to make the 60 plus miles to Ticonderoga. We finished the traverse of the central Adirondacks and it was a work out. There are a paucity of pictures and stories as a result.

Rick found a great way to microwave our standby English muffin, cheese, and pepperoni breakfast. We had a great road out of Long Lake with increasingly good views, light traffic, and wide shoulders. We crossed the Hudson and soon had an amazing view of the High Peaks.

This is the Hudson

The rest area at Newcomb has a singular view to the north. The diorama identifies all the peaks in the view shed.

Soon after this stop we turned onto Blue Ridge Road which, while beautiful, was reminiscent of rides on Skyline Drive but even more compressed. One was either going uphill or downhill.

This looks good but I took the picture a bit too early to show what the road actually did. Our climbing today was a little over 3,000 feet and my legs feel it. We met only one other cyclist who was using the train to return to NYC with his folding bike. (Can’t imagine riding this stuff on that). We had to stay focused on the final miles as the road narrowed and logging and road material trucks were going home. The repaved road into Ticonderoga dropped a couple of thousand feet and was a 37 mph savior. Tomorrow into Vermont and when the elevation profile is part of the map, you know you will work.

Lakes, Hills, and Mountains

We are into the land of “camps” in earnest now. The riding has been challenging and beautiful. We left the 19th Green Motel and the very convenient location that included a restaurant and market. We stopped on the way out at one of the most stocked outdoor stores I’ve seen in a while, where Rick got a new flashing rear light. Our route took us to the south side of Fulton Chain Lakes to the village of Inlet where we bought a few supplies. Camps are the term folks use up here for anything from a tiny cabin to a massive home on the lake. I think the term was born in the early 1900’s and applied then to massive lodges built by robber baron types.

The ride is long stretches through the woods with a few open views and small hamlets and villages. We were often shaded and it was another cool, low humidity day. Bliss.

Check out the great looking dog here in Inlet

Road crews were working throughout the route, milling, repacking and digging out the drainages. We were stopped several times when the road went to one lane which was an advantage one several hills. The flag men (actually women most times) would hold the traffic behind us until we reached the top. The surfaces ranged from pristine new asphalt to the very broken road that was being repaired.

We stopped at Blue Mountain Lake to eat lunch and then Blue Mountain ate our lunch. This was the first real climb a long, steep grade. Much of the rest of the ride to Long Lake was downhill after we got to the top of Blue Mtn. We swam in Long Lake, played horseshoes at the Shamrock Motel, and had ice cream in town. Tomorrow we hope to make it to Ft. Ticonderoga and into Vermont.

Entering Long Lake

9,800 feet of Climbing and into the Central Adirondacks

We have not yet really entered the mountains and have almost climbed 10,000 feet. As I remarked to Rick, its not the number of feet gained rather the grade. The feature that makes some of these feet climbed more taxing is the grade of the road. A long modest grade can be done all day, but even short steep grades take the life out of your legs in no time. Much of today’s climbing was the later. We knew it was coming from Rick’s memory (with the conditioning of 3000 plus miles), and what all the bikers said at the Osceola Hotel. ” Its all uphill” is what one guy said. The reality was we did a third of the climbing of the entire trip today. Many people gave us a tip for a better route from West Leyden to Booneville on Golden Road and it turned out to be just that.

You can begin to see the mountains from Golden Road

The terrain and features are changing as we climb and approach the mountains. The streams that bisect the route give us both some of the greatest challenges and scenery.

There are foxglove and other flowers are in bloom.

When we got to Booneville we made a decision to just blast ahead and deal with the reality of road and services. Moose River Road it turned out was largely great with three painful climbs (very steep grades, one almost not rideable with a loaded bike). There were no services or water, but cool temps made nearly 30 miles manageable. Rick in the advance team found a great motel, the 19th Green, in Thendara. A young couple has left other jobs/careers to do this. They are obviously working hard at it. Stay here if you are up this way. We are back on track.

From Texas to the World Famous Osceola Hotel

We entered a twilight zone of places to stay for a few days. We left Sodus Point and the RV park and headed out into another very hot day of riding. The first miles had numerous steep hills to get us warmed up and create doubt we could make it to the next camping options. We strategically waited out a thunderstorm under the awning of a closed fruit stand, turning around and reaching it just as the first drops began to fall.

Sodus Point boatyard

When we cruised into Fulton, which was the largest town by far, we had a decision to make going further. We had ridden @ 40 hilly and hot miles, but would need to ride another 20 to get to the camp. If the terrain was the same, I would die. Fortunately, it was spectacularly easy going and great riding into Texas. (In a weird turn there are towns called Texas and Mexico near the shore of Lake Ontario)

We rolled into the Dowie Dale Campground and Marina. It was a spectacle of bare foot kids playing in the dirt, golf carts making rounds, fireworks, and lots and lots of beer drinking. As we reached our site, Sweet Home Alabama blared from the site nearby. The operators reserved a niche for us between two trailers, close to the bathroom and made sure we had a picnic table and did not charge us. The post July 4th festivities went on well into the night, so we did not get great sleep. We appropriately ate Spam tacos.

The view from our site

Rick had never eaten spam – its pure pork shoulder you know.

That night the weather broke and we awoke to much more comfortable temperatures and dew points. The residual fatigue of heat and poor sleep made an increasingly hilly ride harder than it should have been. When we got to Osceola, which is a crossroads and not more, we stopped where Rick had on his first ride at the World Famous Osceola Hotel. (It is neither). We knew the next section was very hilly and without services so we took the option provided by the proprietors to stay in vacant rooms in the building. Tera and Mark were good to offer, but this was primitive. We spent the afternoon talking to bikers who stop in from the various loops they ride.

Place is famous for the turtle races – pets only no ringers

We found out many alternative truths to what we heard the day before when we ate breakfast across the street at they only other establishment in Osceola. Small town gossip and more.

Leaving the flat canal and inching toward the Adirondacks.

Today was nearly 70 miles and another hot, humid day. We took off early without food or coffee just to make distance before it got hot. A bit more than half our mileage was finishing the Erie Canalway trail. Finally, we saw more use of the trail outside Rochester (we came around a bend and there was a brand new, monstrous REI it was almost more than I could stand. We borrowed a floor pump from Francisco the mechanic as it is not easy to reach pressure in big tires with travel pumps) and around the trendy town of Pittsford where we finally got coffee. I took the example of my daughters and bought my first ice coffee – dynamite on a hot day.

The mother of REI’s

Pittford needs a new name, quite cute

We had late lunch in Palmyra and when we came out the heat had been cut by thunderstorms. We gambled and rode north and bypassed most of the storms, however, when it cleared and the sun vaporized the rain the humidity went into triple digits. (Not possible but you get the idea). The ride to Sodus Point was awesome – flat to rolling, no traffic, good road. A few steep short hills after our legs were shot had me craving an E-bike. Stayed in RV park where big fireworks were set off until 11:00 pm

It’s an Erie Feeling

So we are back on the road again and the adventures and interesting people resume right where they left off. Within 3 miles of our start we meet Don Delaney who was has ridden 9,000 miles of a 12,000 mile DECA Journey. He was the first person we met let alone cyclist. He is the real deal heading to Italy to do a double deca Triathlon. I knew there were folks who did double iron mans and triple and quads. A deca is 10 times the distances. A double deca is 2 x the 10 times the Ironman distance. So do the math. He told us he was going to ride 160 miles today – he was on a mountain bike, no clip in pedals.

At the canal we attracted the attention of John the canal ambassador who has been on the job for 18 years. He was great in giving us the details of operating the canals historically and currently. You think you understand the basics of lock systems, but he added details that really impressed.

This is Dan

The day was quite hot (90 plus) with a breeze from the east that was a blessing and a curse. The blessing was the cooling effect offset, in part, by the headwind which creates the invisible hill. The surface is generally very good for non-paved, however, it is more work to ride a soft surface so the 56 miles felt like much more.

It seemed very quiet for the Fourth of July with very few users of the Erie Canal trail. We were surprised to learn there are crocs in the canal, maybe that is why.

We found an Irish Pub that was open in Spencerport and a sketchy motel for the night. We have a long day tomorrow going south of Rochester and hoping to reach Sodus Point on Lake Ontario.