bikes shoorams

Not much happened today, other than riding 67 miles. The dreaded Hwy 1A was just fine, a nice wide shoulder most of the time. I didn't actually go into Bangor, but through a suburb called Brewer.    I had planned to stay at the Holden KOA just before Brewer, but I got there before noon after just 35 miles. Leaving from the campground, and riding directly off the island via Hwy 3 (also a nice wide shoulder) saved me 12 miles. Still, I was surprised how quickly I got to the KOA. They were kind enough to give me a magazine of Maine campgrounds, which I tore out the pages I needed. The gal at the KOA suggested the town of Newport. I found a campground called Sebasticook Lake. It looked doable distance wise.    I made one stop in Hermon at a Subway for a late lunch. Then continued to Newport, and Sebasticook Lake. This seems to be another one of those places where people go to "Camp". There are more families with kids though. Sebasticook Lake     Now I have to f...

Usually on a long tour I like to have at least one really cool off-the-bike adventure. I decided to stay another day on Mt. Desert Island (MDI) so I could do a glider plane ride. I've always wanted to fly in a glider.    Acadia Air Tours just so happens to offer glider rides. I signed up yesterday for a flight at noon today. The airport is in Trenton, just off MDI. Fortunately, the Island Explorer bus goes to Trenton. The gals in the Air Tours office said the busses weren't reliable. I've found that to be completely untrue.    I woke up to rain this morning, so instead of trying to cook my breakfast in the rain, I caught the bus into town and ate at Jeannie's Great Maine Breakfast. It appears to be very popular as I had to wait 20 minutes for a table. It was pretty good--stuffed cinnamon raisin French toast with blueberry sauce.   After breakfast I walked down to the Air Tours office to make sure, with the weather, that I was still going to get to fly. They said...

Today was a DWFP day--a day without forward progress--even though I rode 23 miles.    Since it was downhill through the construction, I rode Tilmann to the Hulls Cove Entrance Station to Acadia National Park. There I purchased a map that I didn't need to buy, and paid for my pass into the park. The reason I didn't need to buy the map was because they gave me a park map which had all the info I needed. Oh well, the map I bought will look nice on the wall at home.   I had made my plan for the day. First up was riding to the top of Cadillac Mountain. With no gear except my handlebar bag, it wasn't too bad of a climb. It was 3 1/2 miles of a 6-7% steady grade. A couple of road Bikers went by me, but I managed to do the whole thing with 2 gears to spare. I took this photo of Eagle Lake on the way up.  Eagle Lake     At the top I took several photos (no duh), and met a couple of road bikers from Pennsylvania named Stephanie and Mark. They had done the loop road. ...

As the Maine folk say it. Yes, I have made it to Bar Harbor, and a day ahead of schedule to boot!   It did end up raining the whole evening last night, but at some point during the night, it quit. I woke up briefly to the sound of a Loon. Of course, what went through my head was, "The loons, Norman!" from On Golden Pond. I might have to watch that movie again when I get home.   Due to my early night, I was ready to go by 7:15, and that was with having to change the battery in my speed sensor of my bike computer. I returned to the route. As I came to where my map told me to turn off of Hwy 1, I could see a sign for USBR 1. It stayed on Hwy 1. I pondered for a moment whether I should just follow that to Ellsworth, or stay on my route. It was about 8 miles shorter to stay on Hwy 1. I stayed on my route. I don't really know why, except maybe I wanted to be on the route when I flipped to the last map panel. It was such an auspicious moment that I took this photo! Even though I...

As I write today's post, I am sitting in my tent while the rain comes down. The weather forecast did call for 50% chance of rain, and I 100% found it. Today was another 50+ mile day from Camden Hills Campground to Balsam Cove Campground (near East Orland). I got my brief view of the Atlantic in Rockport. I talked to a gal who thought this Harbor was the prettiest one. She might live there, and therefore might be a bit biased, but it was nice looking. The route through Rockport to Camden was on neighborhood streets. In Camden I turned back onto US 1. As usual, in these towns, there was a lot of traffic. Of course, it didn't help that a delivery truck was unloading and blocking the lane of traffic. I was able to get by just fine, but there was so much traffic coming from the other direction, that the cars couldn't get around the truck. For me, that was good because I was able to get up the hill without a line of cars backing up behind me.  US 1 continued to follow the coastli...

Actually, I'm just a few miles away. I'm still two days from Bar Harbor, but I will lay eyes on the Atlantic for a bit tomorrow.   I had a nice evening with Alicia and Mike, and slept like a baby in a comfy bed. I got up at 6:00, and was my usual stealthy quiet. Alicia didn't realize I was up, until I had already packed my panniers back on Tilmann out in the barn. She made a wonderful breakfast, and we took photos in front of the chicken coop. I told Mike he should be holding a chicken, so he did! Alicia, Mike, and the girls     I headed out just a little after 8:00. I thought that was pretty good for having slept in a house. Alicia and Mike are bikey people, so they understand the need to get on the road.   I rode through Bath, which was a quaint little town. The route up and onto the bridge over the Kennebec River was awesome. Mike had told me about a stealth ship they are building in the shipyard. I could see it from the bridge. Apparently, it will only appear on ...