bike ride – Page 31 – Exploring by bicycle

Day 6 — 50 miles from Augusta to Auburn

We rode on two trails today — the Kennebec River Trail and the Riverside Greenway in Lewiston.

Today started and finished on wonderful trails. In between were mostly quiet roads, that evil 15% grade on part of a two-mile climb and a press event with the Maine Department of Transportation. Oh, and a lobster roll at a hole-in-the-wall. Properly toasted, unlike the one at the non-descript deli on Day 0 in Portland.

It was hot again, but we seemed to have more shade and the day didn’t end with a brutal climb. All told, we “officially” climbed 1,816 feet (but descended more — yay!). We pretty much behaved ourselves — no crazy detours today. And once again thanks to another wonderful SAG who kept us well-supplied with water.

The Kennebec River Trail in Augusta was lovely, with the river on our left and taking us blissfully traffic-free (and hill-free!) about 6 1/2 miles to Gardiner. It’s somewhat unusual in that it’s a rail with trail, rather than a trail on a former rail line. Notice there’s no fence between the rail and the trail.

This photo of two Kennebec Trail users comes from a fellow rider. The mother is 90 years old. Her daughter can’t walk. Just two reasons why we need more trail!

Before we took off on the trail, we met with Maine DOT to thank them for their support of the East Coast Greenway and for the wayfinding signage we’ve used for much of our trip. (Once again, the route essentially overlaps with U.S. Bicycle Route 1.) Watch the local TV’s station report here and read the short AP story that somehow is illustrated with a photo from my blog.

Here’s an impressive theater in Monmouth — too big to fit into my photo! With an impressive list of productions for the summer season. And the town has just 4,100 people.

At the end of our ride was the Riverside Greenway in Lewiston, with the Androscoggin River on our right, before we crossed over to Auburn and our hotel:

Food picture of the day is my $8 lobster roll, with nice chunks of lobster:

What else I’ve learned about food in Maine: For ice cream, Gifford’s trumps Hershey’s. Much better range of flavors. And not much cookie dough in the Hershey’s ice cream version.

One more day to go — hard to believe this bike adventure is almost over.

More of the Maine food tour: Lobster pizza

The Maine food tour on a bike continues.

Of course this exists in Maine!

I found it at our hotel in Augusta — chunks of lobster, squares of roasted seaweed (nori), spicy chili aoli, topped with scallions and toasted sesame seeds. And of course oozing with cheese — asiago and mozzarella. I’d cut down on the cheese and let the lobster shine through.

Bonus: half-price pizzas during happy hour. And then they let me bring it to the restaurant.

Can I confess that I’d be back for the weekday lunch pizza buffet? I’d try the crabmeat pizza, the pear, walnut and gorgonzola one…

Day 5 — 50 miles from Unity to Augusta, with detours

This hot day made for a tough day of biking.

It once cost two cents to walk across this bridge.

I thought Maine weather was supposed to be on the cool side, and I packed accordingly.

Wrong move.

Today was particularly hot — I think it topped 90 — and that made it a tougher day, especially on the back half of the ride, all along U.S. 201 with barely a lick of shade.

Once again, the East Coast Greenway route overlapped with U.S. Bicycle Route 1. Climbing-wise, the “official” cue-sheet estimate was 2,032 feet, which seemed OK. But there was a really nasty hill in Augusta, after the heat had worn us down, and we had already detoured to the Viles Arboretum, which involved another big hill.

The day’s big highlight was being guided by Peter Garrett during the first half of the day, until we got to Waterville. Peter has led an amazing effort to build trails in the area — 40 miles and counting, for astounding low cost of about $2.5 million. He’ll be the subject of a separate post.

We stopped at the headquarters of Johnny’s Seeds, a fun spot for any gardener. Wouldn’t I like this sort of protective set-up in our garden!

Experiencing college all over again

We’re back in the dorms.

Usually we spend the night in hotels. But tonight we’re in the dorms of Unity College, a private college of 665 students focused on sustainable (ie environmental) sciences.

It’s better than the cinderblock building I lived in during my first two years of college at Mizzou. Five of us are in a suite — three bedrooms (one is a single), one lounge (big kitchen sink, no appliances), one shower, one half-bath. More space than the youth hostel in Richmond on last year’s ride. No air conditioning. Got to keep the beer hidden.

On the other hand, we’ve got the fastest internet service in days!

Dorm food has gotten better too (yes, I’m back to food). There was grilled chicken and also a vegan option, plus pasta with a spicy tomato sauce, a few options for side dishes of veggies and a generous salad bar with mixed greens, not iceberg lettuce. And we could have seconds — possibly dangerous when you’re dealing with cyclists.

And there’s real ice cream, not just soft-serve:

Too bad the chocolate syrup container was empty. I tried not to be crushed:

Admittedly, some of the good stuff was off-limits to us:

But it’s disappointing to read a printed poster from a college where “it’s” is spelled “its”.

And — really, college kids? Clearly I am a different generation:

By the way, to get another perspective on this ride, check out this blog.

Finally saw a moose, and more sights of central Maine

The sights of central Maine.

Sorry, just a statue…

We’ve also seen a 31-foot Paul Bunyan (Bangor claims to be the birthplace of this lumberjack, though a town in Minnesota says not so):

baseball (the poor team from Puerto Rico ended up losing by the 10-run rule):

and a private plane stored just off a grassy runway:

Why wouldn’t Alan the Mechanic haul some of this back to Portland for me? Think of what it would do for the garden:

Lawn furniture?

Who knew?

Because kale just doesn’t grow on the sidewalks of Brooklyn! (OK, that’s distorting a line from a former colleague, quoting her mom)

Day 4 — 41 miles from Bangor to Unity

Another food day on the East Coast Greenway, plus a lake.

And that includes one detour for ice cream and a second detour for a dip in a lake.

Today was an easy day — officially just 38 miles on the East Coast Greenway and only 1,857 feet of climbing. So it was all about the food. I know — I kind of said that yesterday too. Sorry. And then we cyclists wonder why we come home heavier than when we left.

The hotel’s breakfast was skimpy, so we stopped at a Maine institution about 5 miles along the route for proper fuel. Dysart’s is a truck stop with a diner attached. There was this, for example:

(don’t freak out — it was shared among 10 of us)

.. and this:

So our blueberry cobbler was really quite modest by comparison:I can’t say the same about our $3.75 ice creams:

But hey, that was lunch! (The chocolate loves chocolate flavor is really good, by the way).

Others in the group are so jealous that they’ve gone — by car! — to get some just before dinner (don’t tell their moms!).

Oh … the lake? They were jealous of that too. Hey, bike tours are as much about the stops as about the destination.

It was soooo shallow that I got this far from shore before the water first reached my knees:

And the water was so warm, it felt like a bathtub.

Saw some fish too:

And a parting shot:

Day 3 — 43 miles from Ellsworth to Bangor

Tough hills, filthy fries.

This was a short day, but the hills were the toughest we’ve had so far.

It started with a long, steep climb out of Ellsworth and barely let up as we followed U.S. 1 to Bucksport… where we again faced a climb out of town. It got to the point where I inwardly groaned when I saw a descent coming up because I feared the ascent. Some of these hills were Anchor-House-worthy! You know what I mean, Ken Carlson!

(Yes, some descents were pretty awesome. I hit 39 mph on one hold-on-tight drop.)

Of course, all that climbing — the “official” estimate is 2,571 feet — means you can eat whatever you want, right?

So while others drank their coffee in Bucksport, I (kind of patiently) waited for the ice cream shop to open at 11 a.m. 45 minutes!! (I know! But it was a short day, and I figured this town needed my $2.50 more than Bangor, given that a paper mill and 800 jobs had disappeared about a year ago.)

I peered in the windows countless times. I even spotted someone in there a couple of times. I swear she saw me too! But did she open up early? Nope. By the time she did, just about every rider had taken off. But I finally got my Maine blueberry ice cream.

Bucksport was the halfway point, and as we approached Bangor, Molly, the East Coast Greenway staffer responsible for Maine, said she wanted to check out a new riverfront trail in Brewer, across the river. The mileage was the same, plus there was a brewpub on the trail. Did we want to come along?

Of course!

Molly, Clive and the IPAs at Mason's Brewing Co. — Molly, Clive and the IPAs at Mason’s Brewing Co.

The food? Do you want your fries just dirty? Or filthy? We of course had to try filthy (think a Maine take on Canada’s poutine, down to cheese curds). Delicious!

Someone else went healthy…

Where’s the fun in that?

A Maine food tour by bike: Blueberry and lobster … pies

I bet someone has found a way to combine the two, but for me, it was blueberry pie for breakfast and lobster pie for dinner.

Not together!

Though I bet someone in Maine has come up with a way to combine them.

Pie is an important part of bike riding, as you can see here and here.

I finally did get my own slice at Helen’s Restaurant in Machias — that was called breakfast. Like the one I had drooled over on Sunday afternoon, it was a thick helping of blueberries that spilled onto the plate. None of that gumminess in cheap grocery-store pies.

On the other hand, that slice cost a touch more than Clive’s proper breakfast of corned beef hash and two eggs. Worth it!

The day ended with lobster in Ellsworth. Instead of lobster roll, I went for lobster pie. So rich! Lots of lobster chunks drenched in a cream sauce, with a layer of fine bread crumbs as the “crust”. It plus the sides left no room for dessert. Not that the ice cream shop stayed open until 9 p.m.!

Some of the others went for a full lobster, and Chris, who calls himself a newcomer to Maine since he’s only been living here at least part-time since 1976, gave the tutorial in how to twist and crack it open.

A happy rider:

And if you didn’t want that, there was lobster stew, lobster dip…

The Union River Lobster Pot is one of those seasonal restaurants that fills up early. So we had a bit of a wait. But here, the “bar” is chairs on the lawn, with a view of the river. And yes, you can get beer.

A second look at Maine’s Down East Sunrise Trail

I’m reassessing my view of the Down East Sunrise Trail.

Perhaps I was a little harsh yesterday.

The group that rode the Down East Sunrise Trail on Day 1 loved it. They took their time, seemingly stopping on every bridge to take photos. And the surface, while not consistent, isn’t as rough once you get more than a few feet away from a road crossing, they said.

While the trail is the longest trail segment on the East Coast Greenway, the big users are ATVs and, in the winter, snowmobiles, not cyclists. While the machines kick up some rocks, they also pack down the surface.

So we took a walk along the trail in Machias. It still felt too sandy for our skinny, slick tires, but it certainly looked better than what we saw on Sunday:

Taking the trail today cut off about 8 miles and all those hills. There’s barely a grade on on this trail Still, the surface seems to have beaten up our riders. Those who made it the whole way arrived much later than all of us who took the road.

Here’s a sign by the crossing in Machias that I liked. Can’t ignore the economic impact of trail tourism!

Day 2 — 68 miles from Machias to Ellsworth

We biked 68 miles today — it should be our longest day of the week.

We biked 68 miles today — it should be our longest day of the week — and climbed an estimated 3,212 feet, also the most of the week. We’re now at the gateway to Acadia National Park. The closest we’ll get, though, is this view from the road. I think Cadillac Mountain is the one on the right.

And while we left Machias after 8:30 a.m . (local newspaper wanted a group photo), we were in just after 4 p.m. Admittedly, our stops were relatively brief — while others opted for a sit-down lunch, we stuck to Clif Bars and the like. (Thank you, Steve, our five-star SAG, for keeping us plied with water and snacks.)

One of our stops, however, involved Columbia Falls and Rosa, who I wager is in her 80s, grew up in the town and now just summers here. She spotted a trio of riders taking a picture and clearly decided talking to them was far more interesting than washing the beet greens for dinner. Then more of us stopped. Among the tales she told us were of ice-skating to high school in the winter, the timber and fishing industries that once kept the town alive, and how in the 1940s there was no meat to be had and they ate venison in season — and out, she pointedly added. These sorts of encounters are one reason why exploring by bike is so interesting.

Our route along the East Coast Greenway was essentially the same as U.S. Bicycle Route 1. The hills just kept coming, but once again they weren’t too bad. The worst stretch was U.S. 1 and all the traffic, followed by the road we took to get off U.S. 1 that lacked a shoulder. But that’s why the Down East Sunrise Trail is there, right? Just too bad we didn’t have the right bikes (or at least tires) for it. It would have been the better choice for the second half of the ride. Plus the almost-finished extension goes right to the back of our hotel in Ellsworth.

A look back at Machias:

And I stand corrected on how those blueberries get harvested. It’s with a rake that shovels them into a box, and then eventually put in other boxes like these. Rosa told us her friends from down South who had helped their parents pick cotton said they;d never complain again — blueberrry harvesting is harder!

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