Tag: Unity Maine

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:

ecg unity dorm ice cream

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

ecg unity chocolate syrup

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

ecg unity dessert

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:

ecg unity disney

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…

ecg moose unity

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):

ecg paul bunyan

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

ecg bangor baseball

and a private plane stored just off a grassy runway:

ecg airplane in a field maine

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

ecg manure

Lawn furniture?

ecg lawn furniture heading to unity

Who knew?

ecg unity

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

ecg kale in unity

 

 

Day 4 — 41 miles from Bangor to Unity

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

ecg dysarts breakfastAnd 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:

ecg barb with gooey cinnamon roll

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

.. and this:

ecg helen and dysarts pancake

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

ecg chris and ice cream

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

ecg ice cream trio

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:

ecg unity pond shallow

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

Saw some fish too:

ecg fish in unity pond

And a parting shot:

ecg unity pond

One week to go!

Here’s our itinerary for the Maine ride along the East Coast Greenway.

East-Coast-Greenway-logoNext Saturday afternoon we’ll be on a bus from Portland to Calais (pronounced cal-iss) and the start of our 337-mile ride along the East Coast Greenway. Calais seems to be not quite the most eastern point in the U.S. But it does have a border crossing — passport and Canadian dollars are packed. Dinner? Ice cream? Definitely a passport stamp!

We’ve gotten the cue sheets and here’s how it’s shaping up:

Sunday: Calais to Machias. We’re taking the road option — the Down East Trail looks rocky and we’d rather have our road bikes for the hills that come later. 46 miles.

Monday: Machias to Ellsworth. Once again, road over that rocky trail. Thankfully we have the option. This is our long day — 68 miles. I think we stopped in Ellsworth on our first trip to Maine 11 years ago (destination Acadia National Park) — there’s an L.L. Bean outlet in town. Looks like our hotel is a parking lot away.

Tuesday: Ellsworth to Bangor. This is apparently where the hills start. At least it’s just a 42-mile day.

Wednesday: Bangor to Unity. More hills? But just 38 miles. We’re spending the night in a college dorm. We did the same thing at the start of the charity ride I did for Anchor House three years ago (then it was Burlington, Vermont) — here’s the blog about that year.

Thursday: Unity to Augusta. A 43-mile day, and our hotel at the end has the word “spa” in it. Better pack a swimsuit.

Friday: Augusta to Lewiston/Auburn. The day includes an event with the Maine Department of Transportation just 2 miles from the start, at a trailhead for the Kennebec River Trail. It’s always great to meet local and state officials and help make the case for the East Coast Greenway. And to say thanks too, of course. It looks like we’ll ride most, if not all, of this 6.5-mile trail. I wonder if there are plans to extend it? We end the 44.5-mile day with a much shorter Riverside Greenway.

Saturday: Lewiston/Auburn to Portland. We’re ending the ride with another long day — 56.6 miles, with the option of another 3.5 miles for a victory lap with Maine Adaptive Sports. If people with physical disabilities are coming  to ride with us, heck yes we can do another 3.5 miles!

THANK YOU once again to all who have supported the East Coast Greenway through this ride. If you’d like to donate, you can do it online here. If you prefer to support Clive, go here.