Day 7: 7/14 - Killing Spree

Today we should have been arrested. For murder. There hasn't been a serial killing spree like this since Rodney Chustmeister's ride across the country in 1824. We left a wake of death behind us today; 78 miles torn to shreds in just over 6 hours of riding. Their families could be seen morning their losses at the roadside, while we rode on, laughing maniacally and searching for more victims.

Today was not meant to be a long day. It was just going to be a short 40 miler until we decided to call my buddy Greg and see about his old high school friend who lives somewhere in New Hampshire. Originally, he was so far off our course that we decided it wasn't worth it, but we were feeling good so we figured why not. The appropriate phone calls were made and the race was on: make it to Merrimack, NH by 5:30 pm so Dave could pick us after work. It was about 2 pm when we decided to do this and had about 25 miles to go, but somehow we kept a blistering pace and were in Nashua (just south of Merrimack) by 4:00. It was just a great day for riding; no rain, not too hot, slushies at 7-11. At the 7-11, we met Mike from Hudson, NH and his Ducati motorcycle. We chatted with him about motorcycles for a bit, then our ride and life in general. Great guy with a great personality and it was good to take the time to meet him. Hope you're reading this, Mike!! In our spare time we stopped off at the East Coast Anheuser Busch bottling plant but just missed the tour cut-off time. So we toured what we could, checked out the gift shop (very little Natty Light merchandise...very disappointing) and visited THE Budweiser Clydesdales.
Dave picked us up just North of his work (we ended up overshooting him by 4 miles) and took us back to his apartment. A beautiful apartment (although at this point, anything with a roof would have been gorgeous) with HDTV, warm water, comfy couches, a stocked fridge, giant plates of lasagna, milk (how I miss milk), and the piece de resistance: a working washing machine and dryer. The food and sleep were amazing and Dave made a great host. We owe him many thanks...except he could have supplied a hot tub.

Highlights: mile-killing spree, slushies at 7-11 with Mike, Dave's apartment, a couch

Top Speed: 37.5 mph (EP)
Distance: 80.13 mi
Time: 6.37.23
Av Spd: 12.1 mph
Odometer: 348.4

Day 6: 7/13 - Shore Road is a "Shore" Thing...terrible pun

Today started with a 32 mile sprint to Kennebunk, ME for bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches. In between Moody Beach and Wells Beach, we took a lunch break of PB and J crackers and napped on a wall just over the ocean. The weather was great and the nap was even better. Shore Road which ran between York Beach and Ogunquit was an amazing ride. Gorgeous houses (just a little pricey, I'd assume) and even more gorgeous views along with winding turns, slight hills, and great coasting all added up to an amazing half hour ride. We stopped at one point to walk out on the shore and throw rocks at the ocean, which was...fun and childish. Oh yeah.
Next was York Beach, which was pretty much the Ocean City of Maine. Just touristy beyond belief and filthy. A quart of milk cost us $3 and we were sold contraband "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" in NOT FOR RESALE containers with no plastic safety separator or nutritional information. The campsite was alright, though we got pelted with pine cones from the trees all night. Kraft Mac and Cheese for a family was our dinner. Restless night of sleep.

Highlights: Shore Rd, quick start, breakfast sandwich

Top Speed: 39.5 mph (ES)
Distance: 54.50 mi
Time: 4.44.00
Av Spd: 11.8 mph
Odometer: 269.8 mi

Day 5: 7/12 - Leaving Smith

This morning was another struggler. We had a breakfast of poorly hard boiled eggs (they all exploded while boiling the night before when the stove decided to run on SCRAMJET mode). We passed through Brunswick (Emily's old hometown! I had no idea what to take pictures of, so I just took random shots of everything). Stopped at a farmer's market for some cheesy baguettes and Esmith and I shared a mixed berry pie. Eating is interesting on this trip. Never before have I worried about calorie intake, too much or too little, and now, we can't get enough. It's not a question of "can I eat this?", it's a question of, "can I fit this in my stomach?". You pretty much eat whatever you can get your hands on. We traded off Bsmith to the parents in Freeport, ME at the L.L. Bean store(s) after some shopping. I got rid of my sleeping bag, because it's just too hot for it, and picked up a fleece throw at the store. Unfortunately, it doesn't reach my feet. Great purchase, Evan. So after Bsmith's departure, we left on our own on that long and lonesome road. As we were passing a field, we saw a sweet hay baler that would bale the hale, then boot them into a trailer. Not just push them up a ramp or something, but from a distance it looked like a boot on the end of a lever that just punted these things into the trailer. Maybe my CHEAP EX-BOSS from Stanton Engineering Services can get one so I don't have to bust my butt getting his hay into his barn (hope you're reading this, Tom. I'll be back for Round 2 of baling in August!) On the way to the end of the day, Esmith and I both hit 41 mph, our personal bests and probably could have been faster had the bottom of the hill not been a magled set of rail road tracks. We ate lunch at a Friendly's in North Windham, where we had our first sighting of a cute girl since the trip began...maybe they're just hiding? We got into Sebago Lake around 5:30 pm, and man are these campgrounds getting expensive!! We're gonne start camping under powerlines if this continues... That night we met our neighbors, Bruce and Debbie, and their grandchildren, Jordan and Jessie. We chatted it up around the campfire for a bit and shared some stories. Bruce and Debbie had sold their home and bought an RV so that they could travel around the country to see their kids and grandkids (they also flip houses for a living...not literally), though they look very young for grandkids and we let them know it (gotta butter 'em up for those donations!).

Highlights: hay baler, top speeds, Smith's parents

Top Speed: 41 mph (ES and EP)
Distance: 48.61 mi
Time: 4.00.00
Av Spd: 12.1 mph
Odometer: 211.4 mi

Day 4: 7/11 - Cool Down

"It's your grave...good luck digging it with a fork."

This was our quote of the day, as Esmith refused to use a spoon to eat his cous cous.
Today started with moaning and groaning as NOBODY wanted to get out of "bed". Our thighs, calves, feet, and butts hurt and no one was looking to get onto a bike anytime soon. Eventually we got everything together and said "adios" to our neighbors, then hit the old dusty trail. Then Bsmith got a flat. Something about his bike, I guess. On the way through Damariscotta, ME we got yelled out by some guy with a ridiculous Maine accent (no offense to all you Maine-landers), "Get out of the way!! The road is for cars, too, you know!!". We were on the shoulder as far out of traffic's way as possible, so maybe he just had a bad experience with a bike at one point.
The day was uneventual otherwise until we reached Wiscasset, ME. We stopped in at their fire department hoping to get some publicity shots with the firemen and equipment, but it was apparently the worst timing ever. Apparently a shipbuilding warehouse had caught fire and started one of the worst fires the area had seen in decades. Check out the story here: http://www.mainelincolncountynews.com/index.cfm?ID=32785
We figured it was best to stay out of the way at that point, so we got a picture from a distance and moved on. Smith got another flat, so we just replaced the whole tube rather than patching it (next to some dead eels on the road). We hit up a sandwich shop in Bath, ME and while we were there, we met a couple that was enthralled with our endeavor. They talked to us for awhile (Joy and...sorry pal, can't remember your name) and wished us luck on our trip. After our sandwiches, Joy came back in the shop and gave us the number of her folks in Boca Raton, FL.. if we needed anything while we were down there. How's that for some die hard enthusiasts!?
We stopped in the local library and printed out some business cards so we didn't have to keep writing down our website on scraps of paper; while Esmith did that, I blogged our first two days (1st time ever blogging...swore I'd never do it, but that's life!). We got our eats at the local grocery store and also picked up a moonshine bottle of Shepscot Valley Brewing Company Ale (Pemaquid Ale, to be exact). They were a local brewery in Whitefield, ME, and the worker at the store recommended it, so we went with it. Wasn't too bad, though the 45 minute ride in the heat to the campsite probably didn't help much. On the way to the campsite, we stopped by a random house to ask for some gasoline for our camp stove (it's an old one, and yes, it runs on gasoline); the lady who helped us actually works at the L.L. Bean factory and puts together the boots. You may actually be wearing her handiwork right now!!! She also gave us a zucchini. Very nice people so far. Campsite usuals continued, dinner, logging, running around, etc. See the pictures.

Highlights: nice couple in Bath, short day of riding, no rain, L.L. Bean lady

Top Speed: 39.0 (ES and EP)
Distance: 37.08 mi
Time: 3.16.22
Av Spd: 11.4 mph
Odometer: 159.1 mi..

Day 3: 7/10 - Day of Reckoning

Woke up at 6:15 am. We were a day behind in the itinerary, so we checked out our maps and itinerary and decided it was possible to combine 2 days into 1 and catch up...we'd see how the day would progress. Morning went very well, just flying through the hills and roads, maybe 20 miles in just over an hour. Then Smith got a flat tire, then we stopped at a bike shop to get my handle bar tape replaced (the CP Bikes guys didn't do that part too well. The guy was a character with a mouth, so the stop took an hour and a half (although he did a great job and also found a part of my gearing that could have killed me had I been going fast enough, so that was good). We finally got back on the road and it was HOT. Lunch was pizza in Belfast at Alexia's where the police helped us pick the right road to take on our next leg and we met a guy from Gaithersburg, MD. We made it to Camden at 2:00 pm and stopped off at the public library to hop on the internet. Camden was beautiful, the perfect vacation town (I may actually return there one day). We decided to push on to Waldoboro which could have turned out terribly. Bsmith I were beat, the hills were out of control (one was about a mile and a half long and it's grade was unbelievable), the pavement was boiling (fresh at some points and our tires actually stuck to it). Finally, we pulled into camp at 7:15 pm exhausted, irritable, and starving. The stove wouldn't work again so Esmith sent me on a soliciting hunt. I had met a guy (Frank) on the way in that was trying to get a bat out of the game room and saw him again on my hunt. He got wrangled in to helping me out, and he said he was staying with his father-in-law. He was actually our neighbor so he offered to boil our pasta for us. We talked for awhile and got to know each other pretty well, and the conversation was good. His name was Steve and his wife was Kim and they were great to have as neighbors. While the pasta was cooking, we talked alot about the trip and our travels and found out a little bit about them as well. We ended up getting some pictures with them (check them out in the gallery), Steve gave us a bunch of cheese and peanut butter crackers, and then we hit the sack at 9 pm. It got pretty cold that night....

Highlights: incredible start to the day, great neighbors

Top Speed: 39 mph (ES)
Distance: 73.25 mi
Time: 6.19.53
Av Spd: 11.5 mph
Odometer: 119.9 mi

Day 2: 7/9 - The Adventure Begins

Today we woke up 6:15 am and got all our stuff together and headed down to the pier on Main St. Main St was a hill...none of us had been on our bikes yet with all our gear, so the start was interesting. We did the picture thing, which you will be able to find in the picture gallery soon, and then we headed out on our great adventure at around 7:45 am. I had the first "crash" of the trip, while pedaling up a hill at very slow speed, I accidentally veered into the fine gravel on the side of the ride and the bike didn't want to stay up, so that was embarassing. Luckily, Esmith fell as well right before a break; he had stopped to pick a spot for snacks, when his bike decided it didn't want to stay at the angle it was at and pulled him down. Fortunately all the panniers and gear on the back cushioned the fall...unfortunately, it did not cushion the blow to our dignity. We stopped for peanut butter, jelly, and nutella on crackers at about 9:30 am and then lunch in Surry at a small deli attached to a convenience store with a selection the size of, say, a 7-11. Apparently this was to be our grocery store for supplies for dinner (we got pepperoni sticks, canned clams, and canned crab). We evenutally arrived at our campsite just east of East Orland at around 1:30 pm. The day had been pretty horendous, having not trained considerably for this ride. There were more hills than we dared think there would be and seemingly never a downhill for relaxation. So when the road to our campsite, Whispering Pines (not Whithering Pines, as I kept referring to it as), was a steep downhill, we were elated. The campsite was owned by an older couple and was great. It sat right on a gorgeous lake and had free showers and water. We had plenty of time to relax and get situated. We swam in the lake, showered up, made a fire, read our books, ate dinner (jumbalaya over the fire because our stove stopped working), made some phone calls, and hit the sack at 8:45 pm.

Highlights: Whispering Pines, starting the ride, lake swimming

Top Speed: 40.0 mph (EP)
Distance: 46.25 mi
Time: 4.07.59
Av Spd: 11.3 mph

Day 1: Prologue

Today we woke up at 8:30 am, before the parents. We were sure to cause all kinds of ruckus to get them out of bed. There was breakfast of granola, etc and then we headed deep into the park in the van to get a view of things. After the ride, Dsmith, Esmith, Bsmith (I swear it's their names), and I rode around the park for a bit and returned to Jordan Pond Restaurant for a lunch of popovers and chowder (Esmith got a raspberry lemonade...with real raspberry bits, even). After lunch, we attempted to ride out of the park back to our campsite...unfortunately, we ended up climbing all of Sergent Mountain (1300 ft of it), I almost lost my chowder, and we kept getting rejected by private roads which did not allow bikes. No matter how hard we tried, we could not get out of this park, so we were contemplating heading onto the private roads so that they would escort us from the park. Finally, we got to camp after 32 miles of biking and headed out to the ocean for a little relaxation. It was an amazing view. Rocky bluffs dropped down into the chilly Atlantic where Esmith and I found a "cauldron" where we could wash off the dust from the day in the VERY cold water. We explored for a bit, got some pictures, then returned to the camp site for a dinner of pesto chicken and pasta. The adventure officially starts tomorrow and Bsmith is going to join us for the first few days, so that will be good to have some extra company. Our navigation skills today do not bode well for the trip...we will see if we improve! Bedtime was an unheard of 8:30 pm. I haven't been in bed this early since grade school...

Highlights: chowder and popovers, getting lost in Acadia National Park, the Maine coastline

Top speed for the day: 33.6 mph

Distance: 32 miles

Weather: Excellent, slight breeze, no rain, lots of sun...almost too much sun at times