On The Road Again

19 June 2012

Stats for the day:

Depart Portland 8:40 a.m., arrive Potters Place Campground, Lebanon, ME 4:00 p.m.

Trip mileage – 49.33 miles

Today’s mileage – 49.33 miles

Time on bike – 4.26.16

Average speed – 11.1

Max speed – 33.5

So the first day of our nineteen planned days of biking is in the books.  Not a bad one as the sun played hide and seek with the clouds, keeping temperatures cool for most of it. 

We started the morning by deciding to change our route and picking up the Eastern Trail in Scarborough rather than in South Portland.  Trying to make it around the construction in Portland just didn’t make sense to us.

Anyway, the trail treated us well as we made good time down to its end in Kennebunk, then hitting the roads for the rest of the day.  Traffic wasn’t too bad, and what there was of it gave us plenty of room.  As much as the trails are great for quiet riding and easy grades, the surfacing can make things challenging, thereby keeping our speeds a little lower.  But both of us will take the easier grades and rural settings over the traffic noise and congestion.

Of course, just because we are on trails doesn’t mean we have peace and quiet.  Our last minute rider, Josh’s Bottle, yammers non-stop.  And when he doesn’t get his way, he whines until we can’t stand it anymore.  So we got him back today by snapping a picture of him while he was in the Porta-john.  We thought it was pretty funny, but he sulked for over an hour.  He’s such a baby.  Oh well, at least it was quiet!

One notable stop today was at a Cumberland Farms outside of Sanford.  Nola really needed a restroom and theirs was not for public use.  A sad face and explanation about traveling by bicycle resulted in allowing Nola to use the employee restroom.  Yay!  The woman working the cash register was nice and interested in our bicycling trip.  She liked Nola’s gel seat cover.  

By early afternoon it was noticeably warmer and the hills got steeper, resulting in our going a bit slower.  The last part of the day was the hilliest, as we made our way around Sanford and down to Lebanon, ME to the campground.  But after a hot shower and good supper we are ready to go again, straight to bed! 

Weather reports we have heard say that Wednesday and Thursday will be hot and humid, so we aren’t expecting to break any land speed records with the bike and trailer.  Tune in tomorrow to see how we have fared, and until then everyone stay safe and enjoy the evening.

P.S. In case anyone is thinking it, this is not Col. Harry Potter’s, or the magician Harry Potter’s campground.  We have not seen anything military or magical since we got here.  It’s still early, so who knows.

P.P.S.  So we've confirmed it isn't the magician Harry Potter's campground...  the ice cream shop down the street wasn't open and did not magically open when we went in search of some yummy cold stuff.  Oh well.  Guess that means TWO ice cream stops tomorrow!