After the ride
Post ride FAQs
We are still enjoying ourselves and our “recovery” here in Maine and are now at the Spruce Point Inn in Boothbay Harbor. This morning was spent kayaking and the afternoon on a whale watch boat trip so we are certainly not stressed! Some questions we’d like to answer about our ride and if you have any of your own, please post them in the “comment” tab and we’ll answer them.
How many miles a day did we ride?
We were on our bikes 71 of the 79 days for a total of 4230 miles which works out to 59.57 miles per day and averaged between 11 and 12 miles per hour. Our longest mileage was the wind-aided day in Montana, 104 miles, and the shortest was probably on July 4th, around 34 miles. There were some 70 and 80 mile days in there as well. We had 8 rest days where we did nothing at all but recharge our engines, laundry, bike repair etc.
Did we have any major bike breakdowns?
None. The Surley Disc Truckers are amazingly sturdy and reliable bikes and Vanessa at Landis Cyclery in Tempe set them up and fitted them perfectly for us. On a side note, our friend Vanessa is moving with her family to California before we get back to Phoenix so we won’t be able to share our road stories with her in person but we’ll stay in touch. We did have 5 flat tubes, one in Montana and 4 in two days of riding on the Interstate in North Dakota. We replaced both front and rear tires on both bikes due to the plain old wear and tear of the road. In Minneapolis we had the bikes checked out, cables and brakes tightened and both chains replaced, again normal wear and tear.
How many hours a day did we ride and where did we spend the nights?
In general, we tried to get on the road by 7 o’clock each day. The early start was to avoid the heat of the day and to get some miles in before the winds picked up. Also on most days we were able to dodge going-to-work traffic. We would pedal for 25 miles or so (about 2 hours) and take a snack break, bananas and protein bars and then resume biking until lunch, usually around 11:30 and then plan on stopping between 1:00 and 2:00. So it wasn’t that we were on the bikes every waking minute but probably 5 to 7 hours daily.
At the beginning we camped a bit but with the noise of the campgrounds and RV parks (dogs, trains, other campers – one woman next to us in Washington was on the phone to her friend at 3:00 am … loudly chattering away) we we weren’t getting enough “good” sleep to help us keep going day after day. We then shipped most of our camping gear back to Phoenix and utilized Warm Showers and hotels after that. We also shipped back our cold weather gear once we crossed the Continental Divide and later shipped some things we didn’t need anymore which emptied out our front panniers that we shipped back, too. So we were definitely lighter by the end of the trip.
What were your favorite and least favorite parts of the ride?
The most beautiful scenery along the route was in the mountains but also the hardest biking. Going through the Cascades and then Glacier NP were, I think, our favorite segments. Every day had its own challenge and beauty so there was never a terrible, horrible day but some of the hardest to get through were the rides into Browning, Montana, because of the endless hills and added mileage; after Wolf Point, Montana, because of the strong headwind; and some of the days in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine caused by the numerous steep climbs. On the whole, we would both agree that the adventure was fun and enjoyable. We really enjoyed the long rail to trail paths in Minnesota and Wisconsin, the ride in the UP of Michigan, the Erie Canal and many others.
Be sure to post any questions you’d like us to answer. We’ll try to break ourselves away from activities like the below to answer them!!!!
Day 81 – Relax
Day 81 – Recovery
A deserved champagne toast
This is day 2 of no bikes and yes, we are feeling a little nostalgic for the routine and the enforced exercise of riding everyday. Both yesterday and today we have explored a little bit of Acadia and today we drove to Campobello to visit FDR’s summer cottage there. We pulled out our passports again to get there since (I didn’t know this) Campobello is in New Brunswick and it is in a joint US-Canadian international park. There were docents stationed at strategic places to educate us.
US – Canadian park at Campobello
The island used to be a retreat for wealthy New York and Boston families in the 1900s and had several hotels including one with 400 rooms. The hotels are gone as are most of the houses but the Roosevelt cottage and two others have been preserved.
The Roosevelts’ cottage
FDR, his mother, Eleanor and kids
Just before the bridge back to the US we stopped at the Mulholland Point Lighthouse and since the tide was running out, seals were feasting on the smaller fish caught in the rip. A guide at the lighthouse explained the resident sea mammal life including a recent dramatic rescue of a baleine whale that was dangerously tangled in fishing lines to the point that they were cutting into his body and restricting his ability to feed. A team of naturalists labored for hours to slowly cut away the lines and freed the whale from the entanglement.
Mulholland Point Lighthouse, New Brunswick
After crossing the bridge we passed through Lubec, the eastern most town in the US and drove to the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, the easternmost point in the US.
Now we are sitting on the rocks at Schoodic Point reading, writing and awaiting the sundown. Tomorrow we drive to Bob and Rebecca’s place in Sebasco, ME.
Looking toward Mt. Desert from Schoodic Point
Random thoughts and observations about our 79 day journey:
* As we observed early on in our blog, we found people to be without fail eager to help and willing to open themselves up to strangers. I can only remember one driver who seemed to try to drive as close to us as possible then gunned his extra loud Diesel engine. Not sure why he chose to do that but in the end all it did was startle us.
* Americans are very patriotic. It’s a generalization but the flags, buntings and bumper stickers show that no political party or region has a monopoly on pride in our country or in supporting our troops.
* We saw many older than middle age men and women riding brand new Harleys and I’m sure the Harley-Davidson company is very glad for the market niche. Many folks were on three wheel motorcycles and some pulled small trailers.
* There is a love affair with the RV lifestyle. We saw them on the roads, in campgrounds, for sale used in front yards and lined up new in dealers’ lots. They truly are mobile homes complete with every amenity we have in our houses including some with Jacuzzis and multiple bedroom/bath suites.
* One could easily build and furnish a house with the various materials, furniture and appliances either for sale or for free in front of houses.
* The most common small business we saw was auto repair and body work. Every town had at least one of each and sometimes more. The most frequently seen chain stores we saw belonged to Family Dollar. They seemed to spring up everywhere. Until we reached some of the cities in the Midwest and east we hardly saw any Starbucks. There are, on the other hand, many Subways.
* I forgot to mention that when we came through Brunswick, Maine, we passed the home of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. A few weeks previous to that In Ontario, we had passed the house that was the inspiration for her book.
While we feel we have accomplished a wonderful and long journey, we both feel that by taking one day at a time and even one mile at a time, this trip is not “epic” at all. There is something about establishing a daily routine and daily expectation of what is to be accomplished that reduces the 4200 mile into manageable distances. It’s the old “every journey begins with one step” phenomenon.
I’m absolutely certain we will remember other vignettes of the trip and we will continue to blog them in case anyone out there is still watching!
Addendum
It’s hard to believe that it was only yesterday when we rode into Bar Harbor. It already seems like days ago. Yesterday was a strange day in any case. When we got on our bikes in the morning, we knew we would not be doing so again in the context of our cross-country ride. And so we were feeling nostalgic. But we also knew we would have a fair number of hills and the morning was gray and chilly, so our level of enthusiasm was moderated somewhat.
Charles heading off early in the morning for the last time, under cloudy skies. Later in the day we would reach our final destination of Bar Harbor, ME.
Indeed, the ride was pretty grueling. Maine hills can be thought–they are relatively short, but not at all sweet. I much prefer longer climbs that are less steep than the short, steep Maine variety.
At one point in our ride, we had the opportunity to stay on Route 1–the crowded, tourist highway to the coast–and cut about 10 miles from our trip, or take a quieter albeit longer route. Normally, we would have looked quite fondly at the short cut but we decided this being our last day and all, that we should take the road less traveled. And we were glad we did. We got to stop and munch on wild blueberries on the side of the road and bike through the pretty coastal town of Surry.
Wild Maine blueberries are so much yummier than the commercial ones we get in grocery stores! I could have spent their rest of the day happily munching away, but we had places to go.
Our bike map showed only two hills of any significance between Surry and Bar Harbor, but our map was not truthful. In fact, we had about 5 or 6 pretty long and steep hills before we got to our destination. We then added another 8 miles of riding some of Arcadia’s carriage roads to make it up to Jordan Pond House for some popovers. I have very fond memories of having popovers there as a child for special occasions, so it seemed only fitting that Charles and I should celebrate the completion of our journey there. We were literally given the best seat on the lawn, closest to Jordan Pond. It was gorgeous. And probably due to the little note I wrote when making the reservation about growing up in Maine and finishing our bike trip there. Whatever the reason, the views from our table were stunning.
We then took the bus back down to Bar Harbor and dropped off our bikes at the bike shop for them to be shipped back home. I was worried that we might want to use the bikes later in Maine, but given the difficulty of the ride we had just completed that day, we both thought that a week without bikes in Maine would be a good thing. Of course, today, as we were driving around Schoodic–a beautiful coastal area across from Mt. Desert Island but still part of Acadia National Park–we missed the pace of riding and the ocean and pine smells. So we slowed down and rolled down our windows and all but stuck our heads out of the car. I guess it will take us a little while to get used to not being on a bike and experiencing the world from the inside of a car.
Our day yesterday ended with a wonderful dinner in Bar Harbor and a long drive in the dark to our B&B. We were exhausted, not being used to riding and partying!
Today we woke up and took a shower in the morning instead of in the afternoon as we have done for the past 89 days. We had a leisurely breakfast, enjoyed the view from our bedroom and caught up on some emails and I went out to the beautiful beach across from our B&B and participated on a Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Board call. After the call we got in the car and explored the area. We stopped in an art gallery in the small town of Winter Harbor. While chatting with the owner we discovered that she had gone to the same high school I had, graduating a few years earlier. Her father had been one of my high school math teachers and her grandmother had taken my senior photo! Another person entered the gallery and after a few minutes conversation we realized that her cousin had been in my junior high and high school classes. It’s a small world.
Anyway, long story short, we’re enjoying ourselves but it feels strange not being on our bikes part of every day and I feel somehow a bit guilty for it. Don’t ask me why and I’m sure that feeling will be gone by tomorrow. Now we just have to start eating a lot less than we’re used to. No more daily malts! It may take us a while to wean ourselves from this addiction.
Maine, by the way, is an incredibly scenic place. Whoever of you has not been here yet definitely needs to come. Some photos from today are pasted below.
This adventure has been something to remember and I’m so happy we were able to undertake it. I know that many of you think that you could never do something like this, but you’re wrong. I believe that you all could–just taking it one day at a time and one mile at a time. That’s the secret to success. Signing off. Cue tears.
Schoodic Point is another place where my parents used to take us as children. We would spend the day happily hopping from rock to rock.
The view from our B&B. Sand beaches such as this one are quite a rarity on the craggy, rocky coast of Maine. At low tide the beach is about three times as large. Two kayaker a are visible in the distance.
Bar Harbor was named as such because of a sand bar between the town and the island you see in this photo. At low tide you can walk on the bar to the island. This is the location where we dunked our front tires into the ocean.
Taken from the carriage rode on our way to Jordan Pond House for popovers and prosecco.
Toasting ourselves with Perrier Jouet and eating cheese and crackers on our own private beach. We saw a seal merrily jumping through the water after having scared up fairly large schools of fish that we could see churning up the water.
Day 80 – Resting in Acadia
Basking in completing our journey. Acadia.
Here’s the run down on our last day of biking yesterday.
Our Surlys, eager for the last day’s run
We started out from Searsport after an early breakfast into a cool morning and had about 20 miles on route 1. There was not too much traffic that early and the shoulder was wide so not a worrisome start to the day.
The Penobscot River Bridge and Observation Tower
We turned off onto a state road that took us through Surrey.
Maja grazing on delicious Maine blueberries on the roadside
We had some ups and downs through Surrey and eventually onto Ellsworth where we made our last turn onto Maine 3. This road was ok once we got out of Ellsworth and we enjoyed a long downhill run to the outskirts of Bar Harbor. There the road got downright hazardous with broken up pavement, no shoulder and a lot of vacation traffic.
Our entry into Bar Harbor. Maja isn’t really that much taller although Charles may be shrinking some.
We were glad to turn off onto the town of Bar Harbor and found a nice spot to dip our front wheels in the Atlantic and whoop our arrival.
Pacific to Atlantic. Rear wheels in the water in Anacortes, WA, on June 1. (See the photos below). Front wheels in the water at Bar Harbor, Maine, August 18.
When I think of all the adventures we have had over the last 79 days, all the climbs and descents, the “temporarily lost” confusions, the winds and weather, the hosts and others we’ve met, all the drivers who paid enough attention to avoid mowing us down I find it a little hard to comprehend that we have completed our journey.
After the initial celebration we walked our bikes into town with all the tourists and celebrated with ice cream.
Have a little sympathy. We’ve been on the road for a long, long time.
The fun didn’t stop there as we rode on Acadia National Park paths out to Jordan Pond for a toast with popovers and prosecco.
Popovers and prosecco at Jordan Pond
We put our bikes on the park’s bus and rode back into town where we dropped off our bikes at the Bar Harbor Bike Shop to be shipped back to Phoenix.
Now without our trusty Surly Disc Truckers and a a little sad at the parting, we took a bus to the airport to pick up our rental car and still dressed in our biking clothes had dinner at McCay’s and then undertook the hour’s drive to our BnB, Oceanside Meadows Inn on the Schoodic peninsula for a couple of days of serious de-compression and reflection.
Our inn in Acadia
This wraps up our daily blog but we intend to add an epilogue or two with thoughts and photos so we hope you will stay connected to bikewright.org for a while anyway. We sincerely thank each of you for following us, supporting us and keeping us in your thoughts as we pedaled eastward.
We have met some amazing people on the way, seen some beautiful scenery, introduced ourselves to a part of America we didn’t know and toured some of the most beautiful and original architecture this country has to offer from Frank Lloyd Wright.
bikewright 2.0 