May 7, 2021
Day 2: Bucksport to Rockport
A Beautiful Spring Day
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Climbing today; 2,779 ft Cumulative; 4,970 ft
Today was a gorgeous day to ride a bike! We got off to a slow start; late last night we were each working on our computers and discovered that since the computer clocks were set to central time the actual time was an hour later - duh! So we slept late, we needed the extra rest anyway as we haven't quite recovered from the hectic pace of getting here.
Once we slowly got up and moving, we ventured next door to the Dunkin' Donuts food emporium for breakfast, then returned to the room and started repacking the mess of things that had exploded from our panniers. We were finally ready to roll and loaded up the bikes, when disaster struck; one of Doc's pannier attachments was missing a screw that secured it in place and the pannier was useless without it! Doc had opted to use a different brand pannier than the Ortlieb's he had used before (did I mention he's a bit of a gearhead?) and the shop had apparently done less than a stellar job in assembling them. I had a few spare bolts that fit the braze-ons of bikes, but they didn't work. We got lucky when I spotted something just outside our door in the parking lot - it was the missing screw! Problem solved, Doc tightened all the remaining screws in the panniers to be certain they were secured. We were once again ready to roll, but Doc couldn't find his gloves. Due to his rather unusual system of panniers and bikepacking frame packs, he has about 25 bags to look in when something is missing.
It was already about 10:30am and I was anxious to roll on, so I left and told Doc I would ride slow and he could catch up. Shortly after leaving I crossed over the magnificent Penobscot River bridge.
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From the bridge one has a good overview of the picturesque town of Bucksport;
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3 years ago
Buddy
3 years ago
Doc pointed out that the Penobscot River is the one featured in the movie "Hunt For Red October" wherein a soviet nuclear submarine was hidden in it; Hunt For Red October . So now you know. It's a great movie by the way; but now we return you to the story of our little bicycle adventure.
Doc caught up to me in an overlook parking area. He found his gloves outside the hotel office where he parked his bike yesterday while checking in. We rolled on, and enjoyed great riding on route 1 with low to moderate traffic prior to the tourist season. Most of the time we had clean wide shoulders to ride on, and we were happy campers.
We had lunch in Belfast; I enjoyed haddock chowder and a salad. The coastal region of Maine is a tourist area; the tourist season hasn't quite gotten wound up yet, so we are enjoying having access to numerous small restaurants before the crowds hit.
About half of today's ride consisted of rural roads off of Route 1 - these were 2-lane roads with no shoulders, but low to moderate levels of traffic. Here's a few photos of things along the route;
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2 years ago
I have a new toy; a GoPro video camera that I can mount on my helmet. I'm not very good with it, and I'm certainly not a pro when it comes to editing and joining the video segments. Still, some of you may enjoy seeing a first-hand view of the riding. So here's a very poor, totally amateurish attempt at filming snippets from today's ride;
We encountered another cycle tourist today, a very exciting development because this route doesn't get the number of cyclists as the Transam does and we are still early in the cycle touring season. Thomas had recently completed a tour along the Southern Tier Route, and had been on a 3-day Amtrak trip to reach this neck of the woods. He was cycling to Bar Harbor to start the Northern Tier route, and we expect that he will easily catch us within a few days.
Most of the climbing today consisted of roller-coaster hills with gentle grades. But there were some steep grades (about 10%) in places, and we were struggling with the heavily-loaded bikes. We were very happy to finally arrive at the Starlight Lodge in Rockport. A quick shower, then a quarter-mile walk to a nearby pizza place, and we enjoyed a very tasty brick-oven-fired pizza plus maybe a couple of adult drinks. When we returned to the motel, I got a TERRIBLE leg cramp that I thought was going to rip the muscle right off my leg. I think a bottle of gatorade is on the menu for tomorrow so I can restore some electrolytes.
We have been lucky with the weather so far, and tomorrow is also forecast to be a nice day - it will be a cold start but warm up in the afternoon, and no rain is forecast. Who could ask for anything better than that? Perhaps we can get away a bit earlier than we have been? Best wishes to all, good night now...
Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 90 miles (145 km)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 6 |
Was your leg cramp in the injured leg?
3 years ago
Thank you for journaling live. I don't think we could have stood the tension of waiting for a late report!
We've just scrapped the intended start to our summer tour. We were going to ride to/from Milwaukee from Prairie du Chin (where we could leave our vehicle at a friend's house). No matter how I massaged the miles, the available time remained the same. We had a drive at the start and a ferry at the end of the four available days. Riding 70 mile days is never a favorite of mine, much less at the beginning of a tour. In the end, we are going to start in Milwaukee. That's a long way of saying, you are smart for riding easier days to begin. You could even back off a little, with the climbs, Doc's cold, your leg, etc. Discretion is the better part of valor, you know.
It's a good thing your eagle eyes saw that pannier screw! What are the chances?
Here's wishing you a good ride today. I can't wait to read the report!
Kelly
3 years ago
Buddy
3 years ago
It’s good to know that folks are reading the journal. I’m going to watch your journal since we are heading “that way” on our tour - maybe our paths will cross? Best of luck,
Buddy
3 years ago
3 years ago
Buddy Hall
3 years ago