We hadn't planned on taking a rest day.  But we also hadn't planned on Doc getting sick and then me catching it.  Really, the illness itself isn't very debilitating at all - it just seems like a very minor cold, currently I have a bit of a nagging cough but no fever or headache.   It could be a cold or it could be a mild case of Covid - since Doc and I have both had the vaccine, if we were to get Covid it would most likely be mild - I guess we'll never know what it is, a viral infection of some sort.  So we could have probably pushed on, but there were other issues to consider.  My bike has been "skipping" if I pedal even moderately hard in the smaller cogs, so that needs a bit of a look-see by a good wrench.  I had actually had almost a completely new transmission installed for this journey; a new rear cogset giving me an even lower low-gear than I had, and a new rear derailleur (necessary to handle the extra chain length for the lower gearing), and a new chain.  That was done in January 2020 in anticipation of a tour last year, but of course that didn't happen.  The bike sat mostly unused during 2020 and up until just before this tour - I did my training on my other touring bike (a Fuji Tour, great bike BTW) so as to have new or lightly used components on my Surly for this tour.  So perhaps I should have ridden it more than I did before the tour - I did put a couple of hundred miles on it to be sure all was in order, and it seemed fine - but now it has this problem.

So we rolled on up to North Conway, about 5 miles off our route, so that we have access to bike shops.  I left my bike at a shop last night - honestly, as I said prior, I didn't have much confidence that they could sort out the problem.  But I was wrong, and I'm happy for it!  I was able to pick up the bike at 11:00 this morning, and a quick test ride confirmed that the chain was no longer skipping in the lower cogs.  I purchased a spare shift cable, and even with that the total bill was slightly less than $50, so I felt like I got a fair deal.   While walking to the bike shop I found another penny, bringing the "found money" fund up to 58 cents already - I'm off to a very good start on having enough money for that celebratory coffee at the end of the ride!

I really intended to rest today, and I didn't want to get out any more than necessary.  So on the way home from the bike shop I stopped at a grocery store and bought a food bowl for lunch and a "Hungry Man" dinner for tonight.  I also stocked up on my emergency food supplies by buying peanut butter, bagels, and tuna fish in a plastic pouch.  So now if we arrive in a town with no restaurant or store open, I will have food.  I advised Doc to stock up also - it's wise to always have enough for dinner and breakfast the next morning just in case. 

The Residence Inn has a guest laundry, so that was on the agenda for today.  It costs $5.00 to wash and dry a load, and that seems a bit stiff to me - but I was happy for the convenience of the laundry on site.   I am a Marriott Gold member due to extensive travels while I was employed, and I have stayed often at Residence Inns.  Usually they have a good breakfast, but due to Covid they now only offer a bag to go - it wasn't much, just a small muffin and yogurt.  Fortunately there is a McDonald's across the street, so a breakfast sandwich completed things. 

Doc made a run to the post office to send some things home - I sent home a pair of leg warmers (1 pair will be enough for me), my lobster-claw gloves (it hasn't been that cold and I have a lighter weight pair of long-finger gloves) , a spare tube (I have another spare tube, and Doc also has one of the same size), and most of a box of Alka-Seltzer Plus cold medicine (I kept a few packets).  We know that the climb to Kancamagus Pass tomorrow morning is going to be challenging and we are trying to dump all the ballast overboard before we commence.  I've actually added weight with the emergency food I bought even after sending the unneeded items home.   Breaking News; Doc just returned from the post office - he  rode all the way there in a 30 mph headwind and some rain and discovered he didn't have his wallet - he returned and hunted around the hotel room and couldn't find it, and eventually discovered that he actually had it with him in his back jersey pocket - so now he's off again to the post office and hopefully this time will work out.

We spent time planning the next 4 days of stops and reserving lodging.  It looks like we will be inside for the next 4 days - we'd like to get past the mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont before we need to camp - camping is okay but we'd prefer to avoid cold nights in the mountains.

Impressions of Maine. Maine is a very beautiful state.  I'm glad we rode through it when we did, because the coastal area is a popular tourist attraction and I wouldn't want to deal with more traffic if we had started later.  The coastal area is NOT flat; as a cyclist you need to show up prepared to do some climbing from day one.  Many (but not all) of the major roadways have a shoulder that makes for comfortable cycling, and most (but not all) of the rural roads have only moderate levels of traffic.  USBRS routes 1 and 1A are well marked and easy to follow.  This can actually be a detriment if you are following the ACA Northern Tier route, because they are sometimes the same and sometimes not.  So you need to be very careful and not rely on the USBRS signs or else you will wander off the ACA route.  We saw very little wildlife in Maine.  I recall seeing only a few squirrels and some seagulls near the coast - we did see a porcupine, but it was roadkill.  We weren't chased by any dogs, other than once when a couple of tiny little poodle-yapper things came at us - the only danger from that was the possibility of laughing too hard and falling off the bike.

The people of Maine were all extremely friendly and eager to help or offer advice when asked.   Many were curious about what we were doing.  Most (but not all) of the drivers were courteous and made careful passes.  It isn't hard for a cycle-tourist to stay indoors the entire time - we did so easily, using hotels every night except for 1 when we stayed at an Air B&B condo.  

From my perspective as a cycle-tourist, I felt that things improved as we moved inland and got away from the hectic coastal area.  The pavement was good most everywhere, but the only chewed-up roadways we found were on the rural inland roads.  Even so, it was all very easily passable for a cyclist.   We rode 270 miles traversing Maine, and I would grade it as "B-" for cycle-touring.  Not bad at all.  It is relatively expensive for cycle-touring, and there is a bit of traffic to contend with, but it's a beautiful area to cycle.

Station K-RAP Podcast Starring Bud & Doc;