Onto Sable River

Our day began with Jonathan's breakfast, which amused Mark and me for at least an hour. We had a May West - how Canadian. After leaving Barrington in the fog, we rode for almost 50 miles before we came to a store, a town, or anything more than 3-4 houses together. Mostly by the water, or in pine forests, the whole way was lined with purple, pink and white lupines. And dead porcupines. The fog burned off and we stopped in shelburne for a late lunch by the water. Then onto Lockporte where there's a nice sandy (freezing cold!) beach, and we had dinner on the pier by the harbor. Then it was 12 more miles to our chalet for the night, which was very nice. Highlight - meeting the 'old fart walking'. Her comment about cycling: 'it doesn't matter how good you are, eventually your face is going to hit the ground.'. Lowlight - a smashed iPhone screen. Miles 82.4

Things are always better in Canada

The ferry is really nice! Decent food (says Jonathan, who as we know is a little particular), relatively smooth sailing, clean bunks. Except for the screw I picked up in my tire, overall a great way to travel - so why did it seem 2/3 empty? We landed in Yarmouth to fog and 50s. Classic Nova Scotia.  The ride south to Barrington (lobster capital of Canada) was pretty, mostly along the bay or ocean. A good tailwind moved us right along, and the sun came out as we arrived. Highlights of the ride were the UFO museum in shag harbor, the general store in tusket and the many friendly, mostly Acadian, folks we met. 52.2 flat miles on great, low traffic roads. 

Onto Portland and the ferry.

The weatherman was right.  It rained.  Hard.  Jason and I waited it out, thinking (hoping) it would abate.  It didn't.  Around 11 we set out, stopping at kittery trading post to check out the waterproof gear, none of which would have actually worked given the incessant rain. And wind. And cold. So on we slogged. Through York, kennebunk, saco and ultimately Portland. It never stopped raining. Or warmed to more than 55. Ugh. There were some enjoyable moments on the eastern trail north of saco when we were a bit sheltered - only possible to ride there due to the surly! Good news - our bags are indeed waterproof, and we made the ferry.  Despite Amtrak's best effort, we met up with Mark and Jonathan and are now in international waters. Will be waking up in the Atlantic time zone. Total distance 51.6

6/27 Boston -> Kittery

Day 1. Met Jason and Hillel in Boston along the Charles river at 8am and headed north. Weather good, and the ride took us through Everett, Salem, Ipswich, Newburyport (lunch stop), Hampton beach (sand castle contest), Portsmouth and to Maine. Mostly flat ride, 76.6 miles.  

For all of us, our first 3 state ride and arrived feeling ready for a beer from the Portsmouth brewery. Walked around Portsmouth and toured the naval sub stationed here, which makes the Days Inn look like the taj mahal. A good day. Tomorrow looks like rain. Lots of rain. But we have a plan - to ride.

6/25 - Preview trip to Vineyard

In order to practice for the big adventure, and because I was not at camp this summer, I was finally able to join the world famous Martha's Vineyard biking trip.  A ferry, a great day of cycling, and lots of fun companionship got me psyched for the big adventure.  I still can't figure out how my computer only shows 4.5 hours of cycling, and yet we were on the island for 9 hours.  Could be the multiple food stops???  Anyway, there were 14 of us and at the end of the day, I got another metric in (actually 66 miles) so I'm feeling ready.  Weather was great, the companionship was excellent, and we even (occasionally) were able to ride for more than 10+ mile stretches without stopping.  Now, it's time to get on the fully loaded Surly and see if I can do it for 20 days in a row....

Photos:  Menemsha bike ferry; Gay Head lighthouse (recently moved inland - see dirt pile slightly left)