Bar Harbor, ME to Belfast, ME
Day: 67 Miles, Trip: 67 Miles
The morning started out cold and wet. We are clearly going to need time to settle into efficiently use the trailer and get going in the mornings. We all met at the beach and dipped our rear tires into the water and posed for our first group photos in our jerseys.
Off we went, officially starting our journey towards the west coast. Right at the beginning we had a good climb. I dropped off the back at the very beginning. It became abundantly clear that I am out of shape and will be that guy. The one who didn't train and is constantly last to arrive. The group quickly divided into smaller groups based on ability.
We gathered at our first official rest stop in Ellsworth, ME. 22.5 miles down ... 4272.5 miles to go. We continued on and gathered again in Orland, ME another 24 miles further along. By this point my butt is starting to hurt. I am riding a newish Brooks B17 Imperial saddle and it is not broken in yet. I made the same mistake on my last tour, I guess sometimes you just don't learn.
We stopped for the night in Belfast, ME (population 6,380). We are staying in the city park. The area we are camping in is right along the water of Belfast Bay and there are bathrooms and showers available to us. It is a nice spot but the fish smell is a bit much for me, at least where we are camping it is not bad. I joined Bethany, Richard, Chris, Andy and Eric for dinner at a place called Laan Xang Cafe which had Thai, Vietnamese, and Laotian dishes. My meal was actually quite delicious and I can hit the sack tired yet satisfied.
Ron Getting the first flat tire of the trip.
