Jigger Johnson Campground

Day 04 (31 May 2014)
Naples, ME to Jigger Johnson Campground, NH
Day: 54.77 miles, Trip: 259.45 miles

My brakes are squeaking and I really didn't feel comfortable going down any steep grades. I remembered a bike shop a ways back in Naples and decided to head a couple miles back and see if they could help me out. Unfortunately the shop didn't open until 10:00 am which would put me WAY behind my group, I decided to wait anyway since it was only about an hour. At 9:30 the owner came up and said he had to run to town and he would try and make it back by 10:00. He didn't get back until 10:30. I almost left but waited this long what is another 15 minutes right.

He set me up with some new brakes and I bought a new seat bag to get some of the weight out of my handle bar bag. He also gave my bike a tune up and got me back on the road giving me some good route advice so that I could catch up with the rest of the group. It was after 11:00 am before I reached the campground again and got back on the road towards Jigger Johnson Campground. I took a shortcut to cut out some distance and just stuck to the highway which has a nice shoulder instead of the longer route. Between Fryburg, ME and Conway, NH we crossed the border and I entered our second state. I finally caught up with the group at that last rest stop in Conway, NH.

  

From the rest stop it was a beautiful climb up to Jigger Johnson Campground. The campground is half way up the climb of Mount Kancamagus. It is a forest service campground. I set up my tent but we were told by the people running the campground that we had to move a few of our tents off the grass and onto the gravel. I really liked my spot but just moved it anyway. After dinner I called it a night. Tomorrow we get to climb the steep part of Kancamagus.

Naples, ME

Day 03 (30 May 2014)
Damariscotta, ME to Naples, ME
Day: 84.7 miles, Trip: 204.68 miles

I started looking for some new tires today. The beasts (Schwalbe Marathon Mondials) are too big and provide too much resistance compared to the light road bikes I am riding with. I am not going to just buy any lighter tire, but if I can find a good touring tire lighter than these I am going to get them. I can't really complain about these tires except for that they aren't good for keeping up with lighter road bikes, I have really only had 1 flat tire in over 3000 miles riding them and the same tubes in them. So far I have been striking out, a couple years ago people recommended 26 inch wheels and in my frame size my Surly only had the option of 26 inch wheels but not all the shops mostly carry 26 inch mountain bike tires and 700c road tires.

Like the rest of Maine we are moving up and down along rollers most of the day. I arrived in Brunswick, ME at the first rest stop and got to stop into Walmart for some supplies that I needed. I stopped into town at the bike shop in town but wasn't really thrilled with the service or advice I received from there. I realized I still haven't changed my brakes like I planned so that is on my list as well. I am sure I can find a decent bike shop along the way to get all this stuff fixed.

From Brunswick we cruised along to Shaker Village, ME for the second stop where it began to rain and again I was running behind the group. We were hoping for a quick rain but it decided it had a lot to dump on us. The road from Shaker Village to Naples, ME was via route 11. This road was in horrible condition full of deep pot holes and was more rubble than road. Add rush hour traffic (as rush hour as you get out here) and rain and it was not a pretty picture. Out of the 3000+ miles that I put on my bike this was some of the most sketchy riding.

I stopped in Naples, ME (population 3,270) with Michelle, Molly and Sonja and had a hot sub from Subway to warm up and get out of the rain. By the time we finished dinner the rain had mostly stopped. From here it was a short ride to the campground. The route leaders had hot chocolate ready for us when we arrived. We set up our tents on soggy ground and called it a night, grateful that it has stopped raining.

Damariscotta, ME

Day 02 (29 May 2014)
Belfast, ME to Damariscotta, ME
Day: 51.98 Miles, Trip: 118.98 miles

As before I was dropped as soon as there was anything to climb. The riding today was not bad and we had a rest stops in Camden, ME and Newcastle, ME. While in Camden I sorted through my cubby in the trailer and loaded a box with stuff that I could do without to send home. There were a few other things I wanted to include but I couldn't fit them into the box.

When I arrived into the town of Damariscotta (population 2,040) the traffic was heavy so I opted to take a paralleling quite street. This worked nice until it ended in constructions. I then looped around a few other streets to get back on track and arrived to the church in the middle of the pack. Tonight we are staying in the Damariscotta Baptist Church.

Still adjusting to being back on the road. I know it will take some time till I am in touring shape. Riding with a group, supported, is definitely different than solo, self contained touring. I will eventually do a summary of the differences and my view on them.

The Ride Begins

Day 01 (28 May 2014)
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.

Exploring Bar Harbor, ME

26-27 May 2014

These two days were spent getting to know each other,  getting sorted and packed in the trailer,  picking up any missing items, visiting the town and enjoying being a tourist. 

Some of the highlights
- Maine lobster for dinner my first day in town
- Orientation, meet and greet, and receiving the rest of our kits
- Discovered 2 new delicious beers,
Atlantic brewing comp,  bar harbor real ale and otter creek brewing, otter creek black ipa
- Crossed over to Bar Island and hiked the mile to the summit for the view of town

The weather is cold and wet and it looks like it will be this way for the next several days. We are set to dip tires in the Atlantic tomorrow at 8:30 am.

A few disclaimers for the posts that are to follow.
1. Mileage is ridden miles, not route miles. The overall total will not add up since sometimes I will ride around towns after we already reach camp, These are throw away miles and will be included in the overall trip total. The ridden miles do include distance traveled to visit things in route or thanks to detours (a better way of calling wrong turns).

2. Town populations are taken from the Adventure Cycling Associations maps and are approximate populations that I have rounded off (I like round numbers).

3. I will most likely be adding more here when I think of them.

The Journey Begins

I apologize for the lack of updates.  I arrived in PA at my mom's place the day after mother's day,  it's the thought that counts.  I spent some time visiting her and my sister and my friends cat and dana. Got to help my sister and dana do some moving and even made it out to Lancaster to visit my friends Ashley Smith and Stephan. I attempted to do some fundraising but didn't have a whole lot of luck. I spent the last day testing gear and packing. I started by packing as if I was doing a solo self supported tour and the through in a couple luxuries.

After 4 hours of driving from my mom's house to Hagerstown,  MD I got to meet some of the group I will be riding with this summer.  Upon stuffing my belongings into my cubby it is clear that I need to get rid of some stuff.  I was running late making it back to the meet point so doesn't have time to weed through my belongings,  will have to start that tonight. 

I was hoping to swap out my beefy tires for more modest ones but last night I realized I didn't have tubes for the smaller tires and through all my looking couldn't find any on my way to the meet point. Looks like that will have to wait as well. This leaves me with some logistics to work out in Maine.

We stopped along the way and picked up one more cyclist,  and then continued the long drive to Waltham, MA where we are calling it a night.  We are still working out the kinks in the trailer but I should fit fine even with all my stuff. 

Picking up Kevin

We are staying in a hotel tonight,  meet three more from the group here.  Tomorrow on to Maine.

This is my first post from my new galaxy, and I have found several auto corrects,  I fixed some,  so if something doesn't make sense, that is probably why.  I will go back and review all my phone posts once I have pc access.

Fundraising as of May 25
Raised $3500, that means I still need to raise $800 more.  If you haven't donated yet to support this great cause, please do.