Day 5, hilly Naples Maine to Conway NH

Today was my biggest single day climb. Not one hill/mountain but a nice series totaling up to almost +5700ft in 49miles. Overcast and drizzly but actually not bad for this kind of ride. Only had to stop twice to clear my glasses so a tremendous improvement over yesterday:) All very lightly traveled roads made for a very low stress ride even without shoulders.  Smile of the Day was coming out of Naples at the bridge construction. While waiting to join the end of the traffic line a tractor trailer waved me in ahead of him then kept at least 5 car lengths back and a little horn toot at the end:)

The obligatory covered bridge shot.

Clearance restriction device, I made it, yeah.

HBO guy took our picture. 

NTR Restart, Day 4 Durham ME to Naples ME

Today was the official "real" start of our ride across country! Unfortunately the weather was nothing like days 1-3 back in mid March. The best way to describe today was Raw. Temps in the low 40s and rain, but blessedly the winds were not too bad. I started in the little river side park in Durham at about 8:30am. Layering up to keep warm, gloves and rain coat(that seriously needs Scotch Guarding). The worst part about rain riding for me is that I wear eye glasses. I get used to the rain drops obstructing view and actually they help when riding faster then about 10mph since they keep rain out of the eyes. The big, and I mean big downside is when they fog up. Some times I can clear them with speed but not always. Maybe ski goggles. The weather report for tomorrow looks much better, NO RAIN:)

Start at Durham Park, just getting wet. 

Mid ride stop, very wet. 

End of ride, drying out clothing and machine

Enough of the negative, on the plus side the fairing really earned it's place on the trike.  It keeps the wind and rain off mostly off the lower body. After several hours the legs do get wet, but nothing like the chest. Next big positive are the Maine car/truck drivers! Something like 99.5% gave generous passing clearance and no overt hostile motions. While many roads leave a lot to be desired, I can only hope the rest of the states have such considerate drivers.

As for the trike. The only problem was jumping the chain off the lowest chainring while slamming a downshift to the new Salsa 24T. Easily reset, but I can't be ham fisted in shifting. Also on these road the trike is so much safer than a bike. With the rain and rough road surfaces I think this would need to be a weather delay on two wheels.

Best event of the day was without question was seeing Donna in the parking lot of the Naples American Legion.  After 32.9 miles and +3400ft of climbs I was ready to call it a day.

Waldoboro to Durham

Day 3 - In the "Big City" now. Well what passes for cities in Maine, Bath and Brunswick. Real traffic but drivers still being good. The last 10miles was character building along with summer time temps. First breakage, mirror snapped off. I think hitting an old wood bridge at speed did it, frankly I'm surprised nothing else came loose.

Nice rest stop in Damariscotta Maine

Brunswick bike path wasn't too scenic but better than being on the road.

Lost mirror and heart rate monitor.

I've found that climbing hills I use the heart rate monitor kinda like a temperature gauge in a car. I keep an eye on it and can spin with with abandon until 153. Then slow down to keep it steady. If need I can still sprint until I hit about 170 but then I make sure to slow/stop to let the rate to drop back to the 130's

Belfast to Waldoboro

Today I started at the Belfast foot bridge and pointed my trike toward Waldoboro via Camden. Following the ACA route I left Belfast on Rt 52 to Lincolnville Center. This is a two lane hilly road without a paved shoulder. But this early in the season without any tourists all the car drivers were very courteous. Sometimes while going slow on ascents I'd pull in to the gravel shoulder to let cars pass. I'd hate to do this road in the summer however with the not so nice out of state cars. The welcomed shoulders came back near Megunticook Lake and had shoulders on the main roads all the way to Waldoboro. In Camden I deviated from the ACA route staying away from the cold air coming off the water. But by late day I was ready to be cooled off. Who would have thought HEAT (80F+) would be an issue in Maine in March. Rt 90 and US1 had much more traffic but with generally good shoulders it wasn't an issue.

Leaving Belfast behind, nice wake-up climb.

First Moose sighting:)

Guess what this is part of.............

It belongs to a small plane that just missed the airport.

No shoulder on RT 52

Glad I have three wheels dealing with this.

Great long views nearing Lincolnville.

Not much in Lincolnville Center. 2 cars passed during 10 minute break.

Cold air coming off the lake.

And real shoulders again nearing Camden, yeah!

Knox(home) to Belfast Maine

MapMyRide link Today was such a beautiful day I decided to start my across the USA ride. About 9 am I left the house and about two miles down the road I had my first "chased by a dog" event while the fat idiot owner in a tie dyed shirt looked on. But the dog must have experience with pepper spray, and an extended arm pointed at the dog and it backed off. From now on I'm keeping the pepper spray closer at hand.

Some nice climbs but in general a drop from about 750ft msl at our house to sea level in Belfast. Nice low traffic roads or nice shoulders so I never felt in danger. Arrived at the foot bridge before noon and called Donna for a pick-up. Only 17-18 miles since this was originally only a training ride. But once home and looking at the great weather predicted for the next few days, we decided to start the ride until SAG distance back home is too long then we'll do a weather hold until late April. I can't believe this weather will hold.

Pepper spay kept in hand after dog event.

Horses were curious about my trike

Another day of great descents!!!!

Belfast foot bridge, nice descent but dicey roll out.

Belfast Harbor

Home of Idiot dog owner, with dog on porch.