End of East Coast Bike Ride, 2021

After 42 days of cycling 2,579 miles, two hurricanes, and two flat tires we arrived at the southernmost point in the United States at 12:15 pm on Sunday, October 10, 2021. After a rest and shower at our hotel, we headed back to old town Key West and spent the rest of the afternoon walking Duval Street. At the end of the day, we returned to our hotel and celebrated with a bottle of champagne and two slices of key lime pie. After popping the cork, eating dinner and enjoying our pie we slowly began adjusting to a life not focused on weather, traffic, and route options down the east coast. 

This trip was not only a cycling but also a logistical feat. We suspect none of you are currently logged onto the weather app on your phone to determine where you will be sleeping later this evening. Once we understood weather conditions, Jay would project his riding distance, Helen then began the search for accommodations, whether camping or a hotel for our stay each evening. Sometimes a 60-mile ride became a 70-mile ride so we could finish the day at a facility that met our needs. As Jay rode, Helen would seek out a grocery store to buy food for breakfast or dinner. She also did laundry and occasionally had an opportunity to take a day tour in a city we visited. The next day, we would repeat the cycle of checking the weather and plotting out our day’s journey to the next location. This was an adventure that took the art of team work to a new level.

One observation about our trek is that ocean saltwater and sand is an undeniable magnet to humans. As we traveled down the east coast, we witnessed the many ways a coastal location attracts our attention. There are amusement-filled boardwalks where saltwater taffy and pizza can be purchased on a whim.  There are also endless complexes of high rise beach front hotels that line stretches of the coastline for as far as the eye can see. Wealth configures the shoreline into exclusive enclaves with gated entrances accessible only to the top sliver of the American economic food chain. Occasionally, a shore front bungalow erected a generation ago appears. These last hold outs from a quieter time have survived hurricanes, shifting shorelines and surely the overwhelming family economic pressure to “sell out” and take the money.

It is hard to consume these observations if you are zooming along in a car at 50 – 60 mph on a road designed to move you as quickly as possible to the next location on your itinerary. More details are seen when you are hugging the shoreline on roads named “Beach Front Ave” or “Ocean Boulevard” at 15 mph on a bicycle. There is more time to absorb, and cycling provides “infinite” think time as you propel yourself forward.

We are grateful that we had no mishaps or injuries to report. Although it was anticipated but never vocalized, Jay was the most vulnerable to a traffic accident. However, it was Helen who had the occasion to be run off the road and thankfully avoided a last second collision with a bridge abutment.

The Last Leg

Having completed our cycling adventure, we departed Key West and headed up the west coast of Florida to visit friends in Venice, FL. With the drive back to our home in Roswell completed, Helen logged 6.434 miles of support driving over the 62 days we were out exploring the east coast.

The Prius is now unpacked, and we are beginning to adjust to our “normal” life.  Surely there is another adventure in our future. We don’t know what that adventure is, but the possibilities seem endless to us.

Home Stretch

We are in the home stretch of our east coast adventure.  We are now in Key Largo, just 100 miles from our destination.  If the weather cooperates, we will be at the southernmost point in the US by Sunday, completing our Canada to Key West trek.

Over the past several days, we have been adjusting our riding schedule to synch up with our kids' Miami vacation plans. 

They flew down to Miami from Atlanta on Thursday and we were at the hotel to greet them. They will continue touring Miami and then plan to drive down to Key West on Sunday. We are hoping that the whole family will be present when Jay arrives.

It is hard to believe that this adventure will soon end.  Thanks to all who have provided supportive comments and encouragement.

When we last posted, we were on our way to Savannah, GA where we had booked a room at the Marriott Riverfront hotel. We had an irresistible urge to stay there since it marked the end of our 2018 Seattle to Savannah bike ride.  As was the case three years ago, the hotel staff cheered and applauded our latest journey.

Jay continued to take advantage of the favorable weather putting in 378 miles over the last five days. Sunday was a rest day in Edgewater, FL just south of Daytona Beach. Since August 16, we have covered 2,100 miles and estimate we have another 490 miles to Key West.

Jay’s cycling experience has been a mix of smooth, traffic free roads to the rough and tumble of busy state highways some with and some without shoulders/bike lanes. He also has had his share of road closures due to construction, bridges rising into the sky, ferries and laid-back beach towns.

On our last night in Georgia, we camped at the Crooked River State Park in St. Mary. What a gorgeous campground! The lawn areas were neatly groomed, the paved roads were in excellent condition, and the level sites were large and far enough apart to be quite comfortable. The only downside were signs that warned people to watch out for alligators!

While Jay was busy pedaling away, once in Florida, Helen took advantage of the time to enjoy our stay in St. Augustine by taking a hop-on, hop-off trolley tour. Naturally, most of the tour is in the historical district of the oldest continuously occupied European settlement in the

United States, established in 1565, 55 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. The trolley drivers are well-versed on people, dates and circumstances.

As you can imagine, people weren’t as tall 400 years ago as they are now. There is a life size statue of Ponce de Leon in a park. He was 4’11” tall, one of the taller men of his time. Parts of the wall around the city were made of the trunks of palm trees, and they were only about 5 feet tall. Most adults now can look over the example that exists near de Leon’s statue, but that wasn’t the case when the original walls were built.

Henry Flagler (1830-1913) was an enterprising businessman, a founder of Standard Oil, and founder of the East Coast Railway. He made a significant impact on the economy of Florida. He built a number of buildings, including several churches, hotel, and buildings in St. Augustine that are now part of Flagler College, considered one of the top 10 most beautiful college campuses in the US. He was one of the first in Florida to use poured concrete instead of bricks to construct some of his buildings.

Sharp tabby wall discouraged enemies

Of course, St. Augustine also includes a historic jail (admission is $15 and Helen’s too cheap to pay that exorbitant amount!) and the Fountain of Youth (which also has an admission price, but our trolley took a short ride around the grounds). All in all, if you’re interested in history, it would be easy to spend a week here just walking or biking around and taking in all the sites!

When Jay gets back on the road, we are planning to meet up with family who will be visiting Miami later this week. 

Our weekly video

  

 

Wilmington to Yemassee, SC Sept. 22-27, 2021

After two rain days in Wilmington, NC Jay decided to put in at least 70 miles a day while the weather was favorable. We continue to head SSW along the coast. Jay cycled the last bit of the Outer Banks passing through Kure Beach, NC catching the ferry to Southport to continue the ride on the mainland.

It’s now offseason so the normally bustling summer towns of Myrtle Beach and Surf City were at the start of the winter ghost town cycle. Jay’s bike maps now took him off the shoreline through long stretches of idyllic tree covered roads as well as hazardous miles on busy highways without any shoulders.  

Our roads are still planned by car-centric engineers. In a few places where the very narrowest strip of asphalt extended beyond the roadway that would provide some biker safety, the North and South Carolina Departments of Transportation opted to rumple strip that bike accessible real estate. Car safety is important, but riding with cars zooming past just three feet away at 60 miles per

Steeple w/ wind vane instead of cross

hour is a white-knuckle experience. One needs to accept the tradeoffs from pedaling down beach roads to gliding under Spanish moss trees on the deep back country roads of the Carolinas.

After Jay resumed his ride from our hotel in Mount Pleasant, SC, Helen toured the Cold War Memorial and took a 90-minute bus tour of nearby Charleston. She enjoyed seeing all the beautiful homes with the piazzas on the sides of the houses. Of course, there were churches, government buildings, The Citadel and more. There is a lot of history still visible in this picturesque city.

An Off-Road Discovery

The Charleston Visitor Center itself is a beautiful, open building full of brochures, displays and a staffed kiosk if tourists have questions. One updated feature of this renovated structure is the restroom (singular). The stalls are closed all the way to the

bottom. Helen was a bit taken aback when she walked in and a smiling young man was drying his hands. At first she thought she was in the wrong place, but then saw another woman at the sink washing her hands. Our church in Atlanta is renovating and updating an old church for our congregation’s use, and one of the features is to make non-binary people comfortable is the unisex restroom. We don’t know how comfortable other people may be, but Helen found it a bit disconcerting.

Rest Day

We are now taking a rest day in Yemassee, SC located in the middle of nowhere at the crossroads of US 95 and Highway 17. When Jay resumes riding tomorrow, he will cycle through Beaufort, SC completing the day’s ride in Savannah. We plan to book a room at the Marriott Riverfront Hotel where we concluded our Seattle to Savannah cross country bike ride in 2018.  We doubt we will be greeted with hoopla and a bottle of champagne as we were at the conclusion of our last great bike ride. Savannah is  just a waypoint on this journey, but being in Georgia will no doubt give us a sense that we will indeed complete this ride to Key West, Florida!

Video of some more images.

Wind, Rain and a Memorial (Sep 20 – 21, 2021)

Click to Enlarge

We typically post a blog on Sunday, but we find ourselves again sheltering in a hotel dodging a swath of rain coming off the Atlantic Ocean covering an area from Wilmington, NC to Charleston, SC . . . our intended bike route. We are still making progress.  With Jay’s last ride, we have covered 1,413 miles and estimate we have another 1,200 to complete our trek to Key West.

Jay’s ride yesterday took him past Camp Lejeune, a large Marine Corps base where he was once stationed (about 50 years ago!) This was also the same base where the 13 marines recently killed in Afghanistan were stationed. A poignant memorial honoring the fallen appeared on the road leading to the base’s front gate. Photos of

Memorial for Fallen Marines

the fallen were also used as mileage markers on the bike path that snaked around the base. Needless to say, Marine Corps flags flew from every building in the towns around the base. We owe so much to so few. . .

Our campsite in Surf City was our first opportunity we had to camp literally right next to the ocean. Only the dunes separated our tent from the crashing waves on the beach. Ideal . . . until that night the winds started blowing, then gusting, and then howling. All through the night the weather made every effort to either blow down our tent or flood us out with heavy rains. Egad!

Campsite before the Winds

The weather the next morning was equally dreary with a prediction of more to come. We packed up as best we could in the swirling winds and headed for a hotel. When the weather clears, we’ll headed back to Surf City to resume the ride.

The video shows a flag standing straight out due to the winds.

The Ride Continues Sept 13 – 18, 2021

Click to Enlarge

We left the North Carolina Outer Banks via ferries and camped Saturday night at the Cedar Campground in Sea Level, NC. We are now over 1,350 miles into our trek to Key West . . . just south of Morehead City, NC. When we last wrote we had just crossed from New Jersey into Delaware via the Cape May Ferry where we stayed at the Big Oaks campsite in Rehoboth Beach, DE.

Jay finally had some favorable wind days, and rode some long rides through Delaware and Maryland to Kiptoeke, VA where we put the bike on the car and traveled through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.  Our stopping point was the Travelodge Inn in Ocean City, VA. Quite an experience at this hotel under new management. All but three rooms had been fully renovated . . . and we had one of the unrenovated rooms. We survived.

We took a day off to visit the Chrysler Museum in nearby Norfolk, one of the many suggestions we had from our friend Kristina Banks, who grew up in Norfolk. We were delighted by a docent who is an art teacher at the local college. There were three

Depiction of T. Roosevelt's Door

of us in the group, so it was quite personalized. Our favorite piece that was pointed out to us was a life-size painting of a door hung with a variety of objects, including a dead turkey, an 1822 almanac, a hat, pouch and a gun leaning on it. The artist was depicting a scene in Theodore Roosevelt’s hunting lodge.

After our day off, Jay got an early start to Currituck, NC to avoid potential rains and winds that were predicted to shift into a very unfavorable direction. The day started great with a ride along a bike path with the ocean nearby. As with all great plans, something happened. About 20 miles into the ride Jay got a flat. He inserted a new inner tube only to discover that his bike pump was not working. A call to Helen resulted in a trip to a bike shop, a pump repair and a resumed journey. However, the dreaded winds were now blowing against him and light rain fell from time to time. Jay did catch the last ferry from Knots Island to Currituck. On the ferry Jay met Charles, another east coast cyclist.  Charles is doing his ride self-contained (carries all his gear with him) without any support.

Fortunately, the winds shifted just as Jay was making his way to the Outer Banks. These strong tailwinds allowed him to ride the 100 miles on the Outer Banks (OBX) over two days with a smile on his face. There were smooth roads, little traffic, a great tail wind; his average speed was 19 mph. It was one of the best rides of his life!

Wright Brothers

Of course you can’t go to Kitty Hawk without visiting the Wright Brothers Memorial. We spent several hours touring the Visitor’s Center, reading the info, looking at old photographs and admiring a full scale model of the first airplane that flew in Dec. 1903. We climbed up the original sand dune (now covered with vegetation to preserve it) to admire the huge monument built to honor and preserve the memory of Wilber and Orville Wright. And to think . . . just last month untrained civilians flew almost 400 miles above the earth and orbited it for several days!

Jay kept pedaling and Helen took a side trip to visit the Lighthouse at Cape Hatteras. The inside is currently closed to visitors due to the first full renovation since its completion in 1870. However, visitors were invited to tour the grounds, which includes the Visitors Center and museum, and take as many photos as they wished. A number of young park rangers were on hand to provide info and recount stories of the fabled monument.

Saturday was a day of ferry rides; the first one from Hatteras to Ocracoke, then a second from Ocracoke to Cedar Island. While we waiting for the 1:00 pm ferry to Cedar Island, we had lunch SmacNally’s.  Since it was Sunday, we ordered a pitcher of mimosas to celebrate the beautiful day. Only after checking our ferry tickets did we realized it was Saturday. Oops! Hard to keep track of the days.

The video below has images from our blog over the past two weeks.

 

 

Sun, rain and a purple finger

Jay with figurehead

Rainy days give Jay a chance to rest and we get a chance to explore where we are. We ended up in Beach Haven, NJ for two nights and took the opportunity to visit the Museum of New Jersey Maritime History. There were a number of articles from shipwrecks, including the Andrea Doria.  

There was also a lot of old diving gear, hundreds of pages of maps, old newspaper articles, photos of people who had caught 40 pound lobsters, and scrimshaw, just to name a few.  We could have spent the whole day there there was so much to see. 

For those of you who knew Mary Sherman, we had dinner with her sister Ida on Labor Day. She lives on the 16^th floor in a penthouse apartment. She has a wrap-around patio with lots of trees, bushes and flowers. We ate outside at a table on the east side and enjoyed the magnificent view of the New York Skyline and Central Park, which is only two blocks away. Ida had just returned from one trip the day before and was headed out again on Thursday, so she stays busy!

Since last Sunday Jay has ridden through New York, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. We are currently camping in Rehoboth Beach, DE. At last count, Jay’s ridden his bike well over 1,050 miles and Helen has driven the car 3700 miles! Quite a few of those miles were for her to make trips to urgent care. We were staying in a hotel in Edison, NJ (home of the World’s Biggest Light Bulb, which we didn’t get to see because all the roads leading to it were under construction!). Helen decided to clean her tennis shoes and stuck her hand inside one and got bitten. Ouch! It stung like a bee or a spider, but we couldn’t find anything to verify it. Her finger swelled up and turned dark purple. She drove to urgent care, saw a doctor that prescribed antibiotics, and now she is well on the way to recovery. No more purple finger!

Atlantic City Boardwalk

We enjoyed an afternoon together in Atlantic City and walked up and down the boardwalk taking in all the sights and sounds. We each enjoyed an ice cream, and Helen took a ride on the biggest Ferris Wheel we’ve ever seen! 

We walked into a couple of casinos and saw how people play the slot machines. They’re electronic and there’s no “arm” to pull. The player just sits there and pushes a button. Almost every time they hit the button they lose some money. 

One casino catered to kids, and all the games were aimed at getting them to ride a motorcycle, play a game with Cinderella or Willy Wonka or win a stuffed animal. 

Lots of loud music no matter where you go. Jay noted Trump’s boarded up casino on the far south end of the boardwalk, far from any other casinos or attractions. Poor choice of locations.

On the way out of town, Jay rode his bike and Helen drove. It was a beautiful sunny day with little wind, which made for good riding.

We took the Cape May Ferry to Lewes, DE yesterday. We have been making a point to see if we can get senior citizen discounts, and sure enough, we got one for the ferry! Jay calculated that he’d get to the place in Cape May where Helen was to meet him about 2:00. There are 2:30 and 4:30 ferries. We decided not to cut it too close and get our blood pressures up, so we booked a space for us and the car (extra for the bike rack on the back) for 4:30. It ended up we got to the ferry loading dock at 2:15. The woman at the gate told us to park on the side, and if there was room they’d let us know. As it turned out, there was space for us on the 2:30 ferry and we got the last spot!

Our campsite is only about a 12 minute drive from the ferry dock in Lewes, so we were able to set up camp while it was still daylight and enjoy supper al fresco. Today Jay did a 70 mile “backwards” ride because of the strong southerly winds. Helen took him to the end point and they both rode back to Lewes, Jay on his bike and Helen in the car.

Shadow of Ferris Wheel at the beach

Sandwich, MA to Rye, NY Aug. 30 - Sept. 5, 2021

When we last wrote we were in Fall River, MA (east of Providence, RI). We are now in Rye, NY a little

Cones blocking bike path

over 800 miles into our trek down the east coast with an estimated 2,000 cycling miles before we reach Key West. Urban cycling, tropical storm Henri and Hurricane Ida have hampered our progress. 

We don’t think very much when we drive our car through an urban environment like Providence, Hartford, New Haven or Stamford. A bike rider does not have access to an interstate highway, but must find ways to navigate around, over or under these obstacles. Jay has been using the

East Coast Greenway map that has reliable routes through these cities albeit on roads less traveled. Such roads are a mosaic of pothole patches, surrounded by hastily applied asphalt by construction crews, layered on an original road surface that is cracked by the ravages of time and extreme winter and summer temperature swings in the Northeast. Bicycle speeds rarely exceed 10 mph. However, such is the cost of seeing the east coast of America on a bicycle. 

Hurricane Ida that pounded the Northeast with heavy rains had to be

Frog Bridge in Willimantic, CT

accommodated. Jay split some of his long 70 mile rides into two-day rides to dodge rain showers. We were fortunate to find shelter from the worst of Ida at a hotel in Willimantic, CT. Willimantic, we discovered in our three day stay there, was once known as “Thread City.” Mills powered by the Willimantic River once dominated the town and were serviced by forty trains per day that stopped in this mill town. Who knew? There is also a legend about frogs, which led to the 11' high statues of frogs sitting on thread spools on the newest bridge in town. 

The day after Hurricane Ida passed, Jay was anxious to get back on the road, but frantic warnings of flash flooding by the team on the Weather Channel, echoed by local newscasters further reinforced by warnings blaring on our phones gave both of us pause. Jay reworked his use of rails to trails (most likely under

Flooding on Route 6

water) to surface roads and reduced his mileage objective. He suggested we drive this new route in a car to check out conditions. Good thing! A major intersection at the start of his route was flooded. Since the sky was so clear and blue, Jay decided to try his shortened ride. He avoided the flooded highway section, but found other sections of his route underwater. Confidence on having unobstructed bike routes was fading. 

Puritans had strict rules

We spent Saturday night in Fairfield, CT. While Jay was cycling, Helen took advantage of some “time off” to explore. Checking out “Top 10 Things to do in (city)” on Trip Advisor is her go-to guide. The only thing that appealed was the Fairfield Museum. She spent a couple of hours there and enjoyed learning some local history. 

Flooding is just one obstacle, but it is not uncommon for Jay to see signage reading “Road Closed.” Such warnings, however, do not go unchallenged. Frequently a road closed to a car is passable by a bike. In the meantime, we are staying warm and dry at the Marriott in Rye this Sunday afternoon of Labor Day weekend. The weather forecast for tomorrow looks pretty good; the chance of rain is 0-15%. Jay plans to be on his bike by 9am to cycle into Manhattan where we’ll have dinner with our friend Ida Cole.

Stuck in a Storm

We have had more rain delays on the first three weeks of this trip than we thought possible! With time on our hands and a good internet connection, Jay decided to use his time off the road to create a video of some of the sights we've seen along the way. Right now we are in Willimantic, CT and will be here until at least Friday morning. We hope at that time the weather will allow us to be, as Willy Nelson sang, "on the road again."

Riding to Cape Cod, MA

Jay along the coast

 When we last wrote, we had been taking shelter from tropical storm Henri in Scarborough, ME (south of Portland). We are now another 260 miles further along in our journey near Fall River, MA (east of Providence, RI). For Jay, this bike trip has finally begun showing signs of a REAL east coast ride.  There was a brief touch of coastal life in Belfast, ME where the boatyard held an ocean-going tugboat in drydock.  No doubt there were other ships moored in the harbor with names like “The Scurvy Dog” or “Master of the Sea.” However, most of Jay’s rides have been bereft of the smell of salt air. That changed as his route wound about the southern edge of Maine’s coastline.

A large house on the coast

Along that coast, there are towns open to the American heartland providing beach access, amusement rides, pizza and sugar-coated fried dough. There are also exclusive enclaves of mansions with polite but firmly worded signage, “Keep off my beach!” There is something for everyone.

We have been blessed with blue skies and mostly moderate temperatures, but we have not been without our mishaps.

Our current big adventure was a ride down the spine of Cape Cod. Jay attempted, unsuccessfully in several conversations, to determine the appropriate way to communicate a trip to Cape Cod.  Some declared that one “Goes down to the Cape.” Others offered “Out to the Cape.”  There was no consensus, yet we soon discovered that our Cape Cod adventure had a more serious problem than mere linguistic inconsistencies.

Progress Report

All of Jay’s bike software and mapping resources indicated riders can catch a ferry from Boston to Provincetown at the northern tip of the Cape. Jay booked two tickets accordingly. It was not until we arrived at the ferry dock in Boston that we learned that the ferry was for passengers only (and their bikes) and not for cars. Our Prius, driven by Helen with all our gear, was not crossing on this ferry. Not willing to forego a Cape Cod adventure, we drove the 115 miles to our campground, Dunes Edge, just outside Provincetown.

Universalist Church in P-town

Provincetown, or P-Town as the locals refer to it, is a compact city at the northern tip of Cape Cod of narrow streets filled with bars, restaurants and art galleries. P-Town lives into its welcoming promise to the LGBTQ+ community with ubiquitous displays of Pride flags, and the flamboyant and ordinary harmoniously mingling without raising an eyebrow. P-Town was the site of another mishap with the loss of Jay’s prescription sunglasses. Per the karma of our trip, Helen returned the next day and retrieved his glasses from a pizzeria where we had paused for “a slice.”

This lighthouse is in Portland

We purchased an audio tour of Cape Cod and drove from site to site visiting different historical artifacts. The most

Old lighthouse on Cape Cod

interesting were all the light houses, but we also learned a lot about the Pilgrims who landed on Cape Cod in November, 1620. As you probably already know, they didn’t eat turkey and pumpkin pies at the first Thanksgiving. The menu was probably mussels, shrimp, lobster and fish.

Narrow bike path on bridge

With 584 miles into our trek, we are getting our traveling sea legs. A great deal of planning is required that is constrained by the weather, riding terrain and a flood of vacationers in our intended path. Helen is the queen behind the curtain. Finding vacancies at hotels and campgrounds is no easy task during the summer vacation time. Even securing a dinner reservation is a challenge. Thankfully, a Whole Foods hot bar is a good fallback position.  As we head into Connecticut’s urban environment, we anticipate more hotel stays and hope for less vacation pressures on availability.

We spent two nights at the Sandwich (MA) Lodge & Resort “on historic Route 6A” on Cape Cod. On Sunday Jay rode 68 miles on his bike, Helen retrieved him and drove back to the hotel. In the morning we will both drive to the pickup point, the Fall River Historic Park, and tour the battleships moored there.

The bicycle ride from Canada down the east coast to Key West began when we finished packing the Prius and started our trek northward on August 11, 2021.  On our way to Canada, we visited the Pinball

Museum in Roanoke, VA, Jay’s 99-year old mother in NJ and his cousin in Waterville, ME.  Our master plan was to start in Canada and have Jay ride across the border. However, entrance into Canada required not only proof of vaccination but a COVID test within 72 hours.  Finding a location to get a COVID test with our “whenever” travel schedule just made this requirement one bridge too far.  

Ironically, Canada is just over the narrow river from Calais, Maine where Jay began the ride on August 16. Jay could easily see Canada when he clipped into his bike pedals to begin the ride.

It is now August 22, and we are safely taking shelter in Scarborough, ME (just south of Portland) from Hurricane Henri that is currently lacing the Northeast with persistent winds and heavy rains. Jay has ridden 324 miles. There are two things we have learned in our short stay in Maine; “Vacationland” as the state’s license plate would lead you to believe.  

Vacationland

First, it appears EVERYONE comes to Maine to vacation.  Finding spots in campgrounds is hard. Finding an available hotel room is impossible. We are not exactly sure of the Vacationland allure. Near Calais, mud encrusted ATVs (All Terrain Vehicles) filled campgrounds. The Sunshine Trail, suggested to Jay as a potential bike route by his mapping resources, offers ATVer’s a chance to zoom about Maine’s wooded, secluded landscape. Jay sampled a section of the Sunshine Trail and abandon it due to the loose gravel on the trail that is kicked up by the ATV traffic. There are many tiny tourist towns, endless antique and collectable stores and a good sampling of coast seaport towns. None of these attractions would lead one to anticipate the Hunger Game-like competition for a dinner reservation in a small tourist town. We did meet one young 30ish couple who were not on vacation but were “COVID nomads.” They both worked in Washington, DC and went to remote work due to the COVID pandemic.  They have been traveling in their van with their dog for about a year.  

The other thing we learned is that sections of Maine are very hilly.  The first 200 miles were extremely challenging. Jay is a good rider, but at age 70 there is an argument to be made that an east coast tour from Canada is for a younger generation. As we get closer to the coast, the riding terrain has become

undulating, rolling hills with stretches of pleasant, relatively flat riding. Fortunately, the weather has generally been clear skies and moderate temperatures. Our first two nights of camping were downright cold (55 degrees!). On August 19, we had to accommodate predicted late afternoon rain showers. Jay got an early start on a short 37-mile ride. Helen spent the day searching for a hotel. Well, that hotel search ended with a lake view camp site at the Duck Puddle Campground in Nobleboro. We fortified our tent in anticipation of water flooding down from the sites up the hill from us.  We also set up our rain resistant canopy over the picnic table.  After several hours of rain we abandoned the campsite for dinner in Damariscotta. Enter the Hunger Game effort to get seated in a restaurant. An hour and three restaurants later, we had a great seafood meal and stayed dry for a few hours. The next night was only 40 miles away, and we stayed at the Meadowbrook Campground in Phippsburg. That campground has the distinction of the only campground we have visited that did not have a single level spot of ground and the site was covered in rocks and tree roots. Ugh!

Just like our 2018 trek across the US (Seattle to Savannah), one just needs to take things one step at a time.  Sometimes we can buy out way our of a situation. Our initial hotel rate in Scarborough was quoted at $375 a day. We paid, but later negotiated a better rate.  As we sit out tropical storm Henri, we will tour Portland, file a blog entry, do laundry and plan for the next part of the journey.

Progress Report

Below is our progress so far on our journey to Key West, Florida.  Click to enlarge.

Our progress from Calais to Scarborough, Maine

Other Photos

Jay in front of Harborwalk Café in Belfast, where we met for lunch one day. 

Back Roads that Jay Rode  

Lobstermen on Boat Pulling in Traps

Wild Flowers of Maine

Grave of Ruth, wife of C.S. Barston, died in 1875

Crab Cake Dinner at Campground

Another Adventure - Canada to Key West

We are beginning preparations for another long-distance biking adventure traveling this time from Canada to Key West, Florida. Jay will ride alone and Helen will provide SAG support.  Sadly, our beloved Polish Hound, Nando, who joined us on our 2018 Seattle to Savannah ride, will not be with us having succumbed to cancer. 

This coastal bike ride will follow East Coast Greenway, Adventure Cycling, and some self-designed routes. The East Coast Greenway maps bring us to the South Street Seaport in New York City where we will catch a ferry to Highlands, NJ.  The self-designed routes are then followed to have a real “east coast” ride in New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, and North Carolina.  After riding the Outer Bank Islands we rejoin the East Coast Greenway in Morehead, NC and then follow the Adventure Cycling routes from Wilmington, NC to Key West.

 

Technical Issue 

There was a need to address a technical issue regarding which phone navigation app to use.  Jay has great praise for Bicycle Route Navigator from Adventure Cycling.  Sections of the Adventure Cycling routes can be purchased and downloaded to your phone.  The route map is then offline (no need for mobile service) and GPS provides a convenient location dot. Keep dot on route. It's that simple. The problem was finding a phone app that supported East Coast Greenway and self-designed routes.  Ride with GPS (RWGPS) was the solution.

 

Jay became a Ride with GPS subscriber and after some trial and error became sufficiently proficient at route planning. Using the web-based Route Planner and various map styles, Jay was able to develop his self-designed routes.  The OSM Cycle map shows roads, bike paths and the East Coast Greenway route.  The Satellite view is handy when you just want to see the actual road or bike path.

Jay then used Ride with GPS to map our routes on the East Coast Greenway (ECG).  The ECG has a downloadable file for a Garmin device, but no Ride with GPS option. It was a bit tedious tracing the EGC route to the RWPGS app, but it was time well spent.  Jay was able to adjust his route to avoid off-road paths and select options, such as the New York City route, that suits our needs.

 

We are packing our camping gear but hotels will be used frequently, especially in the more urban areas in Connecticut and New York.  We have concern over the east coast hurricane season but with a SAG vehicle we will take precautions as they arise. 

 

We plan to leave our home in the Atlanta area in mid-August.  We will drive to Calais, ME, cross the border (assuming it will be open) and begin riding toward sunny Key West.  We will keep you updated with periodic posts on this site.