Northern Tier Day #1 Bar Harbor, ME to Belfast, ME
Northern Tier Day #1
May 20, 2019
Bar Harbor, ME to Belfast, ME - 66 Miles
Ride Time 5:18
Tour Total 66 Miles
I’m back on tour! 💥
Those watching my GPS feed realize that it technically started yesterday at 6:15 PM when I dropped off my rental car in Ellsworth and cycled the 20 miles to Bar Harbor to save $64 on an Ãœber. I had left Brooklyn Saturday morning where Charlotte bid me farewell. I cycled over the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan to the PATH station in the village, where I grabbed a train to Hoboken. Rental cars are cheaper in New Jersey. My bike and gear fit perfectly inside the Nissan Rogue. I spent Saturday night in Boston, where I saw a performance by my son’s band, The Perfect Trip. I spent the night on the floor of his cluttered apartment. His musician roommates played all night long, trumpet included. It being graduation weekend the least expensive alternative had been $600. Thank goodness for ambien and ear plugs.
The past few days had been rough. I finished up my end of semester grading and was on track with tour preparations, but on Friday fell ill with a stomach virus. I spent the day in bed. I was completely dehydrated and lost all of my strength. I was reminded of last year’s Trans Am tour and Steve H’s bout with stomach flu. I’m still amazed by the climbs and incredible distance he was able to cover under such conditions.
Starting a tour is like threading a needle. The aim is for optimal preparations, health, and weather. In addition to my stomach flu, the weather situation on the Maine coast has been a great concern. I’ve been tracking it for over a week with three different weather apps. In addition I’ve been watching fellow Northern Tier cyclist Heath who started May 8th. He’s been dodging rain storms, snow covered mountain passes and illness. Fingers crossed I’ll have a strong start.
The foliage in northern Maine is a full month behind Brooklyn. Forsythia is in bloom and trees are still budding. The air smells briny and there are sea gulls in the sky. Seaside attractions are gearing up for the summer, and help wanted signs are everywhere.
I dropped off the car in Ellsworth, and rode the shortest route to Bar Harbor, north around the peninsula along the sea. Tomorrow I’ll be riding back through the middle of the peninsula along the edge of Acadia National Park. I’ll pass right by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and because I did the after hours key-through-the slot return, I’m planning to stop and double check the car was ok. I don’t want any weird Fedex-ed surprises waiting for me in Brooklyn when I return, like last summer.
The first pronunciation lesson of the tour is Bar Harbor, which is pronounced Bah Hahbah. I had booked a room at the Acadia Hotel, because it’s right near the start of my route, and it’s listed with Adventure Cycling. Unfortunately they stuck me in the new crappy annex and not in the beautiful original building. I could hear my neighbors through the walls. Not the best value.
I went to Mama D’Matteo’s for dinner. I was wearing my Bouré cycling sweater and my server asked how far I was going. When I told him 4600 miles, he ran back to the kitchen and told everyone.
After dinner I sat in the hot tub out back of the hotel. I immediately dropped one of my AirPods into the water. Miraculously it continued to work. The air outside was brisk. I don’t care that I missed the last episode of Game of Thrones. Before going to bed I did a round of last minute preparations, including laundry. I had a good night’s sleep, and all of my things were dry in the morning.
I grabbed a complimentary bowl of cereal and two muffins from the hotel. The TV weather forecast was calling for thunderstorms. Fun times! It wasn’t raining at the moment, so I packed up and headed to the start.
I quickly dipped my rear wheel in the ocean, a coast to coast ritual. I’ll dip my front wheel in the Pacific when I get there. The rain started immediately after the dip. I went to the whale watching pier and put my things under cover. I bought and wrote some postcards. There were hordes of tourists lined up to take bus tours around Acadia. It was raining and foggy and they wouldn’t be able to see anything. The people I could overhear were mainly interested in getting drunk anyway. I kept myself dry and finally put on all my rain gear. I stopped by the post office before cycling out of town.
The challenging part of cycling in the rain is the clothing. Too much rainwear and clothing makes you hot and sweaty. Not enough makes you cold and sick. It’s a tricky balance, and stopping every five seconds to make changes sucks. I stopped under a beautiful granite arch for a final adjustment. I stowed my down vest and donned my jacket hood up under my helmet. Oh, and of course my new fancy iPhone touring rain cover doesn’t work very well. The screen barely reacts to my touch. I saw a large deer on the side of the road. It was the only wildlife I saw all day.
In Ellsworth the Enterprise guy gave me the thumbs up. Then I hit the sprawl; Walmart, Home Depot, fast food, ugh. On the other end of town I found myself on the East Coast Greenway before heading south on state route 172, which had way less traffic than US1. I could use Google to map my entire route, but Adventure Cycling routes help me avoid traffic. The peace and quiet and peace of mind is worth the extra miles. Stacks of lobster traps lined the road, along with modest homes, as well as large summer homes. American flags were proudly displayed everywhere.
At about 12:30 PM the weather cleared up a bit. I saw a cyclist up ahead with giant flags bouncing up and down behind his rig. I met Larry Clouse who is riding from Bar Harbor to San Diego. He’s taking the Northern Tier to Muscatine, IA, and will then drop south after that. His wife is driving and providing support. Larry is retired, but when he’s not cycling, he teaches sexual harassment awareness to high school students. His blog is at http://larryontwowheels.blogspot.com/
It began to shower again. I took my first break at a Shell station outside of Orland. I’m back to red Gatorade fruit punch and cashews! I crossed the Penobscot Narrows Bridge, which is a beautiful cable-stayed bridge I’d seen a few years ago. My son spent a year near Belfast, and I was now in familiar territory. At 3pm the sun came out. Woohoo!
I stopped at Angler’s in Searsport for a Haddock melt. While the fare was up to par, I was disappointed they had relocated their large wood-carved bear. Oh, and what’s the deal with bringing me sodas with plastic straws in the cup when I didn’t ask for one? I don’t like straws. They’re all gonna end up in the ocean choking sea turtles. Ugh.
Searsport has the most beautiful architecture. Being that I was on my bike, I could stop to admire and photograph anything that I wanted. My destination for the day was the Yankee Clipper hotel, on the edge of Belfast. I used to stay here when I visited my son. Belfast is a gem, with one of my favorite breakfast spots.
I immediately jumped in the tub and took a long hot soak. My stomach virus is still with me, so no oysters and beer at Two Tides tonight, which is a real disappointment. All my gear is hanging up to dry. Rain is not in the forecast tomorrow!
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