Day 55

Miles: 73

Mileage from start: 4,633!

Our final day started as most mornings do: with a calorie load. We are coffee and bagels and yogurt and fruit and also snagged a pastry treat for the road. 

We got going by 8:30, but it was already so hot and humid. We spent most of the day on route 1, which meant questionable shoulders and frequent traffic. I will not miss the noise of a semi careening past me when all I want to do is have a conversation with Richard. Traffic noise has interrupted our talks since we started and while we’ve gotten pretty good at pausing at the loudest moments, it does make talking more challenging and annoying. 

The pavement in Maine has been hit and miss. Sometimes it’s perfectly fine and other times it tries to eat my bicycle whole. 

Route 1 was no exception. Surprisingly, we didn’t get any flats in Maine! 

All morning I was scanning the horizon for the sign marking our turn on to route 176. With that turn we left behind route 1 and starting working south toward Bar Harbor. 

We stopped for ice cream and beverages in Surry and lingered under the shade of a big umbrella. 

A local gave us an alternate route that would mean less traffic going into the island. We eagerly thanked him for his information and took an early right turn so as to avoid Route 3 and every car packed with tourists heading for Bar Harbor. 

We rejoined route 3 briefly to cross the bridge on to the island and then took an interior road to the actual town. 

It was flooded with people and cars. We wound our way to the pier (the end of our map), and then also biked to the beach so we could dip our wheels into the water. We dipped our feet, too, and the water felt so lovely and cold after all the heat we’d biked through. 

Rather than stop for ice cream in town, we headed straight for our friend’s house just south of town. All the crowds were making me anxious.

Once at Catrina’s we unloaded, changed for swimming and drove to Seal Harbor beach. The water was so cold, but I loved it! 

Just like that our bike trip ended. 

It was a lovely way to see the country and I’m so glad we had the opportunity to do it. Thank you to all the wonderful people we met who made our journey a more pleasant affair with their stories, laughs and assistance when we were in need. 

On to the next adventure!