Bar Harbor at Last

Russ Collected License Plates
From Each State

Atlantic Ocean

We don't know whether to be happy or sad.  Happy because we traveled 3971 miles, 11 states and Canada and all arrived safely or sad because we are saying goodbye to our new-found cycling friends.  The other day we said that we should have had a camera crew film us as a reality show because our adventures were more entertaining than "Duck Dynesty" with our different personalities and biking shenanigans.

August 12 - 62 miles to Ellsworth.  We booked a hotel so that we could pack our shipping boxes and dry our tents.  Then we went out to celebrate at a Lobster House.  We stuffed ourselves on Lobster and celebrated our accomplishment.  During the day Russ and Susie stopped to visit Fort Knox and to go to the top of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.  Cheryl and I continued on to the hotel to take a nap.  We are all tired of the hills.

August 13 - 21 miles into Bar Harbor.  We all got up early and bikes as a group into Bar Harbor.  Put our wheels in the Atlantic and then toasted with wine and chocolate and went out to breakfast one last time.  We got our boxes and bikes out to be shipped that afternoon because a thunderstorm is in the forecast.  Russ and I have 3 days before we fly back home so we plan on doing some sightseeing in Arcadia.  This is a really touristy area, a lot of tourist and things are expensive.  After camping and ruffing it for two and a half months, it seems rather strange. As we look back on this adventure, we realize what a great time we had and how fortunate we were to travel with such nice people.  It was an adventure of a lifetime!

Two Days and Counting

No Moose but did see a Bear

Covered Bridge in New Hampshire

Entering our 11th State plus Canada

August 11 - 51 Miles to Rockport, Maine.  Today is Russ's 70th birthday!  What an accomplishment to ride across the county for your 70th birthday.  We ordered pizza and got a chocolate cake and I got him a cross for our cross wall and a Northern Tier Jersey.  We rode along Highway 1 for most of the day and avoided the killer hills on the back roads.  We ate lobster rolls for lunch.  

We biked up this Grade

Eight Riders Left

Patty McIntire from Montana had to leave the group right before we entered Maine.  She had taken a fall on slick steps at a B/B a few weeks ago.  She finally went to the Emergency Room at the hospital when a big lump developed from the fall.  The Doctor said that she couldn't ride anymore until the lump went away.  Patty recently retired and this was the first major bike tour for her. She hopes to finish at some point.

Jim and Diana

The last two riders, Jim and Diana from St. Louis decided to go on their own in Wisconsin.  They were planning on being self contained once we hit Bar Harbor and are about a week behind us.  I was really sorry to see them leave because we had good times riding together.

Patty Taking a Break

More Cycling Friends

Cheryl and her Trike

Dick and his RV

Dick Pulling the RV 

Dick and Cheryl Switzer from Newark, Ohio and winter in Florida.  Dick is our SAG driver and the most important person on this trip because he has to get our provisions to each point.  He has a great sense of humor and loves to play Hearts.  Russ, Dean and Dick play Hearts every night.  They have a tournament going until we reach Bar Harbor.  Cheryl rides a trike and is a strong cyclist.  She has the prettiest smile.  Sydney, their dog is also along on the trip.  She is an Old English Bulldog and is so sweet.

Sidney getting a bath

Vermont and New Hampshire

Two days crossing Vermont and two days crossings New Hampshire.  Hills and more hills!

August 8 - 34 miles to Woodstock.  Short day and late start due to fog.  We waited about 2 hours for the fog to lift.  Woodstock was a busy tourist town but we did manage to go to the brewery in the afternoon.

August 9 - 77 miles to Naples, Maine.  The last of the big hills were today.  They were not as bad as we thought they would be but it took us a couple of hour to climb.  Then additional hills awaited us.  Then Russ, Susie and I missed a turn and our adventure took off.  First, we had to climb the steepest hill that I have ever seen.  We had to walk the top part.  I can't imagine any cyclist biking to the top.  There was a fruit stand at the top and that is when we realized that we had missed the turn.  They gave us new directions but somehow that way added a minimum of 7 miles to our already long day.  A passing driver, who lived in the area, told us of a shortcut that we could take but it was unpaved.  We decided to give it a try and it was so bad that we all had to walk our bikes for at least 2 miles through the forest to reach a paved road.  By then it was close to 4:00 and we started the morning at 7:00 am.  Needless to say, when we arrived in camp after 5, we were dog tired.

August 10 - 57 miles to Brunswick.  Looking at our profile on the map it looked like we were pretty much done with hills.  Boy were we wrong!  Shows some small hills that we assumed would be easy, wrong again.  The small hills seem to be the hardest.  It is because they are so steep getting to the top.    The most interesting site of the day was passing through the Shaker Village.  Talked to a few folks there and learned that there are only 3 Shakers left in the world.  One man in his 80's and two women in their 70's.  Don't know what happens when those folks die.  The village was beautiful and so well maintained.  We didn't get to visit the museum because it was Sunday and they were closed.

Three more days to Bar Harbor.

Fellow Cyclists

Bill in Camp

Bill Kenyon, from Estero, Florida and Lewes, Deleware and is 68.  He has biked the Southern Tier and now the Northern Tier.  He doesn't bike regularly but is one of the "dogs" and a very strong biker.   He is tall and has big feet.  He bikes in tennis shoes without clips.  He and Dean like to rise at the crack of dawn (5:30) and they get on the road by 6:30.  They like to go hard from camp to camp and only stop to eat.  They are the first into camp, sometimes before the RV.  Bill also loves to cook and he prepares wonderful meals for the group.  He is a great guy.

Ray Harder, from Columbia, Missouri.  He rides a Bike Friday that he never has done maintenance on it.  He believes that if it isn't broken, don't fix it!  Ray marches to his own band.  He didn't train, said he rode maybe 35 miles before the trip.  He has ridden the Southern Tier, Pacific Coast and the Santa Fe trail.  At the start of the trip, he would stop along the road to nap.  He also can sleep anywhere and sometimes he just doesn't bother putting up a tent.  He took a bad fall in sand when we were in Wisconsin and we thought for sure he had broken a hip.  He did get it checked and fortunately it wasn't broken.  The guys made him a cane and he hobbled around for a week or so and had to forgo biking for awhile.  He is now back on his bike.  One night he was sleeping under the RV and it poured down rain.  Didn't wake him but his sleeping bag got soaked.  Cost him $10 to dry it out.

Ray Relaxing

Pictures

Bathing in the River

Which Way?

Covered Bridge in Vermont

Dean and Anacortes Mayor, L

Riding Friends:  Dean Fesette organized this tour.  He lives in Boynton Beach, Florida. He takes the honor of being the oldest cyclist at 73.  He rides a recumbent bike and is usually out in the lead.  He is the most traveled cyclist biking the perimeter of the United States.  Biking the Northern Tier finishes that goal.  He is part of the "dogs".  He is also blogging at Crazyguyonabike.com/deanfesette.

Fixing the RV

Rain and Hills

August 4 - 38 miles to Ticonderoga, New York.  Russ and I visited Fort Ticonderoga where they had reinactments of the Revolutionary War of 1775.  Spent about 3 hours there.  Then we went to our friends house for the night.  Edith is a rug hooker that Russ knows from Green Valley and her husband Eddie.  They live in a cabin on Lake George.  We spent the night and then caught up with the group the next day in Sallsbury which was east of Middlebury, Vermont.  It rained on us the last few miles.  We took a cable ferry across into Vermont.  Vermont is really hilly but the houses are beautiful along with the scenery. We didn't get a rest day.

August 5 - 39 miles to Sallsbury, Vermont.

August 6 - 49 miles to South Royalton, Vermont.  Another big climb!  We camped along the river and  the campsite didn't have any amenities so most people bathed in the river.  Dick had to drive under a narrow low bridge and the RV didn't make the clearing.  It took the air conditioner right off the top of the RV.  Dick and Dean climbed on top and covered the hole with a tarp.  Hopefully insurance will cover the damage.

August 7 - 47 to North Haverhill, New Hampshire. Only two days biking in Vermont and we should be through NH in 2 days.  What can I say but more hills!  We are going shorter miles to make up for the climbs.  Rain again today but it passes quickly.  Patty fell a week or so ago when we were at a Bed/Breakfast.  She went to the hospital today and can't ride anymore so she is flying home.  It is to bad that she can't finish the ride when we are so close to finishing.

Most days now we have had thunderstorms and rain.  Usually passes quickly.  Some of the group even got caught in a hailstorm.  Otherwise, the the weather is perfect for cycling.

Turtle Races

Old Forge

Cobblestone House

Going Through a Detour

The claim to fame in Oseola is annual turtle races.  For the past 45 years, this town hosts an annual turtle race.  250 turtles were entered this year in a winner take all.  I asked how people got their turtles and I got the sense that it is a little like chicken fights.  I think they raise them instead do getting them in the wild.  He was a little caggie about. Telling me more.  Anyway, August 1 we biked 54 miles to Boonville.  We camped in a campground that had an old barn from the 1800's that was converted to an event center, restrooms and is used year around.  They had bingo that evening and Dean and I went and played.  The locals had to help us and it was fun talking to them.

August 2 - 67 miles to Lake Durant.  We got caught 12 miles from camp in a downpour.  Russ told me early in the morning not to bring a raincoat.  Shouldn't have listened.  At least it was warm.  We biked through Old Forge which is a tourist area.  Lots of kayaks, stores and restaurants.  We heard about Walt's Cafe and we stopped for breakfast.  Ordered a pancake and it covered the whole plate.  The town also has a destination hardware store that everyone goes to.  It had everything imaginable even non hardware stuff.  There was a detour on route.  A bridge was out.  We decided to try it and luckily we were able to carry our bikes through it.  It was a Saturday so there were no workers there.  We are in the Adirondack Mountains now and into hills.  The last few weeks it has been pretty flat riding so now we have to get back our climbing legs.

August 3 - 54 miles to North Hudson.  Today the hills were hard but the downhills were really fun.  A little fog when we started but the sun finally came through.   Think we have our climbing legs back.  When we got into camp, the sun was out enough to dry tents. We will see if they stay dry.

July 30 - 55 miles to Fair Haven

Another Flat

It was a great day until we got caught in a thunderstorm and John had 3 flats.  We stopped in Sodus Point at an historic lighthouse.  The town was strategic in the War of 1812.  Along the route we saw cobblestone houses.  In the 1800's, farmer plowed their fields and realized that the rocks were plentiful so they used them to build houses. Late in the afternoon Russ and I were waiting for John to change yet another flat, when we looked to the sky and realized that it would downpour soon.  So we took off to try to beat the rain.  At that point we were about 12 miles from the campground.  It started pouring when we were only three miles from the end and we headed to the nearest farmhouse.  Luck would have it that Scott was home and invited us inside to get dry and have a cup of hot tea.  The thunder and rain continued for at least a half hour and it finally quit and we decided to make a run for it.  Made it almost to camp before it started to pour again.  We were glad to throw a tarp over the bikes and get inside the dry trailer.

July 31 - 43 miles to Port Onterio.  We were able to get our tents down and load the RV before the next thunderstorm in the morning.  We played cards and a few took naps until the rain stopped about 9:30 am and we hit the road.  This was a late start for the "dogs" who usually are out the door by 6:30 am.  We all stayed together for the morning and then separated when a few of us had to find a bike shop for minor adjustments.  Camped at a State Park on Lake Onterio.  The park rangers had set traps to catch raccoons and early in the morning you could hear them screech and two babies were in the traps.  The ranger said they relocate them about 3 miles away from the park.  Russ forgot that he had a brownie in his front pack and they had managed to steal the brownie which he wasn't happy about.

Susie Smith from Florida

Touring a Submarine 

Susie, John and Russ

Susie is one of the most interesting women that I have met in many years.  She is a wealth of information and has had many life experiences and has traveled widely.  She is from Jacksonville, Florida and spent her career in accounting and nursing.  She is the first to help others and looks out for John, reminding him to take his daily meds.  They have become riding partners.  Susie got terrible saddle sores after the first week of riding and had to ride in the SAG for a couple of weeks.  After some bike seat adjustments, she is back in the saddle.  In the meantime, she spent a bundle on creams and potions to heal her sores.  Susie did the Trans-Am in 2008.  She decided to do the Northern Tier because it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.  On this ride she has sampled other forms of transportation: rode a horse, a tractor, ATV, motorcycle, speedboat, a lawnmower and a forklift.  She promises to visit us in Arizona and wants to ride to Bisbee because her maiden name is Bisbee.

Susie at Niagara Falls

Dave from Scotland

Ready to Role

Waiting for the Ferry

David joined our group in Cut Bank, Montana and that was the best thing that happened to him and us.  He told us that he joined the Royal Air Force at 17 and wanted to be a policeman.  He spent 12 years as a police dog handler.  Afterwards he became a civilian policeman.  He retired after a bad cycling accident.  He planned this bike trip for 2 years.  He has become one of the "dogs".  Unfortunately he is leaving the group in the morning to bike to Boston.  While with us he had his first Blizzard from Dairy Queen, ate sourkrout, first massage, first chiropractor, and sent warm clothes home way to early and had to go shopping for replacements.  He also had to sleep in the RV a lot because his tent poles broke.  He has a great sense of humor and a cute Scottish accent.  He is a wonderful cycling friend to us all.

Dave and Dean Playing Fooseball