Let it rain

It was a cold and wet day.   We got to try out our rain gear that we had been carrying around for the past week.   We made it to Augusta and walked around in the cold.

We went to Hallowell, Maine and ate lunch and sat but the River.  The sun came out and we put all our wet clothes in SCHLEPP.  

I had a little trouble with my bike so we stopped at a shop.   Apparently I had bent my derailed hook.  

Late in the ride dads bike started making a terrible noise.   Tony and him rode ahead and were able to get it fixed.  He had gravel in his Barings.  

Dirty SCHLEPP from the rain. 

Back country cycling

The heat finally broke today and we had some cooler weather.   We rode on some back country roads from Bangor to Waterville.   We made it in time to have ice cream play mini golf and eat dinner.  

We walked across the two cent bridge and walked around town.   Our B and B is comfortable and it was a great day of seeing cat tales, cows and goats.   

On to the Queen City!

We managed to stay long enough for breakfast this morning and got on the road about 9am.   It rained the night before and moms seat was soaked!  I wrapped a plastic bag around it for her.  

We stopped at an animal reserve but it was by reservations only. So  our plans changed and we had a picnic under a tree in Lucerne, Maine.  

We made it to Bangor early enough to wash clothes and relax. 

We had to buy a new pump at this shop.

Bad shot because of the sun but this is the largest Paul Bunion statue ever!

The Penobscot River.  We crossed over this river many times the last few days. 

A day of rest.

This day of rest in Bar Harbor was much needed.  We were all tired and it was definitely hard pushing up the hills the night before.  

We walked around the tourist trap of Bar Harbor and ate good food.  Our hotel was just off the shore path so we were able to enjoy a walk along the ocean.   

Tony and I had great ideas to hike on the park but we were too tired to do that.   We took a light house tour and the highlights were seeing some seals and porpoises.  We learned more about the island saw some cottages owned by famous rich people and enjoyed the ocean Breeze.

Later we went to thunder hole in the park and also the Jordan Pond tea house for Popovers.   Yum!!!  

Back on the bikes tomorrow!  

This is supposedly the ugliest lighthouse in Maine. 

...wow, and I thought yesterday was hilly!

Today was FULL of large hills.   We also were dealing with a painful knee, irritated skin, and tired bodies.  

We ate a hearty breakfast and headed out.   Dad had his compression sleeve on to start the day, he also rubbed tiger balm and took some pills to help.   We made it to Ft. Knox and the Penobscot observation bridge.  

Dad was really struggling and we thought he may call it quits, but he found a way to ride that didn't hurt.   We made it to Ellsworth and ate lunch and stopped at the Walmart for a knee brace.   We then headed on the hard hilly trek to Mount Desert island.   WOW!   I had been hauling SCHLEPP and this was rough.   I didn't walk but I wanted to.   We arrived early enough to hang out and for mom and dad to eat some lobs tag. We stay for two nights.   Everyone needs to rest.

Mom kicking butt up the hills!  So proud of her! 

The Down Easter Inn

Of course I pick the bed and breakfast two miles off the course up a few hills at dusk.   We had arrived and were very excited and hungry.    There was no way we were riding our bikes back to town.   The owner of the inn was kind enough to go pick up an order of sandwiches for us.  This woman made our night.   Without her there wouldn't have been dinner.

60 miles of what? Oh yeah BIKING.

Today we had a long day of travel along with wanting to see some things along the way.   We started off about 7:15am looking to have breakfast on the road.  We stopped at this awesome diner called Deb's. While on the road we stopped for beer in Rockland and walked around a bit.   The highlight was definitely the breakwater walk to the light house.  Dad has really wanted to see some lighthouses but this has been difficult because they are extra miles off the path making it hard.  

One of our goals has been to be at our next stop by dinner.   We rolled into Belfast after 6pm with six miles to ride.   We could not stop long but went over the bridge near  harbor walk that looked really cool.

About a mile from the hotel dad's knee gave him trouble.   To the point that he had to get off his bike and walk, he was limping noticeably.    

In was 8pm and nothing but the grocery store was open.  Tony and I rode our bikes to get turkey sandwiches.   This is the second night in a row we have had to eat sandwiches at our hotel.  

Pop!

We had an eventful first day of riding.   We were pumped to head out.  About 1.5 hours in dads tire popped!   We had our first quick fix and it went smoothly.  We stopped by the flagship LL bean store. Bought a large bike pump which we decided was necessary because pumping the tires with a little pump sucked!  We ate whoppie pies which were awesome.   Overall the day was a success!  Ready for day two after some sleep and fuel. 

The vote was 1. Pumpkin 2. orange 3. peanut butter 4. classic.

'Twas the night before wheels down...and

We went downtown to hydrate with beer before the adventure!  We were able to get to two breweries which means we are closer to getting our free Maine Brewers guild truckers hat.  It's gonna be awesome!   Mom and dad got their bikes and of course there were some small issues that included a slight deflation in the tires.   Our big pump was too big so we had to pump it with our little pump!   That takes work..whew.   

We drove through 9 states to get here.  I'll never get over how small these states are.   Here are just s few: 

The count down begins!!!

SCHLEPP arrived!

Our mascot arrived!   Now our trailer SCHLEPP is complete!   Can't wait to see what this guy look like rolling down the road.   

Sag wagon! Just kidding! :)

The week leading up to today has been up and down emotionally.   After our terrible ride 4 weeks ago.  Things had not been going great.   Tony's knee had been hurting and we were not riding as often.   Last Sunday his knee really started to hurt and he was thinking that the trip wouldn't happen for him.   We all were starting to be very disappointed.   He decided last minute to get a doctor's opinion.   We love our nurse practitioner.   She is down to earth and wouldn't steer us in the wrong direction.  She said it was his IT band.   He had a second opinion with the same result.   That doctor was humorous and said "so you were pulling a bike trailer up a mountain?"   Interpreted to mean..."ok, no wonder your leg hurts, silly!"   He hit up physical therapy and now we ride!   We will be doing some stretches and icing everyday along the way but we are both feeling good about the trip.  

What time is it?   Road trip time!   We gotta get to Maine to start this 

adventure!  

The bike ride that made me hate bike riding

Earlier in the year Tony and I had this brilliant idea that we would take Schlepp to Shenandoah National Park.  We would ride 50 miles out, camp, and then ride back the next day.  Later we realized that we wanted to car camp and make gourmet campfire food, which you can't do if you only want to haul 25 lbs.  We decided to get up early and head to the campsite.  We parked and headed north with Schlepp.  The first half was pretty good.  The hills were tough but we managed.  We knew we would have a hard time coming back.  There was a huge hill that would take close to an hour to get to the top of.  The downhill was fun though.  On the way back Tony took Schlepp.  We had to ride through a dark tunnel.  The speed limit is 25 mph, but people like to drive fast so you could say the speed limit was 50 mph.  As I approached the tunnel I became nervous.  There had been many cars now and I had to be very vigilant about where they were.  In the tunnel I became scared.  I tried to move over a little and that was when I realized that there was a curb.  I immediately fell off my bike.  Of course I couldn't get up because I was clipped in.  The cars in the tunnel were then forced to slow down.  I am lucky that I didn't get run over.  I came out of the tunnel walking (and crying).  A nice couple stopped to see if I was okay.  My knees were bleeding but I was fine.  Tony was a bit ahead but he quickly realized I was not behind him and turned around.  I took a few minutes to compose myself before we rode on.  After about 10 minutes the pain set in.  My knees hurt!  We started our way up the big hill.  It took over 30 minutes to go three miles.  With about 9 miles to go Tony mentioned his knee was starting to hurt.  He slowed down and I was too close and I panicked, couldn't unlock in time, and fell again!  This time ending up with a bloody elbow and my other knee taking the blow. After I recovered and took off in front of Tony.  His leg was really hurting and he needed to take it easy.  I made it to the campground, but the minute I entered I had to walk.  I was so tired from falling and the hills.  I eventually (3 minutes) got back on my bike and headed to the car.  I picked him up at the gas station at the entrance to the campground.    

Culpeper Fondo

We decide to do another Fondo.  This one was a 62-miler through central Virginia.  It had smallish hills and wasn't too terrible.  I managed to keep it at about 15.4 mph.  I was able to finish in just over 4 hours.  There was a good lunch afterwards.  We didn't stop to eat goodies this time.  Decided to save all the burned calories for the BBQ lunch and of course our standard Slurpee which we always have to have now. 

Skyline Drive and bears!

We live about 25 minutes from Shenandoah National Park and the two lane 100 mile road that winds it's way through the park is very nice for biking.  What isn't nice are the long hills.  Early in the morning you might get to see wildlife and relax on the nice low-trafficked road. We had been riding this with a friend of ours who has been into biking for many years. 

The last time we went up there he was riding ahead and saw what looked like a man standing in the road. As he got closer he realized it was a BEAR!  The bear was walking around like a man on two legs.  There were some other bear sightings that day.  The people in cars were very nice to tell us ahead of time.  The black bears of Shenandoah really mind their own business.  Probably because the people do.  Fun Fact:  There has never been a bear attack in the park!

 *We can now say that we have drove, biked, and hiked this park!   Plenty of exploring left to do. 

Our friend Allen enjoying the scenery, before he saw the bear!

Eating it!

It appears that the four of us have had our fill of falling experiences.  Mom ran into a wall early on and bruised her shoulder.  Shortly after this incident she decided she would not clip in while in Maine.  I think we all thought this was a smart choice for her.  Dad decided that he would play on a recreational soccer team where he bruised his leg really bad and had to take a couple of days off. Tony fell a few times on small rides from simply not paying attention or forgetting that he was clipped in and leaning the wrong way when he stopped.  I too had a few falls but those are for another blog. 

It's never fun to fall down.  We are hoping for no falls on this ride and we will be as safe as we can be while riding the roads of Maine.  We will all definitely be looking out for each other.

Holland 100

While in Michigan this summer we happened upon the Holland 100.  This event was only $40!  We couldn't believe it.  Nowhere in central Virginia can you ride in an organized ride for that cheap.  We decided on riding the 67-miler.  We had only ridden 50 up to that point so I was a bit nervous.  After 30 miles they had a breakfast of pancakes, coffee, juice, and muffins.  We stopped for the novelty, but I am not sure I can call this exercise when I stop every couple of hours to eat junk food.  The junk food, by the way, was awesome!  They had PB&J, M&Ms, Oreos, etc. I think I'd rather work really hard and have a nice cold beer and some nachos when I am done.  I can see why people may gain weight from biking!   TOO MUCH GOOD FOOD!

While we were biking the clouds began to blacken up.  The forecast for the day was supposed to be perfect for a bike ride.  This storm was not on the satellite.  The wind picked up and it took all our might to keep riding until we found shelter.  We had not planned on stopping again, but once the big drops, lightening, and wind hit, it was time for a break.  Thank goodness they had cookies waiting for us!  After the scary part of the storm passed we got back to it.  When we hit 68 miles and hadn't finished we both became inpatient.  Don't say 67 miles if the course is really 70.  We both were done when we rolled into the parking lot.  There isn't much to see in Holland on bike....unless you like corn.  We did see a black squirrel and that was cool.  We just have plan gray ones here. 

Nice and Flat

Awe, Williamsburg, VA.  They have an awesome bike trail the takes you all the way to Richmond.  It's paved, it's flat, and it's fast!   Of course we went to see Williamsburg, but biking this trail was super fun and made us start thinking that we were starting to enjoy it.  It was even cooler that is was in Sherwood Forest.  Too bad we didn't see Robin Hood.  We were able to ride 16 mph that day.  That really is about as fast as I can go.  It was raining a bit and wet but it didn't matter, everything is so much better when you can just ride your bike worry free.  No hills, no traffic, no stops.  Just put that peddle to the metal, so to speak.

 Speaking of flat, we had our first flat tire on the road just north of Charlottesville.  That's a pretty intense rip. 

Posers

We did it!  We joined a bike group!  This is unusual behavior for us as we typically do not go out of our way to meet people.  This group is great though.  We fit right in with our spandex padded shorts, our bike jerseys, and our clip-in shoes.  I like to think of us as posers.  We look the part pretty good though.  The first long ride we did was 26 miles.  The group was impressed that we were able to do this. I think it helped that we were still in shape from the marathon in May. 
I am still super slow though and struggle keeping up with the "SLOW GROUP"."  We are learning the bike lingo which is helpful when you want to stay alive on the roads, especially in Charlottesville.  The more we bike the more we aren't sure this sport is for us.  There seems to be a LOT of sitting down.

 Mom and Dad bought us cool new jerseys to help enable our poser status!

SCHLEPP

Meet Schlepp!  He is our trailer buddy.  He too will come with us to Maine and haul all of our equipment and personal items.  We are amateurs so we didn't know if the trailer or panniers would be better.  Oh well, we have Schlepp now and we are going to let him see the country too.  Schlepp fits nicely in the back of the car when the seats are down.  He can hold up to 100lbs, but we are looking at only hauling 25lbs for 4 people with equipment.  Doesn't that sound like hiking all over again?  Tony and I have been taking turns working out with him.  It's tough, especially with all the hills.  Our best route is around the neighborhood 6 times.  Can someone say boring?  This is safe though and allows us to get comfortable with him.  We will take him out for longer rides later in the summer. 

Schlepp is not quite ready to go in this picture!

Apparently road bikes ARE BETTER

In our quest for bike gear and figuring just how we planned on traveling through Maine on bike we went to the bike shop.  Now the bike shop is a lot like a car dealership.  You can go in and look and you will be lucky if you leave empty-handed.  Tony and I had planned on riding our Kona hybrids on the trip.  They are lighter than a mountain bike and can handle most terrain. 
We walked in and 2 hours later we walked out with two new road bikes and helmets!  We are now officially ready to start training.  The question is how do you train for a bike-ation?  Your butt needs to be ready that's for sure.  We have experience training for marathons and long distance hiking trips so this shouldn't be too complicated, all we have to do was ride our bikes.  It takes up a big chunk of the week getting the miles in, but we will be happy on the trip.  Charlottesville with all of its hills will help us too. 

I think these new beauties need a name!

This is our homemade PVC pipe bike rack!  It fits three bikes nicely.

...and we will bike 400 miles?

The idea to bike hundreds of miles was born last year when we were taking our 100 mile walk through the woods.  While Tony and I walked deliriously through the Shenandoah National Park we came up with the idea of a bikecation.  Not the bikecation that you spend 1,000's of dollars on and everything is planned for you.  No, this vacation would require a lot more work.  We would go our own way, carry our own equipment, and plan everything.  We would be in charge!

We tossed a few ideas around about where we would like this bikecation to happen.  Vermont?   New Hampshire?   Finally we decided on Maine.  We have never been to Maine and what better way to see it than by bicycle.  Step one complete!

We are not bikers. We have bikes and we ride them down the street or to work sometimes, but we don't go and just ride bikes for miles at a time.

After telling mom and dad about our plan they wanted to come too.  They jumped on board quickly.  They like to bike.  Much of their current fitness and weight loss is due to riding their bicycles.  They have done a few long rides in their area and both seem to enjoy it.  The planning shortly got underway.  I once again became the task master for this trip.  All the planning and delivery of such plans were in my hands.  We divided up the tasks and everyone soon got to work.
We all have multiple jobs to include safety, location of hospitals (in case we have an accident), rest stops, and sightseeing.  We also have to be versed in bike repair and Maine traffic laws and bike signals.  Now this would be easy if we were bikers but we aren't.

This trip is a monster but we are up for the task, after all who wouldn't want to ride their bike 400 miles around Maine?

TIME TO TRAIN!