Cycling Maine's Coast - September 2012

We arrived in Portland, Maine, early Saturday afternoon and met in the downtown Portland Wharf area for our "Meet and Greet" dinner at DiMillos Floating Restaurant with the rest of the participants on this Bike and the Like Tour.

We awoke the next morning to light rain and began cycling Portland's back cove with beautiful water views. Following country backroads we passed through Yarmouth and made a stop at the DeLorme Map Headquarters. Skirting the byways of the Harraseeket River, we entered Freeport (made famous by L.L. Bean) where some cyclists had lunch while others shopped the many L.L. Bean stores. Leaving Freeport, we pedaled through beautiful Wolfe's Neck State Park and followed the gorgeous rocky Maine coastline into Brunswick, home of Bowdoin College.




Monday, we rode out of Brunswick under cloudy skies on backroads, along the Androscoggin River and through the 'port of entry' city of Bath. Then, over the Sagahadoc Bridge and on to Wiscasset where lobster rolls were the big attraction at Red's Eats. We crossed the bridge to the Boothbay region and cycled up and down the many hills along backroads before finally reaching Boothbay Harbor and the Fisherman's Wharf Inn. We arrived in time to have a couple hours to explore the town before taking our scheduled Harbor Cruise.

Leaving the Boothbay region the following morning, we cycled more rolling hills along the River Road. We continued on beautiful wooded roads to our stop for lunch in Waldoboro at Moody's Diner. There were more rolling hills to follow as we cycled along Bayview Road into Camden, a city made famous by the film Peyton Place. Once again, a light rain started just as we arrived. It continued to rain through the night and was due to rain all day. Our tour hosts arranged for a bus to take us to Bar Harbor in lieu of cycling in the thunderstorms. Along the way, we stopped at the Fort Knox Historic Park and went up the observation tower overlooking the Penobscot River. After a short visit to the fort itself, we continued on the bus crossing the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and on to Bar Harbor where we spent the next 3 days.

Our first day in Bar Harbor started with a hearty breakfast before cycling through Acadia National Park and up Cadillac Mountain, the highest point in the Park. We took some time to enjoy the views and then coasted back down the mountain and rode the park roads to Jordan Pond House for lunch and one of their famous popovers. After lunch, we returned via some of the Carriage Roads which weave through the Park. Later in the evening, we joined friends for a sunset cruise on the 4-masted Margaret Todd Schooner.

Our second day in Bar Harbor, we elected to go sightseeing in lieu of cycling. We walked around town early morning and then caught a tour with Oli's Trolley which took us around the Park Loop Road, making several stops including Cadillac Mountain. Our last day, we took the free Island Explorer bus service to Sand Beach in Acadia National Park and walked the Ocean Path to Otter Cliffs. It was quite foggy starting out but still a beautiful walk. We returned to town for lunch and arrived back at our hotel just in time to help load our bikes on the truck for the return to Portland. Back in Portland, we collected our luggage and bikes, packed the car, said "good-bye" to all our new friends, and headed to our hotel for a good night's sleep before starting our drive home the next day.

Prince Edward Island - June 2012

Following our Kentucky cycling trip, we spent a few days in Ohio with kids/grandkids before heading to Washington DC. We spent a couple of days sightseeing in DC and then drove to Portland, ME, where we picked up another couple who were spending the week on Prince Edward Island with us. Our first stop along the way was at Saint John, New Brunswick, CAN.

The purpose of this visit was to see the Reversing Falls. When the tide goes out the St John River empties and falls about 15 feet. When the tide comes in from the Bay of Fundy the river is stopped, the tide pushes it back up the river and it rises the same 15 feet. We timed our visit so that we could photograph the rising tide about noon and the falling tide about 8:00 pm that evening.

On the road again we headed for Prince Edward Island taking us across the Confederation Bridge This is the longest bridge in the world over icy waters, 8 miles long connecting New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island. Before crossing, we stopped at the visitor’s center and took a few pictures from the observation tower of the bridge and the bay next to it.

After crossing the bridge we headed toward the city of Summerside where we stopped at a cafe called Sharkey’s for lunch; our first time for “Fish & Chips”. Our home that night was the Northport Pier Inn in Alberton where every room is an ocean front room. We drove to the light house at the North end of the Island. This drive let us see the start of the Confederation Trail in the town of Tignish. It is a hard packed gravel trail that runs 260 miles to the opposite end of the Island. Leaving there the next morning we drove to the Bike Shop in Charlottetown to pick up rental bikes for those needing them. From there we drove to our “rent house” which was about midway up the Island on the East shore. This was a 7 bedroom, 7 bath, home - plenty of room for the 10 in our group.

From the House we planned our sight seeing trips and bike rides on the Trail.

As for biking, we did 5 rides. The first was a short 10-mile loop out of the house to the Confederation Trail, up the trail and back to the house. This was a ride for people to familiarize themselves with their rental bikes and investigate the condition of the Trail. The Trail was no problem, flat and very smooth for an unpaved trail.

Next day we rode from the house to the Confederation Trail, up the trail past the town of Mount Stewart and back. Another day we drove to the east end of the island, Elmira, and cycled a loop to the East Point Lighthouse. That particular day, it started raining about the time we reached the lighthouse so we cycled back about 6 miles in the rain.

Back on the Confederation Trail the next day, we rode into Charlottetown for lunch and returned. Charlottetown is the Capital of PEI and the largest town on the island. Our final ride of the week took us back to Charlottetown, passing the University of Prince Edward Island, to the end of the Confederation Trail.

Other than biking we did a lot of sightseeing since none of us had ever been there before. We played on the beach although the water was too cold to get in. We saw several light houses and even climbed 3 flights of 18-step stairs and a ladder to get to the top. We ate lobster and seafood at a church social, did fine dining at the Dundee Arms Restaurant and ate at a Nursery that also had 60 flavors of ice cream. A very good time was had by all.

Along with Lynne and I on this trip was Don & Sondra Heaton, Harold and Pat Landers, Sam and Margaret Arafat, with their daughter Danyah and her son Brooks.

For more photos of our Prince Edward Island trip, click the PEI link on the right side of the page under Links to Cycling Pics.

"Kentucky River Run" - 2012 Tour de Kentucky - June 2012

June 6th we arrived in Lexington, Kentucky for our 3rd edition of the Tour de Kentucky Bicycle Ride. Our hosts for this years tour were Jack and Pat Deacon. We met at their house Wednesday night for a “meet & greet” affair with all the riders present. This meeting gave us an opportunity to prepare all the paperwork necessary as well as enjoy a glass of wine and a delicious meal. Thursday morning we had a short 35 mile warm-up ride touring some of the Horse Country around Lexington. We met at Berries on Bryan Station Road, an organic farm owned by two of our fellow riders. The route had beautiful countrysides, lots of horse farms & mares with foals born earlier in the spring. We had lunch at a local cafe, Windy Corner after the ride.

The Tour began on Friday. Our route took us to Georgetown with one group leaving from Lexington and another group leaving from Versailles. This route provided us with more horse farms, lots of mares & their foals, hayfields being cut and baled, and just more beautiful country. Lunch was in Georgetown. After lunch we rode on to the Country Inn & Suites, our home for the night. Each night before dinner we had a group meeting to discuss times to load luggage in the 3 sag wagons that support us and start time for the next day’s ride.

Day 2 we travelled from Georgetown to Carrollton and the General Butler State Park Lodge where we spent the night. This day gave us our first look at the Kentucky River. We had lunch at a very interesting cafe in Gratz, Kentucky. While there we met the local State Representative who was telling the locals about improvements to be made there to attract tourism. After entering the State Park we met one very tough steep hill (about 15-18% grade) to get up to the Lodge. Some of our riders had to walk this hill. Dinner and breakfast were at the restaurant in in the Lodge, a pretty good buffet with a large variety of food.

Day 3, from Carrollton to Shelbyville, started with a ride across the bridge of the Kentucky River. This was a very scenic route along the river and then out in the country. After riding through the country on relatively flat to rolling roads we saw in front of us a wall. The route went up this hill, roughly 600 yards, with grades from 5-10% then near the top it went to 22%. Only two of our group made it to the top. The rest of US walked it.

We were concerned about lunch since it was Sunday but a Marathon Station/Deli was open and saved the day. After lunch we rode into Shelbyville to the Holiday Inn Express. Dinner that night was at Claudia Sanders Restaurant, an icon in this town. Claudia is Colonel Sanders’ ex-wife. On day 4 the rain came. After a council meeting at breakfast we decided to take several people into Lexington to pick up vans capable of hauling all the people back to there cars or homes. Only two people chose to ride in the rain back to Lexington. That night, many of us met for dinner at Fazoli’s and reminisced the 2012 edition of the Tour.

For more photos of our trip, just click on the link "2012 Tour de Kentucky" on the right side of the page under Links to Cycling Pics.

Cycling Colorado and the USA Pro Cycling Challenge - August 2011

We arrived to much cooler temperatures in the Colorado mountains than we were experiencing back in Texas....what a relief! We awakened everyday to low-40‘s and the afternoons reached low to mid-70‘s. We cycled many of our usual routes this year including riding from Frisco to Keystone and up Montezuma Rd, Frisco to Vail Pass Summit passing through Copper Mountain Resort, around Lake Dillon on the Swan Mountain Rec Path, Frisco to Breckenridge, and out the Blue River Trail through Silverthorne. In addition to cycling, we did some of our favorite hikes including St. Mary’s Glacier, Mayflower Gulch, Shrine Ridge Pass, North Ten Mile Trail, and a few others. (Photo to the right is the new Swan Mountain Rec Path)

Jarrett & Crystal and the kids were able to come up for a few days this summer. We took them cycling up to Copper Mountain and back which is 18 miles round-trip. It’s a little tough getting to Copper Mountain but you can come back flying down the trail. The next day, we took them to hike St. Mary’s Glacier which has a lake in the valley and a snow glacier up further. There were even snow boaders coming down the glacier. Christian and Lynne hiked up the mountain a little further than the rest of the gang for some glorious views of the glacier, lake, and surrounding mountains. (Photo to the left is all of us at the start of the St Mary's Glacier Hike and photo to the right is near the top where Lynne and Christian hiked) We also rode the gondola up Keystone Resort, roamed around and ate at the BBQ at the Summit, attended the Concert in the Park in Frisco (the girls won the dance contest), and the kids went to the Peak 8 Fun Park in Breckenridge one evening. There is always something going on in one of the small towns in Summit County that you can always find new things to do.

Something new this year was the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. We were able to make two of the days. The first day for us was Stage 3, the Vail Time Trial. We parked at Vail Pass Summit and rode our bikes down the rec path to the finish line. Reaching the finish line area about 10:30am, we staked our spot out 50 meters from the finish line. The time trial started at 1:00pm and the first rider came through at 1:28pm, then a rider approximately every minute thereafter. The race finished about 3:45pm and we, along with the other 10,000 spectators, proceeded back up the very steep rec path to Vail Pass Summit. This took us about 45 minutes to climb the 5 mile trail back to the car. (Photo to the right is near the finish line at the Vail Time Trial, Stage 3)

Stage 5 of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge finished in Breckenridge. Our good friends, Bill and Bobbie, joined us for this one. We rode from Frisco to Breckenridge, parked our bikes, walked through the market/vendor areas, stopped for lunch, and then staked our spot directly on the finish line. While we waited for the cyclist to come through, we were able to watch the race on the big screen TV set up nearby. And what a rush when the lead cyclists crossed the finish line. It was so fast and so powerful....WOW! The crowds were magnificent....over 50,000 in Breckenridge to watch the finish. The announcers kept saying the crowds were reminiscent of the Tour de France. (These last 2 photos are Lynne and Bobbie at the finish line in Breckenridge and one of the racers coming across the finish line) Click the link to the right USA Pro Cycling Challenge 2011 under Links to Cycling Pics for more pics of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado.

We never get tired of the Colorado mountains and we plan to go back again and again. Summit County is such a great place to visit. We highly recommend it.

For more on cycling in Colorado, check out the Blog Archive for 2010 and 2006.

Cycling SW Kentucky and the Horsey Hundred - May 2011

We rejoined some of the friends we made last year at the Ohio River Rendevouz ride hosted by Pat and Jack Deacon for the Tour de Southwest Kentucky. This year the tour was hosted by Gary and Cathy Hamby. About a week before the ride start, we received an email saying to change our reservations. Due to the flooding in the surrounding areas, Gary and Cathy were forced to change our routes. We thought this worked out great because we now had a homebase in Madisonville, KY, and only changed hotels one night.

Our first day was a 45 mile loop around Madisonville. The early morning was misting rain and the temperature cool but the sun came out just before we started riding and the day was beautiful. The ride took us down to Nortonville where we stopped at the Dixie Pan Café for lunch before returning to Madisonville. We passed a lot of Kentucky farm land and the route was moderately hilly.

We started cycling day 2 with leg and arm warmers and vests again. The route today was a very hilly 45 miles and took us from Mortons Gap to Hopkinsville, where we stayed at the Best Western. We passed more farmlands and beautiful scenery. We were told there was 2700 ft of climbing in that 45 miles. However, Kentucky hills are not like they are in Texas. They are long descents and long climbs; you can not roll these hills. In fact, at one point on the ride, Paul stated that he was starting to dread the long downhills. Yes, it meant we would have a long climb coming up.

We made it to Hopkinsville so that meant we just retraced our route for the return trip to Mortons Gap the next day. The return trip, however, didn’t seem as hard on us as the trip down. Someone said it was a couple hundred feet of climbing less than going to Hopkinsville. Maybe that ‘s the reason or maybe our legs were just now getting accustomed to the climbing. Either way, it was a very nice ride.

Day 4, we are back in Madisonville and cycling a loop north of town. The temperature has warmed and we are all shucking our arm warmers and vests before we get 5 miles out. Another beautiful route today and one extremely steep, but short, hill near the end of the ride.

This was a great trip. We had 22 participants, a smaller group than last year, and this allowed us to get to know everyone a little better. We are hoping the Tour de Kentucky continues and are able to join the group again next year. Great people! Great scenery! Great cycling!

After visiting kids and grandkids in Ohio, we returned to Kentucky for the Horsey Hundred ride. This ride started in Georgetown, just 14 miles north of Lexington. Saturday, we opted for the 59 mile route as we had friends working one of the rest stops and another friend that was driving one of the SAG vehicles. As we rode up and down the many hills, we passed beautiful horse farms and saw many new foals. We used every gear we had available to us on our bicycles. Sunday, we rode the 30 mile route as it was going to be hot and our legs were pretty tired from all the hills the day before. Both days, the Bluegrass Cycling Club fed us lunch. There was also a small party in Georgetown on Friday night and a really swinging party Saturday evening in Midway. The Horsey Hundred is one of the best supported rides, not to mention their well-stocked rest stops, we have ever done.
We are hoping to get a group of friends to come to Kentucky with us next year for the Horsey Hundred. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Savannah, GA - March 2011

Since Bike and the Like cancelled their California trip this year, we decided to take a trip to the Savannah area. We contacted the Coastal Bicycle Touring Club and obtained several nice bicycle routes in the area. There's a lot of history in this part of the country and we intend to see as much of it as possible from the seats of our bicycles.

As it turned out, it rained almost every day. We were able to cycle two days and tour the other days by foot, trolley, or car. A few sights we saw (off the bike) were Forsythe Fountain in Savannah’s historic district, the water front area, Beaufort, Fort Pulaski, Tybee Island, Wormsloe Historic park, and more. Photo to the left is the fountain in Forsythe Park.

The first day we cycled took us to Jekyll Island, one of only four Georgia barrier islands that feature a paved causeway to access the island by car. The island is 7 miles long by 1.5 miles wide, has 8 miles of wide, flat beaches, and boasts 22 miles of hiking trails. Photo to the right is a portion of the bike trail on Jekyll Island.

We cycle on the bike trail the entire time, along the beach on one side of the island and through the marsh areas on the other side. Near the downtown area, we pass by some of America’s most elite homes that were built in the late 1880’s to early 1900’s. The Rockefellers, Morgans, Pulitzers, and Goulds were a few of the nation’s leading families that came to Jekyll Island to “secure an escape”.

We drove to St. Helena’s Island, one of the sea islands near Beaufort, SC, for our next ride. Here, we cycle the Coastal Bicycle Touring Club’s Gullah Gallop ride. Total distance for this ride is 44 miles, however, the wind was really blowing and we cut it short to only about 35 miles. Neither of us would have had fun riding that last 9 miles straight into the strong wind we had that day. But we did ride to the south end of the island and all the way back to the north end and beach area. This is a very nice ride with little to no traffic. Photo to the left is the north beach on St. Helena's Island

Although we didn’t get to cycle as much as we had planned, we still toured the area and had a great time. Of course, the day we left, the sun was shining and the temperature was expected to hit the low 80’s. There is a lot of history in Savannah and the surrounding area so we highly recommend a trip to the area whether you plan to cycle or just vacation here.

Cycling Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard - Sept 2010

Bike and the Like has been organizing cycling trips on Cape Cod and the New England area for more than 17 years. They advocate a “stop and smell the roses” type of touring and we have enjoyed their tours immensely. We began our trip in Hyannis, MA, and cycled the nooks and crannies of Cape Cod, including visits to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Cape Cod is known for its miles of glorious coastlines, quaint villages, scenic byways, the Cape Cod Rail Trail, and more.

We arrived early in order to get fitted to our rental bikes and took a spin around the Hyannis area, passing the JFK Memorial and nearby Hyannisport, home of the Kennedy Compound. Our first night’s dinner is where we met and greeted the other cyclists on this trip; a total of 39 of us plus 3 tour leaders. And, of course, most of us had lobster for dinner.

The first day of riding with the group took us on a ferry to Nantucket where we cycled the island and walked the cobblestoned streets of historic downtown. Nantucket is located 30 miles off the south coast of Cape Cod and is 14 miles in length and 3 ½ miles wide. With its conservation land, beaches, lighthouses, bike trails, and history, this was a nice day of cycling.

The next couple days were spent on Martha’s Vineyard. We pedaled along the Cape Cod Canal following the Manamet River, stopped at the Aptucxet Trading Post museum, then along the Shore Rd to the Shining Sea Bikeway to Woods Hole where we caught the Steamship Authority Ferry. The ferry brought us to the town of Oak Bluffs where we stayed at the Madison Inn for two nights. Oak Bluffs flourished as a revivalist-movement camp meeting site. Over the years, the tents were replaced by small cottages in the distinctive "campground gothic" style, which makes you feel like you're walking through a neighborhood of pastel gingerbread houses. We explored the town that evening and met the group for dinner.

The next day we cycled on the bike trail to Edgartown and the lighthouse (pictured below left) on the north shore. The Edgartown Light made a brief appearance in the movie Jaws. We continued on the bike path around the airport, stopped by an Alpaca farm, lunched in Vineyard Haven, cycled the West Chop loop and lighthouse, around the harbor, on to the East Chop loop and lighthouse, then back to the hotel. As an example of history, the East Chop lighthouse was built in 1802 on Telegraph Hill. The lighthouse is on the site of the signal station that received semaphore messages from Woods Hole to indicate the arrival of homebound whaling ships. The current lighthouse was built in 1877. We took a very relaxing pace today and explored the history of the island.

We took the hi-speed ferry back to Hyannis the following morning and headed to the village of Orleans. Once on our bikes, we cycled the beach roads, stopped and toured the Judah Baker Windmill, jumped on the Cape Cod Rail Trail, passed through Nickerson State Park, took a short side trip to Nauset Beach, and finally rested at the Old Tavern Inn in Orleans for the night. Like much of the Cape, Orleans revolved around fishing, whaling, and agriculture in its early history.

Our next stop was Provincetown. We cycled up the elbow of the Cape via the national seashore. We stopped after about 5 miles at the Salt Pond Visitor Center and watched a film on how the Cape was formed through the ice age….very interesting and well worth the stop. The museum had an old bike on display that had wood spokes. Imagine riding that bike.

Back on our bikes, we cycled the Cape Cod Rail Trail, passing the Nauset Lighthouse and Marconi Station. Guglielmo Marconi had a dream to send a wireless signal across the ocean and, in 1900, he built a high-powered transmitting station to do just this. Storms blew down the aeriel towers in 1901. We stopped in Wellfleet for a short lunch and then continued on around the harbor, along the beach, more lighthouses and windmills, and finally into Provincetown.

Once in Provincetown, we had the evening on our own. We walked through town, climbed the Pilgrim Monument, stopped for a couple drinks and dinner, and made it an early evening. A couple of cyclists who made it in early enough were able to take a whale watching tour. They said they saw at least 30 whales and got some great pics.

It was now time to head back. We left Provincetown cycling through the sand dunes known as the Provincelands, along the beaches, and back on the Cape Cod Rail Trail. Most everyone stopped at the Chocolate Sparrow in Orleans for lunch. Here, we had a turkey pannini and an ice cream cone while others chose to have some “to-die-for” chocolate desserts.

Our last day brought us back to Hyannis where we said our ‘good-byes’ to all our new friends, caught the bus back to Boston Logan airport and flew home.

The only way to really experience Cape Cod is to cycle the “nooks and crannies”. Cape Cod’s terrain is very cycle friendly and mostly gently rolling. There are so many sights to see and places to visit that the only way to do it is on bicycle. We averaged about 45 miles a day and took our time to be sure not to miss anything. If you like mixing sightseeing with your cycling, you’ll love this trip.

To view more photos from this trip, click on "Cape Cod Cycling" under "Links to cycling pics" on the right side of this page.