The ride back from Bar Harbor was much better than the ride into Bar Harbor. my legs had two days of rest and were feeling great. They did have to be conditioned a little bit, but after an hour or two they felt like rocks again and performed like machines. I learned from my mistakes coming into Bar Harbor and just enjoyed the ride. It went much faster and I enjoyed myself that much more. Riding 90 miles that day felt like 20. Time went by so fast, it was really enjoyable again.
Around 5:20 I entered Camdon, ME, got some ice cream, and walked to a tavern I visited on my way up north. They had really good pizza and beer last time I was there, so it was n obvious call in my book. Like always, I headed for the bar. No, not because I love to drink, but because when you are own you own, you can always expect a fun time sitting at the bar. People are usually interested in why you are alone and want to hear your story. If not, you can always keep a conversation with the bar tender. That's always a a good time, and if not there's usually a TV tuned to Sports Center.
Sitting at the bar to my right were these three scruffy looking guys. They looked a lot like I look, so we started talking. I guess it followed the "Similar to Me" relationship most people have in new places. They asked me what my deal was and I the same. What I learned though, was that these guys had just sailed from Key West. They were the crew on some guys boat and this was one of two stops they had made. Apparently the engine on the Sail Boat needed repairs this time, and the last time they had stopped in NJ for fuel and supplies. That's Awesome! They said that the weather was mostly nice, but a few days they had about 34 knot head winds and they only were going about 2 mph for a long time. That sucks, but the trip sounded Awesome. I would love to sail like that, just think of how incredible that would be. Maybe that's my next trip........?
So after a few local beers, pasta, garlic bread, a salad, and the check I headed about ten more miles to my cap site. Turned out that it was a nascar sponsored one so it was expensive. Somewhere like $31 for a crappy tent location. My average is about $7 with electricity, wi-fi, and water. This place sucked. Thank God there wasn't a nascar event anytime soon or I would have went nuts. It was quite however, so I can't complain. It was also a nice night allowing me to sleep without the rain fly over my tent. I wasn't worried about the due in the morning since I was sleeping on dirt, and I checked the weather to make sure it wasn't going to rain. Although there was a canopy of trees above my head, there was a show put on for my by the local fire flys. They blinked on and off creating an effect of blinking and shooting stars. It was really pleasant to fall asleep to.
Waking up was a bit chilly, but I was off again and making great time. I called Katie a few times that day (today) because it was (is) her last day at cosmetology school ever. Her mom specifically booked her the entire day, which I thought was really nice. She's usually booked by a bunch of people anyway so to have her mom for the day seemed to be a good change of pace. Congratulations Katie!
That day went really fast as well. I knew I was going to see my old roommate that night, and the next day we were going to brewery hop around the state. Best of all, I was going to ride in a car for the first time in about 3 weeks. "That's going to be weird". My last stop was in Freeport, ME just north of Portland. The campground was called "The Desert of Maine" so tell me, how could that not be promising. When I got there I learned that glaciers deposited a whole hell of a lot of sand in this region, and about 100 years ago farmers here over worked the land, exposing the sand. Ever since then sand has been taking over the area and now covers over 200 acres. It is really strange to walk from this lush forest into this massive sand dune, and back to the lush forest. Really weird. The sand reaches more than 20 feet tall in some areas and has covered a house that stood near the natural creek. The campground also houses the original barn from the farm dated back to 1749 (I believe that's the right last two digits). The barn is still held together by the same wooden pegs and still has the original farm equipment inside. It is really cool.
Okay, back to present tense. Finally. I have no service here. Joe is currently driving here and even though he has a GPS and the address, this place is tricky to find. It's tucked away on a dead end street with barely any markings. Trust me. I was going about 5mph on my bike, in broad day light, and it's still hard to find. My tent location is even more difficult to see. I am tucked awake in the back of the camp ground, down this trail, and perched above a little cliff overlooking the natural spring. Haha, let's see how Joe does.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
A chance of showers with a week long forcast of breweries
Bar Harbor was a blast. The city was really cool and my dad was right. If you aren't dressed from head to toe in Patagonia you don't fit in. Luckily I looked like one of the locals. Unshaven, cargo zip pants, hiking shoes, and mostly all Patagonia. The people in the bars were super friendly, and the food was all around amazing. Even the pizza was really good. One man even bought me a beer because of what I was doing. He loved the fact that I just did it for no reason other than to do it. We talked for a while, mostly about the trip and eventually about breweries. He told me to visit Gritty's Brew Pub and to tell the guys that he sent me. He knew the owner and played golf with him frequently.
I didn't sight-see as much as I thought I would. I was just too damn tired. I mostly walked around the town for two days, and took naps in various places. My favorite place to nap was on this grassy knoll overlooking the harbor. It was great watching the various yachts and lobster boats cruse in and out. It was very soothing. I really wanted to go sea kyaking, but it was quite windy both days I was there and I didn't feel like putting a lot of effort into it. I wanted to just float for a while around the coast, not really do any work, and relax. 10-15 mph winds seemed like they would make that plan difficult. Whatever though, I'll do it next time. I'm definitely coming back to Bar Harbor. The place is just hands down perfect.
Leaving Bar Harbor was hard. I had so much fun relaxing there and walking around I did not want to leave. While I was there though my last roommate from Michigan State and I got to talking. He had just came back from a cruse and was jealous of my trip. Originally he thought I was nuts, but he admitted to it sounding really cool and something that he would have liked to do. At this point in my trip I felt as thought I had completed everything I wanted. I conquered the hardest portion of the Northern Tier and did it with great time. Every Cyclist I have talked to has been shocked I made it to Bar Harbor from Detroit in 18 days. "You must have just flown!" they would say. I was tired, sick of riding so much, and wanted to take a break. So when my roommate Joe and I got to talking I suggested that he drive up here and we take a brewery tour of Maine.
I got the Idea when I was at the Bar Harbor Brewery. I saw this little pamphlet that had all 25 Maine brewery locations on it. I thought that it would be really cool to go visit all 25. Plus, if you do all 25, with signatures from each, you get a prize from the Maine Brewers Association. Joe was the first person to show me how to extract brew, so it was almost an instantaneous "YES". He just had to make sure he had some things in order and he would get back to me. It didn't take long for him to say that he was in and that he would be leaving in two days.
Our plan would be to circle the state and hit all 25 breweries, then move down the east cost to Boston, if we have time, to get more breweries under our belt. Joe also suggested that because we both want to own a brewery one day that we should see if we could write this off as an R&D expense. I mean, hey it's worth a shot right? We technically are going from place to place to discover what and what does not work, which is a form of research. One place we do want to go is the Dogfish Head Brew Pub. Unlike the major Brewery, the Brew Pub has a lot of test beers and exotic creations. Ever since their show on Discover Channel, which was great by the way, Joe and I have been wanting to visit. It just looks like a whole lot of fun.
I didn't sight-see as much as I thought I would. I was just too damn tired. I mostly walked around the town for two days, and took naps in various places. My favorite place to nap was on this grassy knoll overlooking the harbor. It was great watching the various yachts and lobster boats cruse in and out. It was very soothing. I really wanted to go sea kyaking, but it was quite windy both days I was there and I didn't feel like putting a lot of effort into it. I wanted to just float for a while around the coast, not really do any work, and relax. 10-15 mph winds seemed like they would make that plan difficult. Whatever though, I'll do it next time. I'm definitely coming back to Bar Harbor. The place is just hands down perfect.
Leaving Bar Harbor was hard. I had so much fun relaxing there and walking around I did not want to leave. While I was there though my last roommate from Michigan State and I got to talking. He had just came back from a cruse and was jealous of my trip. Originally he thought I was nuts, but he admitted to it sounding really cool and something that he would have liked to do. At this point in my trip I felt as thought I had completed everything I wanted. I conquered the hardest portion of the Northern Tier and did it with great time. Every Cyclist I have talked to has been shocked I made it to Bar Harbor from Detroit in 18 days. "You must have just flown!" they would say. I was tired, sick of riding so much, and wanted to take a break. So when my roommate Joe and I got to talking I suggested that he drive up here and we take a brewery tour of Maine.
I got the Idea when I was at the Bar Harbor Brewery. I saw this little pamphlet that had all 25 Maine brewery locations on it. I thought that it would be really cool to go visit all 25. Plus, if you do all 25, with signatures from each, you get a prize from the Maine Brewers Association. Joe was the first person to show me how to extract brew, so it was almost an instantaneous "YES". He just had to make sure he had some things in order and he would get back to me. It didn't take long for him to say that he was in and that he would be leaving in two days.
Our plan would be to circle the state and hit all 25 breweries, then move down the east cost to Boston, if we have time, to get more breweries under our belt. Joe also suggested that because we both want to own a brewery one day that we should see if we could write this off as an R&D expense. I mean, hey it's worth a shot right? We technically are going from place to place to discover what and what does not work, which is a form of research. One place we do want to go is the Dogfish Head Brew Pub. Unlike the major Brewery, the Brew Pub has a lot of test beers and exotic creations. Ever since their show on Discover Channel, which was great by the way, Joe and I have been wanting to visit. It just looks like a whole lot of fun.
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